Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

White House Hosts Israel - Hating Radical Muslim
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Elad Benari
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

White House officials met this month with Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, a deputy of radical Egyptian cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who has been banned from entering the United States, reported the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT).

The June 13 meeting took place on the same day the Obama administration announced plans to arm Syria's rebel forces, the report noted.

IPT noted that al-Qaradawi, the founder of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), endorses Palestinian Authority Arab suicide bombers and supports Hamas in its fight against Israel. The report also said that bin Bayyah, like al-Qaradawi, also "refuses to label the acts of groups such as Hamas, Hizbullah or the Islamic Jihad as terrorism."

The White House reportedly sought the meeting with bin Bayyah, the IPT report declared.

According to IPT, in a post written in Arabic on his own website, bin Bayyah quoted National Security Council official Gayle Smith as saying, "We asked for this meeting to learn from you and we need to be looking for new mechanisms to communicate with you and the Association of Muslim Scholars.”

The post carried a picture appearing to show bin Bayyah at a table with U.S. officials in the White House

Other senior officials that bin Bayyah said were in attendance include Rashad Hussain, the U.S. special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; White House spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri; and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, according to IPT.

Bin Bayyah reportedly lobbied the White House to "take urgent action" to help Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad during the meeting.

In granting bin Bayyah a visa, noted IPT, White House officials ignored his radical statements as well as his close connection to Qaradawi. The IUMS's hostility toward Israel, and its support of terrorists, is well documented. Bin Bayyah falls comfortably in line with that view.

For example, in a 2011 statement on his website, he criticized the West for placing terrorist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others in the same category as Al-Qaeda:

"[P]lacing the Palestinian resistance, which defends internationally recognized rights, on an equal footing with intercontinental terrorist organizations (Al-Qaeda) is not based on any moral principle and would be detrimental to the cause of the fight against terrorism and mix the cards and raises questions to the world conscience and serves terrorists."

The IUMS welcomed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a member in February 2012. The "Union will spare nothing in the service of the Palestinian people, praising the jihad of the Palestinian people with the leadership of the Hamas movement for resistance," Haniyeh's induction certificate said, according to IPT.

Qaradawi, who is a citizen of Qatar, in January of 2009 claimed that Hitler had put the Jews in their place and that the Holocaust was "divine punishment."

He recently headed a delegation to Gaza, where he said that Israel has no right to exist, adding that nobody was allowed to cede "any part of Palestine."

Earlier this month Qaradawi slammed the Hizbullah terrorist group as the “party of Satan” that seeks to “sow discord” among Muslims, because of its support for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

Scalia Dissent: Gay Marriage Decision 'Jaw - Dropping'
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsNewsmax
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

In a blistering rebuke of the Supreme Court decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, Justice Antonin Scalia said the self-governing power of the people has been eroded.

Report: Netanyahu Ready to Give Up 90% of Judea and Samaria
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - David Lev
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

A report in Ha'aretz Thursday quoted top Likud ministers as saying that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is prepared to give up as much as 90% of Judea and Samaria in a deal with the Palestinian Authority. If Netanyahu is satisfied that Israel's security needs are accounted for, the report quoted the ministers as saying, nearly all of Judea and Samaria outside of the large “settlement blocs” could be handed over to the PA. “Isolated” communities would be demolished, with residents forced to resettle elsewhere.

The ministers also said that the possibility of a major Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria was not at all remote. Netanyahu, they said, knows that the next round of talks under the sponsorship of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would be dealing with substantial issues, such as the borders of a PA state. The maximum Israel would be able to get in such a deal, the ministers said, is 10% of Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu understands this, but nevertheless is willing to enter into negotiations with the PA.

In recent days, MKs from the Bayit Yehudi party have been quoted as saying that the party would leave the government if it became clear that a major withdrawal from Judea and Samaria was on the horizon. Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri said Thursday that the majority of Israelis were in favor of a deal with the PA, even though the majority of the government wasn't. The solution: Change the government.

“If G-d forbid there will be a coalition crisis (with Bayit Yehudi) there are options,” Peri told Army Radio, without naming any specific parties that could take Bayit Yehudi's place.

Rebuilding Israel's Temple Mount
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsDaniel Ben Simon
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

I went to visit the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem to see how the preparations for the establishment of the new temple were getting on. For hundreds of Israelis, the task of renewing the temple has become the job of their lives. It is about time, so they believe, to establish the Third Temple in its proper place — right on the site where the First Temple and the Second Temple were once standing before being destroyed. 

