Prophecy and End Time Series. - Israel

[Shammu]

Estimated time shortened: Kadima vows withdrawal by 2008

Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert intends to complete a unilateral withdrawal from most of the West Bank by the time US President George W. Bush finishes his term in November 2008, sources close to him revealed on Sunday.

The new date cuts two years from the deadline Olmert set for himself in interviews ahead of the election, when he said he wanted the withdrawal completed by the time his term ended in November 2010. Olmert's associates revealed the date in coalition talks with Likud representatives at Ramat Gan's Kfar Hamaccabiah Hotel and later confirmed it to the press.

<SNIP>

More......... Estimated time shortened: Kadima vows withdrawal by 2008

[Shammu]

 Airport Planned for Megiddo
16:25 Apr 10, '06 / 12 Nisan 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Civil Aviation Authority officials on Monday announced a domestic airport will be constructed in Megiddo in cooperation with a number of authorities, including the Jezreel Valley Regional Council.

The new airport is planned on a 400-duman (100-acre) area at a cost of $35 million. Officials report the airport will undoubtedly increase tourism to the Jezreel Valley and surrounding areas.

Airport Planned for Megiddo

My note; Can you say, Ummmmmm?

[Shammu]

Experts: Neither Israel, U.S. nor Iranians likely to stop Iran nukes

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, April 10, 2006

WASHINGTON — A former leading U.S. intelligence chief said Israel does not have sufficient assets or support for a major attack required to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program.

Other speakers at a March 23 seminar at the Washington-based Nixon Center doubted whether diplomacy by the United States or the United Nations would halt or even slow down Iran's nuclear weapons program.

The speakers said Iran was using its development of weapons of mass destruction to dominate the Gulf region, Middle East Newsline reported.

"There is opposition sentiment within Iran but no viable opposition force," said Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations and author of a book on Iran.

"There is this assumption that the Iranian public is apathetic because it is information starved. It's not. It's just apathetic."

The intelligence official cited the absence of Israeli aircraft carriers and the need for warplanes to enter the air space of Arab rivals.

"The United States is the only country in the world that has capability of carrying out the estimated thousand strike sorties needed to destroy the Iran's nuclear program," [Ret.] Col. Patrick Lang, director of the Middle East section of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said. "The objective has to be not to destroy the program, but to set it back a desired number of years."

But Lang told a March 23 seminar at the Washington-based Nixon Center that such a campaign could put at risk other U.S. initiatives in the region.

Israel's military could not sustain an air campaign against Iran. He cited the more than 1,500 kilometers from Israel to Iran as well as a shortage of Israeli combat aircraft.

In his presentation, Lang said an air campaign was the only serious option in trying to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program. He dismissed the effectiveness of any ground invasion as "unthinkable."

"No real army can be sustained on air transportation," Lang said.

Lang said the United States could destroy or at least disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons program. But he said this would exert a significant strain on the U.S. military in neighboring Iraq.

The United States must consider the likelihood of massive and varied Iranian retaliation, Lang said. He said this could include the escalation of the insurgency in Iraq as well strikes on U.S. interests throughout the Middle East by such Iranian-financed groups as Hamas, Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad.

"Iran is the world's largest state sponsor of terror," Lang said. "There is no reason to think that they would not respond."

"There are issues where they will negotiate but not acquiesce," said Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations and author of a book on Iran. "If the purpose of the Security Council negotiations is to stop the fuel cycle, then you are not going to get it."

Takeyh also doubted the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to destablize Iran, particularly by opposition broadcasts. He said the Iranian opposition was unlikely to overthrow the powerful regime in Teheran.

Neither Israel, U.S. nor Iranians likely to stop Iran nukes

[Shammu]

Last update - 20:11 10/04/2006            
Hamas: Israel severing security ties with PA is 'declaration of war'
By Amos Harel, Mazal Mualem and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents

The Palestinian leadership reacted furiously Monday to Israel's decision to sever ties with the Palestinian government, with Hamas calling the move "a declaration of war," and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas accusing Israel of breaking international law.

Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert said Sunday that Israel would end relations with the PA, which it now viewed as a "hostile" entity, and would act to prevent Hamas from becoming an established government.

The decision comes two weeks after the new Hamas-led Palestinian government was sworn in by Abbas, and several days after Hamas offered Israel "quiet for quiet."

In statements issued in quick succession on Monday, Hamas and Abbas both denounced Israel's decision.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement in Gaza that Israel's decision to sever contacts with the PA amounted to "a declaration of war and a failed attempt to cause internal divisions among Palestinians."

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas said Israel's position "completely violates the agreements we have signed with them and violates international law."

