Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Why Government Phone Spying is Really About Big Data
Jun 7th, 2013
Daily NewsPopsci
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

For the past three months, Verizon has handed over information on all telephone calls within its system to the U.S. government. This news, which broke last night thanks to a leaked court document, is a big story, but it isn’t exactly a surprising one.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group dedicated to the protection of fundamental rights online, has long suspected this kind of broad surveillance. Last summer, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), hinted that the government has broader surveillance powers than people suspect. The agencies doing the surveillance all fall under the executive branch, but congress has the power of oversight. Last December, Congress voted to extend the act granting this broad surveillance power until at least 2017.

What that all means: While the actual Verizon surveillance story is news, it’s hardly unanticipated, and it falls into a much larger pattern of increased governmental surveillance powers post-9/11.

It also means that all of this is legal. The FBI had a warrant for the records it requested from Verizon, and, rather than break the law, Verizon obliged. Not everything was turned over to the government: Phone calls themselves are well protected by legal precedent, and obtaining warrants to listen to a tremendous amount of calls is much harder. Instead, the government asked for phone call metadata, which is kept and maintained by telecommunications companies. The metadata includes the time the call took place, the call origin, the call duration, and the carrier. In cellphones, it also includes the cell towers that transmitted the call, giving a rough approximation of the callers’ physical location.

Whistleblower Was Horrified That Government Could literally Watch Your Ideas Form As You Type
Jun 7th, 2013
Daily NewsBusiness Insider
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The program detailed in the bombshell Washington Post report wasn’t meant to be publicly disclosed, despite the fact that it had been established in 2007.

A government whistleblower provided the information to the Post because of the chilling capabilities of U.S. government surveillance.

From the Post report:

Firsthand experience with these systems, and horror at their capabilities, is what drove a career intelligence officer to provide PowerPoint slides about PRISM and supporting materials to The Washington Post in order to expose what he believes to be a gross intrusion on privacy. “They quite literally can watch your ideas form as you type,” the officer said.

U.S. Says Deadly Mers Virus Could Affect Nat’l Security
Jun 7th, 2013
Daily Newscnsnews
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

As Saudi and U.N. health authorities report new infections from a troubling new respiratory disease, there are concerns that the approaching Hajj – the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca – could increase the risk of spreading the virus as pilgrims return to their home countries.

Meanwhile the U.S. government, in a notice published in the Federal Register Wednesday, declared that the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV, or simply MERS) could potentially “affect national security or the health and security of United States citizens living abroad.”

Saudi Arabia is currently the undisputed center of the scare.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the majority of the 55 confirmed MERS cases – 40 infections, 24 deaths – have occurred in the kingdom, while two deaths each have been reported in Britain and Jordan and one death each in France and the United Arab Emirates. (The fatalities in Europe were linked to visits to the Middle East.)

Infections also have been reported in Qatar, Tunisia and Italy.

The notice published in the Federal Register Wednesday said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has determined that “there is a significant potential for a public health emergency that has a significant potential to affect national security or the health and security of United States citizens living abroad.”

That determination in turn allows the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bypass standard processes and fast-track approval for products or drugs in relation to MERS, on the basis of an “emergency use application” (EUA).

The FDA may under the prescribed circumstances issue an EUA “authorizing (1) the emergency use of an unapproved drug, an unapproved or uncleared device, or an unlicensed biological product; or (2) an unapproved use of an approved drug, approved or cleared device, or licensed biological product,” the notice says.

The Tribulation Period
Jun 7th, 2013
CommentaryPhotorama
Categories: Warning

(Drought) With the population of the earth at an all-time high, a major drought in the third world could easily result in mass starvation. It says in the Bible that a measure of wheat will cost a penny. In the first century, a measure of wheat was equal to a single loaf of bread and penny was a days wage. A person would have to work all day to afford one loaf of bread.

"And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure ofwheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny" (Rev 6:6).

Nicaragua Gives Chinese Firm Contract to Build Alternative to Panama Canal
Jun 7th, 2013
Daily NewsThe Guardian
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Nicaragua has awarded a Chinese company a 100-year concession to build an alternative to the Panama Canal, in a step that looks set to have profound geopolitical ramifications.

