End Times and Current Events

General Category => Israel => Topic started by: akfools on February 17, 2011, 01:24:57 pm



Title: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: akfools on February 17, 2011, 01:24:57 pm
In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council
Posted By Colum Lynch  Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - 6:00 PM 
The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body "does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.

But the Palestinians rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesday of Arab representatives and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution on Friday, according to officials familar with the issue. The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospect that the Obama adminstration will cast its first ever veto in the U.N. Security Council. 

Still, the U.S. offer signaled a renewed willingness to seek a way out of the current impasse, even if it requires breaking with Israel and joining others in the council in sending a strong message to its key ally to stop its construction of new settlements. U.S. officials were not available for comment, but two Security Council diplomats confirmed the proposal.

The Palestinian delegation, along with Lebanon, the Security Council's only Arab member state, asked the council's president late Wednesday to schedule a meeting for Friday. But it remained unclear whether the Palestinian move today to reject the U.S. offer is simply a negotiating tactic aimed at extracting a better deal from Washington. 

Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, outlined the new U.S. offer in a closed door meeting on Tuesday with the Arab Group, a bloc of Arab countries from North Africa and the Middle East. In exchange for scuttling the Palestinian resolution, the United States would support the council statement, consider supporting a U.N. Security Council visit to the Middle East, the first since 1979, and commit to supporting strong language criticizing Israel's settlement policies in a future statement by the Middle East Quartet.

The U.S.-backed draft statement -- which was first reported by Al Hurra -- was obtained by Turtle Bay. In it, the Security Council "expresses its strong opposition to any unilateral actions by any party, which cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations and will not be recognized by the international community, and reaffirms, that it does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity, which is a serious obstacle to the peace process." The statement also condemns "all forms of violence, including rocket fire from Gaza, and stresses the need for calm and security for both peoples."

U.S. officials argue that the only way to resolve the Middle East conflict is through direct negotiations involving Israel and the Palestinians. For weeks, the Obama administration has refused to negotiate with the Palestinians on a resolution condemning the settlements as illegal, signaling that they would likely veto it if it were put to a vote. The Palestinians were planning to put the resolution to a vote later this week. But Security Council statements of the sort currently under consideration are voted on the bases of consensus in the 15-nation council.

The United States has, however, been isolated in the 15-nation council. Virtually all 14 other member states are prepared to support the Palestinian resolution, according to council diplomats. A U.N. Security Council resolution generally carries greater political and legal force than a statement from the council's president.

The U.S. concession comes as the Middle East is facing a massive wave of popular demonstrations that have brought down the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and are posing a challenge to governments in Algeria, Bahrain, and Iran.

http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/16/in_major_reversal_us_to_rebuke_israel_in_security_council


Title: Re: In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council
Post by: Mark on February 18, 2011, 07:48:24 am
TEN MAJOR EVENTS
(Relating to Israel’s Covenant Land) 1. October 30,
1991: The Perfect Storm—As President George H. W. Bush
is opening the Madrid (Spain) Conference to consider
“land for peace” in Israel’s Middle East role, the
“perfect storm” develops in the North Atlantic,
creating the largest waves ever recorded in that
region. The storm travels 1000 miles from “east to
west” instead of the normal “west to east” pattern and
crashes into the New England Coast. Thirty-five foot
waves crash into the Kennebunkport home of President
Bush.

2. August 23, 1992: Hurricane Andrew—When the Madrid
Conference moves to Washington DC and the peace talks
resume, Hurricane Andrew, the worst natural disaster
ever to hit America, comes ashore and produces an
estimated $30 billion in damage and leaving 180,000
homeless in Florida.

3. January 16, 1994: Northridge Earthquake—President
Bill Clinton meets with Syria's President Hafez
el-Assad in Geneva. They talk about a peace agreement
with Israel that includes giving up the Golan Heights.
Within 24 hours, a powerful 6.9 earthquake rocks
Southern California, This quake, centered in
Northridge, becomes the second most destructive
natural disaster to hit the United States, behind
Hurricane Andrew,

4. January 21, 1998: Lewinsky Scandal—Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President
Clinton at the White House and is coldly received.
Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
refuse to have lunch with him. Shortly afterwards on
that day, the Monica Lewinsky scandal breaks into the
mass media and begins to occupy a major portion of
Clinton's time.

5. September 28, 1998: Hurricane George—As Secretary
of State Albright works on the final details of an
agreement in which Israel would give up 13 percent of
Yesha (Judah and Samaria), Hurricane George slams into
the United States Gulf Coast with 110 mph winds and
gusts up to 175 mph. The hurricane hits the coast and
stalled. On September 28, Clinton meets with Yasser
Arafat and Netanyahu at the White House to finalize
this land deal. Later, Arafat addresses the United
Nations about declaring an independent Palestinian
state by May 1999, as Hurricane George pounds the Gulf
Coast, causing $1 billion in damage. At the exact time
that Arafat departs the country, the storm begins to
dissipate.

6. October 15-22, 1998: Texas Flooded—On October 15,
1998, Arafat and Netanyahu meet at the Wye River
Plantation in Maryland. The talks are scheduled to
last five days with the focus on Israel giving up 13
percent of Yesha. The talks are extended and conclude
on October 23. On October 17, awesome rains and
tornadoes hit southern Texas. The San Antonio area is
deluged with rain. The rain and flooding in Texas
continue until October 22 and then subside. The floods
ravage 25 percent of Texas and leave over one billion
dollars in damage. On October 21, Clinton declares
this section of Texas a major disaster area.

7. November 30, 1998: Market Capitalization
Evaporates—Arafat comes to Washington again to meet
with President Clinton to raise money for a
Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital. A
total of 42 other nations were represented in
Washington. All the nations agreed to give Arafat $3
billion in aid. Clinton promised $400 million, and the
European nations $1.7 billion. On the same day, the
Dow Jones average drops 216 points, and on December 1,
the European Market had its third worst day in
history. Hundreds of billions of market capitalization
were wiped out in the U.S. and Europe.

8. December 12, 1998: Clinton is Impeached—As Clinton
lands in the Palestinian-controlled section of Israel
to discuss the “land for peace” process, the House of
Representatives votes four articles of impeachment
against him.

9. May 3, 1999: The Powerful Super Tornado—On the day
that Yasser Arafat is scheduled to declare a
Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital, the
most powerful tornado storm system ever to hit the
United States sweeps across Oklahoma and Kansas. The
winds are clocked at 316 mph the fastest wind speed
ever recorded. The declaration is postponed to
December 1999 at the request of President Clinton,
whose letter to Arafat encourages him in his
"aspirations for his own land." He also writes that
the Palestinians have a right to "determine their own
future on their own land" and that they deserve to
"live free, today, tomorrow and forever."

10. Week of October 11: Hurricane, Earthquake and Dow
Collapse—As Jewish settlers in 15 West Bank (Israel)
settlements are evicted from the covenant land in
Israel, the Dow-Jones financial averages lose 5.7
percent in the worst week since October 1989. On
October 15 the Dow lost 266 points, and a hurricane
slams into North Carolina. On the next morning,
October 16, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocks the
southwest in the fifth most powerful earthquake in
20th Century. The earthquake was centered in the
California desert and did little damage but was felt
in three states.



Title: Re: In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council
Post by: Mark on February 18, 2011, 07:49:22 am
America's anti Israel stance linked to natural disasters!

John McTernan, an expert in Biblical prophecy and the author of the book "As America Has Done to Israel". McTernan links the timing of economic disasters and natural disasters to moments in time when America has strongly promoted abortion, homosexuality, and the division of the land of Israel. In fact, nine of the ten "top ten natural disasters ranked by relief costs" found on FEMA's webpage occurred at a time when the U.S. went against Israel.

"Some of these judgments occurred within 24 hours of an American push against Israel. God warns us in His Word to not interfere in His covenant with the nation of Israel.

Four examples of judgment on the U.S. are given (the rest are in his book and DVD). In the first, McTernan cites that six business days after a huge pro-homosexual rally occurred on October 11, 1987, in the nation’s capital, the stock market experienced a big crash.

The second occurs during the Bush 41 Administration when President Bush is at the Madrid Peace Conference pressuring Israel to give up land. During the meeting, a hurricane traveling in an unusual northeast-to-southwest direction destroyed Bush’s home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

The third example occurred a year later in 1992, interestingly enough during a second Madrid Peace Conference in the U.S., when the dividing of Israel was again under discussion. Category 5 Hurricane Andrew ravaged Florida and Louisiana.

The last example takes place during the Clinton Administration when Clinton was pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to divide Israel. The Israelis thought that Netanyahu would be forced out politically if he went along with Clinton’s plans. Both Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat were in the U.S. to meet with Clinton. All of this was taking place when the Monica Lewinsky scandal came to light. It turned out that Clinton was the one impeached, even though he was not removed from office.

More examples of disasters occurring at the same time or soon after putting pressure on Israel.

McTernan states, “God is trying to warn America. We are in a collision course with Him.” Key verses in the Bible to read are Genesis 12:3, Joel 3:2, and most importantly Obadiah 1:15 which says, “The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done (to Israel), it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.”

He states that Israel is the key to receiving either God’s blessing or His cursing, and this principle applies to both nations and individuals in their treatment of Israel.

This past May President Obama met with Netanyahu and made the link between establishing a Palestinian state and dealing with Iran’s nuclear weapons. Within days of their meeting, North Korea began testing a nuclear weapon and then threatened the U.S. with a nuclear strike on Hawaii. Interesting timing.

Regarding our current economic crisis, it began in November, 2007, at about the same time that the Annapolis Conference convened, in which President Bush was pressuring Israel to accept the Roadmap to Peace. Under this plan, Israel was being pressured to give up land in exchange for peace.

And to think that I have been blaming our economic crisis on liberals because they forced banks to lend money to individuals who lacked the ability to pay back their loans. Of course, that ticking time bomb was ready to go off. In spite of that, how much did the Roadmap to Peace play in the crisis for which we are still trying to recover?

Comparisons are made between President Bush (43) and President Obama in their treatment of Israel. McTernan states, “President Bush was more soft-gloved, with no direct arm twisting of Israel. President Obama has come out with an iron fist, treating Israel as an adversary; it’s extremely dangerous. The integrity of the United States is at stake.”

Today, President Obama once again spoke out against Israel before his adoring audience at the United Nations, where hating Israel has become a sport. John Bolten called Obama's speech at the UN "the most radical anti-Israel speech he's ever heard. Obama referred to the land won in the Six-Day War as "occupied" land.

"Two states living side by side in peace and security -- a Jewish state of Israel, with true security for all Israelis; and a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967, and realizes the potential of the Palestinian people."

Based on what we have just heard, should we be anticipating yet another disaster in view of Obama's actions?

John McTernan shares much more about the meanings in the book of Obadiah. In verse 18, a “flame of fire” is described between the houses of Jacob and Joseph, which are Israel, and the house of Esau, which is the Palestinians. The Palestinians have made the mistake of trying to destroy Israel. Therefore, the promise in verse 15 will come true. What the Palestinians meant for evil toward Israel will fall back on them, and they will be totally destroyed as it says in verse 18: “the house of Esau will be stubble, and they will set it on fire and consume it. There will be no survivors from the house of Esau." Today’s Gaza was the land of the Philistines, Ephraim and Samaria are now the West Bank, and Gilead is Jordan. According to the Bible which is infallible, these areas will all be united with Israel. It’s only a matter of time.

But, back to Obama and his harsh treatment of Israel. If he forces Israel to be divided, God may just fulfill his promise in Obadiah 1:15. America could be divided, perhaps politically, in such a way as we have never seen before. With all that is taking place in Washington, D.C., that would not be too surprising. Or even worse, McTernan mentions a massive fault running down the center of our country. Interestingly, it is called the New Madrid fault (remember the Madrid Conferences), and the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes were the greatest earthquakes in America.

President Obama’s foreign policy regarding Israel is literally a recipe for disaster. He may just encounter the wrath of God, and unlike gullible Americans, the Creator of the world sees right through that charismatic personality and fine rhetoric, and He is not in the least impressed.

America, beware, our president is playing with fire. He needs to learn that if you mess with Israel, you will regret it."

http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/americas-anti-israel-stance-linked-to-natural-disasters/blog-158617/


Title: Re: In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council
Post by: Mark on February 19, 2011, 10:57:49 am
Hillary Clinton: Israeli Settlements 'Illegitimate'


 >:(

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israeli settlements "illegitimate" shortly before the United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning continued Israeli settlement expansion as illegal.

rest: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-israeli-settlements-illegitimate/story?id=12952834


Title: Re: In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 19, 2011, 11:34:24 am
I'm confused here - wasn't this veto a good thing, b/c the resolution the UN was pulling for condemned Israel over its continuing settlement expansion?

Just needed to clear this up. Thanks!


Title: Re: In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council
Post by: Mark on February 19, 2011, 11:50:27 am
I'm confused here - wasn't this veto a good thing, b/c the resolution the UN was pulling for condemned Israel over its continuing settlement expansion?

Just needed to clear this up. Thanks!

Ya, the Veto is a good thing, but its what was said that is the problem.


Title: Re: In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 19, 2011, 12:25:32 pm
I'm confused here - wasn't this veto a good thing, b/c the resolution the UN was pulling for condemned Israel over its continuing settlement expansion?

Just needed to clear this up. Thanks!

Ya, the Veto is a good thing, but its what was said that is the problem.

OK, I see what was going on at the same time - what was SAID(at the same time, who knows why Hilary said one thing, but had that UN ambassador vote another). BUt nonetheless, not good on Hilary's part.


Title: Re: In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council
Post by: Mark on March 07, 2011, 06:06:09 am
As Islamists gain, Obama pushes Israel into concessions
U.S. envoys reportedly seek creation of Palestinian state, division of Jerusalem


TEL AVIV – As Islamist parties gain momentum throughout the region, President Obama has asked Israel to immediately give the Palestinian Authority more control over cities in the strategic West Bank, according to informed Middle East officials.

The officials said Obama's envoys to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict met in recent days with officials from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office to express the request.

The officials said the U.S. has made a strategic decision to renew a push now for Israel's immediate return to the negotiating table to discuss the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

Just yesterday, Netanyahu announced he is interested in jump-starting talks with the Palestinians. He also accused the PA of using the recent unrest in the Middle East as an excuse to avoid talking to Israel.

Sources in Netanyahu's office told WND the prime minister's announcement came under intense U.S. and international pressure. The announcement was also made in the wake of a recent debate at the United Nations in which Israel's Jewish communities in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem were slammed as "illegitimate."

(Story continues below)

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=271817


Title: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 31, 2011, 07:14:51 am
UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem

In message delivered by his assistant at Uruguay conference Ban Ki-moon says occupation is morally and politically unsustainable and must therefore end. 'A way must be found for Jerusalem to emerge as a capital of two States,' he adds

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon slammed Israel's policy and called for the division of Jerusalem on Tuesday. In a message delivered by his assistant at a UN regional meeting in Uruguay, Ban said: "The target date for completing the Palestinian Authority’s two-year State-building program is fast-approaching."

"The occupation that started in 1967 is morally and politically unsustainable, and must end," he told the UN Latin American and Caribbean Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace.

"The Palestinians have a legitimate right to the establishment of an independent and viable State of their own. Israel has the right to live in peace and security within internationally recognized and secure borders."

The UN chief said that "a way must be found for Jerusalem to emerge as a capital of two States, Israel and Palestine, with arrangements for holy sites acceptable for all." He added that "there must be a just and agreed solution to the prolonged plight of the Palestinian refugees."

Ban harshly criticized Israel's actions including settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, demolition of Palestinian homes and forced transfer of Palestinian residents. He added that all expressions of violence and the incitement or glorification of violent acts must stop.

He lauded the PA's efforts to establish viable State institutions and commended security forces' efforts to maintain security in areas under their control.

He called on Israel to take further steps to improve economic and security conditions by reducing obstacles to movement, halting military operations, and enabling PA to more West Bank areas.

http://www.worthynews.com/top/ynetnews-com-Ext-Comp-ArticleLayout-CdaArticlePrintPreview-1,2506,L-4049602,00-html/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 12, 2011, 09:56:23 am
Palestinian institutions ready for statehood: U.N

The Palestinian Authority is ready to run an independent state but will struggle to make further institutional progress due to the restrictions of the Israeli occupation, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The U.N. report followed equally upbeat assessments of the PA's nation-building achievements released over the past week by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The positive statements comes before a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday of aid donor countries which will review Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's drive to construct the framework of a state by mid-2011.