"We demand from this Israeli government to stop such measures," Abbas said.

Earlier Monday, Israel closed the district coordination office (DCO) near the West Bank town of Jericho, thus suspending formal security ties with the Palestinians on Monday in a bid to further isolate the new Hamas government one day after the cabinet declared it a hostile entity.

Thousands of Palestinians poured into Gaza streets to protest both aid cuts by Western powers and a sharp increase in military action by Israel.

Having ruled out contacts with the PA, the army moved on Monday to suspend remaining security coordination.

At a district coordination office near Jericho, Palestinian Colonel Khaled Ziyar and his men piled their belongings on to a pick-up truck and turned keys to the facility over to the Israelis.

The Palestinian officers took down posters Abbas and a Palestinian flag, marking a formal break in relations.

The Jericho district coordination office, located on the outskirts of Jericho, was the last security facility to be manned by both Israelis and Palestinians.

In other parts of the West Bank, cooperation was done by telephone.

Hamas officials said Israel's decision, and newly announced cuts in direct Western financial aid to the PA, amounted to collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

"This is an injustice, and we call on the European countries to reconsider their decision," Ahmed Bahar, deputy speaker of the Hamas-led Palestinian parliament, told protesters in Gaza ahead of a meeting at which EU foreign ministers were expected to endorse the aid cuts.

"We tell the whole world, the United Nations, the Quartet, that the policy of blackmail through stopping aid will not break the will of our people," Khader Habib, an Islamic Jihad political leader, said.

Earlier on Monday, Palestinian children threw eggs at United Nations offices in Gaza to protest the aid cuts.

Israel announced its decision Sunday night to close the joint installation used as a security liaison office between Israel and the Palestinians in Jericho. Israel Defense Forces officers informed Palestinian security liaison officers that by Monday they would have to evacuate their joint offices, located adjacent to the Vered Yericho settlement.

In light of Israel's decision contact with Palestinian security forces will be maintained only to save lives - for instance, to extricate Israelis who have entered Palestinian areas, or to prevent a terror attack. Security officials rejected a police request to maintain contact also in order to retrieve stolen vehicles.

The West Bank liaison apparatus has handled various crises over the years. Officers handled violent incidents, returned Israelis who had entered Jericho without authorization, and coordinated worshippers' visits to the synagogue in Jericho.

Last week, Israel announced it was ceasing security coordination in the Gaza Strip.

Olmert has said Israel viewed the Palestinians as "one authority, and not as having two heads," but would refrain from a "personal disqualification" of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

The cabinet has agreed that foreign envoys that meet with Hamas officials would be denied access to Israeli officials.

In accordance with the policy set at the meeting, Israel will act to isolate the Hamas government, while taking care to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the territories. Israel does not want the PA to collapse completely, a security official said, adding that a collapse would make Israel's Civil Administration responsible for the territories.

In an effort to prevent a crisis, international aid would go to the Palestinian population without the intervention of the government services under Hamas' jurisdiction, perhaps by going through the authorities under Abbas' control, the official added. In addition, humanitarian aid would be able to pass through the checkpoints on the Gaza border, "subject to security considerations." Border crossings would remain closed pending the considerations of the defense establishment.

Sunday's decisions were based, in part, on an extensive report that was prepared by Yosef Mishlav, the coordinator of government activities in the territories, and describes all the channels of contact between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, along with the possible consequences of either maintaining contact or cutting ties.

Israel will allow limited Palestinian transit between the West Bank and Gaza, such as for family visits on Muslim and Christian holidays, and will continue to allow visits to Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Abbas and his entourage will be able to travel between the West Bank and Gaza, but Palestinian security officials will no longer be allowed to do so.

Israel will continue to treat Palestinian patients at Israeli hospitals, but will coordinate their travel through Palestinian hospitals rather than through the Palestinian Authority. Similarly, Palestinian farmers and merchants will communicate directly with their clients and suppliers in Israel.

In light of reports of a looming humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Mishlav and his team have prepared an index to assess the situation that examines criteria such as the medicine and food inventory, the level of savings in the banks, the population's purchasing power and sanitation conditions. A four-level ranking system has been established to assess the situation, and a security official said that according to most parameters, the Gaza Strip falls between the two highest levels - "reasonable" and "good."

Hamas: Israel severing security ties with PA is 'declaration of war'

[Shammu]

            Open season on Swedish Jews:

            Swedish Chancellor of Justice: Muslim calls for “Death to Jews” are just part of the debate on the Middle East

             
             
            Earlier this year Swedish Chancellor of Justice Mr Göran Lambertz decided to discontinue his department’s pre-trial investigation into the Grand Mosque of Stockholm, where audio cassettes with highly inflammatory anti-Semitic content were being sold. After Swedish radio programme Dagens Eko unveiled the contents of the cassettes in November 2005, a charge of racial incitement was filed with the police against the Stockholm mosque.
             

