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Trade flourishes as Syria befriends old foe Turkey

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis Khaled Yacoub Oweis – Fri Jun 4, 11:20 am ET

ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) – Turkish delicacies are unashamedly on display in Syria's culinary capital. Aleppo merchants are switching to imports from Turkey, and buses ferry shoppers to an upscale mall across the border.

A warming of once-chilly Turkish-Syrian ties has unleashed a one-way trade boom. A trade deal activated two years ago has cut tariffs and reduced smuggling. Visa requirements were abolished.

Turkey's popularity in Syria soared after an Israeli raid on Gaza-bound aid ships in which nine Turks were killed on May 31.

"Turkey now has a stake in the Palestinian cause, and Syria stands to gain," a diplomat said. "It will be more difficult for Israel to launch any military action against Syria."

The furor over the flotilla interception has also deflected attention from Israeli and U.S. pressure on Damascus over its alleged arms supplies to the Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah group.

Syrians have traditionally looked askance at their powerful northern neighbor, which ruled them during the Ottoman Empire, but many are now seeing secular Muslim Turkey, a NATO member with an Islamist-leaning government, in a new light.

"It's time to shed the stigma we have had about Turkey. They're no longer Ottoman, but a development model for the Arab East," said Abdelqader al-Deiri, a Syrian businessman who now buys restaurant equipment from Turkey instead of Europe.

"Transport costs are lower, but Turkish goods do not compete on price alone. They make high quality," added Deiri, who often vacations in Turkey. His eight-year-old son is learning Turkish.

"We have to admit that the Turks make better sweets than us. The pistachios and butter are better, so is the workmanship," he said, munching on a baklava slice from Gaziantep.

Viewing Syria as a gateway to the Middle East, Turkey has moved in recent years to solve old disputes with Arab governments while becoming more critical toward Israel.

Ankara mediated indirect Syria-Israel peace talks that were broken off when Israel attacked the Gaza Strip in 2008.

"Syria is an important country as a growing market, a promising economic partner, plus it has an important place in regional issues," Turkish ambassador Omer Onhon told Reuters. "So it's only natural that our relations have improved."

Yet the two countries, on opposing sides in the Cold War, came to the brink of conflict in 1998 over Syrian support for the PKK, a separatist Turkish Kurd guerrilla group. Work on demining the 800 km (500 mile) border began only two years ago.

Syria previously complained that Turkish upstream dams had worsened its water shortage. It long upheld a territorial claim against Turkey, which was awarded the province of Alexandretta (Iskenderun) by France in 1939 when Syria was under French rule.

Syrian maps still show the border province as part of Syria, but the government has indicated that a solution is possible.

Under Western pressure, Turkey has expanded the rights of its Kurdish minority in recent years, although clashes with the PKK continue. Syria has kept its own one million Kurds on a tight rein, denying citizenship to a substantial number of them.

The easing of Syrian-Turkish trade restrictions, however, is helping revive Aleppo, which has a big Kurdish population.

The once-cosmopolitan entrepot had been a prime casualty of the decades of border tensions that cut the city off from its natural hinterland in what is modern-day Turkey.

Turkish businessmen fill Aleppo hotels, eager to sell consumer goods to Syrians starved of them under the country's previous socialist-style economic policies.

Joint ventures, mostly in jeans and textiles, with Turkish companies make up half of the $650 million investments at the nearby Sheikh Najar industrial zone, according to official data, but overall Turkish investment in Syria remains miniscule.

"Syria is a truly virgin market for us," said Bilge Pakis, an engineer at Turkish waterpark specialist Polin, which operates in 70 countries.

ECONOMIC DISPARITY

Syrian presidential aide Hassan Turkmani said ties with Turkey had helped Damascus overcome Western attempts to isolate it, but acknowledged the challenges in befriending a powerhouse with an economy 10 times as big as Syria's.

Turkish exports to Syria, ranging from construction material to white goods and electronics, rose to $1.4 billion in 2009 from $1.1 billion the previous year. Syrian exports in return, mostly of oil, almost halved to $328 million in the same period.

"Syria has the potential and if we can learn from the Turkish experience and adopt the technology we can become competitive," Turkmani said.

The burgeoning relationship with Turkey may also have encouraged Syria to snub an economic deal with the European Union that could have forced the government, controlled by the Baath Party since 1963, to discuss its treatment of political prisoners and reforms to the legal system.

Syria cited interference in internal affairs and potential economic damage as reasons for refusing to sign the deal last year. But not everyone sees this as a good thing.

"What we would have lost to the European Union we are now losing to Turkey," one Syrian businessman said.

Last year the two countries signed 50 protocols ranging from energy to transport, which will consolidate Turkey's push. Turkish officials, keen to see Syria ease container truck congestion at the border, say progress has been slow.

"Trade has been to our advantage. But more Turkish investments will come and Syrian labor is starting to go to Turkey," one of the officials said.

Syrian businessman Fahed Tfenkji said Syrian companies could not rely only on lower labor costs to attract Turkish partners.

"A Turkish company comes and is pleased with the operation for the first six months," he said. "But unfortunately the Syrian partner often cannot sustain the quality."

Trade flourishes as Syria befriends old foe Turkey (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100604/wl_nm/us_syria_turkey)

Is flotilla battle signaling start of 'Gog and Magog'?
Council of Judea announces result will be 'third and final redemption'
Posted: June 04, 2010
12:35 am Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

A council of rabbis in Israel says their nation's conflict with Turkey over a flotilla of "aid" ships headed for the blockaded Gaza Strip controlled by the terrorist Hamas organization just may be the beginning of the "Gog and Magog process where the world is against us, but which ends with the third and final redemption."

The announcement comes today from the Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria, whose statement was reported by Israel National News.

WND columnist Greg Laurie just months ago explained the biblical reference to Gog and Magog, in the book of Ezekiel, as a prophecy that a "large force," will attack Israel from the north.

"We don't know why or exactly when this will take place. But this much I know: There is a lot going on in our current headlines that leads me to believe it could happen at any time," he wrote then, at the end of 2009.

This stunning analysis exposes Western readers to the traditions of Islam – and predicts the end times may not be that far away. Get "The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth about the Real Nature of the Beast"

"What does this mean to us? A lot. When Magog and her allies attack Israel, God will intervene and decimate the armies of Magog and its allies. Because of this, the Bible tells us, the Jewish people will give glory to God. Today, many Israelis are atheists. Certainly you will find very few Jewish people who believe in Jesus as their Messiah, although there are some. But they do have a determination to return to their homeland. They realize that they can look to no other nation for their protection or security and have returned to Israel, thus fulfilling prophecy from Scripture. But when the Holy Spirit is poured out on Israel after God drives back the invading armies of Magog, the Bible predicts there will be a revival in which numerous Jewish people will come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah," Laurie explained.

According to the INN, the council stated, "the legitimacy of our people is not derived from the nations of the world and their poisonous traditions, rather from the Torah of Israel which teaches us that [Israel] 'is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.'"

The council, which was assembled by Rabbi Zalman Melamed of Beit El and is supported by religious Zionist rabbis in the regions of Samaria and Judea, included a blessing for soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces.

It also suggested an emergency government be developed to lead during a time of conflict.

INN explained it interprets the "Gog and Magog" reference as a "vision of a war where the world is united against Israel that will precede the final redemption of Israel and the world."

The explanation continues, "The prophecy's symbolism involves a prince called Gog of Magog, leader of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, who leads a coalition that includes Persia (Iran), Cush, Phut, Gomer, and Beit Togarmah against Israel."

According to Ezekiel 39, Israel is successful against the attackers:

And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; and I will turn thee about and lead thee on, and will cause thee to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel; and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the peoples that are with thee; I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field, to be devoured.

The INN report continued with quotes that God will have compassion on Israel, "and they shall dwell safely in their land, and none shall make them afraid."

Laurie explains that the existence of the nation of Israel, created on May 14, 1948, is a miracle in itself.

"Never has a nation been able to maintain its national identity 300 to 500 years after being from its homeland – until Israel," he wrote. "Today, one will look in vain for the descendants of the Hittite nation or the Babylonian nation, although they were major powers in the ancient world. In fact, were it not for the Bible, the Hittites never would have been remembered by history, having sunk deep into the sands of time. There was a time that scoffers ridiculed the Bible for even mentioning the Hittites, as it was thought they were a fictional people. But in the 19th century, archaeologists confirmed the accuracy of Scripture when they uncovered irrefutable evidence of the extensive Hittite empire," he said.

"You won't find any Hittites today – or Babylonians, for that matter. But not so with Israel. How did the nation survive when the mighty Hittites, Babylonians and others vanished? Because God promised they would. In his book, 'What in the World Is Going On?' David Jeremiah writes, 'The return of the Jews to Israel in 1948 was an astounding event unprecedented in world history. Never had a decimated ancient people managed to retain their individual identity through almost 20 centuries and re-establish their nation in their original homeland. This event was specifically prophesied, and it happened exactly as foretold.'"

Laurie called it a "super-sign" in history.

"Events predicted in the Bible that have already transpired include Israel's scattering; Israel's regathering; Israel's regaining of Jerusalem; Israel's isolation; and Israel's being attacked. The Bible tells us that the final conflict of humanity will be centered on Jerusalem and the Middle East," he said.

"It is really amazing when you think about the fascination with Jerusalem and Israel, yet it was predicted long ago. God has promised a blessing for those who bless Israel, and a curse on those who don't," Laurie said.

"Could these events from our headlines of today explode and culminate in the scenario we read about in the Bible? Yes, they could. Will they? I don't know. We have to be very careful in interpreting current events," Laurie said.

"But this I do know: Jesus Christ is coming back. It could happen at any time. It could happen this year or this month or this week. It could happen today," said Laurie, the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., which is one of the largest churches in America.

Israel's conflict with a Turkish fleet sailing for the blockaded Gaza has turned largely around the world on reports of the "massacre" by Israelis against the "peace" activists aboard the flotilla, even though video of the event reveals otherwise.

Religious leaders unite against planned Jesus cartoon

By James Hibberd James Hibberd – Tue Jun 1, 11:47 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – It's not on the air yet. It's not shot yet. There's no pilot yet. There might not even be a script yet.

But Comedy Central's plan to develop an animated project about Jesus Christ has the biggest names in the TV watchdog business forming a protest supergroup to preemptively smite the show.

Brent Bozell (president, Media Research Centre), Tony Perkins (president, Family Research Council), Michael Medved (talk radio host), Bill Donohue (president, Catholic League), Rabbi Daniel Lapin (American Alliance of Jews and Christians) and Tim Winter (president, Parents Television Council) are joining forces to form the Coalition Against Religious Bigotry.

Comedy Central's "JC" is in development, which means it's still a couple of steps from getting the green light as a series. The project is about Jesus trying to live as a regular guy in New York City and wanting to escape the shadow of his "powerful but apathetic father." Because Comedy Central recently censored "South Park" for its portrayals of the Prophet Muhammad, some Christian leaders see the prospect of a Jesus cartoon as proof of an offensive double standard.

CARB will hold its first press conference on Thursday to urge advertisers not to support the project, should it ever hit the air.

"After we reveal the vile and offensive nature of Comedy Central's previous characterizations of Jesus Chris and God the Father, we expect these advertisers to agree wholeheartedly to end their advertising on Comedy Central and discontinue their support for unabashed, anti-Christian discrimination," Bozell said in a statement. "Why should they be supporting a business that makes a habit of attacking Christianity and yet has a formal policy to censor anything considered offensive to followers of Islam? This double standard is pure bigotry, one from which advertisers should quickly shy away."

Comedy Central had no comment.

Religious leaders unite against planned Jesus cartoon (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100602/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_jesus)

Israeli Arabs warn of 'new intifada' after operation
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
06/01/2010 07:45

Sector calls general strike for Tuesday in protest. '

Leaders of the Arab community in Israel have warned that a “new intifada” could erupt as a result of mass demonstrations planned for Tuesday in protest of the IDF operation against the aid convoy headed to the Gaza Strip.

The leaders warned the security forces against trying to stop the protests. They also called on demonstrators to avoid violent confrontations with the police.

The National Committee for Arab Local Authorities in Israel called for a general strike in the Arab sector on Tuesday in protest against the IDF operation.

The committee strongly condemned the “piracy operation,” saying that those who were on board the ships were unarmed civilians, including representatives of the Arab community in Israel.

“This is a real crime against the human conscience,” the committee members said following an emergency meeting in Nazareth. “We hold Israel fully responsible for this crime and its repercussions, and call for an inquiry into the circumstances and to bring the perpetrators to trial.”

The committee also warned the Israeli authorities against “provoking” demonstrators during Tuesday’s general strike.

It said that Israel bears full responsibility for the safety of the Israeli Arabs who were on board of the ships, including Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement (Southern Branch); MK Haneen Zoabi (Balad); and Muhammad Zeidan, chairman of the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee.