The president of the country’s national assembly, Rene Nuñez, announced the $40bn (£26bn) project, which will reinforce Beijing’s growing influence on global trade and weaken US dominance over the key shipping route between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The name of the company and other details have yet to be released, but the opposition congressman Luis Callejas said the government planned to grant a 100-year lease to the Chinese operator.

The national assembly will debate two bills on the project, including an outline for an environmental impact assessment, on Friday.

Nicaragua’s president, Daniel Ortega, said recently that the new channel would be built through the waters of Lake Nicaragua.

The new route will be a higher-capacity alternative to the 99-year-old Panama Canal, which is currently being widened at the cost of $5.2bn.

Last year, the Nicaraguan government noted that the new canal should be able to allow passage for mega-container ships with a dead weight of up to 250,000 tonnes. This is more than double the size of the vessels that will be able to pass through the Panama Canal after its expansion, it said.

Meet ‘Schmeat’: Lab - Grown Meat Hits the Grill This Month
Jun 7th, 2013
Daily NewsCBC News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A hamburger patty made from lab-grown meat — or “schmeat” — is expected to be unveiled and grilled later this month at an event in London that is highly anticipated by animal rights activists and other backers.

“The vision for this burger is really to attract support, to attract funding,” said social sciences researcher Neil Stephens in an interview with CBC’sThe Current host Anna Maria Tremonti. “And I’m sure it will because it’s a very enticing idea for many people.”

Stephens, a professor at Cardiff University in Wales, has been studying the ethical and cultural issues around in vitro meat and has interviewed all the key scientific figures in the field.

Among them is Mark Post, a physiologist at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, who grew the meat for the upcoming burger unveiling in his lab. The development of the 140-gram patty has taken two years and cost €250,000 ($338,000). Stephens said the funding needed to scale up the process to something commercially viable is one of the biggest obstacles right now on the journey of in vitro meat from the lab and the supermarket.

Conventional meat raises environmental, ethical concerns

Isha Datar is among those who hope the London burger event will lead to larger amounts of funding for the development of in vitro meat.

Datar is the executive director of New Harvest, a non-profit organization that raises awareness about alternatives to conventionally produced meat, and provides some funding and support to researchers in the field.

“Meat as we know it today is very environmentally unfriendly,” she told The Current.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 7th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Remember When Dems Supported Obama’s Extension Of The Patriot Act?
Two senators — two Democratic senators — are asking the Obama administration to disclose surveillance powers under the Patriot Act, saying citizens would be “stunned” to learn what the government says it can do.

Blair: There is a Problem Within Islam
There is a problem within Islam that goes beyond the existence of religious extremists, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has posited in what seems like a change in perception, writing in the Daily Mail. “There is a problem within Islam – from the adherents of an ideology that is a strain within Islam. We have to put it on the table and be honest about it,” wrote Blair, who currently serves as Special Envoy to the Middle East.

Pope Francis says intends to visit Israel
Three months after succeeding Benedict XVI , Pope Francis has intimated he is planning a visit to Israel. On Wednesday, the Pope met with Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin as part of Israel's ongoing dialogue with the Vatican

Kerry to return to Mideast next week in further peace push
US Secretary of State John Kerry is set to return to Israel and the Palestinian territories next week for his fifth visit to the region in barely two months to extend his push for a revival of peace talks, sources on both sides said.

House votes to delay bulk ammunition purchase by DHS
The House late Wednesday voted to stop the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from entering into new contracts to buy millions of rounds of ammunition until the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports to Congress on the need for the ammo, and its cost.

Bilderberg 2013: LIVE UPDATES
“They always meet one time a year, at a five-star hotel with golfing facilities. And yeah, they’re really powerful people. It seems to be run by business, the idea is big business people. So this year it’s Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt, and over the years it’s been Heinz and Smithkline Beecham. They invite up-and-coming politicians along, with the idea that they can offer the up-and-coming politicians wise words. This is what ‘Bilderbergers’ have told me. And they’re globalists, and they feel like they want to try and spot the next presidents or prime minister,” he adds.