The Swedish Chancellor of Justice responded by closing the pre-trial investigation on the grounds that “the lecture did admittedly feature statements that are highly degrading to Jews (among other things, they are consistently referred to as the brothers of apes and pigs)” but pointing out that such statements “should be judged differently – and therefore be regarded as permissible – because they were used by one side in an ongoing and far-reaching conflict where calls to arms and insults are part of the everyday climate in the rhetoric that surrounds this conflict”. 

Political correctness, election tactics or fear of radical Islam?

There are several comments to be made regarding the Chancellor’s remarkable statement. One is that it is important to remember in this election year that there is a sizeable Muslim minority in Sweden (Muslims number 400,000 souls in Sweden out of a total population of 9 million, whereas there are about 16,000 Jews living in that country). 

Another is that at the mosque, a curse was pronounced on all Jews everywhere and the audience were encouraged to participate in Jihad (holy war) against Jews, highlighting suicide bombers as an effective weapon and praising them as martyrs. The Middle East was not singled out. This would therefore appear to be a clear case of racial incitement. 
 
Yet the Chancellor of Justice opines that owing to the Middle East conflict, “such expressions, despite their content, cannot be regarded as racial incitement according to Swedish law”. One might indeed wonder how the phrase “kill the Jews” needs to be expressed in order to be regarded as sufficient incitement to kill Jews, according to the Chancellor, who finds nothing inflammatory in the statement. 
 
Shaky legal foundations

Notwithstanding the above, the Chancellor is on very shaky legal ground indeed. Sweden already has a legal precedent that Mr Lambertz has chosen to ignore: a case was successfully brought on grounds of anti-Semitic incitement in 1989 in the District Court and again in the Court of Appeal (1990) against Radio Islam’s legally responsible publisher Ahmed Rami. Legal proceedings had been instituted by the then-current Chancellor of Justice and Rami was convicted on 17 counts. Here too the defence and many Swedish apologists tried to mitigate Rami’s culpability by claiming that his statements should simply be regarded as robustly expressed comments on the situation in the Middle East. They failed and he went to jail.
 
Hadith

One consistent theme in these recent audio cassettes is a hadith (an Islamic tradition that is regarded as a direct quote from Muhammed). This hadith claims that there can be no peace anywhere in the world until the last Jew has been killed:

      Narrated Abu Huraira:
      Allah's Apostle said, “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the
      Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. ‘O Muslim!
      There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.’”
      [Hadith collected by Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 177
      (http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/041.smt.html#041.6985)]

History speaks for itself

The Swedish Chancellor of Justice may want to do some homework and compare the dates of the hadith with the start of the conflict in the Middle East: the hadith has nothing whatsoever to do with the Middle East conflict, predating Zionism and the rebirth of Israel by several centuries. It is, quite simply, an age-old appeal to religious zeal aimed at fomenting anti-Semitism. To explain it away as part of religious tradition or political commentary when neither the dates nor the words fit, is more than political correctness gone mad – it is directly subversive against a Jewish minority that has lived in Sweden and fully integrated with Swedish culture for 250 years, in favour of a Muslim minority that generally segregates itself from mainstream Swedes and has lived in the country for about 30 or 40 years.
 
It is never acceptable to cry “Wolf!” However, if Europeans had cried out their warning 67 years ago as Hitler rose to power and his calls to arms against the Jews had been taken at face value, the world would have been a very different place today. Not only for Europe’s Jews, but for the many millions of Russians, Americans, Australians, Canadians, Japanese and Europeans – not least Germans – who would have been spared the horrors of a war fired by racist zeal and stoked by racist ideology.

Systematised Jew-hatred

Here is a case – one of many – in which Hitler’s racist-supremacy descendants are expressing the very same sentiments albeit in a different language, and the result is, once again, a politically correct shrug of public-office indifference. Hitler called upon his supporters to kill all Jews for what he claimed was the general social good. His call was to kill all Jews everywhere. He almost succeeded. In the Stockholm Grand Mosque, true believers are incited to murder in the name of religion. And they are incited to murder all Jews, everywhere. The similarity in intent is terrifying. As is the similarity in silence from those whose job it is to know better.

I can't post the link because of advertisment.

The international media might want to put a question or two on this subject to Swedish Chancellor of Justice Mr Göran Lambertz, email registrator@justitiekanslern.se, phone +46 8 4051000. Postal address: Birger Jarls Torg 12, Box 2308, 103 17 Stockholm, Sweden.