MK Ghaleb Majadle (Labor) announced on Monday evening that Salah was alive and well, and that, contrary to rumors, he hadn’t been hurt during the IDF raid.

“After contacting official parties, it has transpired that Sheikh Raed Salah is on one of the ships,” Majadle said. “He’s in good health and I have notified his supporters.”

The committee also urged Fatah and Hamas to resolve their differences and reunite to “face fateful challenges.”

Protests erupted in various places, including Umm el-Fahm, Nazareth and Sakhnin, where demonstrators burned tires and chanted slogans condemning the IDF operation.

Similar protests are also planned for Tuesday, according to several political activists and mayors in the Arab sector.

Zoabi, who was on board one of the ships, said in a telephone interview that the convoy had achieved “victory.”

Israel, she added, “does not only want to keep the blockade on the Gaza Strip, but wants this blockade to be quiet and without anyone talking about it.”

Zoabi said the confrontation between the soldiers and the activists on board the ships showed the world once again that Israel is “responsible for war crimes and is a state of occupation and repression.”

Nazareth Mayor Ramiz Jaraisy called for allowing the aid ships to reach the Gaza Strip and release all those who were detained by the IDF.

“Israel has committed a crime against humanity,” he told protesters in his city. “This is an international crime that was perpetrated in a cold-blooded manner.”

MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad) strongly condemned the interception of the convoy and called for organizing “demonstrations of rage.”

He described the operation as a “war crime and act of piracy that was carried out on instructions of the chief pirate, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the war criminal Ehud Barak.”

Zahalka claimed that Barak had ordered the IDF to stop the ships at any cost. “This morning, we saw what the price was,” Zahalka said. “Ehud Barak was the one who in the year 2000 issued his orders to the police to reopen the Wadi Ara highway at any price; the price then was 13 martyrs,” he said, referring to the October 2000 Arab riots in the North.

Israeli Arabs warn of 'new intifada' after operation (http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177077)

Ahmadinejad: 'Cut Off' Israel's Hands
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
06/01/2010 12:55

Ahmadinejad calls for strong UNSC resolution over flotilla raid.

The Iranian president on Tuesday demanded a strong UN Security Council resolution against Israel over its raid on an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip.

In a speech broadcast live on state TV, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the Security Council to adopt a resolution that would "cut off" Israel's hands, thus preventing it from committing more "crimes."

At least nine people were killed when Israeli navy commandos raided the Gaza-bound flotilla Monday.

The UN Security Council called Tuesday for an "impartial" investigation of Israel's raid after an emergency meeting and marathon negotiations that lasted nearly 12 hours. It was weaker than what was initially demanded by the Palestinians, Arabs and Turkey.

"I ask the Security Council to keep the crimes of the Zionists on its agenda and to cut off their hands from committing crimes with a strong resolution," Ahmadinejad said during a provincial visit to town of Ilam, some 700 kilometers southwest of Teheran.

He said such a resolution by the Council would secure international confidence in the body and send a message that it doesn't issue "resolutions only against countries the US and its allies want."

Ahmadinejad was referring to the push by the US, four other permanent Security Council members — Russia, China, Britain and France — and Germany for a new set of UN sanctions against Iran over its refusal to stop enriching uranium.

The West suspect the program masks efforts to make nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies and claims it's for peaceful power generation.

Ahmadinejad, who is known for his anti-Israel rhetoric, called Israeli commandos who rappelled onto the Gaza-bound flotilla "wild dogs" and criticizes Washington for its "weak and tendentious" stance in support of Israel.

He warned Israel against further raids on Gaza, saying that a "storm of anger from the nations of the region will uproot you."

Ahmadinejad: 'Cut Off' Israel's Hands (http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=177128)

Turkey emerges as Middle East leader
By Henri Barkey, Special to CNN
June 3, 2010 12:43 p.m. EDT

The recent flotilla incident is the culmination of a steep decline in Israeli-Turkish relations that started with the Gaza war in 2008 and 2009. Relations between these two countries, after reaching a high point in the late 1990s and early 2000s, are now beyond repair, and it will probably take the better part of a decade for them to be resuscitated.

Turkey has also used its increasingly rancorous disputes with Israel to advance its status in the Middle East at the expense of traditional leaders across the region.

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which came to power in 2002, was always conflicted in its relations with Israel. The party emerged from a hardcore anti-Western and anti-Israeli Islamist tradition that had close ties to Hamas and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

As it rose to power, however, the AKP distanced itself from these positions and even embraced the idea of joining the European Union. Still, it always maintained a critical stance when it came to Israel that was punctuated by occasional outbursts.

Turkey's relations with Israel improved when the AKP stepped into the vacuum created in the Middle East by the Bush administration's policies and orchestrated secret negotiations between Israel and Syria.

This effort fit well with the AKP's grand vision of its foreign policy -- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party were intent in making Turkey an important international player.

After punching below its weight for far too long, Ankara thought now was the time to engage in an activist policy and capitalize on its economic prowess and strategic geopolitical location. It aggressively sought a role in international institutions such as the U.N. Security Council and engaged in all kinds of diplomatic efforts from the Middle East to the Balkans and the Caucasus.

Erdogan and Turkey received many kudos for the Israeli-Syrian talks. But they came to an abrupt end with Israel's Gaza war. Erdogan felt personally betrayed by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was in Ankara four days before launching the Gaza offensive. From then on, Turkish foreign policy vis-à-vis Israel was dramatically transformed.

We first saw this at the January 2009 Davos meetings in Switzerland when Erdogan publicly confronted Israel's President Shimon Peres and then walked off the stage. Positive reactions to his behavior in Turkey and in the Middle East provided Erdogan with the contours of Ankara's new foreign policy.

From then on, in almost every foreign policy speech, Erdogan would disparage Israel's policy in Gaza, calling the Gaza Strip an open prison. He then began to challenge Israel's nuclear arms while defending Iran against the West.

In a deliberate obfuscation of the issues, he argued that instead of criticizing Iran's peaceful nuclear program, it was Israel's not-so-secret nuclear arsenal that ought to be the object of censure.

This, of course, is a distortion of the truth as Iran was accused of violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which it is a signatory while Israel is not. His singling out of Israel was purposeful but unfair; he never criticized Turkish ally Pakistan -- or India for that matter-- for having tested and deployed nuclear arms.

The flotilla crisis occurred in this atmosphere of great tension. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu claims his government cautioned the Islamist charity that organized the flotilla not to cross into Israeli waters and that they were powerless to prevent an independent, non-government organization (NGO) from acting on its own volition. Yet there are many signs that the AKP and other Turkish Islamist parties were fully supportive of the NGO and its efforts.

Hamas itself interpreted the action as an Erdogan-led effort to breach the naval blockade of Gaza.

No one, including the Israelis, could have anticipated the extent of the fallout, although a cursory look at what the organizers were claiming should have made it obvious that the NGO was clearly trying to provoke Israel and elicit an strong response.

Ultimately, it is the incompetence of the Israeli decision-makers who failed to properly analyze the groups' intentions that in many ways handed the AKP, Erdogan and Hamas a public relations victory.

Erdogan has now become a hero in the Arab street. In two years, he has managed to do what few Arab leaders could do -- push Israel into a corner. Even though Arab countries have been mistrustful of Turkey in the past, Erdogan has successfully transformed himself into the leader of the Middle East.

He is not just the defender of traditional Arab concerns but also of Iran, as he is resisting the Obama administration's efforts to impose sanctions on Iran.

The emerging hostility in Israeli-Turkish relations puts the United States in a difficult quandary. Washington does not want to side with one ally over another, and Turkey has aggressively been pushing the United States to do just that.

Washington, however, has issues with both countries.

It is upset at Turkish efforts to protect Iran from further U.N. sanctions and at Israel for making its regional diplomacy so much more difficult, not only with the flotilla fiasco but also with its hard line on the settlements and negotiations with the Palestinians. Turkey may therefore emerge as an even more significant factor in an already complicated Middle East political tapestry.

Turkey emerges as Middle East leader (http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/06/03/barkey.turkey.israel/index.html?hpt=T2)

Hamas coordinating with Iran on response to flotilla interception
June 2, 2010

TEL AVIV — Israel's military has assessed that the Hamas regime is thus far exercising restraint in wake of the bloody naval interception of a Turkish-sponsored flotilla to the Gaza Strip.

Military sources said Hamas was believed to have approved a slight increase in missile and rocket fire in retaliation for the Israel Navy interception of the six-vessel flotilla on May 31, in which nine passengers were killed. They said Hamas appeared to be under orders from Iran not to provoke another war with the Jewish state.

"They will fire a few more missiles than usual, but at this point they are clearly acting cautiously," a military source said.

On June 1, Palestinian gunners fired at least six rockets and anti-tank missiles toward Israel, including two that landed in the southern city of Ashkelon. The Israel Air Force foiled another attack and killed a three-member Islamic Jihad missile squad in the northern Gaza Strip.

"The Israel Defense Forces holds Hamas solely responsible for terror emanating from the Gaza Strip," the military said.

The sources said Hamas security forces were stopping Palestinian militias from significantly escalating violence with Israel. At the same time, the Islamic regime in the Gaza Strip was said to be in close contact with Iran, its leading ally and military supplier.

"Iran is using extremist organizations and states in order to distract world attention, and it is entirely possible that the timing of the terrorist flotilla is not coincidental," Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said.

In another incident, two Palestinian fighters were killed as they sought to infiltrate Israel from the southern Gaza Strip. The military said the Palestinians engaged Israeli troops in a gunbattle near the Gaza border fence.

The source said Hamas was expected to maintain low-intensity warfare against Israel amid the furor of the Israel Navy seizure of the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara. But they said Hamas has also warned Palestinian militias against launching missile salvos into Israel.

"Iran has been closely monitoring the situation and does not want another Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip," the source said. "The Hamas leadership understands this."

Hamas coordinating with Iran on response to flotilla interception (http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/me_israel0480_06_02.asp)

Full-scale war imminent in Mideast?
Posted: June 03, 2010
1:00 am Eastern
Jerome R. Corsi
© 2010

Are we on the verge of a regional war in the Middle East?

The Israeli decision to interdict the flotilla indicates the Netanyahu government's willingness to accept a full-scale regional war with Iran that could arise from even a minor incident resulting from Israel's determination to hold firm the naval blockade of the Gaza.

In May and June 2009, when I was in Israel interviewing top government leaders, including two former heads of Mossad, for "Why Israel Can't Wait: The Coming War Between Israel and Iran," I was told repeatedly that should the world not be able to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, Israel would exercise the right of self-defense to launch a pre-emptive military strike on Iran, with or without the approval of the United States.

Now, nearly a year and a half into the Obama administration, Israel has reason to doubt the White House would come to Israel's aid in a military confrontation with Iran.

From the perspective of Jerusalem, the conflict with Hamas in the Gaza is an extension of the conflict with Iran, precisely because Hamas, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, is a terrorist organization that must be understood as a surrogate of Iran.

Increasingly, Israel feels confronted by an existential threat from Iran, not only because Iran is proceeding full-speed ahead to develop nuclear weapons, but also because Iran has resupplied Hezbollah and Hamas with rockets that can hit Jerusalem as well as Tel Aviv.

Even as evidence surfaces at the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency that Syria has conducted nuclear experiments, radical Islam seems on the upsurge in Turkey, a Middle Eastern neighbor traditionally friendly to Israel, that has now decided to side with the political activists trying to push the envelope in the Gaza by sponsoring the flotilla trying to break the blockade.

With the Obama administration openly siding with the Palestinian cause and insisting that distance needs to be placed between the United States foreign policy and Israel's openly expressed national security interests, how could the Israeli government not be feeling increasingly nervous?

The Obama administration apparently fails to realize what Israel cannot afford to ignore – namely, that President Ahmadinejad may be right, despite his ranting and raving against Israel.

Since 1948, when the Jewish state was first established, Israel may be facing the most serious existential crisis ever.

Ahmadinejad has a point – the survival of Israel is by no means certain, especially if the United States is prepared to stand on the sidelines while the weight of international pressure comes down on Israel every time it takes a military step in perceived self-defense.

A regional war involving Israel, Syria and Turkey, with the active participation of Hezbollah and Hamas, would be catastrophic.

At a minimum, thousands of people, including Israeli citizens, would die; at the worst, the conflict could risk going nuclear, with Russia and China ready to enter any escalating conflict on the side of Israel's enemies.

The Obama administration did not take steps to block the United Nations Human Rights Council from engaging in an investigation of the flotilla incident.

But then, the Obama administration appears to be moving toward a Middle Eastern nuclear-weapons policy that is targeted to put pressure on Israel to abandon its nuclear arsenal, not to prevent Iran from developing one.

As the Obama administration backs away from a defense of Israel, the Netanyahu government will have no choice but to step up the defense of Israel, regardless how much the anti-Israel international community objects.