"In six areas where the U.N. is most engaged, governmental functions are now sufficient for a functioning government of a state," said the report, entitled "Palestinian State-building: A Decisive Period."

It listed the six areas as rule of law and human rights; livelihoods; education and culture; health; social protection; and infrastructure and water.

However, it said the PA could not make significant further advances given the continued Israeli occupation of much of the West Bank and a breakdown in Middle East peace talks.

"Measures of occupation which stifle Palestinian life need to be fundamentally rolled back by more far reaching Israeli actions to match the progress of the state-building program," the report said.

Direct negotiations aimed at ending the decades-old conflict broke down last September following a dispute over continued Jewish settlement building on the West Bank.
(http://endtimescurrentevents.freeforums.org/images/smilies/MoreInfo.png) (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/palestinian-institutions-ready-statehood-u-n-20110412-070929-139.html)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 16, 2011, 06:10:59 pm
Israel: P.A. Statehood a 'Diplomatic Tsunami'

The Palestinian Authority is now ready to function as a state, a new United Nations report concluded. The main obstacle to such a goal, the U.N. noted, is "Israeli occupation."

Palestinian leaders plan to ask the U.N. General Assembly in September for statehood recognition on all the territory Israel occupied in 1967, including Gaza.

If the P.A. is successful, Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak predicts a "diplomatic tsunami."

"They are now refusing to sit to the table because they think -- and maybe rightly so -- that the support of almost two thirds of the countries that are represented at the General Assembly and they can get some kind of recognition of a state at the General Assembly," Gabriella Shalev, who served as Israel's U.N. ambassador for two years, told CBN News.

Shalev is sounding the alarm that international recognition of a Palestinian state poses a grave threat to her country.

"Come September we are there - if nothing will happen in between - and there are still a few months that we can do many things, we are in for big trouble," she warned.

Shalev says the Palestinians may well use an obscure U.N. resolution to bypass the Security Council where the U.S. holds veto power.   
 
"According to this resolution 377, if there is not a consensus within the Security Council, then it goes to the General Assembly which can take collective measures," she explained.

CBN News Political Editor John Waage, who has worked for several years in Jersulem, explains the political implications for Israel and more.

rest + Video: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2011/April/Israel-PA-Statehood-Bid-a-Diplomatic-Tsunami/


Title: Obama promises Arabs Jerusalem will be theirs
Post by: Christian40 on April 17, 2011, 03:47:01 am
JERUSALEM – President Obama and his administration told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting last week the U.S. foresees the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, according to a top PA official speaking to WND.
"The American administration was very friendly to the position of the PA," said Nimer Hamad, Abbas' senior political adviser.
"Abu Mazen (Abbas) heard from Obama and his administration in a very categorical way that a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital is in the American national and security interest," Hamad said.

Another PA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told WND today that Obama informed Abbas he would not let Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "get in the way" of normalizing U.S. relations with the Arab and greater Muslim world.
"We were told from this new administration they will not allow a Netanyahu government to hurt their efforts of rehabilitating U.S. relations with the Arab and Islamic world, which is a high priority of Obama," the official said, speaking during a visit to Cairo.

Also in Cairo today, Abbas met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, where the Palestinian leader briefed Egypt's president on his recent trip to Washington, saying the U.S. was committed to bringing about an end to Israeli construction in the West Bank.
Hamad's comments about Jerusalem today come as controversy abounded regarding the U.S. position on Israel's capital city.
Last week, the State Department refuted a speech in which Netanyahu said Jerusalem never will be divided.
"Jerusalem is Israel's capital," Netanyahu said at an event marking Jerusalem's reunification. "Jerusalem was always ours and will always be ours. It will never again be partitioned and divided."
In response, the State Department released a statement that Jerusalem "is a final status issue."
"Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resolve its status during negotiations. We will support their efforts to reach agreements on all final status issues," the statement said.
Also last week, a top Palestinian Authority official claimed in a WND interview that the Obama administration told the PA that Jerusalem will never be united under Israeli sovereignty.
"Americans said an open Jerusalem – yes. But a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty – no," Hatem Abdel Khader, the PA's minister for Jerusalem affairs, said in comments to both WND and Israel's Ynetnews website.
"(The Obama administration) has made clear that Jerusalem must be accessible to everyone – but not united under Israel's rule," Khader said.
Khader claimed the U.S. is cooperating with the PA to "thwart Israel's plans in Jerusalem."
"When they collaborate with us in Israeli courts against home demolitions or the confiscation of land we see their attitude," he said.
Khader told WND, "The Americans are very present on the ground, and they are making pressure over Israeli authorities and even municipalities."
"They are acting according to the concept that the failure to establish a Palestinian state would jeopardize U.S. national security interests – and without Jerusalem there is no Palestinian state," he said.

U.S. helps Palestinians live illegally near Temple Mount

Khader's claim the U.S. is helping the Palestinians gain a foothold in Jerusalem is accurate. In April, WND reported that under intense American pressure and following a nearly unprecedented behind-the-scenes U.S. campaign, the Netanyahu government has decided not to bulldoze Palestinian homes built illegally on Jewish-owned property in Jerusalem.
The issue is critical since the 80 homes in question are located in Silwan, an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood close to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem's Old City that the Palestinians claim as a future capital. Jewish groups have been working to fortify the community's Jewish presence. Silwan is adjacent to the City of David, a massive archeological dig just outside the Temple Mount that is constantly turning up Temple artifacts.
Like tens of thousands of other Arab housing projects throughout eastern Jerusalem, the Palestinian homes in Silwan were illegally constructed on property long ago purchased by Jews. The Israeli government ordered the structures' legal demolition.
But during a visit here in early March, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton strongly protested the planned bulldozing.
"Clearly this kind of activity is unhelpful and not in keeping with the obligations entered into under the Road Map," she said. "It is an issue that we intend to raise with the government of Israel and the government at the municipal level in Jerusalem."
The Road Map calls for Israel to freeze Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank but does not bar Israel from dismantling illegally constructed Palestinian homes in Jerusalem.
WND learned that in the weeks since Clinton's visit here, the U.S. mounted an intensive campaign lobbying the Israeli government against tearing down the illegal Palestinian homes in Silwan. The campaign included letters from the Middle East section of the State Department addressed to various Jerusalem municipalities, with copies of the letters sent to the offices of Israel's prime minister and foreign minister. The letters called on Israel to allow the illegal Palestinian homes in Silwan to remain and stated any demolitions would not foster an atmosphere of peace.
Also, in a follow-up visit here, State Department officials made it clear to their Israeli counterparts the U.S. opposes the Silwan bulldozing.
According to sources in the Israeli government, including in Netanyahu's administration, a decision has been made not to bulldoze the illegal Palestinian homes. The sources said the issue of the homes may be raised again in the future, but for the time being the houses will remain intact.
The sources attributed the decision against the bulldozing – which has not yet been announced – to the intense American campaign against the house demolitions.
Said one source in Netanyahu's administration, "This was very frustrating to us. Can you imagine if a foreign government came in and told a city office in the U.S. not to tear down a house that was illegally constructed on someone else's property?"
While Clinton opposed the Palestinian house demolitions, informed Israeli officials said the Obama administration is carefully monitoring Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem and has already protested to the highest levels of Israeli government about evidence of housing expansion in those areas.
The officials, who spoke on condition that their names be withheld, said that last month Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, oversaw the establishment of an apparatus based in the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem that closely monitors eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods, incorporating regular tours on a daily basis.
The officials said that in recent meetings Mitchell strongly protested Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem. Mitchell also condemned the work of nationalist Jewish groups to purchase property in Jerusalem's Old City, including in areas intimately tied to Judaism.
Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – during the 1967 Six Day War.
The Palestinians, however, have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital. About 244,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in eastern neighborhoods, out of a total population of 724,000, the majority Jewish.

From:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99664


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 19, 2011, 12:50:45 pm
Obama about to bring the Wrath of God down on America!!!!

Obama preps for declaration of Palestinian state
Land grab would give Arabs historically Jewish territories


The Obama administration has asked the Palestinian Authority to halt talks on a unity government with Hamas, according to a senior PA official.

The official said the White House fears a unity government with the Islamist group would make it difficult for the U.S. and European Union to support the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state in the United Nations.

The information is the latest indicator Obama will not veto the controversial U.N. resolution, which would recognize a Palestinian state in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, purportedly including the Temple Mount.

Like Jerusalem, the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria, is the site of biblical, historically Jewish communities.

According to the PA official, the Obama administration is concerned that support for a U.N. declaration of Palestinian statehood could have a negative impact on the president's 2012 re-election bid.

The official said the White House has asked the PA to take their U.N. state request directly to the international body's General Assembly, the only U.N. organ in which all member nations have equal representation, instead of to the Security Council, where the U.S. holds veto power.

Previously, PA officials stated the Obama administration would not veto a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a Palestinian state.

In 2009, Ahmed Qurei, former PA prime minister and member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, told WND in an interview that the PA "reached an understanding with important elements within the administration" to possibly bring to the U.N. Security Council a resolution to unilaterally create a Palestinian state.

Asked to which "elements" he was referring, Qurei would only say they were from the Obama administration.

In a clear attempt to pave the way for a U.N. vote on the matter, the international body announced last week the PA possesses the capacity to function as a state.

"In six areas where the U.N. is most engaged, government functions are now sufficient for a functioning government of a state," stated a U.N. report released last Tuesday.

The six areas were: "governance, rule of law and human rights; livelihoods; education and culture; health; social protection; and infrastructure and water."

Still, the report cautioned, "The key constraints to the existence and successful functioning of the institutions of a potential state of Palestine arise primarily from the persistence of occupation and the unresolved issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

The reference to "occupation" is controversial, since the territories were never part of any previous Palestinian state and Israel is historically tied to the West Bank.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=288749


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 21, 2011, 05:56:09 pm
American And European Diplomats To Israel: Surrender To Palestinian Demands Or We Will Give Them 1967 Borders With East Jerusalem As Capital

American and European diplomats warned that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to present a new peace initiative soon, the Quartet may be compelled to recognize a Palestinian State in the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday. According to the report, Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to unveil a new plan that would jump-start the deadlocked negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. If the prime minister does not deliver, the Quartet members – which include the United State, Russia, The European Union and the United Nations – may opt to resume the peace process by officially endorsing a Palestinian state. "The Israelis are facing a bit of pressure with the way things are proceeding," a western diplomat stationed in Israel told the newspaper. "People are starting to look to the US for some kind of action," he added.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4058472,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: nuclearnuttery on April 21, 2011, 06:49:37 pm
Yikes!
Was this the reason behind the Billary ambassador recall? "guys, we're uh, no longer officially supporting israel."

Uhoh!

They surely could not say that one over the cables, eh?  :( Omg.

Wonder if the Israelis would rather pay for a tsunami than cede half the city. Dome of the Very Clean Rock...  8( big sadface


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on April 22, 2011, 03:22:58 am
Being forced to hand over the Temple Mount to the Arabs just shows how secular and indifferent to God the ruling elite are in Israel. Brings back memories of the evil kings like Jeroboam.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 22, 2011, 09:34:00 am
Europe considering recognition of Palestine

France says European states considering recognizing Palestine; Britain echoes sentiment, says 'nothing is off table with regard to recognition in September.' Israel's UN envoy: Peace cannot be imposed from outside

France said Thursday that European nations are considering recognizing a Palestinian state, heightening pressure on the United States and Israel to re-launch the Middle East peace process.

"Recognition of the state of Palestine is one of the options which France is considering, with its European partners, in a bid to re-launch the peace process," French ambassador Gerard Araud told a Security Council debate on the Middle East.

Britain also indicated that state recognition could be considered.

"Nothing is off the table with regard to recognition in September," said a British spokesman. "But nor are we specifying what conditions would be necessary, or sufficient, to recognize, or indeed not to recognize - we'll have to look at all relevant factors at the time."

Pressure has mounted on US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to break the deadlock in the peace process. Obama will soon make a speech on the Middle East conflict, diplomats said.

"We expect that in a couple of weeks the president will have an opportunity to talk in more depth about the Middle East and North Africa," a senior US official said ahead of Thursday's UN Security Council debate.

rest: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4059643,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 22, 2011, 09:36:55 am
Obama's plan: Palestinian state, without right of return

White House works out peace deal that focuses on Israel accepting Palestinian state, Palestinians giving up right of return. PM plans to present own peace plan before Kensset, US Congress


The White House has been working on a new peace initiative for the past three months, one that revolves around a few key principles: A Palestinian state without the right of return, Jerusalem as the capital of both states, and an emphasis on Israel's security needs.

According to an article published in the New York Times Thursday, the details of the proposal are yet to be hashed out.

Officials at the Prime Minister's Office did not rush to respond to the NY Times report. Thursday evening, sources in Jerusalem said that Israel was not surprised by the American plan currently being worked out.

"Everyone knew something is being formulated in Washington," one official said.

At this time it's unclear whether Prime Minister Netanyahu was aware of the initiative and gave it his blessing. Some officials estimated that the Obama plan is meant to affect the PM's upcoming speech, which is expected to feature Israel's new peace initiative.

Though US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced last week that President Barack Obama will be “speaking in greater detail about America’s policy in the Middle East and North Africa in the coming weeks,” it is still unclear whether Obama will use the occasion to present a new peace plan.

An unnamed official told the Times that both Obama and Clinton are in favor of such move, while the president’s senior adviser on the Middle East, Dennis Ross, is against it.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4059562,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 22, 2011, 09:39:31 am
Israel official: Annex West Bank if U.N. declares PA statehood

Minister of nat'l infrastructure: I'll call for annexation if Palestinians get unilateral state in UN; "We have to take care of our interests."

Dr. Uzi Landau, Israel's Minister of National Infrastructure, warns that in the event of a unilateral United Nations declaration of a Palestinian state, he will call upon Israel to annex the Jordan Valley and large, Jewish populated blocs in the West Bank:

“We'll have to take care of our interests,” Landau told Inside Israel's Mordechai I. Twersky in a wide-ranging interview April 21. “We'll have to take protect ourselves. If such a thing happens, I'm going to suggest to my government to extend out sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and over the highly-populated blocs we have in Judea and Samaria, just to start with.”

The former chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee invoked the Bush Road Map and a letter of commitment issued by the former president committing to Israel's retention of major Jewish population centers in the West Bank in any negotiated settlement with the Palestinians. If that signed agreement can't be honored, he said, all bets are off.

“If we don't see negotiations, and if we do a policy which basically makes the entire Road Map agreement a hoax, Israel should take care of its own interests,” said Minister Landau.

Landau said the Arab Spring has brought chaos to the Middle east, and could well spread to the important western allies of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. He questioned the logic of Israel signing a peace deal with a Palestinian leader, whose own future and that of his government, remains tenuous at best.

REST: http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=217476


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 26, 2011, 12:20:58 pm
Palestinian statehood = Israeli suicide

A Messianic Jewish leader is shocked that nearly four-dozen Israeli intellectuals would support a plan that leaves the Jewish state indefensible.

The prominent Israeli intellectuals and artists are in favor of creating a Palestinian state based on the 1967 line that marks the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

47 signatories, including 16 recipients of the country's highest civilian honor, the Israel Prize, support the Palestinian drive for U.N. recognition. But progress in peace talks with Israel has come to a halt, as the Israeli government opposes the unilateral initiative that also calls for Israel to pull out from the West Bank because "the complete end of occupation is a fundamental condition for the freedom of both peoples."

"They're being told to go back to borders that are completely indefensible," laments Olive Tree Ministries founder Jan Markell. "I would like to ask some of these critics and some of these so-called 'artists and intellectuals' if they are in favor of Israel committing suicide. Not that God would allow that to happen, because he wouldn't, but nonetheless, the point is here are Israelis themselves wishing such an evil deed to come upon this little nation."

But unfortunately, she says the Israeli leftists have the same attitude as the Jewish left in the United States, which has no concern for the state of Israel.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=1336248


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 26, 2011, 12:23:38 pm
Obama about to bring the Wrath of God down on America!!!!