[Shammu]

Apr. 12, 2006 8:19
Peres warns Israel to stay out of Iran conflict
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Kadima MK Shimon Peres warned Israel on Wednesday to stay out of the Iran conflict, saying that if Israel were to take preemptive military measures it will become isolated in the campaign against the country.

Peres told Army Radio that Israel should to be patient and allow the US to manage the situation. "The US has placed the Iran (nuclear) issue at the top of its agenda and, despite the worrying state of affairs, Israel doesn't need to get involved," said Peres.

"The Iranians are going too far with their provocations and are turning the whole world against them," added the former prime minister.

Peres warns Israel to stay out of Iran conflict

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Israel reacts warily to Iran's nuclear progress
Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:55am ET162

By Luke Baker

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel reacted cautiously on Wednesday to news of Iran's successful enrichment of uranium, saying that while a threat to the Jewish state existed, diplomacy remained the best way of trying to rein in Tehran.

Elder statesman Shimon Peres described Iran's announcement as "worrying and frustrating", but said patience was needed.

"The United States has placed this issue at the top of its agenda. I do not recommend that we should be involved," he told Israel Radio. "I am sure the United States is aware of the expected danger and the matter is in its hands."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who announced on Tuesday that Iran had produced low-grade enriched uranium suitable for power stations, threatened last year to "wipe Israel off the map", provoking international condemnation.

Iran's latest move is a serious setback to efforts by the U.N. Security Council to have Tehran halt its enrichment work. The development could now prompt Western powers, who fear Iran is planning to build nuclear weapons, to consider imposing sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Washington said it would discuss the way forward with other members of the Security Council, but gave no timeframe.

Despite the caution expressed by Peres and other senior officials, some Israelis were alarmed by Iran's announcement and said they wanted to see Israel take unilateral action.

"It's clear what Israel has to do -- Iran poses a real danger to Israel and we have to form a response. Any actions Israel takes from now on will be completely justified," said Ghandi Shapira, 50, a computer technician in Jerusalem.

NO BOMB YET

Given U.S. efforts to curb Iran's nuclear plans through international diplomacy, experts say Israel cannot pursue any plans for a go-it-alone mission like the 1981 bombing raid that destroyed Iraq's atomic reactor at Osiraq.

Israel's chief of staff Dan Halutz told Army Radio that while Iran had taken a "significant step", it had a long way to go before it could produce a nuclear bomb. And even if they did, he said he wasn't convinced Israel would be the first target.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, is expected to visit Tehran this week to seek fuller Iranian cooperation with the Council and the IAEA.

U.S. President George W. Bush's administration has played down reports that it is drawing up plans for possible air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, insisting it wants to resolve the confrontation through diplomacy.

Israel's chief of military intelligence, Amos Yadlin, urged an acceleration of efforts to stop Iran's enrichment program.

"The announcements from Tehran are a bargaining chip. They are meant to move the debate to the next point," he told Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

He told the daily Yedioth Ahronoth that Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in around three years, assuming its program continued to advance at the current rate.

Israel reacts warily to Iran's nuclear progress

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IDF kills two armed militants infiltrating from Gaza Strip
By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service

Security forces went on high alert Wednesday, the eve of the Passover holiday, with warnings of more than 70 terror alerts. A complete closure has been imposed on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Early on Wednesday evening, the Israel Defense Forces killed two armed Palestinians who were attempting to cross the Gaza border into Israel.

Soldiers spotted the two as they were crawling toward the Israel-Gaza border fence.

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An IDF spokeswoman said the men approached the Israeli-Gaza border fence while holding rifles and an IAF
aircraft fired at them. Palestinian security sources and medics said an Israeli drone had fired several missiles in the area.

Palestinian security sources said the men were militants
from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group. The men were on their way to plant bombs, the security sources said.

Also Wednesday, IDF soldiers arrested a Palestinian armed with an axe and a makeshift handgun next to Moshav Beka'ot in the Jordan Valley, Israel Radio reported.

Earlier, IDF troops destroyed a large Islamic Jihad explosives lab found near the West Bank city of Jenin.

Along with the lab, infantry troops from the Nahal Brigade found four explosive devices, 30 kilograms of explosives, and materials used to prepare additional explosive devices.

In Nablus, security forces arrested twelve wanted Palestinians early Wednesday. Shots were fired at the soldiers during the arrest raid, and troops returned fire, hitting an armed Palestinian.

Meanwhile, Israel Air Force jets attacked an Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades office in Gaza City on Wendesday.

According to the IDF, the organization used the office for operational activities and for recruiting militants.