In the existential test that is shaping up, the real culprit remains Iran, but if Turkey and Syria want to join in the cause in support of Hamas and Hezbollah, the coming of a full-scale regional war looms close by on the horizon.

Turkey to reduce economic, military ties with Israel

Fri Jun 4, 7:03 am ET

ANKARA (AFP) – Turkey will reduce economic and defence ties with Israel, but bilateral cooperation will not be entirely frozen after the Gaza ship raid, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said Friday.

Ankara "will reduce relations in these fields to a minimum level, taking into account whether (cooperation) already exists... whether payments have been made or not," Arinc said on NTV television.

"But as a state we cannot completely ignore a state whose existence we recognise," he said.

Relations between Turkey and Israel, once close allies, have been plunged into crisis by an Israeli commando raid on a flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza Strip. Nine Turks, including one who also held US citizenship, on the lead vessel were killed.

Ankara recalled its ambassador from Israel and scrapped plans for three joint military exercises.

Arinc explained that Turkish officials had determined that "there are not many agreements between the two states in the economic field" and that most of the existing cooperation was between companies.

Military and defence industry cooperation was the driving force behind the Turkish-Israeli alliance, sealed in 1996 with the signing of a military cooperation accord.

Israeli companies have been among the main recepients of lucrative tenders to equip the Turkish army.

One project, worth 183 million dollars, involves the manufacture of 10 unmanned aircraft and related surveillance equipment for the Turkish army in a joint venture led by Israel Aerospace Industries.

Speaking after the raid on the aid ships, Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul said the crisis would not hamper the completion of the project.

Israel is expected to deliver the remaining four drones in June or July, he said.

The project, launched in 2005, has been delayed amid technical snags and political tensions, which have built up since Israel's devastating war on Gaza last year.

In previous years, Israeli companies have modernised about 100 Turkish F-4 and F-5 fighter jets in a deal worth some 700 million dollars, and sold Turkey rockets and electronic equipment.

In 2002, Israeli Military Industries won a 668-million-dollar tender to upgrade 170 M60 tanks, the delivery of which was completed in April.

Turkey to reduce economic, military ties with Israel (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100604/wl_mideast_afp/israelconflictgazaturkeypoliticseconomy)

Israel's use of 'captured' video draws criticism
By Tia Goldenberg, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jun 3, 9:19 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Israel's military is using video confiscated from people on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla to justify opening fire during its deadly raid on the ships, drawing sharp criticism Thursday from foreign correspondents who say some of the footage was shot by journalists.

At least two videos posted to the army spokesperson's YouTube channel are labeled "captured" from the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish ship Israeli commandos stormed in a nighttime raid Monday that left nine people dead.

The military allowed some journalists to board vessels used in the raid, and several dozen reporters were on board the flotilla's six ships as well. Video of the operation is playing a major role in Israel's and pro-Palestinian activists' efforts try to push their version of events.

Israel says the commandos resorted to force only after activists attacked them with knives, crowbars and clubs, as well as two pistols wrested from soldiers. Activists who had set sail for Gaza with 10,000 tons of aid, hoping to break Israel's 3-year-old blockade of Gaza, say the commandos fired first.

The Foreign Press Association, which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, demanded Thursday that the military stop using the captured material without permission and identify the source of the video already released.

"The Foreign Press Association strongly condemns the use of photos and video material shot by foreign journalists, now being put out by the (military) spokesman's office as 'captured material'," the FPA said in a statement. It said the military was selectively using footage to back its claims that commandos opened fire only after being attacked.

Videos released by the army have shown the commandos' descent onto the ship and then their clash with the activists.

The "captured" footage was filmed on board the ship during the operation. One video shows commandos in a boat beside the Mavi Marmara, with activists apparently spraying jets of water at them and then a large flash — what the army says is a stun grenade launched at the soldiers.

Another video shows a man being interviewed, saying that he wants to become a martyr. A microphone bearing the logo of Iran's state-run Press TV points up at him.

Army spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said there was "a certain chance" the footage was filmed by journalists, but that most was filmed by activists. She said no material was confiscated. She said it was found on the vessel after activists were cleared off by the army.

The activists on the flotilla hoped to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, imposed after the militant Hamas group violently seized power in the territory three years ago.

Israel says the blockade is meant to keep weapons out of Gaza and to put pressure on its Hamas rulers. But weapons and other goods continue to reach Gaza through underground tunnels with Egypt, and many Gazans blame Israel, not Hamas, for their hardships.

Israel's use of 'captured' video draws criticism (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100604/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians;_ylt=AoRffdIC_hnrsEC_Yo8osxwLewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTJzbXIwNzVzBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNjA0L21sX2lzcmFlbF9wYWxlc3RpbmlhbnMEcG9zAzkEc2VjA3luX3BhZ2luYXRlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDaXNyYWVsc3VzZW9m)

Global protests target flotilla raid

Muslims wave Turkish flags in Jerusalem, thousands rally in Egypt, and Norway cancels Israeli speaker

News agencies
Latest Update: 06.04.10
Israel News

On Friday thousands of people all over the world protested against Israel following the IDF raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla Monday. Major protests took place in Jerusalem, Egypt, Greece, and Austria, with Norway also canceling the appearance of an Israeli speaker.

Hundreds of Muslims held a protest march in Jerusalem's Old City, marching through the alleys carrying Turkish flags.

Police chief Dudi Cohen visited the capital earlier Friday, before prayer services were to be conducted at Temple Mount, and held a situation assessment with senior-ranking officers.

At the end of the meeting it was decided to limit the entrance of worshippers to the holy site, and no violent incidents occurred during the services.

In Egypt, about 20,000 protesters gathered in the port city of Alexandria, waving Egyptian, Turkish and Palestinian flags. The protest, organised by Egypt's most powerful opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, was unusual in a country where public demonstrations are often swiftly suppressed.

"Hamas, Hamas, you are the artillery and we are the bullets," the protestors chanted, urging the Islamist group which rules Gaza to confront Israel.

"Turkey, a thousand salutations. Long live Erdogan and long live the Turkish people," the protestors chanted in Alexandria, referring to the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Greek protest: Israel commits murders

In Norway, the military canceled a special operations seminar because the Defense Ministry objected to the inclusion of an Israeli army officer in the program.

Military spokeswoman Maj. Heidi Langvik-Hansen says the Defense Ministry was unhappy that the Israeli officer, identified only as Col. Toledano, would be delivering a talk in Oslo only weeks after the flotilla raid.

Toledano was scheduled to speak about his experience in Israel's 2006 operations in southern Lebanon.

In Greece police say pro-Palestinian activists staged a peaceful occupation at an Israeli irrigation firm. About 50 people took part in the one-hour protest at Netafim's Athens office Friday, hanging a banner that read "Israel commits murders, solidarity with the Palestinian uprising."

Organizers said they wanted to protest Monday's "murderous attack ... as well as the injuries, abuse and arrest of hundreds of activists" on the six-ship flotilla.

In South Africa, Israel was presented as a skunk in a caricature published by the Guardian & Mail. It was signed by Zapiro, an artist known to have Jewish roots. He is widely read, and associated with the left-wing and anti-Israeli sentiment.

In Vienna, around 2,500 people protested. They circulated a petition to be conveyed to Chancellor Werner Faymann calling on him to cancel his visit to Jerusalem, scheduled to take place in a few weeks, and cease all cooperation with Israel.

Meanwhile hundreds of pro-Israeli protestors gathered to show support for the raid on the flotilla. Israel's ambassador to Vienna, Aviv Shir-On, also took part in the event.

And in Spain, Israel's ambassador ignited harsh criticism by announcing that the Spanish should be more concerned with the number of people dying in car accidents than the nine killed in the IDF raid.

"Yes, nine people were killed, but 155 people were killed in terror attacks in India last week. Who cares about that? Have you heard
anything about it? Twenty-three Spanish were also killed in traffic accidents in the past wee," the Guardian quoted him as saying.

But a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Madrid said the ambassador's speech was taken out of context, and that he had been referring only to the wide coverage of the incident. "Of course we care about the victims," said Lior Hayat. "Even if they are mercenaries and terrorists."

Global protests target flotilla raid (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3899084,00.html)

Ahmadinejad: Further aggression will end Zionist regime

At memorial marking 21st anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's death, Iranian president says 'With God's help thousands of flotillas from all over the world will sail to Gaza'

Dudi Cohen
Published: 06.04.10, 12:28 / Israel News

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that the Israeli commando raid on the international flotilla off Gaza's shores was "barbaric" and called for dismantling the Zionist regime.

He warned that any further aggression by Israel "would bring about the demise of the Zionist regime."

Speaking before tens of thousands of people at a memorial marking the 21st anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's death, Ahmadinejad said, "The Zionist regime's crimes are not perpetrated because it is strong, but because it is weak. They are crazy. They cannot control themselves."

Ahmadinejad expressed hope that more aid flotillas will make their way to Gaza in light of Monday's "achievement."

"Everyone should know that with God's help thousands of flotillas from all over the world will sail (to Gaza) with peace-lovers and give freedom and peace to mankind," he said.

Ahmadinejad warned that Israeli is planning to attack Gaza. "To make up for their past mistakes and to restore their force – the Zionists are planning another attack on Gaza," said the presidents.

The tens of thousands on hand chanted "Death to Israel".

Addressing the possibility of fresh UN sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program, Ahmadinejad said, "We are not afraid of their (West's) fake power. With the help of God we will realize our nation's rights, even though their decisions are only on paper."

The Iranian president also warned the country's opposition against straying from the path of the founder of the Islamic Revolution.

Ahmadinejad told the crowd that those "who deviate from the Imam's path will be banished by the people." The speech comes days ahead of the opposition's mass rally planned on the anniversary of last June's disputed presidential election.

Ahmadinejad: Further aggression will end Zionist regime (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3899027,00.html)

01 June 2010 ]
Deplores lack of access to holy places
Vatican calls Israel occupation ‘injustice’

A Vatican document leaked Tuesday calls the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories a "political injustice," Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

The occupation is a "political injustice imposed on the Palestinians," the Vatican says, according to extracts quoted by ANSA.

"The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories makes daily life difficult for freedom of movement, the economy and social and religious life," the text says.

The Instrumentum Laboris, a working document on an upcoming synod of bishops on the Middle East, was embargoed for release until Sunday, when Pope Benedict XVI was to present it during a visit to Cyprus.

ANSA's report came as Israel drew worldwide condemnation for a deadly commando raid on Monday against a flotilla of boats laden with humanitarian aid for occupied Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.

Vatican spokesman Ciro Benedettini declined to comment on the report when contacted by AFP.

The Vatican document deplores lack of "access to holy places, dependent on military permits accorded to some (and) refused to others for security reasons," ANSA said.

It adds: "Some fundamentalist Christian groups cite the Holy Scriptures to defend the political injustice imposed on the Palestinians, making even more delicate the position of Arab Christians," the 40-page document says.

The paper was compiled over several months, focusing on the situation of Christians living in the Middle East with the Palestinian issue as a backdrop, ANSA said.

The synod is set for October 10-24 at the Vatican.

Benedict, who will visit Cyprus from Friday to Sunday, will hand over the document to a 12-member pre-synod council during an open-air mass in the Cypriot capital.

Vatican calls Israel occupation ‘injustice’ (http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/06/01/110180.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I'm not politically correct and I will not bow down to their diatribe.

Let's face it folks. The Vatican is just plain Wrong on this one. If they would study their History in the very Book they claim to be the source of truth (Bible) instead of trying to rewrite it, then it would be perfectly clear that Israel was there first.

How does one occupy a place they owned first?

Satan has a grasp on this world and it's worldly ways. Many will be deceived.

Stand firm my brothers and sisters in Christ, for the time is coming soon when the full truth shall be revealed to all and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And what a day, that will be.............

AMEN!!

Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria; Flotilla Clash Similar to Gog and Magog Prophecy
06/03/10
by Gil Ronen

The Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria issued a statement Thursday in which it said that the results of the incident in which Israel intercepted a flotilla trying to break the naval blockade of Gaza seem like the Biblical description of "the beginning of the Gog and Magog process where the world is against us, but which ends with the third and final redemption."

The statement explained that while secular Zionism always wants Israel to be beloved by other nations, “the legitimacy of our people is not derived from the nations of the world and their poisonous traditions, rather from the Torah of Israel which teaches us that [Israel] 'is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations'" (Numbers 23:9). They emphasized that there is no reason to be alarmed by the world's condemnation as it is a predicted result of fear of Israel's success.

The Council blessed the soldiers of the IDF and called for the formation of an emergency unity government that will lead the nation from a position of strength.

The Council was formed by Rabbi Zalman Melamed of Beit El and includes leading religious Zionist rabbis who are the spiritual leaders of communities in Judea and Samaria.

