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UK Government To Install Surveillance Cameras In Private Homes
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsPrison Planet.com - Paul Joseph Watson
Categories: Today's Headlines;World Government

The UK government is about to spend $700 million dollars installing surveillance cameras inside the private homes of citizens to ensure that children go to bed on time, attend school and eat proper meals.

No you aren’t reading a passage from George Orwell’s 1984 or Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, this is Britain in 2009, a country which already has more surveillance cameras watching its population than the whole of Europe put together.

Now the government is embarking on a scheme called “Family Intervention Projects” which will literally create a nanny state on steroids, with social services goons and private security guards given the authority to make regular “home checks” to ensure parents are raising their children correctly.

Telescreens will also be installed so government spies can keep an eye on whether parents are mistreating kids and whether the kids are fulfilling their obligations under a pre-signed contract.

Around 2,000 families have been targeted by this program so far and the government wants to snare 20,000 more within the next two years. The tab will be picked up by the taxpayer, with the “interventions” being funded through local council authorities.

Another key aspect of the program will see parents deemed “responsible” by the government handed the power to denounce and report bad parents who allow their children to engage in bad behavior. Such families will then be targeted for “interventions”.

Both parents and children will also be forced to sign a “behavior contract” with the government known as Home School Agreements before the start of every year, in which the state will dictate obligations that it expects to be met.

The opposition Conservative Party, who are clear favorites to win the next British election, commented that the program does not go far enough and is “too little, too late.”

Respondents to a Daily Express article about the new program expressed their shock at the totalitarian implications of what is unfolding in the United Kingdom under the guise of social services initiatives.

Why are people not up in arms about this?,” writes one, “This is a complete invasion of privacy, and it totally ignores the fact that the state does NOT own kids. It’s not up to them how parents choose to raise their children, as long as the parents do not actively harm them. Why on earth aren’t the public rioting? It’s completely anathema to basic British freedoms.”

“Excuse me!?! What an incredible intrusion into the privacy of a family! George Orwell must be spinning in his grave right now,” writes another.

“I have one comment to make: it completely violates Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Human Rights Act 1998). Has this minister and his lackies even done any basic homework on basic human rights and civil liberties? Or rather they’ve just decided to completely ignore them,” adds another.

The move to install surveillance cameras inside private homes is also on the agenda across the pond. In February 2006, Houston Chief of Police Harold Hurtt said cameras should be placed inside apartments and homes in order to “fight crime” due to there being a shortage of police officers.

“I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?” Chief Hurtt told reporters.

Andy Teas with the Houston Apartment Association supported the proposal, saying privacy concerns would take a back seat to many people who would, “appreciate the thought of extra eyes looking out for them.”

If such programs come to fruition and are implemented on a mass scale then the full scope of George Orwell’s depiction of a totalitarian society is his classic novel 1984 will have been realized.

U.S. Senators Want to See Concessions from Arabs, not Just Israel
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

In another display of growing unrest over US President Barack Obama's overbearing pressure for Israel to meet Arab demands regarding Jewish settlements, a bipartisan group of 71 American senators sent a letter to Obama on Monday saying they would like to also see some Arab concessions.

The senators praised Obama for asking Arab leaders to make more of a show of supporting peace with Israel, but said Washington needs to start applying some pressure for positive concrete action on the Arab side.

In the letter, the senators noted that Israel has itself taken several positive concrete steps in recent months, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public support for the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, the removal of Israeli checkpoints and Israeli assistance in bolstering the Palestinian economy.

The senators insisted that those actions need to be met by reciprocal Arab concessions, such as "ending the Arab League boycott of Israel, meeting openly with Israeli officials, establishing open trade relations with Israel, issuing visas to Israeli citizens, and inviting Israelis to participate in academic and professional conferences and sporting events."

The Emerging Church And Bible Prophecy
Aug 11th, 2009
CommentaryCommentary by Roger Oakland
Categories: Inspirational;Warning;Prophecy

“The Emerging Church!” Perhaps the term is meaningless to you. If this is the case, it won’t be for long. Bible-believing Christians are facing an onslaught of ideas and experiences redefining the meaning of Christianity in this post-modern world. The Word of God is under attack. Biblical truths are being replaced by the word of Christian leaders who are claiming the time has come “to do whatever it takes to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth”. 