IDF kills two armed militants infiltrating from Gaza Strip

[Shammu]

Al-Qaida No. 2: Eliminating Israel is the duty of every believer
By The Associated Press

Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said that the elimination of Israel is the duty of every believer in a video posted Thursday on the Internet.

Al-Zawahri denounced U.S. President George Bush as the "caesar of Washington" and accused him of lying about progress in the war on terror.

"Bush, son of Bush, eliminating Israel is the duty of every believer," al-Zawahri said. "Beggarly clerics ... and every bankrupt propaganda machine is trying to convince the people to bring change by peaceful means, but the Islamic nation knows that its path is jihad (holy war) and the bearing of arms."

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The video was dated with an Islamic month corresponding to November 2005 - and al-Zawahri mentions an Oct. 23 earthquake that hit Pakistan and Afghanistan. But it appeared to be the first time the 28-minute video has been made public. It was not clear why the video was not released soon after the date it was allegedly filmed.

"By God, we're supposed to stick to peaceful means while the enemies of Islam engage in every violent, barbaric and base action and Israel is armed to the teeth with every sort of conventional and non-conventional weapon?" he said.

"If we commit to peaceful action, they will demand we adhere to international laws and treaties that mean nothing to them. If we adhere to that, they will ask us to impose constraint on what they call terrorism and war on Israel. Then if we adhere to that, they will demand we recognize Israel and establish normal relations with it," he said.

He pointed to Israeli opposition to the Islamic militant group Hamas' entering Palestinian elections. He did not mention Hamas' victory in the voting, a possible indication the video was made before the January elections.

In the last al-Zawahri video to be aired - on March 4 - he congratulated Hamas in its victory and offered support.

In the footage, al-Zawahri appears sitting, wearing a white turban and a grey robe with a microphone pinned to it. An automatic weapon is leaning against a brown backdrop behind him.

al-Zawahri calls on Muslims to support Iraqi insurgents
"The Islamic nation must support the heroic mujahedeen (holy warriors) in Iraq, who are fighting on the very front line for the dignity of Islam," al-Zawahri said, waving his right hand toward the camera.

"And to my brother mujahedeen in Iraq, I say, Stay firm. Stay together. Your enemy has begun to falter, so don't stop pursuing him until he flees defeated," he said.

He called on Muslims to support his "beloved brother" Al-Zarqawi, who heads al-Qaida in Iraq. "I have lived with him up close, and have seen nothing but good from him," al-Zawahri said. "I warn all Muslims in Iraq: Anyone who
impedes the jihad against the Crusader occupiers is a traitor to God and his prophet ... and a traitor to the rest of the Muslims."

Al-Zawahri - an Egyptian who is Osama bin Laden's deputy in al-Qaida and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan - said he was making the video to mark the fourth anniversary of the December 2001 battle of Tora Bora,
in which U.S. forces besieged bin Laden and al-Qaida fighters in mountainous caves of Afghanistan.

The video, first found on the Web by the Alexandria, Va.-based firm IntelCenter, which monitors Islamic sites, was titled "Four Years since Tora Bora, from Tora Bora to Iraq, a lecture by Ayman al-Zawahri."

Al-Qaida No. 2: Eliminating Israel is the duty of every believer

[Shammu]

April 15, 2006

The state of Israel will soon be history, says Iran's President
From Tom Baldwin in Washington
THE President of Iran further fuelled the flames of confrontation with the West yesterday by saying that the “Zionist regime” in Israel would soon be annihilated.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech will alarm the US, coming days after he declared that Iran had joined the “nuclear club” by successfully enriching uranium. President Bush has stated that the US would use force to protect Israel from being, in the words of President Ahmadinejad last year, “wiped off the face of the map”.

The Iranian leader, appearing at a conference on the Palestinian issue yesterday, said that Israel was “heading towards annihilation”, questioned whether the Holocaust had ever happened, and predicted that the Middle East would “soon be liberated”.

He said that the existence of Israel was a threat to the Islamic world, but added that “the Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm”. Even if the Holocaust were true, he said, “why should the people of this region pay the price? Why does the Palestinian nation have to be suppressed?”

Iran has previously said that it will give money to the Palestinian Authority to make up for the withdrawal of donations by Western nations that object to Hamas’s refusal to recognise Israel and renounce violence.

On Tuesday, Mr Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had successfully enriched uranium using a battery of 164 centrifuges, a significant step towards the large-scale production of enriched uranium required for either fuelling nuclear reactors or making nuclear weapons.

The US and Israel accuse Iran of using a civilian nuclear programme secretly to build a weapon. Major-General Amos Yadlin, the Chief of Israeli Intelligence, said that Iran could develop a nuclear bomb “within three years”.