'Gog and Magog' is a reference is to chapters 38 and 39 in the book of Ezekiel, a part of which is read on the intermediate Sabbath of Sukkot (Tabernacles). These chapters describe a vision of a war where the world is united against Israel that will precede the final redemption of Israel and the world. The prophecy's symbolism involves a prince called Gog of Magog, leader of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, who leads a coalition that includes Persia (Iran), Cush, Phut, Gomer, and Beit Togarmah against Israel. There are various opinions regarding the modern identity of these nations.

As a sampling of passages from Ezekiel 39 shows, the prophesy predicts that the coalition will be defeated by Israel, at a time following Israel's gathering from its exile:

And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: Thus saith the Lord G-d: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; and I will turn thee about and lead thee on, and will cause thee to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel; and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the peoples that are with thee; I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field, to be devoured.

(...)

Therefore thus saith the Lord G-d: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have compassion upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. And they shall bear their shame, and all their breach of faith which they have committed against Me, when they shall dwell safely in their land, and none shall make them afraid; when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations.

And they shall know that I am the Lord their G-d, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them unto their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; neither will I hide My face any more from them; for I have poured out My spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord G-d.'

The dramatic flotilla incident and the international reactions to it have sparked intense emotion, and unusual unity, among the Jewish public in Israel.

Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria; Flotilla Clash Similar to Gog and Magog Prophecy (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137869)

Turks Help Hamas Welcome Anti-Israel Ships

by Hillel Fendel
05/06/10

Turkish aid is instrumental in helping Hamas clean and prepare the Gaza port, in preparation for the arrival of the anti-Israel protest flotilla later this month.

Pro-PLO organizations in Europe that have aligned themselves with Hamas are planning a flotilla of aid to the Gaza Strip. The coordinators of what some call the “ship intifada” want to avoid confrontation with Egypt, but appear to be seeking a confrontation with the Israeli navy, backed by media and diplomatic campaigns.

This past January, a senior Hamas operative in Britain named Muhammad Sawalha, who was involved in launching the previous flotilla, said the next convoy will avoid the type of confrontation that occurred the previous time with Egypt, and that next time, “the confrontation will be directly with the Zionist enemy itself on the high seas.”

Swiss MP Josef Zisyadis, one of several European MPs and UN personnel who will be on the ships, together with nearly 600 others, threatened that “if Israel tries to stop the ships, we will sue her in European courts.”

The major organizations and personalities involved in organizing the flotilla are IHH, an Islamic-oriented human rights organization in Turkey; a European organization named The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza; and the international “Free Gaza” organization that rails against the Israeli “blockade” of Gaza. In addition, the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), based in Ramat HaSharon, Israel, states that pro-PLO activists from Sweden and Greece have purchased two ships for the flotilla, and Hamas supporters in Britain – including MP George Galloway - are also involved in organizing the upcoming flotilla and others.

Arutz-7’s Haggai Huberman reports that Turkish elements are helping to clean and deepen the port, in preparing for the arrival of the ships. “Free Gaza” and IHH are coordinating among the various organizations that are taking part in the flotilla and accompanying propaganda campaign.

The ships plan to deliver building materials, medical equipment, school briefcases and even caravans – mobile homes without wheels – for the Hamas-run entity in Gaza.

One of the ships, from Malaysia, will be loaded in Ireland with items donated by citizens in Ireland, Scotland, Britain and elsewhere. It will leave Ireland next week, and will meet up with the other ships in the Mediterranean, from where they will continue on towards Gaza.

Turks Help Hamas Welcome Anti-Israel Ships (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137405)

Israel, Leviathan gas find spurts optimism
By SHARON WROBEL
06/04/2010 06:17

The Leviathan natural-gas site off the Haifa shore could be twice the size of the Tamar prospect, the largest gas discovery globally in 2009, and position Israel as a gas exporter in coming years, US oil operator Noble Energy Inc. said Thursday.

“Today is a day of celebration for all of us. The State of Israel is an energy independent country,” Yitzhak Tshuva, controlling shareholder of Delek Group, said Thursday. Delek is a partner in the Leviathan natural-gas find through its subsidiaries Avner Oil and Gas LP and Delek Drilling LP, who each own 22.67 percent.

“The preliminary results of the 3-D seismic survey of the Leviathan structure published by Noble Energy Inc. are exceeding all of our expectations,” he said. “The results will strengthen the country’s economy. In these difficult times, Israel needs more than ever support and geopolitical power opposite other countries in the world.”

In addition to the gas potential at the Leviathan site, the results of a seismic survey had indicated signs of oil at greater depth, Tshuva said..

Noble Energy, which owns 39.66% of the Amit and Rachel licenses forming the Leviathan gas find, announced Thursday the site would be its next exploration target in the region. Based on the seismic survey, Noble Energy said the Leviathan prospect might hold 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, with a 50% chance of geological success.

“The option for exporting natural gas has become much more realistic,” Delek Group CEO Asaf Bartfeld said Thursday. “We may be able to supply the European market and the Far East, where demand is highest. Though, of course, at this point, we are waiting to drill and to try and confirm the gas.”

Referring to initial interpretation of 2-D and 3-D seismic data, Noble Energy has estimated resource potential on its eastern Mediterranean sites to be in excess of 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

“In March, when I was last in Israel, I said that Noble Energy planned to be here for decades to come,” Noble Energy chairman and CEO Charles Davidson said Thursday. “I am thrilled that today’s announcement substantiates the potential of a new and significant energy basin in the eastern Mediterranean, which, if successful, could position Israel as a potential energy exporter in future years.

“I would like to congratulate the State of Israel on the discoveries of the last year and a half, which have the potential to strengthen the economy and security of Israel. Noble is honored to be working with our Israeli partners in this historic development.”

In January 2009, the discovery of the natural-gas field 90 kilometers offshore from Haifa, known as Tamar, in which Noble Energy has a 36% working interest, was made by the US-Israel consortium including the Delek Group, through its subsidiaries Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration, Isramco Negev 2, Dor Gas Exploration. Tamar is the largest exploration discovery in Noble Energy’s history, which last year also discovered a natural-gas field at Dalit with gas reserves estimated at 500 billion cubic feet.

“The Leviathan exploration has the potential of being twice the size of Tamar, which was the largest gas discovery globally in 2009,” Richard Gussow, a research analyst at Deutsche Bank, said Thursday.

In addition, Noble Energy confirmed Thursday that the Tamar project remains on schedule for sanction in 2010 and first gas production sales in 2012. Noble Energy on Wednesday increased its expectations for gross recoverable gas resources at Tamar by 33% to 8.4 trillion cubic feet as a result of updated reservoir studies.

“This year we have undertaken significant capital projects to help maintain a high Mari-B deliverability through 2012, and we are working hard to enable Tamar first gas sales late in that same year,” Davidson said.

Noble Energy’s discoveries could provide about 35 years of Israel’s natural-gas needs at projected 2012 demand rates. The capital investment for Tamar is estimated at $2.8 billion.

“With the Tamar project expected to supply Israel with its natural-gas needs for the next three decades, a discovery at Leviathan, should there be one, would be earmarked for export,” Gussow said. “This would likely be through LNG [liquefied natural gas], a long-term process that we believe would take at least six years and would require heavy investment.

“Delek has spoken of Asia as a target market due to the current high prices there, and we believe that the Atlantic market would also be targeted due to Europe’s desire to reduce reliance on Russian gas.”

Leviathan gas find spurts optimism (http://www.jpost.com/Business/BusinessNews/Article.aspx?id=177467)

Quote from: eschator83 on June 05, 2010, 08:32:48 AM

I very much appreciate your time and effort to help keep us informed. This certainly seems to me to be one of the most dangerous developments in the world today. Hopefully Christians can unite in actively praying for peace, and understanding, and compromise, but sadly it is difficult to imagine much further Christian unity. I am curious to learn what your hopes are.
Perhaps Israel might accept endorsement by Turkey, or some other nation, of vessels subject to intermittent Israeli inspection. Wouldn't it be nice to see the UN do something useful, for a change, perhaps inspecting the ships at some location--Turkey, or on the high seas--maybe the US could help there--or on land in Gaza.
Hopefully, most Christians will pray that all governments will fulfill their obligation to protect their law-abiding citizens, and control their evil-doers. I believe the US must do all it can to support Israel and oppose terrorism, anarchism, and universalism, or we will see a prompt and abrupt end to both freedom and Christianity.

Hello eschator83,

I see this is your first post, and I want to welcome you.

(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i160/tlr10/357/welcome.gif)

We're happy to have you with us. Before I forget, I'll answer your question about personal messages. Personal messages are turned off because of abuse (i.e. advertising, scams, con games, inappropriate links, etc. reported). Personal messages have never been moderated or even looked at, so it became necessary to turn them off and protect our members.

You asked some great questions in your first post. First, what I would hope for and what God's Word says will happen in these last days of this Age of Grace are two different things. As an example, I would also hope that Christians would do more, unite, and share the Gospel of the Grace of God with urgency. I personally believe that the time is growing near for the Tribulation Period to be ushered in. Many children are falling away from the faith of their mothers and fathers, just as the Bible says they will. I also consider an important distinction between self-professed Christians and real Christians. I think that real Christians are trying harder than ever to share the Good News and be of service to God in whatever way He Wills. It's apparent that there are fewer of us willing to serve God by the day. At the same time, persecution (including death) of Christians is escalating around the world. Things are rapidly changing even in our part of the world. Signs around the world indicate that things are getting ripe for the one-world false church and other global activities that are mentioned in Bible Prophecy. It appears that many have simply paid lip-service to God and warmed church pews for the wrong reasons. I realize how negative this sounds, but the Bible clearly foretells these things.

If these are the last days of this Age of Grace, things are going to get much worse - not better. I don't know or even guess when the Tribulation Period will begin, but it does appear to be drawing near. Israel is the center stage in Bible Prophecy, and Israel is currently the center stage in world events. Frankly, it appears that we are watching Bible Prophecy about to unfold before our very eyes. There must be a major war involving Israel and a false 7 year peace treaty according to Bible Prophecy. The Middle East is already a powder keg with the fuse lit. In terms of Bible Prophecy, I think the best way we can express "when" is at God's Appointed Time. Regardless of how one expresses "when", we should know that all of Bible Prophecy will be fulfilled perfectly and completely. If we open our eyes, we should easily be able to see that the world is in a downhill plunge into evil and chaos. This obviously includes our part of the world. When God's Time Comes, no combination of powers will be able to slow or stop the events foretold in His Word.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Hello eschator83, and welcome to Christiansunite forum. I also look forwards to reading more of your posts.

I know what I hope will happen but, I also know what the Bible says, will happen. My prayers go out several times a day for Israel, and Jews in the world. Christians should be praying for one another, and for those that are lost. Just as the Bible tells us of falling away.

I doubt, the UN (Usless Nations) does to much, except issue a remand against Israel. That is something the UN does normally, when every they don't like when Israel protects herself.

Quote from: eschator83

I believe the US must do all it can to support Israel and oppose terrorism, anarchism, and universalism.

All I can say is, AMEN!!

Quote from: eschator83

or we will see a prompt and abrupt end to both freedom and Christianity.

And I think we are already seeing that happen with our current President in office. I also have my own feelings that Mr. Obama, is a illegal immigrant, and can not hold office of the Presidency, of the United States. I also think that Barry, is also a muslim, just by his actions we have been seeing.

The people of America are paying a high price for their sins and their sins are legion. The Lord, will not be mocked. No government exists and no individual rules, except what He allows.

Isaiah 59: 6-8 "Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.”

History, both secular and Biblical, is replete with examples of recalcitrant sin laden peoples being inflicted by the Lord with leaders who have decimated and destroyed the masses that they deceivingly purported to represent for good and just reasons. Some of these were black of heart and viciously disposed and others were simply bumbling idiots, either way they led their nations and those who populated them to destruction and ruin.

There are no secular solutions for a spiritual disease. The bums will not be thrown out they are where they are for a reason, and if they should drop by the wayside they will simply be replaced with those who are equally perverse. All too often I have hear others say that the Lord helps those who help themselves, this is absolutely a lie. The truth is that the Lord delivers those who do His bidding and who rely on Him in all things.

Jeremiah 17:5 “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.”

A righteous and virtuous people can expect righteous government and virtuous leaders; an unwholesome and iniquitous people can expect the same unwholesomeness from those who rule over them. The last three government administrations amplify that fact. The unholy trio, Clinton, Bush, and Obama have brought this nation and its people to a precipice overlooking an abyss, all were, during their tenure, liars and deceivers and upholders of vice and personal corruption. They have piped a Godless recalcitrant people down a crooked road to an imminent demise.

An adoring liberal-socialist media and the mindless believers in Obama as savior have made much of his alleged brilliance, he is in fact possessed of an entirely normal intellect and is neither brilliant nor possessed of a mentally superior adeptness. He is entirely one-dimensional and incapable of thinking in abstract terms.