Europe floods: Hungary Danube set for record high
Hungarians have been warned to prepare for their country's worst floods ever as the Danube is set to reach record levels this weekend. "We are facing the worst floods of all time," said PM Viktor Orban. Europe's second longest river is set to hit unprecedented levels in the capital Budapest in the next few days.

North Korea reopens hotline with South
North Korea has restored a key hotline with South Korea, as the two sides discuss where to hold talks on a jointly-run industrial zone. Pyongyang said early on Friday it would reopen a Red Cross line cut in March. It also invited officials to Kaesong for talks on Sunday on restarting operations at the factory zone, after the two sides agreed in principle to talks on Thursday.

Spy scandal to impact talks on EU-US data treaty
Classified documents obtained by the Washington Post and The Guardian reveal that the National Security Agency, a US intelligence-gathering body, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are secretly tapping into the servers of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple. The program - called Prism - is the latest in a series of secret data gathering schemes put in place after 9/11.

US calls for restraint from Israel, Syria
US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki warned both Israel and Syria to avoid any rash action that might jar a volatile situation along the Israeli-Syrian border during a briefing with the media on Thursday night. "We continue to call upon all parties to avoid any action that would jeopardize the long-held ceasefire between Israel and Syria," Psaki said.

Entrepreneurs pray more, see God as personal, researchers find
American entrepreneurs pray more frequently, are more likely to see God as personal and are more likely to attend services in congregations that encourage business and profit-making, according to a study by Baylor University scholars of business and sociology.

Tel Aviv turns into a mass street party for Gay Pride
Thousands of people crammed into Gan Meir park in central Tel Aviv on Friday morning, as the annual Gay Pride Parade got underway with the customary party through the streets of the city. ..."I am proud that Tel Aviv is the most gay-friendly city in the world," Huldai said, as he took the stage. Huldai is facing an election later this year, running against the popular Horowitz for the mayor's seat.

David Petraeus At Bilderberg to Craft “Big Data” Spy Grid
Former CIA Director David Petraeus is in attendance at the 2013 Bilderberg Group conference to help construct the “big data” spy grid, which is set to become the new frontier of clandestine statecraft as Internet connectivity becomes ubiquitous.

U.S. Attorney Bill Killian greeted by hostile crowd at Manchester, Tenn., free speech event
U.S. Attorney Bill Killian was greeted with shouts of "traitor," "serpent," and calls to "resign" or "go home" Tuesday night at an event aimed at improving relations between local residents and their Muslim neighbors.

NSA, FBI Tapped 9 Internet Companies
It's all coming out now. The Washington Post reports that the National Security Agency and the FBI have been tapping into the central servers of nine top U.S. Internet companies in a highly classified program code-named PRISM that began in 2007.

Andrea's Rain, Wind, Tornado Threat
After forming in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday evening, Andrea made landfall along the Florida Big Bend as a tropical storm on Thursday at 5:40 p.m. The center of Andrea is now accelerating northeastward along the Southeast coast. Andrea will likely transition to a non-tropical remnant low at some point on Friday, however its impacts

Earthquake Ruptures Faster Than Thought
When faults in the Earth rupture to generate earthquakes, so-called shear waves are generated deep below Earth's crust. Generally, these ruptures move along the surfaces of faults more slowly than shear waves do. (Shear waves travel at about 7,800 mph (12,600 km/h)). However, in recent decades, seismologists have identified a handful of large quakes where the ruptures move faster than the shear waves.

Khamenei Asks Israel Its Terms for Calling Off Nuclear Strike
Jun 7th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Contemporary Issues

 In an epic world exclusive, DEBKA Weekly's military and intelligence sources reveal that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a back-channel approach to Washington last month, requesting that Barack Obama personally ask Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to spell out Israel’s terms for dispensing with an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities – either with the US or unilaterally.