This new wave that is sweeping the world is powerful. While other waves have come and gone, the present emerging church wave is a tsunami that has the potential of reshaping the very foundation of the Christian faith – the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Consider the following list of changes presently underway in the name of Christ and becoming increasingly more popular on a worldwide scale. No denomination or church affiliation is immune to the changes. The emerging church movement is gaining momentum.

• Scripture is no longer the ultimate authority as the basis for the Christian faith.
• The centrality of the gospel of Jesus Christ is being replaced by humanistic methods that promote church growth and a social gospel.
• More and more emphasis is being placed on “how can I be more successful in the ‘here and now’”, and less and less on the warnings of Scripture about the imminent return of Jesus Christ and a coming judgment in the future.
• More and more Christian leaders are looking for a kingdom of God to be established here on earth by human effort and deny that Jesus Christ will rule and reign in a literal millennial period that is to come.
• There is a growing trend towards replacement theology – the church takes the place of Israel and Israel has no prophetic significance. Proponents say the Book of Revelation does not refer to the future, but instead has been already fulfilled in the past.
• An experiential mystical form of Christianity is being promoted to reach the postmodern generation called the “Emerging Church”.
• The church is being told that Christianity needs to be re-invented in order to provide meaning for this generation.
• Leaders of the Emerging Church say that in order to take the church forward, Christian leaders need to look backward in church history and find out what experiences were effective to get people in the door, then reintroduce these experiences into the present.
• While the authority of the Word of God is being undermined, images and sensual experiences are being promoted as the key to experiencing and knowing God.
• These experiences include icons, candles, incense, liturgy, contemplative prayer, experiencing the sacraments, particularly the sacrament of the Eucharist.
• Many bridges are being established that lead in the direction of unity with the Roman Catholic Church. While the Roman Catholic Church has an agenda called the “new evangelization” program to win the world to the Roman Catholic Eucharistic Jesus, many evangelicals are unaware or don’t care.
• Some evangelical Protestant leaders are saying that the Reformation went too far. They are reexamining the claims of the “church fathers” saying that communion is more than a symbol and that Jesus actually becomes present in the wafer at communion.
• There is a growing trend towards an ecumenical unity for the cause of world peace that claims there are many ways to God.

While the term “Emerging Church” may be new, the ideas being promoted by the Emerging Church can be understood by the warnings we find in the Bible regarding an End Times counterfeit bride that will prepare the way for a counterfeit Christ. Those who take the Bible seriously are not surprised. The following is a list of trends we can expect to see in the future based upon the warnings we find in the Scriptures:

• Apostasy (falling away from the faith) will become worse and worse. Many who once held to “the faith” based on God’s Word, will embrace “a faith” that contradicts God’s Word. This deception will become stronger and stronger as God allows a “strong delusion” to overcome those who refuse to accept God’s Word as the truth (2 Thessalonians 2: 3-11).
• Christianity will be “re-invented” as Christians fall away from the faith and embrace an alternative faith that is inspired by “doctrines of demons” who have a plan to prepare the counterfeit bride for the counterfeit Christ (1Timothy 4:1).
• The biblical teachings on sin will be replaced by psychological self-help and self-empowerment programs promoting loving oneself rather than loving God (2 Timothy 3: 1-5).
• Sincere Bible-believing Christians seduced by doctrines of demons will lose discernment and embrace ideas in the name of Christianity that are antichristian (2 Timothy 2: 23-26).
• The road to Rome and a one world religion will become more and more apparent to those who study Bible prophecy. Rome's plan to unite the religions of the world for the cause of peace will promote a false security (1 Thessalonians 5: 1-5).
• Further, P.E.A.C.E. plans being promoted by purpose driven Christians have the potential of causing believers to depart from the simple gospel for a social gospel. While this social gospel promises answers to the world’s problems, there are concerns. The Roman Catholic peace plan and the purpose driven P.E.A.C.E plan both plan to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth by human effort.
• Deceivers will become more and more effective and many will be deceived. Fewer and fewer Christian leaders will teach the Word and warn about the imminent return of Jesus (2 Timothy 3: 13).
• Faith in God’s Word and a belief in the simple gospel will become a rare commodity (Luke 18: 8).
• Serious Bible-believing Christians will begin meeting in homes and having private Bible studies. Bible-believing Christians who stand on the truth and warn others about the dangers of man-made plans that contradict God’s plan will be viewed as crackpots and dangerous heretics (2 Timothy 3-12).
• Christian Babylonianism will become more and more popular as Satan’s plans to deceive the world in the name of Jesus Christ continues to unfold (Matthew 24: 3-4).
• This counterfeit gospel can be understood in light of Paul’s warning to the church at Corinth. “Another spirit” will lead the masses towards “another Christ” as “another gospel” sweeps the world (2 Corinthians 11: 3-4).
• False appearances of the Roman Catholic Eucharistic Jesus will become more and more evident. People of all faiths will eventually be attracted to these so called “Eucharistic Miracles”, being attracted to signs and wonders that include healings and the casting out of demons (Matthew 7: 21-23).
• Apparitions of a woman claiming to be the mother of Jesus, also called the “Queen of Heaven” will continue to play an important role in setting up the Eucharistic Reign of Jesus. This apparitional woman will claim to share a role in redemption of mankind and can be understood in light of the Bible as demonic in nature (Isaiah 47: 10).
• However this “Mary” factor will be very instrumental in bringing about unity with Roman Catholics and Muslims and other religions for the cause of peace. Eventually all religions will unify for the cause of peace, seduced by Marian apparitions and false appearance of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist (Matthew 24: 23-26).
• More and more we will hear about the Catholic view of the Eucharistic Reign of Jesus (the Second Coming) as these appearances of the Eucharistic Jesus manifest through the practice of Eucharistic adoration.

There is much more that could be said regarding the biblical scenario of how the Emerging Church will unfold in light of Bible prophecy. One thing is certain. It will not be popular to warn people what the Bible foretells. We can expect that the trend to unify at any cost will continue. Those who refuse to bow their knee to the coming one-world religion for the cause of peace will be singled out as trouble makers.

Finally, I am going to conclude this commentary with a challenge to all serious Bible believers. The only way to understand what is happening and to know what lies ahead is to know what God has said. Many are saying they are no longer able to find a church in their area that teaches the Bible and where the pastor is warning the flock about what lies ahead.

John in his vision provided the solution to this dilemma. He wrote:

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues

Sixty percent of Israelis believe President Obama cannot be trusted
Aug 11th, 2009
News UpdateJimmy DeYoung
Categories: Jimmy DeYoung News

A recent poll in Israel revealed that Israelis believe the US administration under Barack Obama is not objective in the Middle East dispute, but he is pro-Palestinian and when asked if Obama can be trusted, sixty percent said the US president cannot be trusted to take Israeli interest into account when making decisions pertaining to the Middle East.

These poll results also come from the continuing pressure being applied by the Obama administration to freeze all building in the Jewish settlements including the city of Jerusalem, a non starter for the majority of Israelis.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

The deterioration in the relationship between the US and Israel is a precursor to an End Times prophecy that will be fulfilled in maybe the very near future.

The recent poll taken among Israelis that indicated the lack of trust the body politic of Israel has for US President Obama in his Middle East policy decisions is a revealing insight into how the world scene is being prepared for End Time prophecy. Israel's best friend has always been the US over the years and now that relationship is coming apart. The US has always been the protector of the Jewish state when Israel would come under fire or be threatened by one of its many enemies.

Bible prophecy does reveal that the world will move against the Jewish state and the Time of Jacob's Trouble will intensify to the time that the Jewish state will come to the point of total destruction, Daniel 11:40-45, Ezekiel38, Psalm 83 and Joel 2:3. The Lord will dispatch the Archangel Michael to come to earth to protect the Jewish people from complete annihilation, Daniel 12:1-2. I believe America has been blessed because of her relationship with Israel, but at the rapture of the Church, Revelation 4:1, the backbone of this nation of America, the born-again Christians, will depart and the US-Israel relationship will totally disappear.

Today, we are seeing this scenario coming better into focus and with the Israeli lack of trust for the Obama administration increasing, it is indeed a precursor to Bible prophecy being fulfilled.