Obama preps for declaration of Palestinian state
Land grab would give Arabs historically Jewish territories


The Obama administration has asked the Palestinian Authority to halt talks on a unity government with Hamas, according to a senior PA official.

The official said the White House fears a unity government with the Islamist group would make it difficult for the U.S. and European Union to support the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state in the United Nations.

The information is the latest indicator Obama will not veto the controversial U.N. resolution, which would recognize a Palestinian state in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, purportedly including the Temple Mount.

Like Jerusalem, the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria, is the site of biblical, historically Jewish communities.

According to the PA official, the Obama administration is concerned that support for a U.N. declaration of Palestinian statehood could have a negative impact on the president's 2012 re-election bid.

The official said the White House has asked the PA to take their U.N. state request directly to the international body's General Assembly, the only U.N. organ in which all member nations have equal representation, instead of to the Security Council, where the U.S. holds veto power.

Previously, PA officials stated the Obama administration would not veto a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a Palestinian state.

In 2009, Ahmed Qurei, former PA prime minister and member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, told WND in an interview that the PA "reached an understanding with important elements within the administration" to possibly bring to the U.N. Security Council a resolution to unilaterally create a Palestinian state.

Asked to which "elements" he was referring, Qurei would only say they were from the Obama administration.

In a clear attempt to pave the way for a U.N. vote on the matter, the international body announced last week the PA possesses the capacity to function as a state.

"In six areas where the U.N. is most engaged, government functions are now sufficient for a functioning government of a state," stated a U.N. report released last Tuesday.

The six areas were: "governance, rule of law and human rights; livelihoods; education and culture; health; social protection; and infrastructure and water."

Still, the report cautioned, "The key constraints to the existence and successful functioning of the institutions of a potential state of Palestine arise primarily from the persistence of occupation and the unresolved issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

The reference to "occupation" is controversial, since the territories were never part of any previous Palestinian state and Israel is historically tied to the West Bank.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=288749

NOTICE ALL THOSE TORNADOS LATLEY ?

Quote
TEN MAJOR EVENTS
(Relating to Israel’s Covenant Land) 1. October 30,
1991: The Perfect Storm—As President George H. W. Bush
is opening the Madrid (Spain) Conference to consider
“land for peace” in Israel’s Middle East role, the
“perfect storm” develops in the North Atlantic,
creating the largest waves ever recorded in that
region. The storm travels 1000 miles from “east to
west” instead of the normal “west to east” pattern and
crashes into the New England Coast. Thirty-five foot
waves crash into the Kennebunkport home of President
Bush.

2. August 23, 1992: Hurricane Andrew—When the Madrid
Conference moves to Washington DC and the peace talks
resume, Hurricane Andrew, the worst natural disaster
ever to hit America, comes ashore and produces an
estimated $30 billion in damage and leaving 180,000
homeless in Florida.

3. January 16, 1994: Northridge Earthquake—President
Bill Clinton meets with Syria's President Hafez
el-Assad in Geneva. They talk about a peace agreement
with Israel that includes giving up the Golan Heights.
Within 24 hours, a powerful 6.9 earthquake rocks
Southern California, This quake, centered in
Northridge, becomes the second most destructive
natural disaster to hit the United States, behind
Hurricane Andrew,

4. January 21, 1998: Lewinsky Scandal—Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President
Clinton at the White House and is coldly received.
Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
refuse to have lunch with him. Shortly afterwards on
that day, the Monica Lewinsky scandal breaks into the
mass media and begins to occupy a major portion of
Clinton's time.

5. September 28, 1998: Hurricane George—As Secretary
of State Albright works on the final details of an
agreement in which Israel would give up 13 percent of
Yesha (Judah and Samaria), Hurricane George slams into
the United States Gulf Coast with 110 mph winds and
gusts up to 175 mph. The hurricane hits the coast and
stalled. On September 28, Clinton meets with Yasser
Arafat and Netanyahu at the White House to finalize
this land deal. Later, Arafat addresses the United
Nations about declaring an independent Palestinian
state by May 1999, as Hurricane George pounds the Gulf
Coast, causing $1 billion in damage. At the exact time
that Arafat departs the country, the storm begins to
dissipate.

6. October 15-22, 1998: Texas Flooded—On October 15,
1998, Arafat and Netanyahu meet at the Wye River
Plantation in Maryland. The talks are scheduled to
last five days with the focus on Israel giving up 13
percent of Yesha. The talks are extended and conclude
on October 23. On October 17, awesome rains and
tornadoes hit southern Texas. The San Antonio area is
deluged with rain. The rain and flooding in Texas
continue until October 22 and then subside. The floods
ravage 25 percent of Texas and leave over one billion
dollars in damage. On October 21, Clinton declares
this section of Texas a major disaster area.

7. November 30, 1998: Market Capitalization
Evaporates—Arafat comes to Washington again to meet
with President Clinton to raise money for a
Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital. A
total of 42 other nations were represented in
Washington. All the nations agreed to give Arafat $3
billion in aid. Clinton promised $400 million, and the
European nations $1.7 billion. On the same day, the
Dow Jones average drops 216 points, and on December 1,
the European Market had its third worst day in
history. Hundreds of billions of market capitalization
were wiped out in the U.S. and Europe.

8. December 12, 1998: Clinton is Impeached—As Clinton
lands in the Palestinian-controlled section of Israel
to discuss the “land for peace” process, the House of
Representatives votes four articles of impeachment
against him.

9. May 3, 1999: The Powerful Super Tornado—On the day
that Yasser Arafat is scheduled to declare a
Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital, the
most powerful tornado storm system ever to hit the
United States sweeps across Oklahoma and Kansas. The
winds are clocked at 316 mph the fastest wind speed
ever recorded. The declaration is postponed to
December 1999 at the request of President Clinton,
whose letter to Arafat encourages him in his
"aspirations for his own land." He also writes that
the Palestinians have a right to "determine their own
future on their own land" and that they deserve to
"live free, today, tomorrow and forever."

10. Week of October 11: Hurricane, Earthquake and Dow
Collapse—As Jewish settlers in 15 West Bank (Israel)
settlements are evicted from the covenant land in
Israel, the Dow-Jones financial averages lose 5.7
percent in the worst week since October 1989. On
October 15 the Dow lost 266 points, and a hurricane
slams into North Carolina. On the next morning,
October 16, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocks the
southwest in the fifth most powerful earthquake in
20th Century. The earthquake was centered in the
California desert and did little damage but was felt
in three states.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: nuclearnuttery on April 26, 2011, 01:40:10 pm
Dok, you wanna know something?

When I used google earth for the first time, I searched "obama" and found his house in Chicago, lol.
You know he had Palestinians over all the time for dinner parties in the back yard celebrating the plans we are seeing unfold today?

The house is directly across the street from a Jewish Synagogue. I am not kidding, it's what was in the picture of the street view at that time. Was a couple years back.

There was also a Jewish settlement in Palestine which was named after someone affiliated with him, but I can't remember what they called it.

Eek >.<

Very disrespectful, strange choice of where to place the home. Unless there is more than meets the eye.

Please also be cognizant of weather warfare. Is america being hit by another country? remember BAE controls haarp now and the british/israelis seem rather.. close...


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 26, 2011, 01:44:11 pm
FWIW - I think I'm getting a clearer picture of this so-called "Zionism" - pretty much, it has an OUTWARD APPEARANCE of building a Jewish state, but their REAL intentions are to war against the Jewish people in Israel by starting a conflict b/w them and the Palestineans, hoping to eradicate the Jewish people.

I believe John Todd even clarified what Zionism really is(ie-he made it clear that it's NOT a Jewish conspiracy).

So yes, we're at the tip of the iceberg now where we have a Muslim in the White House(a puppet to boot as well). You get the rest of the story.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 27, 2011, 01:48:58 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20110426/sc_livescience/arkansastornadoesaddtopossibleaprilrecord

Arkansas Tornadoes Add to Possible April Record

Tue Apr 26, 7:20 pm ET
Deadly storms, including reported tornadoes, pounded Arkansas yesterday (April 26), adding to what is likely to be a record tornado count for the month of April.

Four deaths in Arkansas were reported from the severe storms yesterday. If those deaths are attributed to tornadoes, the first four months of 2011 will have matched the tornado death toll for all of last year. These intense storms are not letting up today; they're reloading and sweeping across the Midwest and Southeast. [In Images: The Tornado Damage Scale]

Tornado reports have been pouring into the nation's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., and by the time the month comes to an end, it is likely to have set a new April maximum, said the SPC’s Greg Carbin. [Infographic: Tornado! An Inside Look at Tornado Season]

The Weather Channel has reported the confirmation of 292 tornadoes in the United States so far this month, besting the previous April record of 267 in 1974. Storm survey teams continue to assess the damage from this month's storms and could change the number of confirmed tornadoes. The average for April is only 116, according to the SPC.

Remember '74

Counts of tornadoes and tornado damage today are higher than ever due to more people reporting tornadoes, and more buildings being hit as the country's population grows and its cities and towns expand. Storm chaser videos of funnel clouds are posted daily to YouTube, and rarely does a small tornado go unnoticed anymore.

Carbin said that if April 1974 were adjusted to account for unreported tornadoes, an extra hundred or so could be added to its total.

Even so, this current April could be a record-breaker.

"It's a big month, there's no question about it," Carbin told OurAmazingPlanet.

Along with amazing videos of twin and even triplet tornadoes have come new tornado records in several states.

In North Carolina, 28 tornadoes have been confirmed for April 16, a record outbreak for any single day there.

In Wisconsin, 14 tornadoes struck on April 10, the biggest outbreak for any April day in the state's history.

Yet none of these outbreaks comes close to matching the "granddaddy of them all," as Carbin called it — the "Super Outbreak" of April 3-4, 1974, when more than 148 tornadoes were confirmed and 330 people were killed.

Deadly spring

Tornadoes have killed 41 people this year, most of them in mobile homes. The Arkansas deaths could push the total to 45, matching the death toll for all of last year.

North Carolina has suffered the most this year, with 26 deaths, all from a single April outbreak. That was the deadliest outbreak in the state since the "Super Tuesday" storms of February 2008, when 57 people died in Dixie Alley, the southeastern extension of Tornado Alley.

In 2008, during a season among the all-time highest for number of tornadoes, 126 people were killed. As staggering as these death tolls are, they've been dramatically reduced in recent years due to better forecasting and warnings.

Mike Smith, chief executive officer of Weather Data Services, a part of AccuWeather, believes that at least 100 lives were saved by the warnings before a massive EF-4 tornado — the strongest of the year so far — struck near St. Louis on Good Friday (April 22).

Severe weather reloading

This spring's severe weather seems to be rapidly reloading between storms. That could be due to a lingering La Niña — the opposite phase of El Niño — when the equatorial waters of the Pacific Ocean are abnormally cool, said Grady Dixon, a climatologist and meteorologist at Mississippi State University in Starkville.

Along with creating dry weather in the Southwest, contributing to the historic wildfires in Texas, La Niña tends to guide the jet stream north through the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes, trapping cold air on the northern side and the warm, humid air needed for thunderstorms on the southern side.

"This setup means that the southern U.S. experiences ample moisture without many cold fronts sweeping through to dry out the atmosphere." Dixon said. "This allows rapid recharge in between severe events."

Not all La Niña events are associated with highly active severe weather seasons, Dixon said, but some years with similar La Niña characteristics are also historic tornado years, including 1974, 1999 ? which saw an EF-5 tornado devastate Moore, Okla. ? and 2008.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: nuclearnuttery on April 28, 2011, 01:55:29 am
FWIW - I think I'm getting a clearer picture of this so-called "Zionism" - pretty much, it has an OUTWARD APPEARANCE of building a Jewish state, but their REAL intentions are to war against the Jewish people in Israel by starting a conflict b/w them and the Palestineans, hoping to eradicate the Jewish people.

I believe John Todd even clarified what Zionism really is(ie-he made it clear that it's NOT a Jewish conspiracy).

So yes, we're at the tip of the iceberg now where we have a Muslim in the White House(a puppet to boot as well). You get the rest of the story.
i think you hit the nail on the head, it's one of the things in my horrific blog article today anyhow @@

the people behind the israeli-palestinian conflict, can you guess? B R I T A I N

since before WWI?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on April 28, 2011, 06:09:38 am
Back in 1947/48 When the UN decided to say to countries to vote yes or no should Israel be a nation, the Russians shocked everyone by voting that Israel should be a new country. Everything before that suggested that Russia was against Israel. The reason the Russians said they supported Israel is because they thought that the Arab armies surrounding Israel would easily defeat Israel and then the Arabs would expel any Jews and the Arabs could have the land. Guess what happened, Israel is still around to day and as strong as ever. I wonder what the Russians today think about dividing Israel and Jerusalem?  ???


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 28, 2011, 06:36:23 am
Palestinian Officials: Unity Agreement Reached

 Rival Palestinian groups said they reached an agreement Wednesday on reuniting their governments in the West Bank and Gaza after years of bitter infighting that weakened them politically and caused the deaths of hundreds in violent clashes and crackdowns since.

Even as the tentative agreement revived hopes among Palestinians that they might be able to form a unified front, unity between the rival groups Fatah and Hamas appeared unlikely to jump start negotiations with Israel for an independent Palestinian state.

Israel swiftly rejected the prospect of a Palestinian government including Hamas, citing the militant group's stated goal of destroying the Jewish state. The U.S. expressed similar concerns.

The plan, brokered by Egypt, calls for the formation of a single caretaker government in the coming days. The government would administer day-to-day business until new presidential and legislative elections are to be held in a year's time.

rest: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/27/palestinian-officials-unity-agreement-reached/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+delicious%2Fgqlf+%28Christian+Headlines+Top+Headlines%29


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 28, 2011, 06:45:24 am
i think you hit the nail on the head, it's one of the things in my horrific blog article today anyhow @@

the people behind the israeli-palestinian conflict, can you guess? B R I T A I N

since before WWI?

The conflict goes back thousands of years ago, and the rebirth of Israel is from God.

SPIRITUAL ROOTS OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT
http://www.lightomega.org/worldwatch/Spiritual-Roots-Arab-Israeli-Conflict.html

see Ezekiel 36 for God bringing Israel back for himself.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: nuclearnuttery on April 28, 2011, 09:56:43 am
I agree, but britain is definitely one of the enormous powers directly involved; their troops were literally in the area for years.

=(

I think they want to hold Jerusalem eventually because then as a "SPIRITUAL/theocratic/absolute" world power they would be able to go toe to toe with ROme; it would be a nasty fight between the church of england and rome, or else they will simply unify the two powers (as we are seeing) and have the two world capitols.

that could be naive thinking, but most empires desire "legitimacy" and "manifest destiny", as they understand it, "proves" to them that they are carrying out "God's will" (kind of sick thinking?). I never was a fan of divine right.

We will all push up daisies when we die (if there is anything to bury), so I have trouble comprehending the enormous investments of the "elite" and "royals".

Russia probably wants to put the whole Israel thing to rest, from the atheist perspective; however, England probably sees Jerusalem as a big golden apple -- they want a city that is not theirs to have. They empower the enemies of Israel while pretending to support her.

wtf  =(

edit: i cannot imagine the difficulty of having been raised the way that some of those rulers were, and being expected to show any empathy at all. they were raised to despise those they rule.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 19, 2011, 04:22:09 am
NYT: WHITE HOUSE DEBATE OVER MIDEAST SPEECH... DEVELOPING...


Against the backdrop of Middle East uprisings that have intensified animus toward Israel and growing momentum for global recognition of a Palestinian state, American and Israeli officials are struggling to balance national security interests against the need to adapt to a transformative movement in the Arab world.

The White House unveiled a $2 billion multiyear economic aid package for Egypt, which officials say would largely shift existing funds. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel prepared to arrive in Washington with a package that he hoped would shift the burden of restarting the peace process to the Palestinians.

Mr. Obama, who is set to address Americans — and, more significantly, Muslims around the world — from the State Department on Thursday morning, may yet have something surprising up his sleeve. One administration official said that there remained debate about whether Mr. Obama would formally endorse Israel’s pre-1967 borders as the starting point for negotiations over a Palestinian state, a move that would send an oratorical signal that the United States expected Israel to make concessions.