Yehuda Glick is one of the “elite soldiers of the temple” who dedicate their lives to the mission. Since moving to Israel, he has been preparing for the great day, waiting to see the construction of the edifice that is to become the holiest place on earth for the Jewish people. A black skullcap adorning his head, his Hebrew flavored by an Anglo-Saxon accent, Glick spends his time as a tourist guide, escorting visitors to the Temple Mount.

I met Yehuda at the entrance gate to the Temple Mount. There is no greater thrill in his life than to walk on the soil of the Temple Mount. While he has visited the place hundreds or even thousands of times,,  his heart still beats with excitement on each visit. “As far as I see it, an amazing divine move is manifested here,” he explained while we were waiting in line at the gate. “The state of Israel is a part of this divine move, which will culminate in the establishment of the Third Temple.”

How is it going to be built and who will build it? I asked him. A broad smile spread across his face. He may have felt sorry for me or, perhaps, considered the question to be out of place. “The notion that the Temple will be built by itself, under divine directions, is the sort of idea typical of Diaspora Jews,” my interlocutor noted. He had left New York for Israel at the age of 8, settling with his family in Otniel, south of Hebron. “When I started visiting the Temple Mount 15 years ago, you could hardly gather a minyan — the quorum — for prayer. These days, hundreds of thousands of Jews are coming to pray on the Temple Mount. They expect us to rebuild the temple, and God willing, it will be built.”

Hundreds of tourists, most of them Christians, were standing in line under the scorching sun, waiting for the security check that every visitor seeking entry to the Temple Mount is required to pass. Jews are not allowed to bring in scrolls of the Torah, prayer books, copies of the Book of Psalms or any other article of worship that could be used to establish a mystical association between the Temple Mount and the holy Jewish Scriptures. Under the current arrangements agreed on between Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan, Jews visiting the Temple Mount are banned from openly praying on the premises or swaying in worship. One single event of deviation from the set rules could be enough to spark an international incident.

In fact, precisely such an incident occurred while I was waiting at the entrance gate to the Temple Mount. All of a sudden, shouts were heard from inside the enclosure. The policemen standing on guard at the gate went on alert and hurried to lock it. It turned out that a Muslim worshipper accused an Israeli policeman of knocking down a Quran she was holding in her hands. She started yelling "Allahu Akbar!" and within minutes, dozens of worshippers at the scene rushed to her aid, and some of them even tried to attack the policeman. The Temple Mount was closed to visitors right away and the incident was promptly brought to the attention of the top echelons in Israel, the Palestinian leaders in the territories and the Jordanian king's palace.

The commanding officer in charge of the Temple Mount site told me that incidents of that kind were an everyday matter. “The policeman on duty reported that the worshipper had thrown down the book on purpose, to stir up a provocation and, needless to say, I believe him,” he said, adding: “Even a minor event is liable to trigger an international incident.”

As the gates to the Temple Mount were closed, Yehuda and I headed for the Jewish Quarter, where the Temple Institute is located. Hundreds of tourists visit the Temple Institute store daily to see at close hand the preparations for the establishment of the temple. “Fifty percent of the visitors are not Jewish,” recounted Reuven Cohen, the store manager, who immigrated to Israel from England 34 years ago. “The Jews are coming here to look for the roots of the temple, whereas the visiting evangelists are deeply involved in the establishment of the temple. They are well aware that their process of redemption is closely interwoven with ours. They actually believe that the path of return of Jesus Christ to this earth passes through our temple.”

The articles of worship intended for use in the new temple, once it is erected, are on display in the store. Kits that include guidelines for proper conduct in the holy site are offered for sale alongside a variety of jigsaw puzzles of the temple — some comprising 24 pieces, for 3-year-old children, and others of 100 pieces and even 1,000 pieces — for the older. Hundreds of books, neatly arranged on the shelves, tell the history of the temples — those that were destroyed and the one that is to be built. There are books on the sacred golden candelabrums, books on the houses that served the Jewish priests who performed their duties at the temple, and others on the ritual sacrifices and prayers, as well as on the way of life that will prevail in Israel after the temple is established.

“Last year we had 50,000 visitors,” David Schwartz, who heads the Temple Institute, proudly stated. “The ever-growing interest shown by tourists reflects the feeling that the days of the Messiah are around the corner. You can sense it in the air — in schools, in synagogues, even in the homes of the secular. Everyone feels it coming up.”