Rocket Hits Southern Israel, Hamas Gets Tel Aviv in Its Sights
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;War

Palestinian forces operating out of the Gaza Strip fired a rocket into southern Israel on Sunday. The rocket landed in an open area adjacent to a Jewish town. There were no injuries or damage reported in the attack.

It was the first Gaza rocket attack on Israel in over a month.

In related news, Israel's Ma'ariv daily newspaper reported that Hamas is currently testing improved versions of its homegrown Kassam rocket that are capable of hitting the Greater Tel Aviv area.

Israeli intelligence officials cited in the article said Hamas is using this period of relative calm to rebuild its stockpile of missiles, and part of that effort includes importing long-range rockets and parts to improve the range of its own missiles.

If Hamas obtains the ability to strike Tel Aviv and another large-scale conflict erupts in either Gaza or southern Lebanon, Israel's largest population center could find itself under attack from both Hamas in the south and Hizballah in the north.

Remains from Period of King Hezekiah Discovered
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Hillel Fendel
Categories: Today's Headlines;Archaeology;The Nation Of Israel

 
The most recent dramatic archaeological find in Israel is that of a luxurious administrative center from the period of King Hezekiah, over 2,700 years ago. The center was discovered in Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, just south of Jerusalem

Over 100 students and volunteers from Israel and abroad are taking part in the dig, which is a joint project of Tel Aviv University’s Archaeological Institute and Heidelberg University in Germany.

Among the volunteers and students are 35 Germans, 30 Americans, 20 Israelis, and others from Australia, Italy, Greece, Spain, England, and elsewhere. The volunteers are in Israel on a month-long program in which they also learn Jewish history, take part in Bible research, are treated to educational hikes in Jerusalem and around the country, and more.

Prominent among the findings unearthed at the site are a tremendous amount of imprinted pitcher handles. Researchers assume that jugs of oil and wine, as well as other agricultural produce, were amassed here as taxes to be given to foreign rulers.

The dig is supported by various private donors, as well as the Jewish National Fund, the National Tourism Company and Kibbutz Ramat Rachel.

The administrative center at what is now Ramat Rachel included a complex of palace buildings that was active from the reign of King Menashe through that of King Zedekiah, at the end of the First Temple period, and for at least 200 years after the return to Zion and through the Hellenistic period. During the Hasmonean period, however, the site was razed to the ground – and atop it was built a Jewish village, from which remain many ritual baths situated in private homes, caves used for raising pigeons, and more.

The Jewish village lasted until at least the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in the year 68, when the Romans took it over. A church was built there under the Byzantines, but the site was later to remain desolate for nearly 1,000 years – until the construction of Kibbutz Ramat Rachel by modern-day Zionist Jews.

The Israel Antiquities Authorities estimates that there are one million archaeological artifacts on display in Israel at present.

Obama’s Thugs Stifling Free Speech
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsNewsmax.com - Pamela Geller
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

America has been sucker punched. The unifier, the great post-racial, post-American president, has adopted the street tactics of Chicago thug politics. His ACORN/SEIU/Union goons are beating up decent American citizens at town hall meetings. And with the violence comes vilification: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has claimed that protesters are “carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on healthcare.”

Union thugs beat up a protester, Randy Arthur, at Florida Democrat Congresswoman Kathy Castor’s town hall meeting in Tampa on Aug. 6. Castor’s union thugs also shut the doors to prevent the opposing opinions from being heard. Fifteen hundred people were there, but they would not let them in the front door. When the doors were finally opened, only about 75 people were allowed in. Meanwhile, by the time those 75 were let in, the union and ACORN thugs had already been quietly ushered in through the back door, and had already taken seats that were reserved for them in the front. Castor herself then proceeded to leave, not taking any questions, claiming that it was because she “couldn’t hear.” Translation: she doesn’t have answers, because she hasn’t read the House bill.

And in Missouri, over 1,000 St. Louis Tea Party taxpayers showed up to attend the Russ Carnahan town hall meeting in South St. Louis. They too were locked out — while the Carnahan staff was sneaking members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in the side door marked “handicapped.” Remember: President Barack Obama paid out at least $2.25 million to the SEIU, the nation’s largest labor union. And SEIU COPE-PAC spent $13,355,389 to get Obama elected president. SEIU paid for door-to-door canvassing for Obama, voter identification and registration, and phone banks.