A hush was imposed on this one-of-a-kind communication from Tehran - so deep that Obama avoided discussing it even on a secure White House line to Jerusalem. He entrusted Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan with delivering it in person.
Israeli officials confirmed Brennan’s arrival on a “mystery trip” on May 17. Nothing else was divulged except that he met with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to discuss the Syrian crisis, with several Israel generals in attendance.
But the US spy chief’s most important interview was not disclosed, the one with Netanyahu. It was then that he delivered the message containing the supreme leader’s query. The upshot of their conversation was an agreement to coordinate US and Israeli positions in the matter. Both diagnosed the Iranian approach as an attempt to drive a wedge between Washington and Jerusalem.

The answer to Khamenei’s note came from Kerry

According to the information reaching this publication, Netanyahu has not yet posted a reply to Ayatollah Khamenei’s unprecedented communication to the Jewish state.
But on May 31, US Secretary of State John Kerry shed new, unforeseen light on the administration’s position:
Addressing a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Kerry said he was not optimistic that Iran's upcoming election would produce any change in the country's nuclear ambitions, which are believed aimed at developing atomic weapons. Any shift in Iran's nuclear policy will come from the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he said, and not the winner of the June 14 presidential election.
Secretary Kerry reiterated the long-standing U.S. position that it would be "unacceptable" for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.
He also said the US would continue to pursue a peaceful resolution to the impasse but that time is running out. He said Iran's persistent defiance of international demands to come clean about its nuclear program makes the world more dangerous.
Political observers were surprised to hear Kerry breaking with the president’s decision to hold off on pushing Iran on its nuclear program until after its presidential election. Obama sought to reciprocate for Khamenei’s consent to abstain from rocking his boat when he stood for a second term last year.
However, the real bombshell was yet to come.

Obama’s green light for a unilateral Israeli attack on Iran

"Iran needs to understand that the clock is ticking," said the Secretary of State, continuing his comments. He noted that Israel, which sees Iran as a threat to its existence, “has not ruled out a unilateral military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. Every month it goes by gets more dangerous. And the reality is that Israel will do what it needs to do to defend itself."
Those comments told Tehran that the Obama administration has finally come around to a nod for a unilateral Israeli military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
This landmark US policy departure was drowned out by the clamor of the Syrian war, the mounting evidence of the Assad regime’s use of the Sarin nerve gas - confirmed this week by France, and the Syrian rebels’ resounding defeat at al Qusayr.
But shortly after Kerry spoke, the US Departments of State and Treasury released a shower of new sanctions for tightening the squeeze on Tehran: Firms in the Persian Gulf, Cyprus and elsewhere were penalized for enabling blacklisted Iranian firms to obtain a long list of items including new aircraft and helping the Islamic Republic market banned oil exports.
Even harsher sanctions were slapped down Monday, June 3. They targeted Iran’s currency and car industry. An executive order signed by President Obama authorized penalties against foreign financial institutions trading in rials or holding rial accounts outside Iran, as well as providers of goods and services to Iran’s auto industry.

Obama furious at Khamenei for going over his head to Israel

These measures, said US spokesmen, aimed at devaluing the Iranian currency and hobbling its industry. They were the very same tough sanctions which Netanyahu called for in the past – only to be refused by the Obama administration.
What made Obama suddenly relent on this point and strike Tehran hard less than two weeks before Iranians go to the polls to choose a new president – contrary to his declared policy of going easy on Tehran during its election season?
No authoritative party has come forward with an explanation. Indeed, the White House, Netanyahu's Office and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s bureau are firmly mum on the subject.
So it is left to DEBKA Weekly’s sources to make three suggestions:
1. President Obama was furious at what he saw as Ayatollah Khamenei going over his head for a separate secret deal with Israel to save Iran’s nuclear program from attack, an offer he never made to Washington. Indeed, the Iranian ruler had the cheek to use the US president’s good services as a letterbox.
2. Kerry's reference to a ticking clock made the point that it is up to Washington – not Tehran – to determine whether or not Israel attacks Iran. Since Khamenei was not above using underhand tactics to reach Netanyahu, the US was settling the score by releasing the restraints which kept Iran safe from a solo Israeli attack and letting Khamenei contend with the Israeli threat as best he can.
3. President Obama is for the first time willing to countenance an early Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear program.
Since much about this affair remains under wraps, DEBKA Weekly's sources expect to follow up this disclosure with more revelations.