While we were talking, hundreds of visiting school students were wandering around the Institute, impressed by the sights. “Yes, that’s true,” Schwartz added. “As you can see, people are looking for meaning to life. They want to achieve something. We are currently at the stage of preparing people for the construction of the temple.”

On display, next to the architectural building plans, are models showing pilgrims getting down from the light rail at the temple gate station. Others are seen parking their cars in an underground garage to be built beneath the temple. Sophisticated elevators would transport the worshippers right into the temple.

Schwartz, Cohen and Glick are all confident that once the Third Temple is erected, the world will become a fundamentally different place. The Lord would then bestow on Earth great abundance and there would no longer be anyone in need of charity. 

“Those who do not feel what is going to happen are either blind or stupid, or ungrateful,” Glick noted, clearly annoyed with me, having noticed the skeptical expression on my face. “There has never been anything like that in the history of the human race; the return of an exiled people to its homeland is unique in human annals. It is all written in the Torah. And the last, supreme stage will be the construction of the temple.”

However, there is one far from marginal factor left out. In all those plans and photographs and illustrations and puzzles and books put forward by the Jewish believers, the Third Temple is seen at the center of the Temple Mount, rising high up above it.

But there is no trace there of the Dome of the Rock, as if the earth had swallowed it up.

Rabbi: Doma Defeat Evidence of 'Upside Down World'
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - David Lev
Categories: Today's Headlines;Moral Decline

Rabbi Yoel Schoenfeld, Rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills in Queens, New York, told Arutz Sheva that the decision Wednesday by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down key parts of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), paving the way for greater acceptance of gay marriage, was a major step backwards for humanity that goes all the back to the Biblical Bila'am, whose donkey spoke to him.

“This is a generation as foolish and as silly as Bila'am was,” Rabbi Schoenfeld told Arutz Sheva. “When a donkey speaks to you, you don't get into a conversation with it. You are supposed to take note that something extraordinary is happening.” Often, people see “wondrous” things, but just go about their business without taking note.

That was the attitude that Jews needed to take on the Supreme Court decision. “To live in a world of fantasy where two people of the same gender can be wed ignores the thousands of years that man has lived with a traditional marriage. The Supreme Court decided that anyone who believes that is bigoted,” Rabbi Schoenfeld said. The decision, he said, was a “wake-up call” for Jews and others who had faith in the traditional definition of marriage, that something was seriously askew today.

With the striking down of DOMA, a 1996 law that prevented gay couples from receiving nearly 1,000 benefits even if the state they lived in recognized their marriage, shows that “the world is upside down,” Rabbi Schoenfeld said. “It's hard to understand how intelligent people people like judges could make such a decision. In a way, however, the decision was a reassuring one for Jews. “Our sages say that before the coming of the Messiah the world will see many strange things happening. Let us hope that this will be the final 'detour' off the path before the Messiah arrives."

Rabbi Meidan: Shabak Told Me to Bring Jews to Mount
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - David Lev
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Rabbi Ya'akov Meidan, head of the Har Etzion Hesder Yeshiva, said Wednesday that Shabak officials had encouraged him to bring Jews to the Temple Mount. A report on Israel Radio Thursday said that Rabbi Meidan had made the comments at an event Wednesday at the Begin Heritage Center, with officials encouraging the visits in order to strengthen the Jewish presence on the Mount.

Rabbi Meidan said that top Shabak officials had told him that they realized that without an ongoing and strong Jewish presence on the Mount, Israel was liable to “lose” it, eventually finding Jews banned from entering altogether as Arabs, emboldened by Israel's refusal to embrace the site, would take steps to keep Jews off the Mount.

They also said they realized that Jews were hesitant to go up to the Mount, because of the difficult circumstances they faced there, Rabbi Meidan said. Currently, Jews are allowed to go up to the Temple Mount, but only in small groups. They are followed around by a Muslim cleric, who checks to see if their lips are moving, as in prayer. If Jews are “caught” praying, they are ejected from the Mount, by an Israeli police officer. Often Jews are held for hours by police, and in some cases police have charged Jews for “inciting riots” and “creating public disorder” for not complying with the no-prayer demand.

At the event, retired High Court President Dalia Dorner said that Jews should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. The Court, she said, had nothing to say on this matter, and that the matter was up to the Knesset. The Court had nothing to say about it, said Dorner, in the same way as “it has nothing to say about blowing up the nuclear reactor in Iraq.”