The thugs were attacking free citizens. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has this: “Kenneth Gladney, 38, a conservative activist from St. Louis, said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow flags with ‘Don’t tread on me’ printed on them. He spoke to the Post-Dispatch from the emergency room at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was awaiting treatment for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face. Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man, used a racial slur against him before the attack. ‘It just seems there’s no freedom of speech without being attacked,’ he said.”

Not for conservatives. Not for free Americans.

Expect a lot of this, folks. Expect to fight for your right to speak freely. They are co-opting the heartfelt outcry of great Americans as a propaganda trick. They will pack town halls this summer with their paid street thugs and video the proceedings with shaky cameras so that their media shills and whores will happily run the video as the “American street.”

Liberal Media Bias Continues Unchecked
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsOneNewsNow - Chad Groening
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

A conservative media watchdog finds it outrageous that the media is not calling Democrats to task for characterizing Americans who are exercising their First Amendment rights as Nazis and mobsters.

The Media Research Center (MRC) says liberals are not only grasping at straws of desperation to protect the radical government takeover of the nation's healthcare system, but they have also crossed into unabashed hate speech.
 
The MRC points out that recently the Democratic National Committee launched a web video charging "desperate Republicans and their well-funded allies with organizing angry mobs to destroy President Obama." Then shortly thereafter House Speaker Pelosi accused town hall protestors of "carrying swastikas."
 
Dan Gainor is vice president for business and culture at the Culture and Media Institute of the MRC.
 
"If conservatives go to an event and actually express any opinion at all, suddenly they're wrong," he notes. "What do you get from the left? You get union thugs being bused in. That's their way to respond to the American public. They don't want to respond and debate a topic. They want to respond by bringing in union thugs."
 
Gainor says the media has a responsibility to report on this hate speech, who is behind it, and how vicious it has become.

Israel Beefs Up Weapons Stash
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsOneNewsNow -Chad Groening
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;War

A Pentagon advisor and senior military strategist believes Israel's recent purchase of some sophisticated weapons will greatly enhance the capability of Israeli Defense Forces to deal with growing threats from their Islamic enemies.

 Recently The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israel Air Force (IAF) has purchased more than 100 Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition kits (LJDAM). The first LJDAMs, manufactured by Boeing, were delivered to the United States Air Force in 2008. An Israeli Defense Ministry official said the technology will give the IAF better accuracy when hitting moving targets, such as terrorists in moving cars.
 
Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.) says the new technology could be also used in a possible strike against Iranian nuclear sites. "It would appear as if Israel is certainly assembling the pieces for a strike, should they decide to do it," he believes.
 
Maginnis contends such a strike could likely involve another weapon being developed by the U.S.
 
"The U.S. military is developing what's called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which is ten times more powerful than any other conventional weapon that we have," he describes. "It can penetrate something that is 200 feet below the ground in solid concrete -- maybe something like the Nantez enrichment facility in Iran."
 
According to Maginnis, the U.S. might be willing to sell Israel the Massive Ordinance Penetrator. He says the U.S. sold the Israeli Defense Forces 1,000 "Bunker Buster" weapons last year.

IDF Attacks Smuggling Tunnel Following Mortar, Rocket Attacks
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Tzvi Ben Gadalayhu
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

 
The Israeli Air Force bombed a Gaza smuggling tunnel in the pre-dawn hours Monday, several months after the U.S. and Europe promised to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons. The operation was carried out in retaliation for three mortar attacks and one rocket attack in the Western Negev on Sunday.

Two mortar rounds landed near an ambulance carrying Gaza Arabs to an Israeli hospital, a practice that Hamas often tries to prevent.

The targeted tunnel was located under the city of Rafiah, which straddles the border dividing Gaza and Egypt. Foreign media described the Israeli counterterrorist maneuver as being carried out by “warplanes.” No injuries were reported.

A sharp escalation in attacks on major Israeli cities last November and December led to the three-week Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign. The Olmert government agreed to end the retaliation after the U.S. signed an agreement to place monitors and personnel to prevent smuggling of weapons through tunnels from Egypt to Gaza.