His guiding light is his spouse who is what Jezebel was to Ahab, a not unintelligent evil spirit behind the throne. Michelle’s undisguised hatred of America and of the Caucasian race guides her thinking and that of her husband. There can be no doubt that she was the guiding light responsible for her mate’s Marxist political appointees.

If Mr. Obama were to read this, he would be greatly offended. Not by my allegations of his political intent and Marxist leanings, because he is very transparent in that regard and unashamed of his political bent, but my questioning of his alleged brilliance and his mental adeptness would irritate him immensely, in point of fact it would absolutely infuriate him as he is a complete and perfect Narcissist, a true lover of himself.

America will fall, but there is still hope for the people of America:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Germany, Russia: We support new Iran nuke sanction
By Associated Press Writer Verena Schmitt-roschmann
Sat Jun 5, 1:58 pm ET

MESEBERG, Germany – Germany and Russia declared Saturday that the five world powers negotiating with Iran support a fresh set of international sanctions, and Chancellor Angela Merkel said they could pass soon.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a news conference with Merkel that "agreement on the sanctions exists," despite the fact that "nobody wants sanctions."

"We hope the voice of the international community will be heard by the Iranian leadership," Medvedev said through the official German translator.

Merkel said sanctions could be passed by the United Nations Security Council "in the near future."

Russia has been traditionally opposed to sanctions for Iran, a longtime trade partner, but in recent months officials have shown less patience with Iran's refusal to stop enriching uranium and heed other council demands meant to reduce suspicions over its nuclear aims .

"I am very happy, that we can stand here jointly today and say that this is a joint position not only of the European Union, the United States of America and Russia, but also of China," Merkel said. "That is an important step the international community has made here."

Moscow has recently joined the other four U.N. Security Council members — the United States, China, Britain and France — to tentatively back a draft fourth set of U.N. sanctions against Iran.

"We have always taken a two-way approach, making offers, on the one hand, but, as there are no qualitative changes, on the other hand now the time has come that such sanctions must be adopted," Merkel said.

Medvedev said it is unacceptable "that one continues to act irresponsibly. One has to move toward the partners of the international community and it is only in this way that complicated issues can be solved."

Russia's president arrived Friday for a two-day visit to Germany to discuss a range of issues with Merkel.

The West is against an expansion of nuclear nations and suspects Iran is enriching uranium to build a nuclear warhead. Tehran denies this and insists on its right to a peaceful nuclear power program, but has frustrated the West over its failure to prove it.

Germany, Russia: We support new Iran nuke sanction (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100605/ap_on_re_eu/iran_nuclear)

Turkey has embraced Iran, Hamas
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER AND JPOST.COM STAFF
06/04/2010 23:36

Oren responds to fierce criticism of Israel by "friend in the past."

A top Israel envoy criticized Turkey’s outreach to terror groups Friday, hours after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying Hamas is not a terrorist organization.

“Turkey has embraced the leaders of Iran and Hamas, all of whom called for Israel’s destruction,” declared Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren.

“Our policy has not changed but Turkey’s policy has changed, very much, over the last few years,” he said. “Under a different government with an Islamic orientation, Turkey has turned away from the West.”

But Oren, speaking on a conference call organized by The Israel Project, held out hope for reconciliation. “We certainly do not have any desire in any further deterioration in our relations with the Turks,” he noted. “It’s an important Middle Eastern power. It has been a friend in the past.”

Earlier Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared at a rally in the Turkish province of Konya that Hamas was not a resistance movement.

Erdogan said Hamas, the legitimate winner of the Palestinian elections, was fighting for its land. "You are always talking about democracy. You’ll never let Hamas rule. What kind of democracy is this?” he was quoted as saying by Turkish daily Hurriyet, apparently addressing the Israeli leadership.

RELATED:
'Passengers had murder in their eyes'
Gun-sights and cartridges found on Marmara
IDF: Mercenaries to blame for violence

“I do not think that Hamas is a terrorist organization," Erdogan was quoted as saying. "They are Palestinians in resistance, fighting for their own land."

The Turkish leader went on to echo the Tuesday speech in which he called Israel's boarding of the Gaza flotilla "a massacre." In his address Friday, he said the Ten Commandments should have deterred the soldiers from killing the nine passengers who died on board the ship. “If you do not understand it in Turkish I will say it in English: You shall not kill,” he reportedly said - repeating the phrase in Hebrew.

“They even slaughtered 19-year-old Furkan. They did not even care for the babies in the cradle,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.

Nineteen-year-old Furkan Dogan was the youngest of the nine activists killed in the raid. His funeral Friday in his family's hometown in Kayseri in central Turkey drew 10,000 people, some chanting, "Down with Israel."

"Neither I nor his mother or brother have any grief," his father, Ahmet Dogan, told the Associated Press as he arranged flowers on his son's coffin before prayers started. "We believe he became a martyr and God accepts martyrs to paradise."

In his speech, Erdogan also slammed Turkish media reports which were critical of his party's support of Hamas, saying the "columnists" had a slanted view of the events.

Earlier on Friday, Turkey's deputy prime minister said his country would work to reduce its military and economic cooperation with Israel. Existing contracts, he said, would be reviewed and reworked or canceled.

Turkey has embraced Iran, Hamas (http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=177512)

Sub attack was near US-SKorea drill
By Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jun 5, 2:11 pm ET

WASHINGTON – On the night a torpedo-armed North Korean submarine allegedly sank a South Korean patrol ship, the U.S. and South Korea were engaged in joint anti-submarine warfare exercises just 75 miles away, military officials told The Associated Press.

The sinking of the Cheonan was the worst South Korean military disaster since the 1950-53 Korean War. It showed that even impoverished nations such as North Korea can inflict heavy casualties on far better equipped and trained forces, including those backed by U.S. military might.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said plans for more joint U.S.-South Korea anti-submarine exercises, announced after Cheonan went down, are on hold awaiting U.N. action on the incident.

That's in part, Gates said Friday while in Asia, because of concerns about instigating another rash act by the North Koreans.

Two months after the sinking, U.S. officials for the first time disclosed details of the joint naval exercise held the same day as the attack on the Cheonan. Forty-six South Korean sailors died on the warship, which was not involved in the exercise. It was on routine patrol near disputed waters.

Military officials said the drill could not have detected the North Korean sub. Officials and defense experts said a minisub would have been difficult for even a nearby ship to track in shallow coastal waters.

What surprised experts was that a 130-ton minisub, without warning, could bring down a warship nine or 10 times its size, a power mismatch called asymmetric warfare.

"To us, stealth denotes the latest technology — billions of dollars in research and development in armaments," said John Park, a Korea expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace. "The North Korean version of stealth is old-school diesel-battery operated subs that evade modern detection methods."

An South Korean-led investigation into the sinking concluded last month that the evidence overwhelmingly pointed to the North. The North has denied any involvement.

Western experts say there are still questions about exactly what happened that night off Baengnyeong island.

One U.S. official said the sinking may not have been an intentional attack at all, but the act of a rogue commander, an accident or an exercise gone wrong. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident publicly.

A statement run by North Korean state media threatened war in response to any attempt to punish the North.

"Because of the South Korean war-loving, mad puppets and American invaders, the North and South relationship is being driven to a catastrophe," Choi Yong Rim, a high-ranking North Korean Party official, told a rally last week in the North Korean capital.

On Saturday, South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, tried to lower fears of an armed conflict. "There is absolutely no possibility of a full-scale war on the Korean peninsula," he said in Singapore.

U.S. and South Korean forces can easily monitor the movements of North Korean submarines when they operate on the surface.

Underwater, tracking submarines relies on active or passive sonar. Passive sonar uses microphones to listen for the sounds of sub operations. Active sonar emits sounds and listens for the echoes as they bounce off of submerged objects.

The Cheonan was operating its active sonar at the time, South Korean Navy officer Kim Young-kyu told The Associated Press. It wasn't clear why the ship didn't detect the sub.

After the blast, a South Korean commander dispatched a patrol boat to look for subs.

But officials said the vessel couldn't locate any, perhaps because of the weather, currents and rough conditions that chilly March night. Those factors, as well as the rocks and ledges in shallow water, can all affect the reliability of sonar, experts say.

Sonar technology has traditionally been designed to operate in deep waters and used for convoy protection rather than coastal defense.

"There's a lot of equipment that works pretty well against big submarines out in the deep ocean, but doesn't work so well against small submarines in shallow water," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.com, a military think tank. "We've got the same concern with Iran and the Persian Gulf."

North Korea is believed to have a fleet of 70 submarines, including some 50 that are small but still capable of carrying a torpedo.

The night before the Cheonan sank, two U.S. destroyers and other ships maneuvered and practiced tracking while a South Korean navy submarine played the role of target.

The U.S.-South Korean anti-sub exercise began at 10 p.m. March 25 and ended at 9 p.m. the next day, Army Col. Jane Crichton, a spokeswoman for U.S. forces in Korea, told the AP. The exercise was terminated because of the blast aboard the Cheonan.

The submarine drill was part of annual U.S.-Korea war games called Key Resolve/Foal Eagle, which are intended to keep forces ready in the event another major war erupts on the Korean Peninsula.

Key Resolve was an 11-day computer simulation started early in the month. Foal Eagle followed at midmonth and included live firing by U.S. Marines, aerial attack drills, urban combat and other training as well as the anti-submarine warfare drill.

As the exercises got under way, Army Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of U.S. forces in Korea, said it was practice for "all the threats that North Korea can throw at us."

North Korea claimed the exercises amounted to attack preparations and demanded they be canceled.

Seoul has taken the sinking of the Cheonan as a wake-up call, and vowed to review and strengthen its defenses. The U.S. is planning two major naval exercises with South Korea in the coming weeks on top of the more than dozen of various types that it holds each year.

Sub attack was near US-SKorea drill (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100605/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_korea_ship_sinking;_ylt=AnO1VDxWcQj_XPe.hGAv8aZbbBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTNkNWZzZnRyBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNjA1L3VzX3VzX2tvcmVhX3NoaXBfc2lua2luZwRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzcEcG9zAzcEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNhcGVudGVycHJpc2U-)

Diplomacy may have little effect on defiant North Korea
1 hr 52 mins ago

SINGAPORE (AFP) – Diplomatic efforts to punish North Korea for sinking a South Korean warship may have little effect on a regime that "doesn't care" about the outside world or its own people, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told the BBC on Sunday.

North Korea's defiant stance posed a "dilemma" for world powers struggling to find effective measures against Pyongyang short of military action, Gates said, according to a transcript of his interview.

Gates said that "as long as the regime doesn't care what the outside world thinks of it, as long as it doesn't care about the well-being of its people, there's not a lot you can do about it, to be quite frank, unless you're willing at some point to use military force.

"And nobody wants to do that."

There was no desire to trigger the collapse of the North or "to see another war on the peninsula," he said.

"So how do you gain purchase with a regime that doesn't seem to care what happens to it?"

Citing the unpredictable nature of the regime, Gates said the North's motives in the alleged sinking of the South Korean ship remained unclear and raised the possibility of yet more "provocations."

"And one has to wonder what they were thinking and whether there are other provocations to come," he said.

Gates was speaking on the sidelines of the Shangri-La security forum in Singapore where he pledged full support to Seoul and called for international action to hold Pyongyang to account for the alleged torpedo attack on the Cheonan that killed 46 South Korean sailors.

But in the BBC interview, he sounded pessimistic about the prospects for pressuring the North as he described the communist regime's pattern of behavior.

He said North Korea often surprised its closest ally, China, with aggressive acts, and that Beijing's influence over the North should not overstated.

"There's no doubt in my mind that China has perhaps the greatest influence of any outside power on North Korea. But I think that's far from control," he said.

"And the frequency with which the North Korean regime surprises the Chinese I think illustrates that."

Gates' grim description of the challenges facing efforts to hold North Korea accountable came after Seoul appealed to the UN Security Security to take up the crisis.

Tensions have soared on the peninsula since a multinational probe last month concluded a North Korean torpedo sank the Cheonan, triggering trade reprisals from South Korea and threats of war from the communist North.

In a speech on Saturday in Singapore, Gates said the US administration was looking at "additional options" against the North, apart from UN diplomacy and planned military exercises with South Korea.

But he did not specify what the new measures might be.

Diplomacy may have little effect on defiant North Korea (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100605/pl_afp/skoreankoreamilitaryusdiplomacy_20100605233606)

IDF: Mercenaries to blame for violence
By YAAKOV KATZ
06/04/2010 05:06

Army says some 50 well-trained passengers were recruited in Turkey.

The IDF has identified one of the passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara , which navy commandos commandeered earlier this week, as the ringleader of a group of mercenaries who were recruited from a city in northwest Turkey, according to new details from the military’s ongoing investigation of the Gaza flotilla.