Rabbi David Stav, a candidate for the position of Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi, said that it was the responsibility of the government to ensure a Jewish presence on the Mount, and to allow freedom of religion for Jews at the site. The government also had a responsibility, he said, to ensure that “the Arab enemies of Israels do not destroy the Jewish heritage of the site” by dismantling archaeological finds.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Bachmann: Justices think they've ‘arisen to the level of God’
Rep. Michele Bachmann said that in their rulings on gay marriage, Supreme Court justices showed they think they've "arisen to the level of God."  

Israel OKs building plans in E.Jerusalem
Hours before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's arrival in Israel, Jerusalem approved building 69 new homes in an East Jerusalem neighborhood, officials said.  

Stronger eruptions at two Alaska volcanoes, scientists say
Two Alaskan volcanoes that began minor eruptions weeks ago are showing their strongest seismic activity yet, emitting small amounts of lava and ash along with smoke plumes, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said Tuesday. The observatory warned of more vigorous activity with the Pavlof and Veniaminof volcanoes, both on the Alaskan Peninsula -- though that will likely just mean more ash.  

No. 2 of Pro-Hamas Radical Cleric Allegedly Visits the White House
The deputy of radical Islamic cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi is claiming to have met with Obama administration officials at the White House earlier this month, according to the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah posted a purported picture of the meeting online, though the White House visitor’s log has no record of anyone by his name at present.  

Mothers and fathers no longer in vogue
In the new school year, a new subject, mandatory sex education, will be introduced in all French schools. Children will be educated from the age of six. Sex education is intended to completely shift the perception of the traditional biological roles of males and females in the children's minds, replacing them with the ideas about the so-called social gender. France has become a field for growing new unnatural humanity.  

Tectonic disaster looming
Think the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 was catastrophic? You haven't seen anything yet. A new anomaly of the behavior of the Earth's crust has been detected off the coast of Portugal. Is this the start of a new phase of the Wilson Cycle, where the movement of plates breaks up and creates continents? Experts predict the disappearance of the Atlantic Ocean.  

Major West US Heat Wave in the Making
Temperatures will be at full throttle later this week over the interior West, reaching dangerous levels, challenging records and elevating the wildfire threat. While many folks over the interior West are accustomed to and expect hot weather during the summer the developing pattern will take the heat to the extreme. In some cities record highs for any date throughout the year could be equaled or breached.  

Russia evacuates Syria Naval Base
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister says all personnel had been evacuated from the navy resupply base in Tartus, Syria, adding that not a single Russian military serviceman remained in the country.  

‘Obamacare Hub’ to Put NSA Data Mining to Shame? Here Are the Potentially Scary Details
Fox News host Greta Van Susteren on Tuesday hosted Investor’s Business Daily writer John Merline to discuss a potentially disturbing aspect of “Obamacare.” Under the Affordable Care Act, a “big data system” will be created to track millions of Americans’ information, including tax and Social Security information, according to Merline.  

Rebuilding Israel's Temple Mount
“When I started visiting the Temple Mount 15 years ago, you could hardly gather a minyan — the quorum — for prayer. These days, hundreds of thousands of Jews are coming to pray on the Temple Mount. They expect us to rebuild the temple, and God willing, it will be built.”  

EU demands answers on GCHQ snooping
Viviane Reding, the commission vice-president who is also responsible for justice and equality, has has called on William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, to respond to...questions “by the end of the week”. “I have noted reports that the UK authorities are accessing, collecting and further processing, on a massive and indiscriminate scale, personal data in the form of communications passing through the UK,” she wrote...  

China to Bolster Defense Ties With Post-Soviet States
Beijing is committed to boosting its defense collaboration with member states of a post-Soviet security group that includes Russia, China’s defense minister said Wednesday. Joint military exercises as part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which also includes Kyrgyzstan and neighboring Central Asian states, are a “real necessity” for ensuring regional peace and stability and “enhancing political and strategic confidence."  

Pope launches sweeping Vatican Bank probe
A commission of inquiry has been set up by Pope Francis to review the activities of the Vatican bank, his boldest move yet to deal with an institution that has embarrassed the Catholic Church for decades. A Harvard professor and four senior clerics will have full powers to access any documentation and data to assess whether there is any substance to allegations that the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), as the bank is formally known, is guilty of money-laundering and tax evasion.  

4.3 magnitude earthquake hits Central Washington
The earthquake was 5.58 miles deep and began at 7:45 p.m., according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. The earthquake was centered 31.4 miles west of Chelan and 32.3 miles from Skykomish. People posting on the United States Geological Survey’s webpage said they felt the earthquake as far away as Kent, Vashon, Mount Vernon and Olympia.  