But Mr. Obama did not plan to present an American blueprint for peace, White House officials said, and it remained unclear if he would even endorse a Palestinian state on pre-1967 lines, a move opposed, administration officials said, by his chief Middle East adviser, Dennis Ross. Mr. Obama did seek to increase pressure on Syria by imposing largely symbolic sanctions on its leader, President Bashar al-Assad, in the wake of the bloody crackdown there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/world/middleeast/19diplo.html?_r=2&hp

Something is going on for today.....


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on May 19, 2011, 04:32:28 am
Yeah, I'm thinking this little speech is some kind of transition thing, like an intro to the next phase, whatever that is. It seems this speech about the "Arab Spring" is out of nowhere, yet they are presenting it as some kind of important speech.

It does look like they may be taking aim at Syria now that they got Egypt and Libya boiling.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 19, 2011, 08:46:32 am
Thank you for posting this, please keep updated throughout the day.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 19, 2011, 12:03:28 pm
Obama says Palestine must be based in 1967 borders



President Barack Obama is endorsing the Palestinians' demand for their future state to be based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war, in a move that will likely infuriate Israel. Israel says the borders of a Palestinian state have to be determined through negotiations.

In a speech outlining U.S. policy in the Middle East and North Africa, Obama on Thursday sided with the Palestinians' opening position a day ahead of a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is vehemently opposed to referring to the 1967 borders.

Until Thursday, the U.S. position had been that the Palestinian goal of a state based on the 1967 borders, with agreed land swaps, should be reconciled with Israel's desire for a secure Jewish state through negotiations.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110519/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_mideast_palestinians_1


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 19, 2011, 12:23:36 pm
From Obama's own mouth!

Quote
So while the core issues of the conflict must be negotiated, the basis of those negotiations is clear: a viable Palestine, and a secure Israel. The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.


full text of speach: http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/19/full_text_of_obamas_middle_east_speech



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 19, 2011, 01:52:02 pm
Israeli leader rejects calls for withdrawal to 1967 lines ahead of major White House meeting

Israel's prime minister has rejected a key aspect of President Barack Obama's policy speech, saying that a return to his country's 1967 borders would spell disaster for the Jewish state.

In a statement released late Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu called the 1967 lines "indefensible."

The tough stand could set the stage for a tense meeting Friday when Netanyahu goes to the White House.

In his speech, Obama said a future Palestinian state must be based in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, with minor adjustments reached through negotiations.

Netanyahu said such a withdrawal would jeopardize Israel's security and leave major West Bank settlements outside Israeli borders.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/8482df9bda5848849c3ee45c1bdc1784/ML--Israel-Obama-Speech/


Right wing MKs: Obama is the new Arafat

Danon, Ben-Ari outraged by US president's call for creation of Palestinian state on '67 lines; Livni says plan in Israel's interests.

Knesset members on the Right expressed outrage on Thursday night at US President Barack Obama's call for the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps in an exchange of territory for security.

They called upon Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reject Obama's plan when he meets with him on Friday in Washington.

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=221383


Abbas calls emergency meeting over Obama address

PA president seeks urgent consultations with Arab leaders over address; Hamas spokesmen accuses Obama of "deception," favoritism to Israel.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday called an emergency meeting of the PA leadership to discuss US President Barack Obama’s speech on peace in the Middle East, a PA official in Ramallah said.

Abbas has also decided to hold urgent consultations with a number of Arab leaders on the speech, the official said.

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=221390


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 19, 2011, 03:19:16 pm
Obama dumps on Israel

Reaction is pouring in from conservatives to President Obama's Middle East comments earlier today -- and they have little to say that's positive.

In his speech, Barack Obama referred to Israel's legitimate West Bank settlements as an "occupation" and called for a return to the 1967 borders -- which critics point out is effectively a call for a divided Jerusalem. The president also continued to press Israel to negotiate with Palestinian Authority and the "unity government" the PA has formed with Hamas.
 
His comments come a day before his scheduled visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is vehemently opposed to returning to the 1967 borders. In fact, in a statement released late Thursday, the Israeli leader called the 1967 lines "indefensible."
 
Mitt Romney, who has formed a presidential exploratory committee for 2012, issued the following statement: "President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus. He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace." Romney, who sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, did not stop there. "He has also violated a first principle of American foreign policy, which is to stand firm by our friends."
 
The American Center for Law & Justice calls Obama's comments "extremely troubling [and] damaging."
 
"For decades, Israel has been our most important ally in the region," notes ACLJ chief counsel Jay Sekulow. "Sadly, with the president's remarks -- and decision to side with the Palestinian Authority -- it appears he no longer believes that is the case." And by endorsing the "unity government," says Sekulow, President Obama has "rewarded" the terrorist group Hamas, which calls for the elimination of the Jews.

ACLJ senior counsel David French adds: "It's astounding, really. Here you have, just weeks after the Palestinian Authority enters into a unity government with a known, designated terrorist organization, the president of the United States pulls an unprecedented move by calling on Israel to retreat to its 1967 borders -- borders that are virtually impossible to effectively defend -- and a move that really damages the security of our closest ally in the region."

French says he expects the Israeli leader will not compromise on his nation's security when he meets with Obama Friday at the White House, in what could prove to be a tense meeting.

Jan Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, says Obama is clearly not a friend of Israel. "In his heart this man is so pro-Muslim that whatever the Islamic community wants, he's in favor of [it]. Whatever is in favor of Israel, he is going to oppose." She says it a sure thing that there is a war on the horizon. "It's going to be a Middle East war that's not going to be pretty. And its going to be this year or next year, it's a guarantee."


Markell is encouraging Christians to pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu as he prepares to meet with Obama Friday.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=1350496


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 19, 2011, 03:23:16 pm
Well, it's made the front page of Yahoo, so something's going on.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 19, 2011, 03:29:33 pm
Well, it's made the front page of Yahoo, so something's going on.

well just historically speaking, this is a huge development. Obama has just turned around nearly 70 years of policy.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on May 19, 2011, 04:31:47 pm
The '67 border policy change is big.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 19, 2011, 05:47:11 pm
Israel Expects Obama to Take Back ‘1967 Lines’ Demand

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was quick on the draw Thursday in voicing clear displeasure with President Barack Obama’s mideast policy speech.
“Israel appreciates President Obama’s commitment to peace,” the response began, curtly. “Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians, the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state.”
 
“That is why Prime Minister Netanyahu expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, which were overwhelmingly supported by both Houses of Congress.” 
 
“Among other things,” Netanyahu reminded Obama, “those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines.”
 
“Those commitments also ensure Israel’s well-being as a Jewish state by making clear that Palestinian refugees will settle in a future Palestinian state rather than in Israel.”
 
“Without a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem outside the borders of Israel, no territorial concession will bring peace.”
“Equally, the Palestinians, and not just the United States, must recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, and any peace agreement with them must end all claims against Israel.”
 
“Prime Minister Netanyahu will make clear that the defense of Israel requires an Israeli military presence along the Jordan River.”
 
“Prime Minister Netanyahu will also express his disappointment over the Palestinian Authority’s decision to embrace Hamas, a terror organization committed to Israel’s destruction, as well as over Mahmoud Abbas’s recently expressed views which grossly distort history and make clear that Abbas seeks a Palestinian state in order to continue the conflict with Israel rather than end it.”

rest: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144338


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 19, 2011, 06:02:43 pm
Completely forgot that today is the day God returned Israel to the land. And Obama picked today to do this.  :o


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 20, 2011, 09:09:55 am
Quote
German Chancellor Angela Merkel backs Obama's speech on Mideast and describes 1967 borders proposal as 'good' path - Reuters

is any one really surprised?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on May 20, 2011, 01:48:47 pm
Nope.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 24, 2011, 03:17:58 pm
Nope.

Well-something DID happen over the supposedly "rapture" weekend...no, we weren't wisked away, but Joplin, MO got hit with a dangerous tornado and the residents there were NOT given even a few seconds of warning in advance. It just came...suddenly...

Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on May 24, 2011, 05:15:34 pm
Maybe. Depends on what you're thinking!  ;)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 24, 2011, 05:25:35 pm
Maybe. Depends on what you're thinking!  ;)

My mom was informed not too long ago that her pastor is stuck on San Jose, CA with 20K other people - the weather has really been rotten all of a sudden in the heart of America the last couple of days(which explains alot of these flight delays et al).


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 24, 2011, 05:31:12 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_mideast_usa_netanyahu

By Jeffrey Heller Jeffrey Heller – 1 hr 57 mins ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israel is prepared to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians, including the handover of land they seek for a state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Congress on Tuesday.

Palestinians swiftly dismissed the Israeli leader's terms for a deal as placing more obstacles in diplomacy's way, casting doubt as to whether frozen peace talks would resume anytime soon.

Netanyahu received frequent standing ovations in addressing the joint meeting of Congress, a bastion of support for Israel. The speech came after a testy exchange last week with President Barack Obama over the contours of a future Palestine and Netanyahu used it to reiterate his expectations ahead of any talks.

They included Palestinian recognition of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people and the scrapping of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' unity accord with the Islamist movement Hamas.

"Tear up your pact with Hamas. Sit down and negotiate. Make peace with the Jewish state," Netanyahu said.

[ For complete coverage of politics and policy, go to Yahoo! Politics ]


"I am willing to make painful compromises to achieve this historical peace. As the leader of Israel, it is my responsibility," the right-wing leader said, echoing a pledge in a speech to Israel's parliament on May 15.

"Now this is not easy for me. It's not easy because I recognize that in a genuine peace we will be required to give up parts of the ancestral Jewish homeland," he said, referring to the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu explicitly suggested for the first time that Israel would cede some Jewish settlements in the West Bank, although others would be annexed under any future agreement.

"In any peace agreement that ends the conflict, some settlements will end up beyond Israel's borders. The precise delineation of those borders must be negotiated," Netanyahu said.

'COMPROMISE MUST REFLECT DRAMATIC CHANGES'

Netanyahu said any "compromise must reflect the dramatic demographic changes that have occurred," referring to Israel's construction of hundreds of settlements on land Palestinians want for a state.

Repeating a message he has delivered consistently during a five-day visit to Washington, Netanyahu said "Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967," narrow lines from before Israel captured the West Bank in a war 44 years ago.

Obama drew Israeli anger when he said on Thursday a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip should largely be drawn along the pre-1967 frontiers.

A frosty meeting with Netanyahu followed at the White House on Friday when the Israeli leader, with Obama sitting at his side, rejected those borders.

On Sunday, Obama seemed to ease Israeli anger by making clear Israel would likely be able to negotiate keeping some settlements as part of a land swap in any deal with the Palestinians.

The White House offered a low-key response to Netanyahu's speech. Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, said in London that the Israeli leader had "reaffirmed the strength of the U.S.-Israeli relationship" and had "pointed to the importance of peace." Obama is visiting London.

Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Abbas, said Netanyahu's vision for ending the conflict put "more obstacles" in front of the Middle East peace process.

"What came in Netanyahu's speech will not lead to peace," Rdainah said in the West Bank city of Ramallah, rejecting Netanyahu's call to hold onto swathes of West Bank land including East Jerusalem, where Palestinians want their capital.

Hani Masry, a Palestinian analyst said Netanyahu "wants the Palestinians to give up everything and get a state of leftovers."

On the other side, settler leaders and members from Netanyahu's own Likud party also voiced their objections, but with no diplomatic breakthrough in sight, his ruling coalition did not seem to be in jeopardy.

Netanyahu's address was greeted warmly by congressional leaders. Some Israelis pointed to that reception as a success while others thought he had not offered enough to break the diplomatic deadlock.

"What he's offering I don't think you would find even the most moderate Palestinians would buy into," David Newman, an Israeli political scientist, said. "He's offering a truncated West Bank. He wants to leave as many settlements as possible."

Netanyahu called on Palestinians to see their future "homeland," rather than Israel, as the place to resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees.

He again voiced opposition to a planned bid by the Palestinians to seek U.N. recognition of statehood in September in the absence of peace talks.

"Peace cannot be imposed," he said. "It must be negotiated."

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and John McGowan; Editing by Bill Trott)

 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on May 24, 2011, 05:34:33 pm
I kind of look at it this way; if I question whether or not recent events in nature are increasing as part of the end times, then it isn't the end times events. I believe when those events take place, there will be no question whatsoever what's happening. What I think we are experiencing is the growing pangs, "the beginning of sorrows". It may seem like it's getting bad, but I think it will get MUCH worse.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 27, 2011, 07:48:38 am
Jerusalem could become 'new Berlin'

A senior Army strategist and Pentagon advisor says Jerusalem would be like Berlin of the Cold War if the Jewish state is forced to cede East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

In a speech Tuesday before a joint session of Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated what he told President Barack Obama: that Israel would not return to the narrow borders it held in mid-1967 before capturing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, as those lines are "indefensible." Obama wants the old frontier to serve as the foundation for drawing the future boundaries of the Jewish and Palestinian states.

Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.), a West Point graduate who is now senior fellow for national security at the Family Research Council (FRC), is troubled by the prospect of a divided Jerusalem.

"If you want to turn over East Jerusalem, which includes all the holy sites of the Christians, then you need to understand what the Palestinians have done to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ," Maginnis points out. "They've essentially turned it into a no man's land because it's very dangerous for Christian pilgrims to go down into Bethlehem, which is only five miles from the old city of Jerusalem. And also, by the way, Jerusalem itself ends up being cut in half. It becomes the new Berlin, like the wall that would separate the East Berliners from the West Berliners."

He concludes that similar problems would occur at other Christian holy sites if Israel is forced once again to give up the sovereignty of its territory.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=1354688


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on May 28, 2011, 01:01:10 am
May they NEVER take any land from Israel.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 28, 2011, 09:56:47 am
G8 backs Obama over 1967 borders

The leaders of the world's richest countries were to give "strong support" on Friday to President Barack Obama's insistence that a Mideast peace deal be based on pre-1967 borders.
In a draft statement at the G8 summit in Deauville, northern France, the leaders urge the Israelis and Palestinians "to return to substantive talks with a view to concluding a framework agreement on all final status issues."

"To that effect, we express our strong support for the vision of Israeli-Palestinian peace outlined by President Obama on May 19, 2011."

The draft was still being discussed on the summit's final day, but the section on Israel-Palestine was not expected to change.

In a keynote policy speech on May 19, Obama included a clear call for Israel and the Palestinians to use the borders before the 1967 Six Day War as the basis for talks to achieve a negotiated solution to the conflict.

That was sharply rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Israel would be "indefensible" if it returned to the borders which existed in 1967, which would not include dozens of settlements.

The G8 final declaration, seen by AFP, said "negotiations are the only way toward a comprehensive and lasting resolution to the conflict. The framework for these negotiations is well known."

rest: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/G8_backs_Obama_over_1967_borders_999.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 28, 2011, 09:40:13 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110528/ap_on_re_eu/eu_obama

By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Nancy Benac, Associated Press – Sat May 28, 2:08 pm ET
WARSAW, Poland – Holding out Poland's transformation to democracy as a model for the world, President Barack Obama on Saturday exhorted Western allies and the American public alike to extend their support, energy and vision to those now reaching for democracy in the Middle East and North Africa.

Obama wound up his six-day trip to Europe with a message aimed squarely at the people of the United States, saying that in a time of tight budgets, "I want the American people to understand we've got to leave room for us to continue our tradition of providing leadership when it comes to freedom, democracy, human rights."

Obama, in a brief news conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, assured Americans that he spends the bulk of each day worrying about the U.S. economy and how to strengthen it and create jobs. But he coupled that with the message that it is a U.S. obligation to support democracy around the globe, one that pays dividends in the form of a safer and more prosperous world.

Speaking with urgency in his voice, Obama said that while no outside country can "impose change" on another, "We can really help. We can facilitate. We can make a difference."

His message was a tacit answer to simmering sentiment that America should cut back on foreign assistance at a time when it is grappling with deficit troubles at home. In fact, foreign aid makes up less than 1 percent of the federal budget.

Earlier in the day, Obama met with Poland's president, Bronislaw Komorowski, and with a team of Poles, including veterans of the Solidarity movement, who recently visited Tunisia to share their advice on how to build a democracy. A popular uprising in Tunisia led to the overthrow of a longtime autocrat and sparked the protest movements that still sweep through the region.