The IDF identified a group of about 50 men – of the 700 on board – who were well-trained and were stationed throughout the ship, mostly on the upper deck, where they laid an ambush for the IDF soldiers who rappelled onto the deck from helicopters.

The members of this violent group were not carrying identity cards or passports. Instead, each of them had an envelope in his pocket with about $10,000 in cash. The defense establishment suspects the funding for the mercenaries may have come from elements within the Turkish government.

According to sources within the defense establishment, one member of the group, who appears to have been the ringleader, traveled to the city of Bursa in northwest Turkey and allegedly recruited mercenaries for the flotilla there.

In videos from the Marmara released this week by the IDF, this group of men can be seen preparing to confront IDF commandos. The videos, taken by the ship’s security cameras, show the group of activists brandishing metal bars, slingshots, and other assorted weaponry.

The group was split up into smaller squads that were distributed throughout the deck and communicated with one another with handheld communication devices. The men wore bulletproof vests and gas masks.

One video clearly shows a member of the group throwing a stun grenade onto the IDF commando vessel that pulled up alongside the Marmara. Another video shows how groups of at least four or five men swarmed each commando that landed on the top deck, beating them with metal bars, and in one case throwing a soldier off the third deck.

Soldiers testified that in at least two instances their sidearms were taken from them, as were their helmets and vests. Two soldiers jumped off the ship into the water to save themselves from being lynched.

On Wednesday, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna’i told a Knesset hearing that all nine men killed on the Marmara were “involved in the fighting.”

“There were no innocents among the dead,” Vilna’i said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Media Watch reported Thursday that three of the four Turks killed on ship sought a martyr’s death.

PMW quoted from the official Palestinian Authority daily Al-Hayat al-Jadida:

“Three of the four Turks killed in the Israeli attack on the ‘Freedom Flotilla’ bound for the Gaza Strip wanted to die as martyrs, said their relatives and friends. The wife of one of them, Ali Haydar Bengi, told the Vatan daily: “He used to help the poor and the oppressed. For years, he wanted to go to Palestine. And he constantly prayed to Allah to grant him shahada (martyrdom).

“Ali worked at telephone repair shop in Diyarbakir, the largest city in southeastern Turkey. Sabir Ceylan, a friend of Ali, told the Milliyet newspaper: ‘Before embarking on this journey [to Gaza], he said he desired to become a martyr. He had a strong desire to die as a martyr.’

“Another Turkish victim was Ali Ekber Yaratilmis, a 55-year old pensioner. He was a father of five who lived in Ankara. Ali volunteered for the Turkish Aid and Human Rights Organization [IHH], which transfers aid to Gaza. A friend, Mehmet Faruk Cevher, told the Sabah daily that [Ali] ‘devoted his life to charity work, that’s why he went to Gaza. He always wanted to become a martyr.’

“The third victim was Ibrahim Bilgen, a 61-year old pensioner and father of six sons. He was a supporter of the Felicity Party, an Islamic movement in the southeastern city of Siirt, Anatolia news agency reported. His brother-in-law, Nuri Mergen, told the agency: He was an exemplary man and a truly good man. That’s why he was truly worthy of shahada (martyrdom). Allah granted him the death that he wished for.’”

Palestinian Media Watch reported in the last two days that participants on board were chanting Islamic battle cries and talking about their coming martyrdom during the days before the confrontation.

IDF: Mercenaries to blame for violence (http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177452)

Flotilla dead mourned in Turkey
By ASSOCIATED PRESS AND JPOST.COM STAFF
06/03/2010 19:37

Turkish president says Israel "will repent."

STANBUL — Mourners in Istanbul hoisted coffins Thursday to cheers of "God is great!" as they honored activists slain during Monday's Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, and the father of the lone American killed praised his teenage son as being a martyr for a just cause.

Some 10,000 people prayed Thursday outside Istanbul's Fatih mosque before eight Turkish and Palestinian flag-draped coffins lined up in a row in a traditional service for the dead. Eight Turks and an American of Turkish origin were honored, ranging in age from over 60 to 19. A ninth victim, a Turkish man, was having a service on Friday.

The funeral occurred as relations between Turkey and Israel worsen. Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Thursday that, "Turkey will never forgive Israel for the killing of Turkish citizens.

"Relations between Turkey and Israel will never be as they were," Gul said in a television broadcast. "Israel has made one of the most glaring mistakes in its history, for which it will repent."

Bulent Yildirim, the head of the Islamic charity group IHH that organized the Gaza flotilla said "Our friends have been massacred," before mourners carried the coffins through the crowd to cars to be taken for burial.

The body of Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old with dual U.S.-Turkish citizenship, was to be flown to his family's hometown of Kayseri for burial Thursday, the state-run Anatolia News Agency reported.

His father told Anatolia he identified Furkan in the morgue and his son had been shot through the forehead. Still, he said, the family was not sad because they believed Furkan had died with honor.

"I feel my son has been blessed with heaven," he said. "I am hoping to be a father worthy of my son."

Before dawn, thousands flooded Istanbul's main Taksim Square to welcome home hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists from the aid boats who had been expelled. Israel, which has faced strong international criticism for the botched military operation, decided not to prosecute the activists in an effort to limit diplomatic outrage.

Flotilla dead mourned in Turkey (http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=177422)

Excerpts: Egypt's Islamists back Baradei against Mubarak.Saudi Arabia reports Al-Qaeda recruitment of women June 05, 2010

Excerpts: Egypt's Islamists back Baradei against Mubarak.Saudi Arabia
reports Al-Qaeda recruitment of women
June 05, 2010

+++SOURCE: Egyptian Gazette 5 June '10:"Egypt's Islamists back Baradei's
demands "

SUBJECT: Egypt's Islamists back Baradei against Mubarak

FULL TEXT:The banned Muslim Brotherhood announced Saturday(5 June) it would
fully support former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei in
his campaign to amend the Egyptian Constitution as he declared in return the
group was the largest legal political faction in Egypt.

"We are going to collect signatures from all classes of the Egyptian
society in order to support ElBaradei's campaign to amend the Constitution
and reform the political system in Egypt," said Mohamed Saad el-Katatni, the
head of the Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc.
He added, in a press conference with ElBaradei sitting beside him after
closed talks with the group members, that this would be a first step to back
him.
"We will back his peaceful approach for change," el-Katatni said,
pointing out that his group agrees with the changes ElBaradei demands.
"The Brotherhood is a partner with ElBaradei in the call for change,"
the Islamist MP said.
Of his part, ElBaradei, a potential presidential candidate, said the
Muslim Brotherhood, banned since 1954, was the only legal political faction
in this country.
"The Brotherhood is a model of the strong opposition in Egypt's
Parliament and street. It has a legal standing that the ruling party,"
ElBaradei said.
The Muslim Brotherhood controls fifth of the seats in the People's
Assembly (the Lower House of Egypt's Parliament), which is dominated by the
ruling National Democratic party.
ElBaradei has said he may run in the 2011 presidential vote if there are
constitutional reforms.

+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 6 June '10:"Haila Al-Qusayyer funded Al-Qaeda,
recruited women"
By Abdullah Al-Oraifij

SUBJECT: Saudi Arabia reports Al-Qaeda recruitment of wmen

FULL TEXT:RIYADH – Security sources have said that Haila Al-Qusayyer, who was detained in Buraidah in March, was a “financier of the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula” and that her husband Muhammad Solaiman Al-Wakeel who was killed in clashes with security forces several years ago was a member of the organization in the Kingdom.

The sources said that Al-Qusayyer had managed to collect over the last two years donations for the organization in Yemen by obtaining jewelry as well as money purportedly for the building of mosques and orphanages in Yemen. They also said that Al-Qusayyer played a significant role in helping Wafa’ Al-Shehri, the wife of “second man” Saeed Al-Shehri, enter Yemeni territory, and in recruiting “young girls” from the families of wanted persons and helping their wives and sisters join up with them in Yemen.

According to the sources, the attempts by Al-Qaeda in Yemen to portray the female relatives of wanted persons as in the sights of security services are “no more than a desperate and deplorable attempt to inflame society against the security services”.

“They are more aware than anyone that the authorities try to protect women and people’s honor,” they said.

“Whatever the acts of wanted men, no one is responsible for the crimes of another, and that is the way we deal with all security issues,” the sources said.

Excerpts: Egypt's Islamists back Baradei against Mubarak.Saudi Arabia reports Al-Qaeda recruitment of women June 05, 2010 (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=48325)

This next bunch is from Irans official news company.

Tehran Declaration is a right step to raise nations’ demands
Tehran, June 5, IRNA – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (a.k.a. ImaNutJob) says the May 17 Iran-Turkey-Brazil fuel swap declaration is a step in right direction to express demands of whole the world nations.
“The declaration defends a fact and we should try to ensure the move would continue to guarantee justice and rights of nations. It should turn into a yardstick in international relations,” said President Ahmadinejad in an interview with Lebanese LBC TV.

He said today, nuclear issue is treated as global subject.

“Tehran Declaration has provided those, who used to move in direction opposing justice, to make a recourse to dialogue and observe rights of nations. Of course, they are free to choose. We wish they would favor the path of justice and respect. If they take the other way, Iran too will naturally take the next steps consistent with conditions.”

Tehran Declaration is defense of fact and it can not be regarded as a sort of mediation, said the President, adding that the Declaration showed that Brazil, Turkey and Iran have well understood global conditions and responsibilities and insist on justice.

President Ahmadinejad said Tehran Declaration does not concern three countries only, rather it reveals demands and expectations of all the world nations and the ones seeking equal rights for all nations.

Tehran Declaration is a right step to raise nations’ demands (http://www.irna.ir/En/View/FullStory/?NewsId=1158311&IdLanguage=3)

Pakistan hikes defence spending by 17 percent
Islamabad,June 6 , IRNA -- Pakistan Saturday announced annual budget with a 17 percent increase in defence allocation as the security forces are engaged in operation against the Taliban-linked militants.
The budget for 2010-11 was presented in the parliament and a debate will begin on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh told the National Assembly, Lower House of the parliament in his budget speech that defense spending will be increased to 442.2 billion rupees (approximately $5.17 billion) for the new financial year beginning on July 1.

Defence allocation for the outgoing year had been 378.13 billion rupees.

The Finance Minister described security as the top issue and said that Pakistan is facing a situation in which the army, paramilitary forces and police are sacrificing their lives. He said the parliament will continue support to them.

The minister unveiled total outlay of budget is Rs 2,764 billion or $32.51 billion, which is 12.3 percent higher than the size of the budget estimates for outgoing fiscal 2009-10.

The minister announced 50 per cent increase in salary of the government employees and 10 per cent reduction in the salary of the cabinet ministers.

He said the new budget is aimed at protecting the economic recovery, checking inflation, achieving self reliance, reforming and enhancing social protection regime and reducing burden of public sector enterprises.

Pakistan hikes defence spending by 17 percent (http://www.irna.ir/En/View/FullStory/?NewsId=1158365&idLanguage=3)

Unprecedented anti-Israeli protests in French big cities

Paris, June 6, IRNA – Upon invitations by tens of humanitarian organizations, political parties, labor unions, Muslims and Jews unions the most unprecedented anti-Israeli demonstrations were held in Paris and other big cities of France on Saturday.

The demonstrators protested against bloody attack of the Zionist army on freedom flotilla carrying humanitarian aids for besieged people of Gaza as well as expressed their dissatisfaction with French government policy toward the Zionist regime.

The demonstrators shouted slogans such as; “ Israel commits crimes, Sarkozy supports.”

The protestors in Paris were estimated to be more than 10,000 who marched from Bastille Square in downtown toward Concord Square, close to Presidential Palace.

They were carrying flags of Palestine and Turkey and in their slogans called for an end to the Gaza blockade and condemned Israelis crimes as well as called for putting the Zionist regime officials on trial.

According to the reports, in many other cities of France such as Lyons, Strassbourg, Marseilles, Liles, Nantes, Boudreaux and some other cities the same demonstrations were held by political parties, peace supporters and Islamic and Palestinian Associations.

Protesters in Nice, south of France, were carrying placards with slogans like, “ Gaza! France is with you,” Liberate Palestine,” France sympathizes with people of Gaza,” We declare solidarity with Palestinian people,” Peace, justice and independence for Palestine.

Unprecedented anti-Israeli protests in French big cities (http://www.irna.ir/En/View/FullStory/?NewsId=1158385&idLanguage=3)

Calls for Israel boycott as thousands march in London

London, June 5, IRNA – Thousands of people marched in London Saturday to express their outage at Israel’s massacre and imprisonment of passengers aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

Separate protests were also held in other towns and cities, including Belfast as well as in the Irish capital of Dublin, following Israel’s further forcible seizure of the Rachel Corrie on Saturday.