Iran says that it has agreed to increase co-operation with the UN nuclear watchdog but has still refused to halt its uranium enrichment programme.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, met Iranian officials in Tehran on Thursday. “I don’t think the issue of enrichment right now, emotional as it is, is urgent,” Mr ElBaradei said. “So, we have ample time to negotiate a settlement by which Iran’s need for nuclear power is assured and the concern of the international community is also put to rest.”

But Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, said that, although the US remains committed to diplomacy, Iran must agree to stop uranium enrichment before the Security Council takes up the issue at the end of the month or “there will have to be consequences”.

The state of Israel will soon be history, says Iran's President

My note; I see we are closing on the end of Grace. When the horde attacks Israel, be ready to fly brothers, and sisters. In the mean time, KEEP LOOKING UP!!

[Shammu]

Al-Qaida video: Believers' duty is to eliminate Israel
By The Associated Press

Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said that the elimination of Israel is the duty of every believer in a video posted yesterday on the Internet.

Al-Zawahri denounced U.S. President George Bush as the "Caesar of Washington" and accused him of lying about progress in the war on terror.

"Bush, son of Bush, eliminating Israel is the duty of every believer," al-Zawahri said. "Beggarly clerics ... and every bankrupt propaganda machine is trying to convince the people to bring change by peaceful means, but the Islamic nation knows that its path is jihad and the bearing of arms."

The video was dated with an Islamic month corresponding to November 2005 - and al-Zawahri mentions an Oct. 23 earthquake that hit Pakistan and Afghanistan.

However it appeared to be the first time the 28-minute video had been made public. It was not clear why the video was not released soon after the date it was allegedly filmed.

"By God, we're supposed to stick to peaceful means while the enemies of Islam engage in every violent, barbaric and base action and Israel is armed to the teeth with every sort of conventional and non-conventional weapon?" he said.

"If we commit to peaceful action, they will demand we adhere to international laws and treaties that mean nothing to them.

"If we adhere to that, they will ask us to impose constraint on what they call terrorism and war on Israel. Then if we adhere to that, they will demand we recognize Israel and establish normal relations with it," the deputy leader of Al-Qaida said in the video.

Al-Qaida video: Believers' duty is to eliminate Israel

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Arab bloc requests fresh UN debate on Israeli actions in Gaza
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies

The Arab states on Friday requested an open debate in the United Nations Security Council on Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip, a day after the Council failed to agree on a statement on the recent surge in violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

The United States nixed the draft, proposed by Qatar, calling it unfairly critical of Israel.

The draft, put forward on behalf of the Palestinians, would have expressed concern about the "indiscriminate shelling against the Gaza Strip, resulting in extensive human casualties" and called on Israel to halt "military operations and excessive use of force that endangers the Palestinian civilian populations."

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The United States had argued for its long-standing belief that any such statement mention both sides' obligations under the road map and cite Palestinian attacks against Israel as well.

Because the draft failed, the Security Council will hold an open meeting on Monday when any of the 191 member states of the United Nations can speak. The council will also hold a monthly meeting on the Middle East a week after that.

Palestinian UN observer Riyad Mansour strongly suggested that the United States was the lone holdout against the statement, though he did not mention the U.S. by name.

He referred to "one member who is shielding and protecting the Israeli actions and aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and in other parts of the occupied territory."

Diplomats said Britain and Denmark also had problems with the draft, and U.S. Ambassador John Bolton would not say if the United States was the only one opposed.

"If I were the only holdout I'd be proud of that fact," Bolton said after the council could not agree on the text.

"The balance of the text as it ended up was still not adequate in our view and we weren't prepared to support it," Bolton said. "It was disproportionately critical of Israel, and unfairly so and needlessly so."

The Palestinians had called on the UN Security Council Monday to take urgent action to stop what they called an escalating military campaign by Israeli forces.

Mansour had said in a letter to the council that at least 18 Palestinians have been killed since last Friday and scores more have been wounded in a barrage of military attacks.

Arab bloc requests fresh UN debate on Israeli actions in Gaza

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Iran President Again Lashes Out at Israel

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 14, 7:05 PM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - The president of Iran again lashed out at Israel on Friday and said it was "heading toward annihilation," just days after Tehran raised fears about its nuclear activities by saying it successfully enriched uranium for the first time.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel a "permanent threat" to the Middle East that will "soon" be liberated. He also appeared to again question whether the Holocaust really happened.

"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation," Ahmadinejad said at the opening of a conference in support of the Palestinians. "The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm."

Ahmadinejad provoked a world outcry in October when he said Israel should be "wiped off the map."