More than 200 rockets and mortars have been fired on Israel since the end of Cast Lead, military spokesmen said.

Military intelligence and Israeli security officials told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee this week that Hamas is using the tunnels to smuggle into Gaza improved Kassam rockets that can reach metropolitan Tel Aviv. Hamas reportedly has carried out at least two tests of the rockets, which were fired towards the Mediterranean Sea.

Baby Boom Intifada: European Muslim Population Time Bomb
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Tzvi Ben Gedalayhu
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

 
A high birth rate among Muslim immigrants to Europe will make followers of the religion a majority of the population in many European Union countries in less than 40 years, according to demographers.

Previous forecasts of population changes already have proven to be too low, and the baby boom already is changing the face of European society, where Muslims have made inroads to challenge the authority of secular law with Sharia regulations.

Europe’s Muslim population has more than doubled since 1980 and will double again in less than six years, according to the London Daily Telegraph. It noted that Arab names, such as Mohammed, dominate almost all of the seven most popular names of boys born in Brussels.

The high population numbers are the result of Europe’s open immigration policies that have attracted Muslims from poorer countries and whose birth rate is far higher than those of European non-Muslims. The mass influx has reversed the outflow of residents in EU countries, where previous estimates of a population loss of 16 million by 2050 have been replaced with forecasts of an increase of several million.

However, previous estimates have proven to be “nonsense,” the Telegraph reported, noting that an EU report reveals that its population has increased by nearly two million people every year since 2002.

The number of Muslims in Europe today is far above 15 million and may be as many as 25 million. In some cities, such as Birmingham England, whites are expected to be a minority in less than two decades, and Muslims may become a majority in France by 2050.

Long-term effects of the growing Muslim population may be felt in foreign relations, particularly with the United States, but immediate changes have been implemented in areas concerning Islamic law, known as Sharia.

Last year, the British government quietly allowed Muslim religion courts to rule on Muslim civil cases concerning divorces, financial disputes and domestic violence, creating fears that Muslims will establish a legal system parallel and with equal authority as the British legal system.

Muslim clerics responded that Jewish courts also are allowed to operate. Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said, “If the Jewish courts are allowed to flourish, so must the Sharia ones.”

Abbas Says Terrorist Against Israel is Legitimate
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;War

International peace brokers have tried to paint Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas as the moderate antithesis of his predecessor Yasser Arafat. But at the weekend Abbas made clear during a convention for the Fatah party both he and Arafat founded that he continues to cling to the violent ideals of his former mentor and friend.

Fatah is holding its first party convention in years in an effort to get the movement back on track and overcome years of widespread corruption and perceived weakness that have resulted in huge gains for the rival Hamas faction.

After being unanimously re-elected as party leader, Abbas told those gathered in Bethlehem that while he walks the path of the international peace process, he "maintains the right to launch an armed resistance," local-speak for terrorism, which he claims enjoys the backing of international law.

World leaders stopped meeting with Arafat toward the end of his life as the ailing Palestinian leader dropped all pretenses of negotiating with Israel in good faith. After Arafat's death, Abbas was presented and hailed as a leader who had truly abandoned the very idea of achieving political goals through violence, especially violence aimed at innocent civilians.

But Abbas and some of his most senior advisors and colleagues have very pointedly acknowledged of late that they continue to walk in the footsteps of Arafat.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday called the rhetoric coming out of the Fatah convention "grave and unacceptable," but insisted that concluding a comprehensive land-for-peace deal with Abbas' regime remains the only way forward for the region.

66 Percent of Jews: Our Sovereignty in Jerusalem is Indisputable
Aug 11th, 2009
Daily NewsIsraelNN - Gil Ronen
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

66 percent of Israeli Jews believe that Jerusalem in its entirety is Israel’s capital and that Israel’s right to build anywhere within the city is undisputable.

27 percent of those polled opposed this position and the rest did not know.

The War and Peace Index poll found that 53 percent of the Jewish public judged the government’s foreign policy favorably, while 33 percent viewed it negatively. A majority among the voters for all parties except Labor and Meretz hold this view.