Poland, Obama said, "has gone through what many countries want to now go through, and has done so successfully."

The president also offered reassurances to the Poles that his efforts to "reset" relations with Russia would not come at the expense of the security of Poland or other nations in Central and Eastern Europe.

He said improved U.S. contacts with Russia "has benefited the region ... because it's reduced tensions and has facilitated genuine dialogue about how each country can move forward."

Citing struggles for democracy in Poland's own neighborhood, Obama had tough words for Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. He praised Poland's assistance to Belarusian people and its efforts to encourage changes in Belarus. "President Lukashenko has shown a total disregard for democratic values, the rule of law, and the human rights of his own people," Obama said.

Timed to coincide with Obama's visit, the United States and Poland completed an agreement that will place a U.S. Air Force detachment in Poland beginning in 2013. The presence of U.S. warplanes on Polish soil is designed to improve the ability of U.S. and Polish armed forces to cooperate as members of the NATO alliance.

"The order of magnitude is not really large, but the gesture is very significant," Tusk said.

Obama did not, however, bring with him a solution to a longstanding irritant to the Poles: their exclusion from a visa waiver program for those traveling to the United States. Many Poles feel that their strong support for the U.S. and their contributions to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should have won them the privilege of visa-free travel to the United States.

Obama said Poland doesn't qualify for the waiver based on current law but promised that he was working to change that.

Obama's four-nation tour of Europe was aimed at strengthening the U.S. alliance with its Western allies, and encouraging them to shoulder greater responsibility in world affairs. He made stops in Ireland, England, France and Poland, at the final stop joining a summit of Central and Eastern European leaders.

In Ireland, Obama explored his Irish ancestry on his mother's side and spoke to throngs in Dublin about Ireland's contributions to the world.

In England, he and his wife, Michelle, were honored with all the pomp and ceremony of a state visit by Queen Elizabeth II, and he consulted with Prime Minister David Cameron about a range of foreign policy matters, including the war in Afghanistan and the so-called Arab spring movement.

Both men then headed to France for a two-day summit for leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations, which devoted considerable focus to how rich nations can help stabilize and foster democracy in Arab countries.

The president, who began his trip by exploring his Irish ancestry, at the end managed to find a Polish link as well, by virtue of his connections to Chicago's large Polish population.

"If you come from Chicago and you haven't become a little bit Polish, something's wrong with you," he joked.

Tusk, for his part, told Obama, "We feel in Poland that you are one of us."

Tom Mann, a scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said Obama's trip may have incrementally boosted his image with Americans as a leader on foreign policy but was "more of a boost for him among European leaders, which may help in pursuing U.S. interests in the Middle East and elsewhere."

Obama had first planned to come to Poland last year for the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski, who was killed in a plane crash along with other Polish leaders. But Obama's visit was scrapped six hours before his departure because of a volcanic ash cloud over Europe that disrupted air travel. The president visited a memorial to the 96 who died in the crash on his way out of town on Saturday.

After a long week with a crowded agenda, Obama seemed more than ready to head home. The tired-looking president paused midway through his answer to a Polish reporter to ask the man to repeat parts of his question.

The president had been counting down the days until his return to Washington.

"One more day," he told reporters traveling with him Friday in France.

___

Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska contributed to this report.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on May 28, 2011, 11:37:48 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOionBHtRdM


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 06, 2011, 07:55:30 am
Time for Christians to take stand for Israel

A Tennessee-based pro-Israel group says it's time for Christians to mobilize against Barack Obama and the United Nations' effort to carve a Palestinian state out of God's covenant land.

Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN) says it only has three months to mobilize its 13,000-plus supporters to take a stand for the nation of Israel. PJTN president Laurie Cardoza-Moore reports Palestinians are trying to muster U.N. support for a unilateral declaration of statehood, which could be approved by the General Assembly in September. It remains to be seen, however, whether a Palestinian state can be carved out of Israeli territory without unanimous approval from the U.N. Security Council, where the U.S. has a veto.

But Cardoza-Moore is convinced that Obama is not a friend of Israel, particularly considering his call for the nation to retreat to its 1967 borders in order to appease the Palestinians.

"We have seen him clearly push their back against the wall and continue to protect and defend the Muslim world, including the Palestinians," she laments. "And this is unacceptable."

So the PJTN president says it is time for Christians to draw a line in the sand.

"The Lord has drawn a line in the sand. The prophet Joel said in the latter days, God was going to pour out his wrath on the nations because they were dividing up his land," she cites. "And who's leading the charge? The United States of America."

And even though the Bible says all nations are going to turn their backs on Israel, Cardoza-Moore contends that does not mean Christians should just sit back and do nothing.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=1361156


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 06, 2011, 10:15:45 am
Is The Vatican Joining Palestinians And President Obama Against Israel And God's Covenant? Says Palestinian State Must “Soon” Live Side By Side With Israel


During the meetings, the two sides discussed the need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and recognize the “legitimate” rights of Palestinians to a homeland. The Vatican said “that soon the state of Israel and the Palestinian state must live in security, at peace with their neighbors and within internationally recognized borders.” The Vatican has long supported a Palestinian state. The Vatican said it had to be done “soon” as the Palestinians mobilize support for recognition as an independent state in September.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/vatican-says-palestinian-state-should-soon-live-alongside-israel-after-pope-meets-abbas/2011/06/03/AGOAp1HH_story.html


Also Prophetic: Palestinians To Be Forced To Israel's Borders?

All the men in your confederacy Shall force you to the border; The men at peace with you Shall deceive you and prevail against you. Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap for you. No one is aware of it. (Obadiah 1:7, NKJV) The Arab Spring is rapidly morphing into the liberate Palestine Summer. Nakba, Naksa, Nic-nac-patty-wac, whatever the Arab name given in association with a day of Palestinian protests, it’s incubating into a potentially dangerous summer scenario for Israel that could soon prove disastrous for the Middle East...


http://isralestine-blog.blogspot.com/2011/06/prophecy-palestinians-to-be-forced-to.html



Title: Obama Signs Document That Tells Israel Jerusalem Is Not Your Capital
Post by: Christian40 on June 09, 2011, 01:25:47 am
(http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/obama-signs-jerusalem-embassy-act.jpg)

(http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/obama-lusts-to-divide-israel1.jpg)

SUBJECT: Suspension of Limitations Under the Jerusalem Embassy Act
Obama signed this on June 3, 2011 - Pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 7(a) of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-45) (the “Act”), I hereby determine that it is necessary, in order to protect the national security interests of the United States, to suspend for a period of 6 months the limitations set forth in sections 3(b) and 7(b) of the Act.

You are hereby authorized and directed to transmit this determination to the Congress, accompanied by a report in accordance with section 7(a) of the Act, and to publish the determination in the Federal Register.
This suspension shall take effect after transmission of this determination and report to the Congress.
BARACK OBAMA

The Jerusalem Embassy Act Explained
Congress in 1995 passed a law recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and stating that “the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999.” An inbuilt waiver authority allowed the president to postpone the move, in the interests of “national security,” for consecutive six-monthly periods. Reflecting the strong level of support in the U.S. for Israel and for Israel’s claim to Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Embassy Act passed 374-37 in the House and 93-5 in the Senate.

President Clinton was not enthusiastic about the legislation, which he warned “could hinder the peace process.” He allowed it to become law, but without his signature.
Should the Jerusalem embassy not be opened by May 31, 1999, the law stated, the State Department would be barred from spending 50 percent of the funds allocated to buy and maintain official properties abroad during that fiscal year. The due date came and went, and then on June 17 Clinton issued the first “Suspension of Limitations Under the Jerusalem Embassy Act” notice.
President Bush continued the policy every six months, to the continuing frustration of pro-Israel lawmakers who argued that the intent of Congress was for the waiver would only be justified in the case of a genuine security threat. A striking difference between Obama’s waiver notifications and those of President Bush is that in Bush’s case, he inserted into the legal jargon a sentence stating, “My Administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem.” The phrase appeared in all 16 Bush waiver notifications.
Obama’s stance was proof that neither the U.S. nor the world recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Rudeineh told the agency.
“The world has made it clear that East Jerusalem has been occupied since 1967 and that it is the capital of the State of Palestine in the framework of the two-state solution.”
Israel insists that Jerusalem is its “eternal, indivisible” capital, a claim it says dates back some 3,000 years, to the reign of the biblical King David from the city. Historians note that while Jerusalem was fallen under the control of many empires and powers, no nation other than the Jews ever declared it its capital.
The Palestinians want Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state.
“Jerusalem is the crux of the question of Palestine and the key to war and peace in the region,” the Palestine Liberation Organization’s mission to the United Nations declares on its Web site.”

From:
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 11, 2011, 05:39:05 am
Zechariah 12:3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on June 11, 2011, 01:19:09 pm
8   How do ye say, We [are] wise, and the law of the LORD [is] with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he [it]; the pen of the scribes [is] in vain. 
9   The wise [men] are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom [is] in them? 
10   Therefore will I give their wives unto others, [and] their fields to them that shall inherit [them]: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 
11   For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when [there is] no peace. 
12   Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 8:8-12 (KJB)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on June 13, 2011, 06:33:01 am
US gives Netanyahu ultimatum on resuming talks

    The United States gave Netanyahu an ultimatum on renewing negotiations with the Palestinians, according to reports cited by Israel Radio Sunday morning.

    According to the ultimatum, Netanyahu has to decide within a month whether he agrees to accept US President Barack Obama's platform and resume talks based on 1967 lines.

    Meanwhile, Netanyahu was expected to travel to Italy on Sunday where he will meet his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi.



time is short, we have a lot of work to do!!
    http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=224618



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 13, 2011, 07:10:16 am
well, get ready for more "natural" disasters.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 13, 2011, 08:26:37 am
well, get ready for more "natural" disasters.

Thought I would throw this in-

On Tues I believe, there's a FULL solar eclipse. And then on July 1st, there's another partial solar eclipse(the previous one was around June 1). And then the planetary/sun, etc alignments this Fall.

Jesus said there would be signs in the heavens in the last days...


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on June 13, 2011, 04:25:27 pm
Obama has taken away God's hand of protection from America, ( not His children) by toying with Jerusalem and saying it will not be Israel's capital.
King David purchased that land, the temple mount, from Ornan the Jebusite, the title deed is in the Bible, the land belongs to Israel, Jerusalem is God's capital. It is where Abraham gave tithes to Melchezidek, where he offered his son on Mount Moriah and much more.

Barry has poked the apple of God's eye. I believe the response from the Lord will be quick and just. I know when someone pokes my eye, my reaction is immediate. Let us keep our eues on Jerusalem and the middle east.
1 Chron 21: 18-26
18Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

 19And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.

 20And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.

 21And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

 22Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

 23And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.

 24And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

 25So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.

 26And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.

2 Chronicles 3:1
Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite   
There you have it, settled in heaven, Jerusalem is the captial of Israel.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on June 14, 2011, 03:42:10 am
Thanks for pointing out them Bible verses, Jerusalem has certainly had an interesting past. It is just as important today.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 21, 2011, 06:47:46 am
Obama warns of new US tactical spats with Israel


President Barack Obama warned that new "tactical" disagreements loomed between Israel and Washington, but vowed to leverage his administration's "creative powers" in the cause of peace.
Obama, who has had a testy relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke at length on the stalled peace process at a fundraiser for his 2012 reelection campaign grouping Democratic friends of Israel.

He said that as a difficult, challenging time loomed in the Middle East over the next few years, one inviolable principle was that the bond between the United States and Israel "isn't breakable."

"What is also going to be true is that both the United States and Israel are going to have to look at this new landscape with fresh eyes," Obama said, arguing the Arab Spring had changed the context of regional diplomacy.

"It's not going to be sufficient for us just to keep on doing the same things we've been doing and expect somehow that things are going to work themselves out.

"We're going to have to be creative and we're going to have to be engaged. We're going to have to look for opportunities where the best impulses in the Middle East come to the fore and the worst impulses are weakened."

"There are going to be moments over the course of the next six months or the next 12 months or the next 24 months in which there may be tactical disagreements in terms of how we approach these difficult problems," Obama said, vowing to bring to bear his administration's "creative powers" for peace.

The president said that Israel and the United States were united on a broader vision for a secure Jewish state able to live in peace with its neighbors "where kids can get on the bus or go to bed at night and not have to worry about missiles landing on them."

Obama ignited the latest US row with Netanyahu last month when he said in public what had been private US policy, that 1967 territorial lines, with agreed land swaps should be used to demarcate Israel from a future Palestinian state.

His statement provoked a public scolding from Netanyahu during a subsequent White House visit. The Israeli leader also stressed the "indefensible" nature of the 1967 lines.

Israel and the Palestinians have been at loggerheads over negotiations, which halted shortly after they were relaunched in Washington in September 2010 when a partial freeze on Israeli settlement construction expired.

Israel refused to renew the freeze, and the Palestinians insist they will not hold talks while settlements are being built on land they want for their future state.



http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.77758f3d4ee843583f49a03846cd5894.441&show_article=1


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on June 21, 2011, 08:40:13 am
the POTUS speaks lies, his tatics for now seem to be stall but he has made it clear that his real plan is to go back to the 67 boarders.......... and what about Jerusalem, does he plan on giving the temple mount to the Arabs.

It is crazy to understand this fighting has been a long drama since the birth of Jacob and Esau, Then again, I guess it's not a long time for God at all. One thing is certain, His word will be fulfilled and the Lord Jesus will one day rule and reign from Jerusalem. So ultimately we know how the story ends and who wins, the drama is watching how it plays out.

All the Arab / Islam nations are against Israel just at the same time we have a Muslim POTUS. Now, how can that be?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on June 21, 2011, 12:39:09 pm
Quote
does he plan on giving the temple mount to the Arabs.

The Temple Mount is already under the control of the "Arabs". It's run by the Waqf, which is under the control of Jordan. For years now Jordan has been the authority over the mount, yet the media doesn't talk about that.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on June 22, 2011, 04:56:38 pm
It is illegal for the Jews to pray on the temple mount and they also have a limited time they can actually visit the mount as far as I know.  That is why they are still praying at the Western wall (the Wailing Wall).
This is all going to turn around, I think Netanyahu has taken a hard stance concerning Mt Moriah and Israel is known as a nation that does not sit back and wait for the ball to drop. A preemptive strike would not surprise me. The Arab nations are putting him in the position where he will have no other choice. He has made it known that Israel will not just give up the temple mount.


Title: Klavan's One-State Solution
Post by: Christian40 on June 23, 2011, 05:26:23 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIEeiDjdUuU

In an effort to bring peace to the Middle East, President Barack Obama has proposed that Israel should return to its 1967 borders in exchange for being annihilated by its enemies. PJTV's Andrew Klavan has a better idea...

Give the Middle East to the Jews!!

Watch more Klavan: http://www.pjtv.com/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Believer on June 23, 2011, 08:12:57 am
LOL @ "If the Jews ran America they wouldn't be 14 trillion dollars in debt, knuckle-heads"!  :D

If anti-semites want to stereotype the Jews, they might as well get it right, eh? 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on June 23, 2011, 06:41:08 pm
Christian40,   I think that is very close to God's plan!   :)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 23, 2011, 11:09:07 pm
LOL @ "If the Jews ran America they wouldn't be 14 trillion dollars in debt, knuckle-heads"!  :D

Can't tell you how many times I've heard this lie on the "truther" MBs. These are the same MBs that deny how the Vatican/Jesuits/RCC have nothing to do with the NWO, and will label anyone "Zionists" if they say they do.

Also, the whole Protocols of Zion is a HOAX - but en yet, the "alternative media" and these "truther" MBs are taking it at face value to fearmonger the public.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on June 27, 2011, 06:29:42 pm
with elenin, the catastrophic flooding we are expecting and the wild fires I think God's response has been quick to America pressuring Israel .
Also this just came to my attention:UPDATE 2-Wildfire reaches US Los Alamos nuclear facility
Los Alamos ensures reliability of US nuclear arms

* Officials say facility is "very well protected" (Updates throughout)

By Zelie Pollon

SANTA FE, N.M., June 27 (Reuters) - A raging wildfire on Monday briefly entered the property of the preeminent U.S. nuclear facility, Los Alamos National Laboratory, a vast complex that houses research laboratories and a plutonium facility.