On Friday, he repeated his previous line on the Holocaust, saying: "If such a disaster is true, why should the people of this region pay the price? Why does the Palestinian nation have to be suppressed and have its land occupied?"

The land of Palestine, he said, referring to the British mandated territory that includes all of Israel, Gaza and the
West Bank, "will be freed soon."

He did not say how this would be achieved, but insisted to the audience of at least 900 people: "Believe that Palestine will be freed soon."

"The existence of this (Israeli) regime is a permanent threat" to the Middle East, he added. "Its existence has harmed the dignity of Islamic nations."

The three-day conference on Palestine is being attended by officials of Hamas, the ruling party in the Palestinian territories.

Iran has previously said it will give money to the Palestinian Authority to make up for the withdrawal of donations by Western nations who object to Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel and renounce violence. But no figure has been published.

On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had successfully enriched uranium using a battery of 164 centrifuges, a significant step toward the large-scale production of enriched uranium required for either fueling nuclear reactors or making nuclear weapons.

The United States, France and Israel accuse Iran of using a civilian nuclear program to secretly build a weapon. Iran denies this, saying its program is confined to generating electricity.

The U.N. Security Council has given Iran until April 28 to cease enrichment. But Iran has rejected the demand.

The chief of Israeli military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, was quoted Wednesday as saying Iran could develop a nuclear bomb "within three years, by the end of the decade."

Iran President Again Lashes Out at Israel

[Shammu]

Jerusalem's Old City Welcomes Celebrants

By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer 51 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - Franciscan monks, German tourists and Philippine foreign workers crowded the Old City of Jerusalem's cobblestone streets and its ancient churches Sunday to celebrate Easter.

Thousands of pilgrims packed the narrow alleyways of the Old City to mark Jesus' resurrection — more visitors than in recent years, reflecting a downturn in the Palestinian-Israeli violence that had kept tourists away.

The Easter celebration capped a week of holidays, including Palm Sunday the week before, when according to tradition Jesus returned to Jerusalem and Good Friday, which marks his crucifixion.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, celebrated Mass in the dark, incense-filled interior of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on the spot where many Christians believe Jesus was nailed to the cross, buried and rose again. As the leading Roman Catholic official in the Holy Land, Sabbah led black-robed priests into the church singing the Lord's Prayer.

Then the Palestinian-born patriarch lit worshippers' candles, which gradually illuminated the painted dome ceiling.

"This is like a dream come true for us to be here in the Holy Land," said Rona Arida, 29, a Philippine worker in
Israel, after praying with her friends at the church built in the 11th century on the ruins of a fourth century sanctuary. "I prayed for all of my family back home."

Roman Catholics believe Jesus was buried on the site of the Holy Sepulcher, while many Protestant denominations believe he was buried in the nearby Garden Tomb just outside the wall of the Old City.

In the walkways of the Old City's Christian Quarter, Palestinian vendors sold painted Armenian pottery, fresh-squeezed orange juice and Jesus figurines carved out of olive wood.

Nuns clad in black brushed shoulders with Orthodox Jewish women in long skirts pushing children in strollers toward the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, part of the compound of the biblical Second Temple destroyed by the Romans in the year 70.

About 90,000 tourists were visiting the country for Easter and Passover this year, up 20 percent from last year, Israel's Tourism Ministry said.

For security concerns, Israel clamped a closure on the West Bank and Gaza, preventing Palestinians from entering Israel. Christian Palestinian clergy with special permits were allowed to enter to celebrate Easter.

This year, Easter falls during the seven-day Jewish holiday of Passover, when Jews celebrate their biblical flight from bondage in Egypt.

"It's special to be here now, where the Jews are celebrating Passover and the Christians are celebrating Easter," said Maria Andreucci, 72, of Rome.

Later this week, Orthodox Christians, who follow a different calendar than the Western Church, will flood the Old City's streets to celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday according to their own tradition.

Jerusalem's Old City Welcomes Celebrants

[Soldier4Christ]

Policy on Iran nukes seems to be off-target



BY MARK STEYN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Happy Easter. Happy Passover. But, if you're like the president of Iran and believe in the coming of the "Twelfth Imam," your happy holiday may be just around the corner, too. President Ahmadinejad, who is said to consider himself the designated deputy of the "hidden Imam," held a press conference this week -- against a backdrop of doves fluttering round an atom and accompanied by dancers in orange decontamination suits doing choreographed uranium-brandishing. It looked like that Bollywood finale of ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin,'' where they all pranced around to "This Is The Dawning Of The Age Of Aquarius." As it happens, although he dresses like Steve Carell's 40-year-old virgin, the Iranian president is, in fact, a 40-year-old nuclear virgin, and he was holding a press conference to announce he was ready to blow. "Iran," he said, "has joined the group of countries which have nuclear technology" -- i.e., this is the dawning of the age of a scary us. "Our enemies cannot do a damned thing," he crowed, as an appreciative audience chanted "Death to America!"