Demonstrators in London gathered outside the office of Prime Minister David Cameron, to demand further action by the British government, before marching to the Israeli Embassy.

"We can't sit by and watch Israel violate international law every day,” said director of campaigns and operations at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Sarah Colborne, who was a passenger on the Mavi Marmara, the main ship in the convoy.

“We want the British government to take action to ensure there are no future attacks on humanitarian aid convoys, ensure a search is carried out for those that remain missing, ensure that those people who have been detained illegally will be released and most importantly to end the siege of Gaza," Colborne said.

Other Britons at the demonstrations who survived the attack by Israeli commandoes included Ismail Patel, chairman of the UK-based Friends of al-Aqsa, and Kevin Ovenden of Viva Palestina, who spoke of the horrors of the brutal assault in international waters on Monday.

Earlier, trade union leaders joined PSC general secretary Betty Hunter and PSC chair Hugh Lanning in calling on the British government to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement and end their support for the blockade and collective punishment of Gaza.

“We call for support for a policy of boycott of Israeli products, disinvestment from Israeli companies and sanctions against Israel until justice for the Palestinian people has been achieved,” they said in a joint letter to the Guardian.

Calls for Israel boycott as thousands march in London (http://www.irna.ir/En/View/FullStory/?NewsId=1158328&idLanguage=3)

And this is the last from Iran.

Afghanistan Halts Work Church Groups; Christians Concerned
Posted on: 2010-06-02 04:56:24
By Worthy News Staff

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (Worthy News)-- Christian aid workers in Afghanistan faced legal challenges Wednesday, June 2, after authorities ordered two Western church groups to stop their activities amid suspicions they were converting Muslims to Christianity -- an offense that carries the death penalty under Afghan law.

"If proven after the investigation that they were involved in conversion activities, they will be introduced to the judicial authorities," confirmed a spokesman for the Ministry of Economy, Sediq Amarkhil.

The humanitarian aid groups Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and the U.S. based Church World Service (CWS) have denied involvement in evangelism, commonly described as "proselytism."

NCA Secretary-General Atle Sommerfeldt said in a statement that his organization has a firm policy of not attempting "to convert people to another religion" in all countries where it operates. "Our work is entirely humanitarian -- meaning we are impartial, neutral, and independent," added CWS Deputy Director and Head of Programs Maurice A. Bloem. "We fully adhere to and support the Red Cross/Red Crescent Code of Conduct, which mandates that [non governmental organizations] do nothing to further a religious agenda."

RELIGIOUS "PROSELYTISM"

He said his organization respects other religions and that it has "never and will never engage in any religious proselytism" as "such activities are contrary to our mandate" as a humanitarian organization.

"Any allegations that we have engaged in proselytism are entirely false -- and we are fully cooperating with the investigation by the Ministry of Economy and look forward to its result," Bloem added.

He said the work of CSW's 300 local staff in Afghanistan is intended solely to support the humanitarian needs of Afghan communities, especially in areas of health, livelihood support, and education.

The investigation of the National Security and Interior Ministries into the activities of the church groups followed an Afghan television report which cited local police as saying they "had heard rumors" of the charities' proselytizing activities.

REPORTED DEMONSTRATION

The report triggered a demonstration by several hundred students at Kabul University on Monday, May 31, witnesses said.

Demonstrators shouted death threats toward foreigners who seek to convert Muslims and demanded the government expel anyone who tried, said Mohammad Najib, a professor at the school who witnessed the protest.

The group blocked the road outside the university's main gate for more than an hour before the demonstrators moved off peacefully, Najib told reporters. Police reportedly stood by but did not intervene.

Hundreds of international and Afghan groups are involved in essential humanitarian aid projects across the country, in areas ranging from health to education, but some Afghans remain skeptical of their motives and suspect they could be a front for proselytizing. Weeks before their ouster in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, the Taliban detained several Western aid workers after accusing them of proselytizing, but the group was freed in a raid by American special forces.

In 2007 Taliban insurgents kidnapped 21 South Korean Christians who were visiting as part of an evangelical church charity group and accused them of proselytizing. Two of the hostages were murdered before the rest were released, although authorities have denied any ransom was paid.

The latestofficialinvestigation into international aid groups was expected to raise tensions between the Afghan government and Western governments, who face pressure at home to withdraw their troops fighting Taliban and suspected Al-Qaida militants from Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Halts Work Church Groups; Christians Concerned (http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=8243)

Turkish Man Charged In Murder Bishop
Posted on: 2010-06-04 06:01:18

By Worthy News Middle East Service with reporting by Worthy News' Stefan J. Bos

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (Worthy News)-- A Turkish court on Friday, June 4, charged a Turkish man with murdering a Roman Catholic bishop -- the latest in a series of violent attacks against the country's tiny Christian minority.

The 63-year-old Bishop Luigi Padovese, the pope's apostolic vicar in Anatolia, was resting at his summer house in the port city of Iskenderun, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, when he was stepped by his driver, said Sister Leonora, the bishop's secretary.

Bishop Padovese, an Italian national, was due to join Pope Benedict XVI in Cyprus on Sunday, May 6.

The suspect of Kurdish origin, identified only as Murat A., had been employed as his personal driver and handyman for more than four years, Vatican sources added.

Bishop Padovese, who was also head of the Turkish Bishops Conference, reportedly died in the ambulance on the way to hospital shortly after the attack at 1 pm local time.

HATE CRIME?

Soon after Thursday's killing, authorities suggested the attack was not an anti-Christian hate crime. In a statement, Turkish police said the suspect was "mentally unstable" with serious psychological problems.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said he was "dismayed" by the news. "This is horrible news that left " us deeply shocked and of course, desperately dismayed," he said in comments monitored by BosNewsLife.

"Bishop Padovese was a person of great worth for the witness of the Church's life in Turkey, and even in difficult situations, was a courageous person dedicated to the Gospel".

Spokesman Lombardi confirmed reports that the suspect had mental problems. "The religious sister [and secretary of the bishop] testified to the mans recent signs of depression and confusion and confirms that he had given evidence of mental imbalance in the past."

Therefore, "political motivations for the attack, or other motivations linked to socio-political tensions
are to be excluded," he added.

MORE ATTACKS

However the attack was expected to add to anxiety among Christians following several attacks in recent years in Turkey. In 2007, a Catholic priest survived after being stabbed by a 19-year-old boy after Sunday Mass in the western city of Izmir.

That same year, three evangelical Christians were tortured and killed in a Bible-publishing house in the city of Malatya.

In 2006, a 16-year-old boy shot dead a Catholic priest, Father Andrea Santoro, as he prayed in his church in the Black Sea city of Trabzon.

Lombardi said the latest attack comes at a crucial time for the pope and Christians. "This fact coming as it does on the eve of a papal trip towards the Middle East lends an extraordinary intensity to the popes mission to encourage the Christian communities living in this region, helping us to profoundly understand the urgent need for the solidarity of the universal Church to support these Christian communities."

Turkey, which seeks membership of the European Union, has come under international pressure to improve the rights of Christians and other religious minorities in the mainlyMuslim nation.

Turkish Man Charged In Murder Bishop (http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=8248)

Broadcaster Airing U.S. Day Of Prayer Despite Court Ruling
Posted on: 2010-05-06 11:37:58
ByStefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

WASHINGTON, USA (Worthy News)-- International Christian broadcaster GOD Television was to air Thursday, May 6, the United States' National Day of Prayer (NDP), amid concerns among Christians that the annual event may be banned following a controversial court ruling.

A federal judge in Wisconsin, Judge Barbara Crabb, wrote last month that the NDP violated the constitution. She said the government can no more enact laws "supporting a day of prayer than it can encourage citizens to fast during Ramadan, attend a synagogue or practice magic.

In fact, Crabb wrote, "it is because the nature of prayer is so personal and can have such a powerful effect on a community that the government may not use its authority to try to influence an individuals decision whether and when to pray."

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has countered that the statute simply acknowledges the role of religion in the country. Obama issued a proclamation last year but did not hold public events with religious leaders as former President George W. Bush had done.

CONGRESS RULING

Congress established the day in 1952 and in 1988 set the first Thursday in May as the day for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Madison-based group of atheists and agnostics, filed a lawsuit against the federal government in 2008 arguing the day violated the separation of church and state.

Tthis year's theme NDP theme is 'For such a time as this' based on Bible verse Nahum 1:7: "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him."

GOD TV said in a statement that viewers of the 2010 National Observance in Washington D.C will be encouraged to "participate in powerful prayers of intercession for America and all those in authority by various Christian leaders."

They will also be invited to sign an on-line petition "to save the National Day of Prayer," added GOD TV co-founder Wendy Alec.

Hosted by NDP Task Force Chairman, Shirley Dobson, the three-hour broadcast was to include an address by EvangelistFranklin Graham, the Task Force's Honorary Chairman.

"UNRELENTING ASSAULT"

"Unfortunately, the heritage of prayer in our nation has come under unrelenting assault," said Shirley Dobson in a statement. "The National Day of Prayer dates back to 1775 and it is not for a judge to take away. We the people called for the day of prayer and for 59 years we have practiced our freedom to gather and pray," she explained.

"It is time to say, 'Enough is enough'. We ask the American people to defend the right to pray. We can be silent no more," Dobson added.

It comes amidconcerns reports of attacks againstopenly devoted Christians in the United States, following the killing of two evangelists earlier this year and attacks against churches and pastors.

Broadcaster Airing U.S. Day Of Prayer Despite Court Ruling (http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=8071)

Evangelical Group Condemns Uzbekistan Crackdown On Churches
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 (3:43 am)

By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

TASHKENT/BUDAPEST (Worthy News)-- An influential evangelical organization, which claims to represent over 400 million Christians worldwide, expressed concerns Tuesday, June 1, about police raids on Protestant congregations in Uzbekistan and the detention of several Christians in the former Soviet republic.

The Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) of the World Evangelical Alliance said it was especially concerned about a recent police raid on one of the largest Protestant churches in the capital Tashkent where police "without a warrant" detained eight church members and seized properties.

Three other church members of the Church of Christ in Tashkent eventually received 15 days imprisonment May 18 on charges that include "violating" strict religious regulations of the former Soviet nation, reported Worthy News earlier.

Five other church members received heavy fines with three of them forced to pay $ 1,775 -- about eighty times the average monthly minimum wage in the impoverished nation -- while two others were fined five $110 each, the RLC said.

The troubles began during a May 16 Sunday worship service, attended by some 500 people, which was interrupted by "police, the secret police, tax inspectorate, fire Inspectors and the sanitary-epidemiological service," explained RLC. "Sunday school children were videotaped by the police. After a 5 hour search, which was carried out without a warrant, the police detained eight church members including the Assistant Pastor Artur Avanesyan."

"NO FOOD, WATER"

The group claimed they were kept in detention for 24 hours without any food or water and were not allowed to contact their families. "Equipment including computers and printers as well as Christian literature was confiscated. Letters of permission given by parents of 392 children to attend Sunday school were among papers taken away by the police."

The raid on the Church of Christ was "the latest in a series of similar raids on Protestant congregations this year," said RLC Executive Director Godfrey Yogarajah in a statement to Worthy News and its news partner BosNewsLife. "There have also been several instances where Christian leaders have been convicted of various false charges," he added.

"[We are] deeply concerned about the recent raid and arrests of church members and the apparent deterioration of religious rights in Uzbekistan." He said his group had urged the government of Uzbekistan "to ensure the rights of all Uzbek citizens". His organization has also urged Christians worldwide "to stand in solidarity with the Uzbek church and pray for justice and equality for the church in Central Asia."

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has been accused of using the threat of Islamic militancy to justify his autocratic style of leadership and cracking down on religious groups deemed "dangerous" for the country, including active churches. Uzbek officials have refused to comment on the Church for Christ case.

Evangelical Group Condemns Uzbekistan Crackdown On Churches (http://www.worthynews.com/8236-evangelical-group-condemns-uzbekistan-crackdown-on-churches)

Calif. high school ends 'Beat the Jew' game
June 4 2010

LOS ANGELES — Seven seniors at a Southern California high school were facing disciplinary action for participating in a game called "Beat the Jew" in which losers were subjected to "incineration" or "enslavement," a school administrator said Friday.

The game involved some students playing the role of Nazis who blindfolded and dropped off other students playing Jews who must find their way back to the campus, said Sherry Johnstone, assistant superintendent of personnel for Desert Sands Unified School District.

It was not immediately clear what either punishment comprised for losing players, she said.

Seven seniors at La Quinta High School could be suspended or barred from graduation, among other measures, Johnstone said.

"This is appalling to us," she said. "We want our students to understand the horror of a title like this."

The district about 130 miles east of Los Angeles referred the matter to police because of the possibility that the game contained a threat, said La Quinta police Lt. Jason Huskey. No threat had been found so far, but the investigation was ongoing, he said.