A mandatory evacuation was ordered for the town of Los Alamos, which has a population of about 12,000. The speed at which the fire has grown surprised fire officials.

The laboratory, which ensures the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, is a national security research facility located in the Jemez mountains of northern New Mexico.

It was set up in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project to create the first atomic bomb and still maintains the nation's largest nuclear weapons arsenal.

Firefighters were able to douse flames on a one-acre (0.4 hectare) "spot fire" just inside the southwestern boundary of the lab site, about 25 miles (40 km) outside Santa Fe, authorities said.

Buildings still have not been touched by flames, and authorities said there was little threat to sensitive areas of the 28,000-acre complex (11,000 hectare).

The laboratory's plutonium facility is on the northeast side of the complex, while the fire seems to be moving south and east, said lab spokesman Kevin Roark.

"The facility is very well protected from any kind of wild land fire threat," said Roark. He said the facility survived a May 2000 wildfire that claimed some lab buildings and did more than $1 billion in damage.

Explosive materials on the laboratory's grounds are stored safely in underground bunkers made of concrete and steel, as well as earthen berms, Roark said.

"This fire is going to be with us for a while. It has the potential to double and triple in size," Los Alamos Fire Chief Doug Tucker said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/27/usa-wildfire-nuclear-idUSN1E75Q1NV20110627


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on June 28, 2011, 04:07:46 am
I just read Dr Johnson's latest PDF www.contendingfortruth.com about what could well happen this year to the US.  :o


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on June 28, 2011, 08:34:40 am
I listened to his newsest update!   the world has gone mad, we are int he midst of the birthpangs and time is short. Keep on praying for Israel and Jerusalem. He who keeps Israel does not slumber or sleep!


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 28, 2011, 09:16:15 am
I listened to his newsest update!   the world has gone mad, we are int he midst of the birthpangs and time is short. Keep on praying for Israel and Jerusalem. He who keeps Israel does not slumber or sleep!

This is another major error with the so-called "truth" movement - they are constantly ranting how the so-called "evil Zionists" are leading the NWO, and how they are persecuting Palestineans in Israel.

Yes, there are evil Zionists at the head of the Illuminati - but people seem to forget that these same "evil Zionists" were also the same ones who persecuted Jews in Nazi Germany. IOW, this conspiracy we're seeing is not just one group(whether it's just the Vatican, or just the sun worshippers, or just the masons, or just the Zionists, etc)...think Ephesians 6:12...obviously, SATAN is at the very head.

And another thing - they seem to forget how Islam has infiltrated the PA in Israel.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on June 28, 2011, 10:49:31 am
2 Cor 6:14-15for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Believer on June 28, 2011, 11:30:38 am
Can't tell you how many times I've heard this lie on the "truther" MBs. These are the same MBs that deny how the Vatican/Jesuits/RCC have nothing to do with the NWO, and will label anyone "Zionists" if they say they do.

Also, the whole Protocols of Zion is a HOAX - but en yet, the "alternative media" and these "truther" MBs are taking it at face value to fearmonger the public.

Agreed 100%


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on June 28, 2011, 02:55:36 pm
sounding stupid , what what is a truther MB ?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Believer on June 28, 2011, 03:17:19 pm
sounding stupid , what what is a truther MB ?

I think he means 'message boards'.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on June 28, 2011, 07:35:05 pm
the natural disasters are coming at us fast and furious and more serious that ever.... even the MSM is reporting on it. (well the parts they are allowed too) and if they say it isn't going to be too bad, beware, they lie!


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 30, 2011, 08:09:03 am
U.S. Designates Israel as Country That Tends ‘To Promote, Produce, or Protect’ Terrorists; Also Calls Israel Anti-Terror Partner

In an implicit admission that Israel is so threatened by terrorism that it is not only surrounded by countries and territories that produce terrorists but also unwillingly harbors terrorists within its own territory in a way that most other nations in the world do not, the Obama administration is currently listing Israel among 36 “specially designated countries” it believes “have shown a tendency to promote, produce, or protect terrorist organizations or their members.”

Also included on the list--separately from Israel--are the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza, as well as Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, the four nations bordering Israel.

All but five of the nations included on the administration’s “specially designated country” list have majority Muslim populations (see the list below).

The five countries on the list that do not have majority Muslim populations--Kazakhstan (47 percent Muslim), Eritrea (36.5 percent Muslim), Israel (16.9 percent Muslim), the Philippines (5 percent Muslim) and Thailand (4.6 percent)--have had internal problems with radical Muslim terrorists, as reported by the State Department. The State Department has designated Eritrea as a country that is “not cooperating fully” with U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General published the list of "specially designated countries" as an appendix to an unclassified May 11 report--"Supervision of Aliens Commensurate With Risk"--that was publicly posted on the Internet. (The appendix is on page 18 of the document.)

rest: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/us-designates-israel-country-tends-promo


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Believer on June 30, 2011, 10:29:42 am
U.S. Designates Israel as Country That Tends ‘To Promote, Produce, or Protect’ Terrorists; Also Calls Israel Anti-Terror Partner

In an implicit admission that Israel is so threatened by terrorism that it is not only surrounded by countries and territories that produce terrorists but also unwillingly harbors terrorists within its own territory in a way that most other nations in the world do not, the Obama administration is currently listing Israel among 36 “specially designated countries” it believes “have shown a tendency to promote, produce, or protect terrorist organizations or their members.”

Also included on the list--separately from Israel--are the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza, as well as Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, the four nations bordering Israel.

All but five of the nations included on the administration’s “specially designated country” list have majority Muslim populations (see the list below).

The five countries on the list that do not have majority Muslim populations--Kazakhstan (47 percent Muslim), Eritrea (36.5 percent Muslim), Israel (16.9 percent Muslim), the Philippines (5 percent Muslim) and Thailand (4.6 percent)--have had internal problems with radical Muslim terrorists, as reported by the State Department. The State Department has designated Eritrea as a country that is “not cooperating fully” with U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General published the list of "specially designated countries" as an appendix to an unclassified May 11 report--"Supervision of Aliens Commensurate With Risk"--that was publicly posted on the Internet. (The appendix is on page 18 of the document.)

rest: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/us-designates-israel-country-tends-promo

What about the U.S.?  Don't they reveal, by their legislation, accusations and propaganda, that the U.S. is full of terrorists as well?   ::)  This move is meant for something that is for sure.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on June 30, 2011, 03:58:13 pm
Quote
the Obama administration is currently listing Israel among 36 “specially designated countries” it believes “have shown a tendency to promote, produce, or protect terrorist organizations or their members.”

Is there any question left as to where Obama stands on Israel? Well, eventually we know all countries will turn their hatred directly towards Jerusalem.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 30, 2011, 04:14:53 pm
Is there any question left as to where Obama stands on Israel? Well, eventually we know all countries will turn their hatred directly towards Jerusalem.

Don't be surprised if the so-called "truth" movement starts aligning themselves with Obama on Israel, eventually - yes, after calling him out for being a non-natural born citizen, for tearing the Constitution to shreds even more so than any other Prez, after intensifying the wars in the ME Bush started, after giving himself to the banksters, etc, etc...oh yeah...it's ALL the "Zionists" doings, right?

Seriously - I've read on "truther" MBs how they're praising LOUIS FARAKHAN for slamming Israel. Pretty scary, eh? :o


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on July 01, 2011, 03:40:55 am
Scary? Nah, there is no fear in love. A head-scratcher? Yeah, I'll give you that. But then what do you expect from a bunch of unbelieving loons?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on July 01, 2011, 10:53:35 pm
Home grown terrorist, Muslim of America

This is happening in New York and I am sure other places in our country. I can not transfer this video but I will give you the link.... Please listen. They are calling us the terrorist!
    http://shoebat.com/videos/jihadInUSA.php

    This video is just mind blowing



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: jackie on July 01, 2011, 10:55:51 pm
I think he means 'message boards'.

Thanks Believer , learning more everyday!   :)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 11, 2011, 09:17:45 am
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-fears-surprise-for-israel-in-quartet-s-latest-peace-push-1.372574

7/11/11

Netanyahu fears 'surprise' for Israel in Quartet's latest peace push
Foursome of Mideast peacemakers expected to include Obama's 1967 formula in statement set for release Monday afternoon.


The foreign ministers of the Middle East Quartet will be meeting Monday in Washington and are expected to release a statement endorsing U.S. President Barack Obama's May 19 speech on the Middle East, which called for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the borders of a future state based on pre-1967 lines with agreed-upon land swaps.

According to sources in Jerusalem, the Quartet, which consists of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, will not invite the parties to a summit meeting but will instead send a delegation to the region to determine if the will exists and the time is ripe for renewed negotiations.

On Sunday the group of eight senior Israeli cabinet members convened to discuss the anticipated announcement by the Quartet following a similar meeting on Friday. A source in Jerusalem said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet colleagues have concerns that the Quartet announcement could provide a surprise for Israel similar to Obama's May speech, the contents of which were revised less than 24 hours before it was delivered.

Monday's meeting of Quartet foreign ministers and the UN secretary general comes after the European Union exerted intense pressure for the presentation of an international peace plan on the conflict. The EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has argued such a peace proposal would constitute an alternative to the Palestinian push for recognition of an independent Palestinian state at the UN in September, and that it might convince the Palestinians to refrain from going forward with their plans.

In the past two weeks, France has put heavy pressure on Ashton and the other Quartet members for the group's statement to include an invitation to Israel and the Palestinians to resume negotiations based on Obama's remarks on the 1967 borders and on recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

The U.S. is proposing a Quartet statement that mentions the Obama address in relatively general terms and announces that a Quartet delegation would visit the region for additional talks.

Israeli sources have said Netanyahu has been somewhat more flexible in his stance regarding the principles expressed in Obama's address, saying that he would agree to base talks on the 1967 borders with land swaps. In exchange, he is seeking Obama administration ratification of President George W. Bush's letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon regarding Jewish West Bank settlement blocs coming under Israeli sovereignty and for Palestinian refugees to be resettled in a future Palestinian state.



Title: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines
Post by: Believer on August 02, 2011, 01:28:29 am
Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=18573939&ps=1010&srce=news_class&action=4&lang=en&_LT=UNLC_NKNWU00L4_UNEWS

Quote
JERUSALEM (AP) — In a dramatic policy shift, Israel's prime minister has agreed to negotiate the borders of a Palestinian state based on the cease-fire line that marks off the West Bank, a TV station reported Monday.

Up to now, Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to spell out his plan for negotiating the border. A senior Israeli official would not confirm outright that the prime minister was now willing to adopt the cease-fire line as a starting point, but said Israel was willing to try new formulas to restart peace talks based on a proposal made by President Barack Obama.

In a speech about the Middle East in May, Obama proposed negotiations based on the pre-1967 line with agreed swaps of territory between Israel and a Palestinian state. Netanyahu reacted angrily, insisting that Israel would not withdraw from all of the West Bank, though that was not what Obama proposed.

Now Netanyahu is basically accepting that framework, according to Channel 2 TV, offering to trade Israeli territory on its side of the line for West Bank land where its main settlements are located.

The official, who has been briefed on the talks, spoke on condition of anonymity because the contacts are still in progress. He said he would not deny the TV report, while refusing to confirm the specifics. He emphasized that Israel would not withdraw from all of the West Bank.

"We are willing in a framework of restarting the peace talks to accept a proposal that would contain elements that would be difficult for Israel and we would find very difficult to endorse," he said, answering a question about the Obama proposal.

Part of the reason, he said, was that Israel is seeking to persuade the Palestinians to drop their initiative to win U.N. recognition of their state next month, something the Palestinians are doing out of frustration with stalled peace efforts.

Palestinian officials said they had not received such a proposal from Israel.

Palestinians have demanded that Israel stop construction in its West Bank settlements and east Jerusalem before peace talks resume. Netanyahu wants talks with no preconditions where issues like settlements and borders would be discussed, along with his insistence that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.


continues...


Title: Re: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 02, 2011, 08:20:13 am
You give the devil a couple of inches, he'll take a few more miles from you.


Title: Re: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines
Post by: Mark on August 02, 2011, 08:50:56 am
Evacuate West Bank settlers without delay: Israeli court

Israel's supreme court ordered the evacuation of a hilltop outpost where some 250 Jewish settlers live without further delay Tuesday, upholding a petition made by Palestinians and an anti-settler group over five years ago.

The court said the hilltop outpost of Migron in the occupied West Bank had to be removed by March 31, and the state could not "drag its feet" over the removal of the outpost "which even it admits is illegal."

rest: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/02/us-palestinians-israel-outpost-idUSTRE7712YY20110802?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&dlvrit=59363


Title: Re: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines
Post by: Believer on August 02, 2011, 01:03:46 pm
Israel plays down report of border deal

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=18574825&ps=929&cat=&cps=0&lang=en&page=2

Quote
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli official is distancing the government from a report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to negotiate the borders of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines with the West Bank.

Both Israeli and Palestinian officials acknowledged Tuesday they remain far from a breakthrough in efforts to revive peace talks, despite a frantic U.S. push.

An Israeli TV station said Monday that Netanyahu had accepted President Barack Obama's proposal to commit to a near-total withdrawal from the West Bank.

The official says Netanyahu is willing to "show some flexibility" on the border issue, but won't elaborate. He also says Netanyahu expects Palestinian flexibility on other issues.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a sensitive diplomatic matter.



Title: Re: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines
Post by: Believer on August 02, 2011, 01:06:24 pm
Netanyahu Concedes to Obama – if Abbas Drops UN Ploy

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/146316

Quote
The Netanyahu government has confirmed it will accept renewed talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, based on the 1949-1967 borders, if the PA scraps its initiative to ask the United Nations for recognition.

Renewed talks also are conditioned on Abbas' recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, a statement he has said he never will make.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told President Barack Obama at a White House meeting last May that returning to the temporary 1949 Armistice Lines, which were in effect until the Six-Day War in 1967, would force “indefensible borders” on Israel.

The president has since emphasized that talks “based on 1967 borders” means that there is room for negotiations on what land should be retained under Israeli sovereignty.

In an seeming concession to President Obama, the Prime Minister now is willing to meet with Abbas on condition that the Palestinian Authority withdraw his plan to go the United Nations.

However, in response to the report, the office of the Prime Minister stated, "There has been no change in government policy. The proposal for renewed talks is conditioned on Israel's being defined as a Jewish state."

The Arab League already has submitted a request to the United Nations for recognizing the Palestinian Authority, but there is deep division within the PA over the possibility that the tactic may leave them empty-handed.

The “peace process” has been dead for two years, if not longer, and is buried underground in the view of most analysts. The attempt to dig it up and resurrect it may be at the behest of United States, which has suffered a sharp decrease in its influence in the Arab world since President Obama’s failure to follow up with results on the ground after his “reaching out to Muslims” speech in Cairo two years ago.

An official United Nations discussion on recognizing the Palestinian Authority as an independent country would relegate the ”peace process” to an obituary in history books. It is not clear if Abbas would prefer that.

"Over the last few weeks there has been an ongoing attempt to restart the peace process to allow for the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians," a government official told the French news agency AFP. "The assumption is that if this process succeeds, the Palestinians will withdraw their proposal for unilateral action at the UN."

He added that President Obama’s statements on the old borders of Israel not being written in stone “is the sort of language that we can live with.”

The United States has indicated, without a total commitment, that it will cast a veto in the United Nations Security Council, whose recommendation for recognizing a new state is needed before the General Assembly can vote on it.

That would leave the PA with having to settle for a non-binding resolution, based on its own political and territorial demands for all of Judea and Samaria as well eastern, northern and southern Jerusalem, commonly referred to East Jerusalem by mainstream media.

The government’s change of attitude towards the expression Obama used, confirmed by an unnamed official in foreign media, effectively forces Abbas to make the move in what has become a long and drawn-out diplomatic chess game.

Abbas has not responded to Netanyahu’s latest proposal to resume talks and formerly has stated that he would be willing to “negotiate” with Israel only after the Jewish state accepts all of its demands, which he said are non-negotiable. The ball is back in his court.


Title: Re: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines
Post by: Mark on August 03, 2011, 06:10:12 pm
Arab League finalizing PA statehood application for UN

Representatives of the Arab League were scheduled to meet in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday night to lay the final touches on the Palestinian Authority’s application to the UN for recognition of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines.