App records all audio all the time
A new iPhone app called Heard (as in "I heard you), is taking audio recording to a new level and raising some eyebrows in the process. The app automatically records everything within earshot of the iPhone's microphone and keeps it in the device's memory for five minutes. If the user wants to keep the audio, it can be saved, or it will automatically be erased.  

India floods: Mass cremations begin in Uttarakhand
Mass cremations are taking place in the Indian state of Uttarakhand where more than 800 people have died in floods and landslides. At least 200 bodies have been cremated in the temple town of Kedarnath after several delays due to bad weather. Aid agencies are warning of a possible threat of disease in relief camps where thousands are staying.  

US Supreme Court in historic rulings on gay marriage
The US Supreme Court has struck down a law denying federal benefits to gay couples and cleared the way for same-sex marriage in California. The justices said that the Defense of Marriage Act, known as Doma, discriminated against same-sex couples. They also declined to rule on Proposition 8, California's prohibition of gay marriage, in effect allowing such unions to resume in the state.  

US looks to send training teams to Lebanon, Iraq
U.S. military commanders have been told to explore ways to increase security assistance to Lebanon and Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs said Wednesday, as the violence in Syria spills across the borders and the Iraqis face growing threats from the local al-Qaida offshoot.  

Texas governor mounts new bid for abortion restrictions
Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry on Wednesday launched another battle to pass sweeping abortion restrictions after a marathon speech by a Democrat lawmaker briefly halted a bill critics say could shut most abortion clinics in one of the nation's biggest states.  

Anti-Muslim US bloggers barred from Britain
Two US political bloggers who founded an anti-Muslim group have been banned from entering Britain following reports they were to attend a march by the far-right English Defence League (EDL), the government said on Wednesday. Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, who set up Stop Islamization of America and operate the website Jihad Watch, have been forbidden from entering Britain on the grounds their presence would "not be conducive to the public good".  

Egypt's President Morsi warns unrest risks paralysis
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has warned that continuing unrest is "threatening to paralyse the country". In a speech marking his first year in office, Mr Morsi acknowledged making some "mistakes" and offered opponents a say in amending the new constitution.  

Scalia: 'High-Handed' Kennedy Has Declared Us 'Enemies of the Human Race'
In a ripping dissent, Scalia says that Justice Anthony Kennedy and his colleagues in the majority have resorted to calling opponents of gay marriage "enemies of the human race."

Israeli Biometric Database Program to Begin in Two Weeks
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Chana Ya'ar
Categories: The Nation Of Israel;Contemporary Issues

The Interior Ministry has announced that Israel’s biometric database program will officially begin in two weeks.

That’s when the government will start building a biometric database of all Israeli citizens by upgrading the folded blue plastic ID cards (“teudat zehut”) and other non-citizen Ids with fingerprints and facial recognition data.

Not everyone is happy about this plan.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) expressed outrage in a statement by spokesman Marc Grey, who warned, “The police could use this information in all kinds of ways to avoid their constitutional responsibilities of due process – and then you have all the issues of security [breaches] by external entities.”

The Biometric Database Law mandating collection of fingerprints and facial contours from all Israeli residents – and integrated on to domestic ID cards and national passports -- was actually passed by the Knesset in December 2009. The same law mandated creation of a biometric government database of that information, to be used for management of access control, identification of individuals and to assist in locating individuals suspected of criminal activity by the law enforcement officials.

The first phase, inclusion of the data in the central database, was to be voluntary.

A biometric identity system has been in place at domestic passport control at Ben Gurion International Airport for more than five years.

The law was passed in part to prevent identity theft and the loss, theft and destruction of the flimsy blue ID cards issued by the Interior Ministry, which had spiraled out of control in the decade prior to 2007. More than half of those requesting new documents had a criminal background, it was later discovered.

Foxconn to Speed Up ‘Robot Army’ Deployment
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsPC World
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Manufacturing giant Foxconn Technology Group is on track with its goal to a create a “million robot army”, and already has 20,000 robotic machines in its factories, said the company’s CEO Terry Gou on Wednesday.

Workers’ wages in China are rising, and so the company’s research in robots and automation has to catch up, Gou said, while speaking at the company’s annual shareholder’s meeting in Taipei. “We have over 1 million workers. In the future we will add 1 million robotic workers,” he said. “Our [human] workers will then become technicians and engineers.”