John 3:14-15 Man's Greatest Need
Jun 7th, 2013
CommentaryIan Kurylyk
Categories: Bible Salvation

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).

The occasion in the life of Moses referred to here by Jesus can be read of in Numbers 21.  Israel had sinned against the Lord and judgment followed.  "And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died" (Numbers 21:6).  This is just one of the many specific instances of sin recorded in the Bible so we who would come after could learn the ways of the Lord and the dangers of sin.  Sin brings the deadly bite of the serpent.

When the people under conviction cried, "we have sinned", God provided a way of escape.  "And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live" (Numbers 21:8).

The serpent of brass mirrored the death sentence Israel experienced by the fiery serpents, but lifted up on a pole it was an offer of life for all that were bitten.  Jesus referred to this to teach Nicodemus of God's provision for eternal salvation soon to take place.  Jesus had to be lifted up on a cross and experience the curse against sin, the death penalty.  Though He had never sinned, the Saviour had to die.  He "must" be lifted up.

The snake-bitten, guilty, dying men of Israel could only have physical life restored by looking at the brass serpent lifted up.  And Nicodemus (or you or I) can only have eternal salvation by a look of faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ in His substitutionary death on the cross (believe).  Nicodemus had first just wanted the faith of the scholar, the seminary student.  "The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him" (John 3:2).  But the faith that saves is the one that looks to God's Son dying on the cross for salvation like the guilty snake-bitten sinners of Numbers 21

Is Europe on the Verge of Demographic Collapse?
Jun 7th, 2013
Daily NewsThe Irish Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of demographic suicide. Although the consequences of such a turnout could not be more serious, the problem attracts little public attention – indeed, most people may not even be aware of it. And experts can neither explain the cause nor prescribe a reliable remedy. The story is outlined in Population and Public Policy: Essays in Honour of Paul Demeny, published by the New York-based Population Council (2013).

Having too few children is a recent phenomenon. Sixty years ago, people worried about ballooning populations in the developing world resulting from high fertility rates and declining death rates (due to healthcare). The birth rate required to keep the population steady (replacement birth rate) is 2.1 children per woman, and this rate was set as the demographic goal to stabilise population.

War on population
The UN got behind the initiative, Third World governments came on board and contraception was made widely available. Economic development, healthcare and education kicked in and contributed to lower birth rates, but some developing countries implemented drastic measures, such as sterilisation campaigns in India and a one-child policy in China. Although fertility was declining in rich countries, population control really took off.

The goal of achieving global replacement-level fertility is within striking distance. According to UN estimates, the average woman today will have 2.36 children, reduced from 4.95 in the 1950s, and research at the Autonomous University of Madrid indicates that a global average of 2.1 children per woman could be achieved by 2050.

Hamas Twists in the Syrian Wind - Back to Tehran
Jun 7th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Until just a year ago, Iran’s proxy, the Lebanese Shiite Hizballah, and the radical Palestinian Sunni Hamas were best friends and united eternally in their war of “resistance” against Israel.
Since then, their undying friendship has vanished in a cloud of smoke over the Syrian battlefield.
Last week the Hizballah force leading the Syrian army in the battle for Al-Qusayr captured five armed Hamas Palestinians, who were fighting alongside Syrian Sunni rebels.
No sooner was Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah informed, when he took action.
DEBKA Weekly reports that the Hamas office housed alongside Hizballah headquarters in Beirut’s Dahya district was summarily shut down and its staff expelled from the city. That was the first order handed to the Hamas envoy in Lebanon Ali Baraka by Wafiq Safa, Hizballah’s Syrian war commander who also heads its intelligence and terror operations.
Hamas cells were next pulled out of southern Lebanon. Ali Baraka quickly relocated them in the southern port town of Sidon where Hizballah has no influence. Finally, Nasrallah cut off the supply of military and technical assistance from Hizballah to the Hamas military arm, the Ezz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