The meeting comes as the PA leadership in Ramallah continues to face pressure from the US and EU to abandon its statehood plan and return to the negotiating table with Israel.

The meeting in Doha was being attended by several Arab legal experts who were invited by the PA to help in the wording of the application to the UN in September.

Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and Arab League Secretary- General Nabil Elaraby, who is considered an expert on international law, are also participating in the discussions.

When the application is completed, it will be handed over to the UN secretarygeneral so he could bring it before the General Assembly in September, a PA official said.

Representatives of Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, in addition to the PA, were taking part in the discussions on the statehood bid, the official said.

rest: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=232361


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: William on August 09, 2011, 05:24:19 pm
Transportation Minister visits Rothschild, praises protest
By HERB KEINON AND JPOST.COM STAFF
08/09/2011 22:33

After first Trajtenberg C'tee meeting, Katz calls protest opportunity for change; Yesha Council chair warns against "petty political gain."
 
 
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, who is a member of the Trajtenberg Committee created to examine the demands of the social-movement protesters, visited the Rothschild Boulevard tent protest on Tuesday evening where activists explained to him their discontent with the government, and particularly the minister's, inefficiency.

In response to a demonstrator's inquiry about so-called tycoons' lack of responsibility to the general public, Katz said that the situation was "serious" and that "we need to deal with it."

The minister commended the protest and said that "this is how the opportunity for change is created during a government's reign, and not only in elections."

Yesha Council chairman Dani Dayan also visited the encampment on Tuesday in order to show his support, saying that if "we search for petty political gain" instead of solutions will will all lose.

"The claim that the settlements are the root of the cost of living issue is heard only by the media and politicians," Dayan said.

The first meeting of the so-called "Rothschild Team" - a committee formed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to pinpoint and propose solutions to socioeconomic problems highlighted by growing protests - was held Tuesday afternoon, led by Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, who said there is a real "opportunity for change."

The Trajtenberg Committee, according to the road map outlined by Netanyahu in the cabinet, will hold intensive discussion with “different groups and sectors within the public.”

The committee will then make proposals to the government’s 16-minister socioeconomic cabinet, headed by Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz.

(Although this has to do with the London Riots going on it talks about Benjamin Netanyahu while also the Rothschild. Get ready, because things are coming down the line. The Rothschild almost always are never mentioned in the newspaper, or are otherwise never in the spotlight. This is very interesting, and I imagine they will be a big part, and a tool used to try, and cut Israel's land.)

FROM: http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?ID=233126&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab (http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?ID=233126&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: William on August 10, 2011, 09:27:51 pm
The White House Cleanses Israel from Its Website

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLe_p_OwjpE&feature=player_detailpage


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 11, 2011, 09:28:54 am
related to the meeting in the vid above,  :D what are the odds..

Israel okays 1,600 settler homes for East Jerusalem

Israel's interior minister has given final approval for a plan to build 1,600 settler homes in East Jerusalem, a project whose announcement last year during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden caused a diplomatic rift with Washington.

The official announcement Thursday of the go-ahead from Interior Minister Eli Yishai could weigh on U.S.-led efforts to dissuade the Palestinians from seeking United Nations endorsement of statehood in the absence of peace talks they suspended over Israeli settlement construction.

Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, called on the United States, the European Union and other sponsors of the Middle East peace process to pressure the Israeli government to halt the settlement plans.

Initial approval for the 1,600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo, a religious Jewish settlement in an area of the West Bank annexed to Jerusalem by Israel, was given in March 2010, casting a shadow on Biden's visit while highlighting U.S.-Israeli differences over such construction.

Biden condemned the Israeli plan at the time and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in unusually blunt remarks, called it an insult. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced regret for the timing of that announcement but rejected any curbs on settlement in and around Jerusalem.

rest: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-okays-1-600-settler-homes-east-jerusalem-101053601.html


Title: Re: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines
Post by: William on August 11, 2011, 01:14:53 pm
From: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=233466&R=R1#_tab#_tab (http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=233466&R=R1#_tab#_tab)

Abbas to Haniyeh: Don't give up on Palestinian unity

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
08/11/2011 17:55

PA president calls Hamas PM, urging him to implement agreements reached between factions; Haniyeh: "There will be no return backward."
 
 
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday phoned Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and urged him to preserve the climate of reconciliation between the two sides, according to a statement released by Hamas.

Abbas stressed during the phone conversation the importance of activating the agreements that were reached in Cairo recently between Fatah and Hamas, the statement said.

RELATED:
'Abbas's insistence on Fayyad derailing Palestinian unity'
Hamas, Fatah deflect blame for failed Palestinian unity

Earlier this week, Hamas and Fatah representatives who met in the Egyptian capital announced that they had reached an agreement on a number of sticking points, including the release of prisoners from their prisons and granting Palestinian passports to residents of the Gaza Strip.

Abbas pointed out that the Cairo discussions were held in a positive atmosphere and stressed his keenness to move forward with the reconciliation pact between Hamas and Fatah, the Hamas statement said. It added that Abbas also offered his greetings to the Hamas leader on the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

With regards to the reconciliation accord, Abbas was quoted as saying: “We want to work together on this issue.”

Haniyeh, for his part, was quoted as telling Abbas that he too was keen on preserving the positive climate of reconciliation between the two parties.

“There will be no return backward,” Haniyeh said. “We support accelerating the process of implementing the reconciliation.”

Samira Halaika, a Hamas legislator, said on Thursday that Palestinians in the West Bank were frustrated with the failure of Hamas and Fatah to implement the reconciliation accord that was announced in Cairo in early May.

Halaika said that Palestinians in the West Bank were facing instability and insecurity because of the continued arrest campaign by the PA security forces against Hamas supporters.

“Residents of the West Bank don’t see any difference between the period that preceded the reconciliation and the period afterwards,” she said.

She also noted that PA security forces earlier this week arrested a number of young men who went to pray in a mosque in Hebron.

In another case, PA security forces summoned for interrogation several Palestinians who came to greet a Hamas activist who was released from Israeli prison. PA security officers also raided the home of the released prisoner, Ashraf Daraghmeh, in the Jenin area, and confiscated documents and posters, his relatives said.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: William on August 11, 2011, 01:17:16 pm
From: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=233471&R=R1#_tab#_tab (http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=233471&R=R1#_tab#_tab)

PA: Israeli gov't seeking to create facts on the ground

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
08/11/2011 18:17

(http://www.jpost.com/HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=144775)

Abu Rudaineh, Erekat slam Israel's expected approval of 4,300 housing units in east Jerusalem over next week; Fatah: Israel trying to solve its social and economic problems at the expense of the Palestinians.
 
 
The Palestinian Authority on Thursday strongly condemned Israel’s decision to build new housing projects in east Jerusalem and accused the Israeli government of seeking to create new facts on the ground.

In a nod to the hundreds of tents across the country,  Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) approved 1,600 apartment units in the east Jerusalem haredi neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo late on Wednesday night. The Hebrew media reported that the Interior Ministry was working to prepare two additional projects in east Jerusalem, including 2,000 projects in Givat Hamatos and 625 units in Pisgat Zeev.

RELATED:
Settler leader visits Rothschild tent city in solidarity
42 MKs: Settlement building would solve housing crisis

Nabil Abu Rudaineh, spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said that the decision was an attempt by the Israeli government to create new facts on the ground ahead of a UN vote next month on recognition of a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines.

Abu Rudaineh called upon the US and EU to exert pressure on the Israeli government to “stop this unilateral measure” on the part of Israel.

Abbas’s Fatah faction accused Israel of waging a “new aggression” on Palestinian territories by approving the new projects in east Jerusalem. It described the decision as a blow to the will of the international community and the UN.

“We reject the policy of the Israeli occupation government to solve its social and economic problems at the expense of the Palestinians and their occupied territories,” Fatah added in a statement.

“We are determined to defend the rights of our people and resist the occupation’s settler projects through legal means.”

Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the housing projects as a “war crime” and urged US President Barack Obama to change his position against the PA’s statehood bid at the UN.

“We condemn this action which is considered a wear crime by the 1949 Geneva Conventions,” Erekat said. He pointed out that the decision was announced the day after Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu talked over the phone.

“The only way to preserve the option of the two-state solution – Palestine and Israel – is through the UN and that Palestine be accepted as a member on the 1967 borders,” Erekat said. “Then the policy of settlement construction and imposing dictates on us will become null and void.”

Erekat also criticized the US and other countries for putting pressure on the PA to abandon its statehood plan. “This pressure is completely unacceptable and will plunge the region into a cycle of violence, extremism, anarchy and bloodshed,” he cautioned.

Melanie Lidman contributed to this report


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on August 12, 2011, 03:53:33 am
"The consuming debate about our debt and the economy has obscured a major foreign policy event that’s right around the corner: Next month, the United Nations general assembly is likely to approve a resolution recognizing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Obama administration strongly opposes this move, and is sure to veto any such resolution that might make it to the U.N. Security Council. So this will largely be a symbolic exercise. But that doesn’t make it meaningless. On Sunday, the New York Times warned that “the consequences could be profoundly damaging for all involved” if the general assembly resolution passes. The Times also warned that Palestinians will be left even more frustrated by the empty gesture (and presumably by American and Israeli opposition), which could lead to new violence in the region. And an unnamed Western diplomat told Ha’artez that such a vote would further fray American relations with the Palestinian Authority, making a peace deal an even more distant prospect.

Meanwhile, the upcoming vote is already reintroducing Israel into the Republican presidential primaries. Newt Gingrich has a fiery opinion piece in today’s Human Events arguing that the U.S. should cut off its funding to the U.N. if a statehood resolution passes.

"We should be willing to say that if the U.N. is going to circumvent negotiations and declare the territory of one of its own members an independent state, we aren’t going to pay for it. We can keep our $7.6 billion a year.

We don’t need to fund a corrupt institution to beat up on our allies."

To some degree that’s Newt being his incendiary self. But this could be a real issue for Republicans in the coming weeks. Evangelical Christian voters are closely attuned to U.S. policy towards Israel, for reasons part Biblical and part War on Terror. (See this July Christian Newswire statement demanding that all the GOP candidates deliver a “major speech” denouncing the resolution.) In South Carolina last month, I met a woman at a Michele Bachmann rally who told me that the end of days is near because Obama has, in her view, exposed Israel to such grave danger. (Which raises the question of why she was also so upset about ObamaCare, most of which doesn’t kick in for a couple more years, but never mind.) When  candidates like Mitt Romney have claimed that Obama “has thrown Israel under the bus,” those words have particular resonance with Christian conservatives.

The Obama administration has been working behind the scenes to head off the statehood vote, possibly by jump-starting the stalled negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. But that likely won’t be enough for the Republican candidates. Watch to see if this issue comes up in Thursday night’s Iowa Republican debate–and watch as the candidates vie to demonstrate their unwavering support for Israel while painting Obama as weak and feckless when it comes to defending the Jewish state."

From:
http://swampland.time.com/2011/08/10/here-comes-a-campaign-issue-the-u-n-and-palestinian-statehood/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 20, 2011, 09:24:06 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkhlUrWdNr8


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: William on August 21, 2011, 12:31:13 am
From: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=234679&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab (http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=234679&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab)

Mofaz: Gov’t lacks strategy to deal with statehood bid
By LAHAV HARKOV
08/21/2011 02:47

Submission of Knesset panel report on possible repercussions of Palestinian UN vote is postponed until calm returns to South.

(http://www.jpost.com/HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=48545)
Photo by: Ariel Jerozolimski
 
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) postponed on Saturday the presentation of findings on the possible repercussions of a Palestinian declaration of statehood at the UN in September.

Mofaz said the report will be presented when the situation in the south calms down.

The document’s final draft, prepared by committee adviser Barak Ben-Tzur and MK Yohanan Plesner (Kadima) who heads a subcommittee on the topic, was supposed to be presented on Sunday.

Earlier this month, the report was presented to committee members and defense officials who had submitted information, so they could make comments and changes.

At the time, Ben-Tzur explained to the committee that the findings were inconclusive, with different experts giving different assessments.

None of the experts consulted expected a new intifada to break out, but some predicted mass protests near the West Bank security barrier and settlements.

Others said a UN declaration of Palestinian statehood could further isolate Israel diplomatically, and even if the Palestinians did not become a UN member state, they could join UN committees and organizations and cause problems for Israel.

“It looks like Israel does not have a clear strategy to deal with September’s challenges,” committee chairman Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) said.

Mofaz has criticized the government numerous times in recent months, accusing it of being unprepared for the consequences of the expected UN vote.

“If the diplomatic process for September had been significant, most of the army’s preparations would not have been necessary,” he said after IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz briefed the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee last month.

Gantz said that he did not think the Palestinians were “putting energy into organizing events that will cause a step backward from all of the accomplishments and prosperity they attained in the West Bank.

“At the same time, we cannot ignore that the Palestinians are also sensitive to everything that is happening around us in the Middle East. There is potential for a conflict and an expectation that thousands will have a quiet, nonviolent demonstration in areas of friction on the security barrier or near settlements,” Gantz said. “The IDF cannot endanger the settlements in such a situation.”

At the same committee meeting, MK Einat Wilf (Independence) suggested that the IDF “has to think about the possibility that it may have no choice but to evacuate settlements facing Palestinian demonstrations.”


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: William on August 22, 2011, 02:56:56 am
Netanyahu: We won't carry out large-scale Gaza operation

By JPOST.COM STAFF AND YAAKOV LAPPIN
08/22/2011 09:48

Diplomatic source says Hamas is trying to weaken state's international support: "Israel must do all it possibly can to achieve calm."

(http://www.jpost.com/HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=172690)
Photo by: GPO / Avi Ohayon

Diplomatic source says Hamas is trying to weaken state's international support: "Israel must do all it possibly can to achieve calm."
 
 
Israel will not respond to the attacks from Gaza with a large-scale operation, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his cabinet ministers concluded at a  3 a.m.  meeting on Monday to discuss the security situation.

Diplomatic sources expressed concern that escalation in the South could upset Egypt and and hurt Israel at the UN vote for Palestinian statehood in September.

"Hamas is trying to draw Israel into fighting in the [Gaza] Strip, so as to weaken its power in the international arena in preparation for the Palestinian statehood decree in September," one senior diplomatic source told Army Radio. "This way Hamas will be seen as leading the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state."

Despite Hamas's call for a ceasefire, they "are interested in leading to escalation and so Israel must do all it possibly can to achieve calm," he said.

Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel resumed on Sunday evening and continued into Monday morning despite reports that the Islamist group was seeking an immediate ceasefire.

Four Kassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip after midnight on Sunday landed in Sderot, the Eshkol Regional Council area and on the outskirts of Ashkelon. No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks. An additional rocket damaged a building in the Eshkol Regional Council on Monday morning and the Iron Dome anti-rocket shield intercepted one rocket fired in the direction of Ashkelon.

From: http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?ID=234875&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab (http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?ID=234875&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 28, 2011, 10:33:03 pm
UN envoy Prosor: Israel has no chance of stopping recognition of Palestinian state
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, sent a classified cable to the Foreign Ministry last week, stating that Israel stands no chance of rallying a substantial number of states to oppose a resolution at the UN General Assembly recognizing a Palestinian state in September.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Office, meanwhile, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering not participating in this year's General Assembly. Instead President Shimon Peres is likely to represent Israel.

Under the headline "Report from the frontline at the UN," Prosor - considered one of the most experienced and senior Israeli diplomats - offered a very pessimistic estimate as to Israel's ability to significantly affect the results of the vote. Even though he did not state so explicitly, Prosor implies that Israel will sustain a diplomatic defeat.

"The maximum that we can hope to gain [at the UN vote] is for a group of states who will abstain or be absent during the vote," Prosor wrote, adding that his comments are based on more than 60 meetings he held during the past few weeks with his counterparts at the UN. "Only a few countries will vote against the Palestinian initiative," he wrote.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to contact the UN secretary general on September 20 and ask for recognition of Palestine as a full member state of the UN. At the Foreign Ministry, the assessment is that in order to avoid an American veto, the Palestinians will seek a vote at the General Assembly and not at the Security Council, even though the former is less binding. The vote at the General Assembly will probably take place in October.