The district started investigating a week ago after students reported the game to administrators.

The game was promoted online, attracting about 40 students. Seven showed up to play one evening in the campus parking lot, Johnstone said.

The district is working with Jewish organizations to review its tolerance curriculum. A voluntary tolerance program will be held after school next week.

Calif. high school ends 'Beat the Jew' game (http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20100604/US.Beat.the.Jew.Game/)

Egyptians married to Israelis to lose citizenship
By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, AP
8 hours ago

CAIRO — An Egyptian appeals court on Saturday upheld a ruling that orders the country's Interior Ministry to strip the citizenship from Egyptians married to Israeli women.

The case underlines the deep animosity many Egyptians still hold toward Israelis, despite a peace treaty signed between the two countries 31 years ago.

The Supreme Administrative Court's decision also scores a point for Egyptian hard-liners who have long resisted any improvement in ties with Israel since the signing of the 1979 peace treaty.

In upholding last year's lower court ruling, the appeals court said Saturday that the Interior Ministry should present each marriage case to the Cabinet on an individual basis. The Cabinet will then rule on whether to strip the Egyptian of his citizenship.

The court also said officials should take into consideration whether a man married an Israeli Arab or a Jew when making its decision to revoke citizenship.

Saturday's decision, which cannot be appealed, comes more than year after a lower court ruled that the Interior Ministry, which deals with citizenship documents, must implement the 1976 article of the citizenship law. That bill revokes citizenship of Egyptians who married Israelis who have served in the army or embrace Zionism as an ideology. The Interior Ministry appealed that ruling.

The lawyer who brought the original suit to court, Nabih el-Wahsh, celebrated Saturday's ruling, saying it "is aimed at protecting Egyptian youth and Egypt's national security."

The government has not released figures of Egyptians married to Israeli women, but some estimates put the number around 30,000.

Israeli officials said they had no comment on Saturday's ruling.

In 2005, former Grand Mufti Nasr Farid Wasel issued a religious edict, or fatwa, saying Muslim Egyptians may not marry Israeli nationals, "whether Arab, Muslim, or Christian." The possibility of a Jewish spouse was not mentioned.

Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, the late Grand Sheik of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's premier institution and oldest university, has said that while marriage between an Egyptian man and an Israeli woman is not religiously forbidden, the government has the right to strip the man of his citizenship for marrying a woman from "an enemy state."

Egyptians married to Israelis to lose citizenship (http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world-middleeast/20100605/ML.Egypt.Marrying.Israelis/)

Clinton Calls for 'Transparent Investigation' Into Flotilla Raid

By Shannon Bream & Jake Gibson
Published June 03, 2010

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Israel to conduct a “prompt, impartial and transparent” investigation that complies with international standards and get the facts out as soon as possible. When asked Clinton would not say whether the US would be involved in any investigation of the fatal showdown on the flotilla.

The Israeli government maintains that they have every right to defend themselves and asserts they needed to inspect the boat to make sure the activists were not bringing in weapons. Thousands of rockets have been indiscriminately fired into Israel from Gaza in recent years.

To that end Clinton also said the US is evaluating how to expedite the flow of aid to Gaza while protecting Israel’s “legitimate security interests.”

Clinton made the remarks during a joint news conference in the Treaty Room at the State Department, with India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna. They talked about the ongoing strategic talks the two countries engaged in today - and will continue.

Clinton and Krishna said they had discussed terror, military partnerships, energy, climate change, economies, food security and higher education.

On the Afghanistan front both Clinton and Krishna agreed that those who denounce Taliban membership and pledge to live by Afghan law can be reintegrated into society

Throughout the news conference, both sides expressed the deep partnership between the US and India. Clinton called it, "an affair of the heart, not just the head." She emphasized the long history of the beneficial relationship, and added that it is entering a new chapter as both countries face terror threats and economic challenges.

The next strategic discussion between the US and India will be in Delhi in 2011.

Clinton Calls for 'Transparent Investigation' Into Flotilla Raid (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/03/clinton-calls-transparent-investigation-flotilla-raid/)

European Union and Pakistan agree on five-year Engagement Plan
Friday, June 4th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
By Monica Lawrence

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) – The European Union (EU) and Pakistan agreed on Friday to a five-year Engagement Plan during the second EU-Pakistan summit held in Brussels, the Council of the EU announced.

The EU-Pakistan agreement will outline specific targets for future joint actions. Both sides agreed that the plan will be jointly drawn up after the conclusion of the summit. In order to accomplish such goal regular meetings will be held between both parties next October 14 and 15 in Brussels, Belgium.

Pakistan’s efforts in combating terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, promoting human rights and the strengthening of the democracy are supported and appreciated by the European Union, as well as acknowledging the sacrifices made by people and security forces of Pakistan towards peace and stability in the region.

The EU and Pakistan agreed to raise the level of the existing Joint Commission so that this can act as the main body charged with preparing the whole range of issues covered by the enhanced Strategic Dialogue.

Pakistan praised the launch of an EU “Civilian Capacity Building for Law Enforcement” program in March 2010, to support the government’s counter-terrorism efforts. The program supports the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACYA) in becoming a fully operational and effective agency.

European Union and Pakistan agree on five-year Engagement Plan (http://wireupdate.com/wires/6040/european-union-and-pakistan-agree-on-five-year-engagement-plan/)

U.N. Condemns 'Acts' in Israeli Flotilla Raid

Published June 01, 2010

Israel's commando raid on a flotilla of pro-Palestinian "aid" ships that left nine activists dead has touched off a chain of events from the United Nations to Egypt's border with Gaza that threaten to isolate the Jewish state from the international community.

The U.N. Security Council called early Tuesday for an "impartial" investigation of Israel's deadly raid and condemned the "acts" that resulted in the loss of at least nine lives, a watered-down version of a resolution sought by Islamic nations leading the ferocious international condemnation of Israel.

Not far from the site of the naval raid, several thousand Gazans are making a furious rush to the Egyptian border, hoping to take advantage of a rare chance to escape the blockaded territory.

Egypt announced Tuesday it was temporarily opening its border with Gaza to allow aid into the impoverished territory, where 1.5 million Palestinians have been hemmed in by land and sea since Hamas took over in 2007. Dozens of Hamas police with automatic weapons were patrolling the border Tuesday as residents made a mad dash to escape the area.

Organizers of the flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli commandos as it tried to run a blockade, said they were undeterred and that another cargo boat was off the coast of Italy en route to Gaza Tuesday. A second boat carrying about three dozen passengers is expected to join it, said Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement, which organized the flotilla. She told the Associated Press the two boats would arrive in the region late this week or early next week.

"They're going to have to stop the blockade of Gaza, and one of the ways to do this is for us to continue to send the boats," she said.

The flotilla set sail from Turkey and was packed with 679 activists -- many of whom were from the onetime close ally of Israel. But on Tuesday Turkey's Prime Minister called the raid a "bloody massacre," withdrawing its ambassador to Israel and demanding that the United States condemn the botched raid.

"Today is a turning point in history," said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Nothing will be same again."

Marathon negotiations at an emergency meeting of the Security Council produced a presidential statement weaker than was demanded by the Palestinians, Arabs and Turkey because of objections by the United States.

The Islamic nations had called for condemnation of Monday's attack by Israeli forces on the flotilla "in the strongest terms" and "an independent international investigation."

But the presidential statement that was finally agreed to and read at a formal council meeting instead called for "a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards." And it only condemned "those acts" that resulted in deaths, without naming Israel.

The long and difficult negotiations were conducted primarily by the United States with Turkey and Lebanon, which are both non-permanent council members.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country drafted the initial presidential statement, called the Israeli raid "banditry and piracy" on the high seas and "murder conducted by a state."

Palestinian U.N. observer Riyad Mansour called it a "war crime," and told an open Security Council meeting that "those fleets, one after the other, will be coming until the unethical blockade is put to an end and the suffering stops for our people."

While the Palestinians and Turks insisted that the activists on the ships were delivering aid to impoverished Gazans suffering under a three-year Israeli embargo, Israel's deputy U.N. ambassador Daniel Carmon said "this flotilla was anything but a humanitarian mission."

Some activists have "terrorist history" and its organizers support radical Islamic groups such as Hamas, which controls Gaza and refuses to recognize Israel's existence, he said.

Carmon defended the legality of Israel's blockade and the boarding of the ships -- which refused repeated calls to send their cargo to Gaza through Israel -- as "a preventive measure." He called the results "tragic and unfortunate."

The U.N.'s presidential statement also "deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries" and requests the immediate release of the ships and civilians being held by Israel. It urges Israel to permit consular access and allow countries to retrieve their dead and wounded immediately.

The council also urged Israel "to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the convoy to its destination" and stressed that the situation in Gaza "is not sustainable."

Council members reiterated "their grave concern at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and stress the need for sustained and regular flow of goods and people to Gaza as well as unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance through Gaza."

Mansour said this was "the clearest statement by the Security Council on lifting the siege against the Gaza Strip."

The flotilla was the ninth attempt by sea to breach the blockade Israel and Egypt imposed after Hamas violently seized the territory. Israel allowed five seaborne aid shipments through but snapped the blockade shut after its 2009 war in Gaza.

There was little call in Israel for an end to the blockade. Israelis have little sympathy for Gaza, which sent thousands of rockets and mortar rounds crashing into Israel for years before last year's war.

Tensions along the Israeli-Gaza border were tense following the naval raid.

The Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad said three of its fighters were killed Tuesday shortly after firing rockets into southern Israel. Israeli authorities say the rockets landed in open areas and caused no injuries.

The Israeli military confirmed its airstrike, and Gaza's chief medical examiner also said there were three deaths.

On Tuesday morning, the Israeli military said Gaza militants infiltrated Israel and exchanged fire with troops. Israeli rescue services said two militants were killed, but the military would not immediately confirm that.

U.N. Condemns 'Acts' in Israeli Flotilla Raid (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/01/condemns-israeli-raid-calls-probe/)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why am I not surprised??

The U.N. is the most dangerous threat to freedom and U.S. sovereignty since the Soviet Union. God willing, a blue and white flag will not fly over my home as long as I am able to physically defend my home. To me, that blue and white flag is the next worst thing to 666. In fact, it could be the next step toward the mark.

It has been known for a long time that, the UN is very anti-Semitic. Now they're beginning to make themselves look STUPID as well. It's a sad state of affairs, isn't it? That the World Body set up to make sure that the Jewish (and others) don't ever have to relive the Holocaust, would now happily put the Jews through the same thing again without batting an eye.

They're not only making themselves look stupid. They're also making themselves look dangerous, which is worse.

The Useless Nations Motto: When in doubt........ blame Israel.

These appear to be the things that are supposed to happen as we get closer to the Tribulation Period being ushered in. Those who study Bible Prophecy know that things are going to get MUCH worse - not better if God's Time for the Tribulation Period is growing near.

As Christians, the best thing we can do is PRAY and support Israel in any way that we can. We should know that God is not through with Israel and that Israel will be restored after the Tribulation Period. We should also know that all who go against Israel will be cursed, and all who help Israel will be blessed by God. God knows the current sad spiritual state of Israel, but God also knows that Israel will accept her Messiah at the Second Coming of Christ. Sadly, many Christians do not know or understand that Jesus Christ Himself is the Anointed King of Israel, and He will NOT be denied His Throne - the Throne of David in Jerusalem. Jesus Christ will take what is His and subject all things beneath His Feet. These things are clearly foretold in God's Word and they most assuredly will happen at God's Appointed Time. Jesus Christ will make a beautiful and lasting Peace like the world has never known, but the world must first go through a 7 year horrible time of suffering and bloodshed called the Tribulation Period. 75% of the world population will die during this horrible time, and I think this horrible time is growing near.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Isaiah 2:1-5 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. 4 And he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.

Isaiah 9:2-7 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. 3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased their joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken as in the day of Midian. 5 For all the armor of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall be for burning, for fuel of fire. 6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.

Quote from: sigourney w. on June 06, 2010, 03:23:01 PM

AMEN. Pray pray for Israel, for her safety amid the growing satan inspired hatred of Jews, sadly all nations will turn against her,including the United States, the spirit of anti-christ is increasing in the world, people who will not accept truth will accept strong delusion when it comes.Call all we can to repentance while there is time. Pray for repentance in this nation, we see the signs all around us of Christ"s coming for his church, we must be ready,bless you all.

AMEN! I personally believe that the Rapture could happen at any time, even today. I realize that many disagree with me, but I don't know of any other Bible Prophecy that must be fulfilled before the Rapture. Some Christians don't believe in a Rapture at all, but I believe that the Bible clearly teaches it. Regardless, I anxiously await the glorious appearance of Jesus Christ to take His Church home to glory.

Love In Christ,
Tom

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

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Theology => Prophecy - Current Events => Topic started by: Shammu on June 04, 2010, 06:15:12 PM