All Hamas funds cut off

Our intelligence and Iranian sources confirm that the Hizballah crackdown on Hamas was coordinated with the office of the Al Qods Brigades chief, Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
Without a word, Tehran stopped the flow of funds to Hamas. When Gaza government officers asked Iranian officials when to expect their remittance, they were answered with evasions. Hamas was left in the dark about when - or even if - any more funds would be forthcoming from Tehran.
It was also left in desperate financial straits: Qatar, the newest benefactor of the Palestinian group, has cut back on its allowance, Saudi Arabia stopped it altogether last year and its parent organization, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, is stone broke.
This week, Hamas chiefs in Istanbul, Gaza and Cairo put their heads to together and decided the next thing to do was to send missions of conciliation to call on Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran and Hizballah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.
The first was led by Emad al-Alami, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau and a military operations leader; the second by Salah al-Arouri, who runs the Hamas operation on the West Bank from Istanbul.
The two delegations have arrived at their destinations and are waiting for appointments to be scheduled.

Hamas switches sides from Syrian rebels to Bashar Assad

So, once again, Hamas is twisting in the wind.
The radical Palestinian group ruling the Gaza Strip started pulling out of the Iranian-Hizballah sphere of influence in November 2012 when it was nudged by the US, Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish diplomacy into signing a ceasefire for ending Israel’s Pillar of Defense operation against its rocket offensive.
Hamas’s new pro-Western orientation was endorsed by Khaled Meshaal, the former and current politburo head.
Marwan Issa, commander of the Hamas military arm, then went into voluntary exile in Tehran. At the time, he raised no objections to the truce - any more than did Mahmoud a-Zahar, Hamas’s Gazan strongman and head of its pro-Tehran faction.
But eight months later, that faction sees its chance to turn the organization back to Iran’s embrace.
Its military chiefs now argue that their organization has no interest in getting involved in the Arab Revolt or the Syrian war, because it has only one goal: Fighting a war of resistance against Israel.
However, since Hamas’s partner in the “resistance” front, Hizballah, is fighting for Bashar Assad, and since Assad himself has offered his war allies the chance to use Syrian territory to fight Israel and liberate the Golan, the Palestinian extremists must now refocus their orientation and seize the opportunity for confronting Israel from Syria.
If this means dumping fellow Sunni Syrian rebels and aligning with Assad, so be it.
The Hamas leader A-Zahar, who drew up the protocols covering Hamas’s commitments to Iran’s Middle East interests last September, is now urging his organization to go back to those commitments. He maintains that no one but Tehran and Hizballah can be counted on to provide Hamas with the weapons for attacking Israel. And to get back on the winning side of the Syrian war, Hamas is willing to switch sides once again.

Abbas: Israel Seeks to Build Holy Temple Instead of Al - Aqsa
Jun 7th, 2013
Daily NewsINN
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has accused Israel of trying to “destroy” the Al-Aqsa Mosque by allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.

In an interview he gave on Thursday to the Saudi-based Al-Watannewspaper, Abbas said that “the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in danger,” claiming that Israel prevents PA Arabs from praying at the mosque, while allowing “extremist Jews” to worship there. This, he claimed, is proof that Israel has a “malicious” and dangerous plan to destroy the mosque and rebuild the “false” Holy Temple in its place, as he put it.

Arabs continuously make false accusations that Israel is trying “Judaizing” the Temple Mount, sometimes resorting to ridiculous propaganda such as accusing Israel ofusing chemicals to erode the foundations of the mosque in order to cause it to collapse.

A claim similar to Abbas’s was made several months ago by a PA official who also said that Israel was trying to build a new Holy Temple on the Temple Mount.

The official claimed that an analysis of Jerusalem’s development plans finds that there is an intention to Judaize the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and within this framework build the Temple on its ruins and to then reduce the number of Arab residents in the city.

The reality, however, is that it is the Jews – not the Arabs – who are discriminated against when they want to pray on the Temple Mount. The Waqf, which was left in charge of the Temple Mount following Jerusalem’s reunification in 1967, has removed every sign of ancient Jewish presence at the Jewish holy site.