Foxconn is the world’s largest contract electronics maker and counts Apple, Microsoft and Sony as some of its clients. Many of its largest factories are in China, where the company employs 1.2 million people, but rising worker salaries are threatening to reduce company profits.

To offset labor costs and improve its manufacturing, Foxconn has already spent three years on developing robots, Gou said. These machines are specifically developed to assemble electronics such as mobile phones, but it will take some time for Foxconn to fully develop the technology, he added.

Clay Pots Testify to Jewish Fears of Second Temple Rebels
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - David Lev
Categories: The Nation Of Israel;Contemporary Issues

Archaeologists announced Thursday that they had found the first historical evidence verifying the fear and terror imposed on Jews during the period of the destruction of  the Second Temple by both Roman soldiers and Jewish rebels. The evidence consists of three small pots that had been used for food, discovered inside an underground water channel.

The discovery was made near the Kotel, in a dig being conducted at Robinson's Arch. Archaeological Authority workers discovered three clay pots and a candleholder. According to dig leader Eli Shukrun, the find indicates that a family had been taking shelter in the underground water channel, eating food and avoiding being seen by Roman soldiers, and Jewish who would have tried to take away their food.

The scenario matches several described by Josephus in his works on the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. One of the strategies of the Jewish rebels seeking to overthrow Roman rule was to starve out their fellow Jews, on the theory that if Jews did not have food, they would be more motivated to rebel and fight to take food from the Romans. The Talmud tells the story of how rebels burned down large storehouses of wheat and other grains, in order to force Jews to join them.

In his book, Josephus describes the extremely difficult situation faced by the Jews: A total breakdown of Jewish governmental authority, mass starvation, the danger of being seized by Roman soldiers and turned into a slave, and random murders. In addition, Jews feared being accosted by rebels, who would take away their food and try to impress them into the rebel army. Josephus describes how many Jews who had a little food hid it in underground, secret passageways, where they would go to eat, away from the dangers of the Romans, and far from the eyes of the rebels. The new finding, said Shukrun, matched this account perfectly.

The findings will go on display in a conference on the City of David, set for next Monday in Jerusalem.

Bill Donohue: Doma Ruling Signals Religious Liberty is 'Under Attack'
Jun 27th, 2013
Daily NewsNewsmax
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Catholic League president Bill Donohue told Newsmax on Wednesday the Supreme Court's rulings in favor of gay marriage indicate that a deliberate attack is now underway against religious liberty in America.

Donohue also called for passage of a constitutional amendment to define the nature of marriage as between a man and a woman.

"On the part of some people — not all — but on the part of some of the people driving the day's agenda, there is malicious intent, and that is to punish people of faith," Donohue said. "And that's where we have to show resistance."

The two Supreme Court rulings cleared the way for gay marriage in California while striking down as unconstitutional the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which blocked giving federal benefits to same-sex couples.

Catholic leaders and other social conservatives spoke out against the rulings Wednesday.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called the decision "a profound injustice." He said it was "a tragic day for marriage and our nation."

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in his dissenting opinion in the DOMA case, slammed the majority opinion, saying it effectively declared supporters of traditional values "enemies of the human race."

Donohue agreed.

"Justice Scalia is not only correct, if anything he underestimates [the effect] because it's already happened," Donohue said. "It's happened in the schools. … It's being taught that if you resist the idea that marriage should extend to people of the same sex that you have a problem, that you're bigoted. So it's a total inversion of traditional morality."

Donohue called on conservatives to "put the brakes on the gay lobby." He said that requires "a uniform policy throughout all 50 states." A constitutional amendment is the best way to achieve that, said Donohue.


In the larger context, which has seen President Barack Obama's administration require faith-based organizations that have a conscientious objection to still provide contraception and morning-after pills, Donohue said it is clear that religious liberty in America is under assault.

"There is no question that it is under attack," he told Newsmax. "There are some people who want to break down the wall of separation of church altogether, and it's not coming from those who are religious."

Calling gay marriage "one of the more insane ideas in the whole history of the world," Donohue voiced concerns that the ruling would be used to try to intimidate defenders of traditional values, who would be charged with bigotry for voicing their opinions. "This is a very pernicious road to go down," he warned.

Donohue added that it won't be enough for social conservatives to merely protest the Supreme Court rulings.

"We don't need any more pronouncements," he said. "What we need is action. What we need are laws.

"If they don't want to go the constitutional amendment approach, then they ought to come up with something else. They ought to come up with something quick," he said.