The reaction of the international community was swift and ferocious. The White House said that Iran "was moving in the wrong direction." This may have been a reference to the dancers. A simple Radio City kickline would have been better. The British Foreign Office said it was "not helpful." This may have been a reference to the doves round the atom.

You know what's great fun to do if you're on, say, a flight from Chicago to New York and you're getting a little bored? Why not play being President Ahmadinejad? Stand up and yell in a loud voice, "I've got a bomb!" Next thing you know the air marshal will be telling people, "It's OK, folks. Nothing to worry about. He hasn't got a bomb." And then the second marshal would say, "And even if he did have a bomb it's highly unlikely he'd ever use it." And then you threaten to kill the two Jews in row 12 and the stewardess says, "Relax, everyone. That's just a harmless rhetorical flourish." And then a group of passengers in rows 4 to 7 point out, "Yes, but it's entirely reasonable of him to have a bomb given the threatening behavior of the marshals and the cabin crew."

That's how it goes with the Iranians. The more they claim they've gone nuclear, the more U.S. intelligence experts -- oops, where are my quote marks? -- the more U.S. intelligence "experts" insist no, no, it won't be for another 10 years yet. The more they conclusively demonstrate their non-compliance with the IAEA, the more the international community warns sternly that, if it were proved that Iran were in non-compliance, that could have very grave consequences. But, fortunately, no matter how thoroughly the Iranians non-comply it's never quite non-compliant enough to rise to the level of grave consequences. You can't blame Ahmadinejad for thinking "our enemies cannot do a damned thing."

It's not the world's job to prove that the Iranians are bluffing. The braggadocio itself is reason enough to act, and prolonged negotiations with a regime that openly admits it's negotiating just for the laughs only damages us further. The perfect summation of the Iranian approach to negotiations came in this gem of a sentence from the New York Times on July 13 last year:

"Iran will resume uranium enrichment if the European Union does not recognize its right to do so, two Iranian nuclear negotiators said in an interview published Thursday."

Got that? If we don't let Iran go nuclear, they'll go nuclear. That position might tax even the nuanced detecting skills of John Kerry.

By comparison, the Tehran press has a clear-sightedness American readers can only envy. A couple of months back, the newspaper Kayhan, owned by Ayatollah Khamenei, ran an editorial called "Our Immortality And The West's Disability," with which it was hard to disagree: Even if one subscribes to the view that sanctions are a sufficient response to states that threaten to nuke their neighbors, Mohammad Jafar Behdad correctly pointed out that they would have no serious impact on Iran but would inflict greater damage on those Western economies that take them seriously (which France certainly won't).

Meanwhile, the Washington Post offers the likes of Ronald D. Asmus, former deputy assistant secretary of state under President Clinton, arguing "Contain Iran: Admit Israel to NATO." "Containment" is a word that should have died with the Cold War, and certainly after the oil-for-food revelations: Aside from the minimal bang for huge numbers of bucks, you can't "contain" a state. Under the illusion of "containment," events are always moving, and usually in favor of the fellow you're trying to contain. But the idea that the way to "contain" Iran is to admit Israel to NATO elevates "containment" from an obsolescent striped-pants reflex to the realm of insanity.

All the doom-mongers want to know why we went into Iraq "without a plan." Well, one reason is surely that, for a year before the invasion, the energy of the U.S. government was primarily devoted to the pointless tap-dance through the United Nations, culminating in the absurd situation of Western foreign ministers chasing each other through Africa to bend the ear of the president of Guinea, who happened to be on the Security Council that week but whose witch doctor had advised against supporting Washington. Allowing the Guinean tail to wag the French rectum of the British hindquarters of the American dog was a huge waste of resources. To go through it all again in order to prevent whichever global colossus chances to be on the Security Council this time (Haiti? The South Sandwich Islands?) from siding with the Russo-Chinese obstructionists would show that the United States had learned nothing.

Bill Clinton, the Sultan of Swing, gave an interesting speech last week, apropos foreign policy: "Anytime somebody said in my presidency, 'If you don't do this, people will think you're weak,' I always asked the same question for eight years: 'Can we kill 'em tomorrow?' If we can kill 'em tomorrow, then we're not weak, and we might be wise enough to try to find an alternative way."

The trouble was tomorrow never came -- from the first World Trade Center attack to Khobar Towers to the African Embassy bombings to the USS Cole. Manana is not a policy. The Iranians are merely the latest to understand that.