Foreign Ministry sources estimate that 130-140 states will vote in favor of the Palestinians. A major question mark remains over the position of the 27 member states of the European Union.

The EU's head of foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Jerusalem today, ahead of a meeting of the EU's foreign ministers on September 3.

A senior source at the Foreign Ministry, which is busy trying to foil the Palestinian move at the UN, said that so far only five western countries have promised Israel they would vote against recognition of a Palestinian state - the U.S., Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

"Most western countries will not be willing to be in the hall and vote against a Palestinian state," the senior Foreign Ministry source said.

However, the stance of the four European countries may change in line with the wording of the resolution that the Palestinians will propose. If the text is moderate and includes the possibility of returning to the negotiating table immediately following the vote at the UN, these four states may alter their opposition and abstain.

At the Foreign Ministry they believe the EU's 27 member states will be split between a large group that will support the Palestinians and two smaller groups that will abstain and oppose the resolution.

The Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said over the weekend that the Palestinian Authority is close to gaining the support of 130 states which will recognize a Palestinian state. This follows the recent recognition of a Palestinian state by Honduras and El Salvador.

China also announced it will support the Palestinian resolution at the UN.

The Palestinians estimate that Guatemala and several Caribbean island-states will also announce their recognition of a Palestinian state in coming weeks. Israel is continuing its international campaign to avert support for the resolution and a number of ministers are being dispatched to Africa and Asia.

Nonetheless, it appears that Benjamin Netanyahu has given up on the effort with his decision to avoid the UN General Assembly next month. "At this time the PM does not believe that his trip to the UN will contribute to a change in the vote on the resolution for Palestinian state recognition," one of Netanyahu's advisers said.

President Peres is probably going to take Netanyahu's place. Lieberman, who will also travel to the UN, recommended to the PM that Peres address the General Assembly, so that the Israeli position which will be heard at the UN will be as conciliatory and moderate as possible.

Most senior Israeli officials believe that Israel should treat the UN vote as it did the Goldstone Report - as something unavoidable which must be condemned. A smaller group of officials, which includes foreign ministry officials, Shin Bet and IDF planning officers, believe Israel should try to influence the language of the resolution, aiming at a resumption of negotiations after the vote.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 29, 2011, 08:43:44 am
Palestinians prepare symbolic chair for UN bid

The Palestinians are hoping to secure a seat at the United Nations next month. They already have the chair for it.

Palestinian activists said Monday they would take the chair on an international tour to dramatize the Palestinian Authority's quest for U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state.

The wooden chair is covered with embroidered blue upholstery featuring a Palestinian flag and the word "Palestine."

It will be shown to diplomats in countries with influence at the U.N., including Britain, Russia and Lebanon, this month's rotating Security Council president. The chair's final stop is the U.N.

Activist Waled Nazzar says the chair symbolizes the Palestinians' conviction that they deserve U.N. membership.

Israel and the United States oppose the Palestinian statehood bid, saying a state must be established through negotiations.

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-prepare-symbolic-chair-un-bid-122043188.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 29, 2011, 10:18:53 am
PA set on UN bid unless Israel meets their terms

Ashton in region, hopes to bring PA back to negotiating table; Lieberman: Abbas trying to destroy Jewish state.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday set two conditions for abandoning his plan to ask the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state in September: acceptance of the 1967 lines as the basis for a two-state solution and a cessation of settlement construction.

“Without this we will continue going to the UN,” Abbas said.

He spoke on the eve of a trip to the region by the European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, a last-minute bid to bring Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

"Following the recent tragic events in Israel and Gaza, it is more important than ever that the parties return to the negotiating table,” Ashton said. “It is only through negotiations – and not violence – that the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be addressed.

“The EU continues to make every effort to make a renewal of negotiations possible. That is why I am traveling to the region this weekend,” she said.

On Sunday, Ashton will meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. She also plans to met with Abbas before heading to Jordan for talks on the peace process with King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.

Separately on Sunday, Netanyahu will meet with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

Talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been stalled for almost a year. The Palestinians have insisted they will return to the negotiating table only if Israel meets their terms.

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=235649


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 29, 2011, 10:25:47 am
The US government may be firm in saying they will veto this - don't bet on it, especially with you-know-who in the White House.


Title: Re: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines
Post by: William on September 02, 2011, 03:12:05 pm
‘Acceptance of PA’s UN bid will push back talks for years’
By HERB KEINON
09/01/2011 00:46

Senior official warns that General Assembly resolution recognizing PA as a nonmember state would create “unbridgeable gaps.”
 
 
A UN General Assembly resolution recognizing the Palestinian Authority as a nonmember state would create “unbridgeable gaps” and push back negotiations for years, a senior Israeli official warned Wednesday.

The official said that once such a resolution was passed, the Palestinians would never be willing to negotiate on the basis of anything less, and no Israeli leader would ever be able to agree to what the Palestinians would likely get from the UN.

He said that such a move would be a “strategic mistake by the world,” and said this was well understood by the US.

At the same time, the official said that Israel had no intention of negotiating with the Palestinians – or anyone else – over the language of the resolution to be brought to the UN, and that Israel was focusing on the “principle,” not the language.

He said that on a certain level the resolution would complicate matters for the Palestinians as well, since the PA would replace the PLO at the UN, and this would have ramifications regarding the refugee issue. Once a Palestinian state is recognized, this argument goes, Israel’s case that the refugees be resettled in that state will become stronger.

The official also said it was an “illusion” to think that a Palestinian state could “go it alone.”

“It can’t stand on its own,” he said, adding that the Palestinians need Israeli assistance in everything from tax collection to combating Hamas.

Israel, he said, had no intention of announcing beforehand how it would react if the UN General Assembly passed the resolution, saying the government was compiling a “basket” of options, from “light reactions” such as denying VIP passes to PA officials, to “heavy” ones.

Which particular “arrow” to take out of the quiver, he said, would depend on a large number of imponderable developments.

Although the official did not spell out which “heavy” reactions were under consideration, National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau told The Jerusalem Post this week that he would recommend declaring the Oslo accords null and void, and annexing the Jordan Valley and large settlement blocks.

The official said that the premise in Jerusalem was that there was nothing that Israel could do – such as announcing beforehand what “price” the Palestinians would pay for such a move – that would prevent Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from going to the UN.

From: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=236237&R=R1#_tab#_tab (http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=236237&R=R1#_tab#_tab)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Believer on September 03, 2011, 01:58:37 pm
Tension, confusion behind EU facade on Palestine

http://euobserver.com/24/113516

Quote
BY ANDREW RETTMAN

Hostility toward foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, confusion over what the Palestinians will ask for and how major EU countries will react marked behind-closed-doors talks of EU foreign ministers in Poland.

Speaking to press in the Polish town of Sopot on Saturday (3 September) after the talks on Friday, Ashton said there is a "strong EU position" and a "common belief" that the Middle East conflict can only be solved via Arab-Israeli negotiations. She added: "We do not have the resolution before the UN at the moment and therefore this was not the time to discuss the EU's repsonse to such a resolution."

The EU meeting comes three weeks before Palestine is to submit a draft text to the UN General Assembly in New York asking the body to upgrade its status.

While EU countries agree on basic principles - the importance of Arab-Israeli talks and the need for a two-state solution based on 1967 borders - Europe remains split on whether or not to back Palestine's unilateral bid for statehood.

A number of ministers in Sopot put a positive spin on Friday's talks.

Sweden's Carl Bildt said they brought the EU "closer" to agreement on the issue. Estonia's Urmas Paet told EUobserver "My feeling is yes, the EU will eventually agree on its position and will not split into 27 or two or three different directions."

Other sources said the mood was not so friendly, however.

One EU diplomat said Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands called for the EU to oppose Palestinian independence but that Ashton sided with more Palestinian-friendly countries.

"She's going her own way, freewheeling a bit. She is struggling to put forward her own opinion without taking into account the opinion of this substantial minority ... If you want to have an EU common position, it will be hard to do it like this."

On the pro-Palestinian side, Luxembourgish foreign minister Jean Asselborn broke the terms of an EU gentleman's agreement not to speak out before New York. The EU "cannot give nothing" to the Palestinians and should "give them dignity" he told Agence France Presse.

In a third camp, sources indicated that Poland is happy to back any solution that has a realistic chance of broad EU and UN support.

For his part, German minister Guido Westerwelle added to the confusion. Contacts said he was "almost silent" at Friday's talks, leaving colleagues uncertain which way Berlin will go. "Maybe it's because of his difficult situation at home," the source added, referring to calls in Germany for him to resign.

The main problem in Sopot was lack of knowledge over what the Arabs will ultimately ask the EU for.

Variables include Palestine asking the UN Security Council to become a fully-fledged UN member - an option that would see a US veto and a clash between the US and pro-Palestinian EU countries; Palestine asking the UN to become "non-member state" like the Vatican - an option that could see Israel abandon previous peace deals; Palestine attaching supplementary clauses on recogntion of Israel or security issues which are unacceptable even for its EU friends.

A sudden split between Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, a new outbreak of Arab-Israeli violence or Israeli announcments of fresh settlements could also influence EU swing countries in the coming days.

"There were lots of 'buts, ifs, maybes and it depends'," Estonia's Paet told this website.

"The process is moving so fast that what was true yesterday or today might be inadequate next week. So nobody is rushing to say what their position is."


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 04, 2011, 07:14:28 am
U.S. APPEALING TO PALESTINIANS TO STALL UN VOTE...

The Obama administration has begun a last-ditch diplomatic campaign to avert a confrontation this month over a Palestinian plan to seek recognition as a state at the United Nations, but it may already be too late, according to senior American officials and foreign diplomats.

The administration has circulated a proposal intended to be the basis of renewed peace talks with the Israelis - based on a formula that President Barack Obama outlined in May - in hopes of persuading the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to abandon the bid for recognition at the annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly beginning Sept. 20.

The administration has privately made it clear to Mr. Abbas that it will veto any request that comes before the U.N. Security Council to make a Palestinian state a new member outright. But the United States alone does not have enough support to block a vote by the General Assembly to elevate the current status of the Palestinians' nonvoting observer ''entity'' to that of an nonvoting observer state.

FULL STORY: http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=25102&docId=l:1492175491&isRss=true&Em=4


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 04, 2011, 07:15:30 am
Jewish 'settlers' prepared for Palestinian onslaught

The Israeli army has been busy training local security teams in the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria (Jewish settlements) for a possible onslaught of violent Palestinian demonstrators.

Israel fears that following the Palestinian Authority's September 20 bid at the United Nations to secure recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank"), Palestinian mobs will march on any Jews they see as "invaders" in that new state.

In fact, that is precisely what Palestinian leaders are telling the public to do.

"The appeal to the UN is a battle for all Palestinians, and in order to succeed, it needs millions to pour into streets," Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo told the Associated Press following a Palestinian Authority vote endorsing a mass protest march on Israel.

Rabbo and other Palestinian leaders insist the protests will be peaceful, but Israeli officials noted that more often than not the Palestinians' definition of "peaceful" does not match Israel's.

And even if the intention truly was for a peaceful march, the Israelis say that having tens or hundreds of thousands of Palestinians march on Israeli civilian neighborhoods is a situation that can quickly spiral out of control.

While Jerusalem is certain to be a primary target of such a march, it is pretty heavily barricaded from the north and east, the directions from which the Palestinian protestors would be coming.

But the Jewish settlements make much softer targets.

That's why the IDF, which will preoccupied defending the northern neighborhoods of Jerusalem and the portion of the "Green Line" separating the Tel Aviv metropolitan area from the West Bank, is busy preparing the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria to defend themselves.

Those preparations include unspecified drills on how to handle various situations, including a large Palestinian mob beseiging the gates of a small Jewish community.

Jewish settler leaders stressed that the training exercises do not constitute the formation of a new Jewish militia, noting that these are pre-existing local security teams, the members of which are, like all Israelis, also members of the IDF reserve forces.

Even with all the preparations, the situation can still devolve into chaos and violence at a moment's notice. If armed Palestinian elements open fire from among the protestors, or a Palestinian mob manages to break into a Jewish community, Israeli security forces will be obliged to use deadly force in defense of local men, women and children.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NachrichtenHeute/tabid/178/nid/22934/language/en-US/Default.aspx


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 04, 2011, 07:26:04 am
Palestine: we want UN vote for statehood

The Palestinian Authority confirms that it will seek recognition as a state at the United Nations, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told the Voice of Palestine radio station on Sunday.

Erekat told the station that the Palestinians would initiate peaceful demonstrations this month to draw world's attention to their appeal at the UN and did not intend to enter into any clashes with the Israeli forces at the Palestinian territories.

He also asked the U.S. and Europe to support the Palestinians and approve their statehood as most of countries in the world had done, the radio station said.

New York Times said on Saturday quoting U.S. senior officials and foreign diplomats that the Obama administration circulated a proposal for renewed peace talks with the Israelis in the hopes of persuading the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to abandon the bid for recognition at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly beginning September 20.

The paper also said that the administration made it clear to Abbas that it would veto any request presented to the UN Security Council to make a Palestinian state a new member, but the United States did not have enough support to block a vote.

http://en.rian.ru/news/20110904/166411531.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 05, 2011, 07:16:05 am
U.N. gives Palestinian president royal treatment
Bumps Netanyahu back to speak during Jewish Sabbath


An internal United Nations document containing the upcoming General Assembly's speakers list bestows an unwarranted honor upon Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, while also slighting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

With no vote taken or yet expected on the issue of Palestinian statehood, the U.N. has already scheduled Abbas as an official "head of state," an honor given to kings and presidents like Barack Obama, Russian President Dimitri Medvedev, Jordanian King Abdullah II and British Prime Minister David Cameron, to name but a few.

The Palestinian is also given a primetime speaking slot, 12:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 23.

In the past, Palestinian leaders were afforded a "special" position by the U.N., speaking after all heads of recognized nations addressed the world body.

Not the case in 2011.

Not only has the General Assembly given Abbas a coveted speaking position, but it also turned around and slapped Israel, which has been a full U.N. member since its birth in 1948.

A rare G.A. address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been scheduled on the same Friday as Abbas, but as the last speaker at 9:00 p.m. that evening, a time slot that would not only violate Jewish Sabbath laws, but also assure a minimum amount of publicity, since the U.N. is all but abandoned during that hour.

(Story continues below)

Read more: U.N. gives Palestinian president royal treatment http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=341593#ixzz1X50AJGDE


Title: Why Israel can't withdraw to pre 67 borders line
Post by: Christian40 on September 06, 2011, 04:17:28 am
http://youtu.be/_rusj4yrV4Y



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on September 06, 2011, 04:44:08 am
Why Israel can't withdraw to pre 67 borders line.

http://youtu.be/_rusj4yrV4Y


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 06, 2011, 06:03:20 am
'At least 140 nations expected to vote for statehood bid'

Senior Fatah official Shaath says Ashton to return to region in coming days to inform Palestinian leadership of EU's final stance on UN bid.

At a press conference in Ramallah, Sha’ath, a former PA foreign minister, said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas would soon brief Fatah and PLO leaders on the ongoing efforts to secure the support of as many countries as possible for the statehood plan.

He said that Abbas would make it clear that the PA would seek full membership of a Palestinian state in the UN.

Sha’ath pointed out that 125 countries have so far promised to back the statehood bid at the UN. “We want Palestine to become the 194th member of the UN,” he added.

He also voiced hope that the EU countries would support the PA’s application for full membership in the UN.

EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton is scheduled to return to the region in the coming days for additional talks on the Palestinian statehood plan, Sha’ath disclosed. He said that Ashton would inform the Palestinian leadership of the EU’s final stance regarding the statehood bid.

Expressing fear that the US would foil the PA’s plan at the UN, Sha’ath said that the PA leadership was determined to go ahead with its initiative. “We won’t succumb to any pressure because our people are determined to achieve freedom and independence,” he stressed.

Sha’ath also dismissed claims that the statehood bid would affect the status of the PLO as the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinians” and deprive the refugees of the “right of return” to their original villages inside Israel. The PLO, he said, would remain the legitimate and sole representative of our people. “Going to the UN won’t affect the status of the PLO,” he said.

rest: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=236657&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+delicious%2Fgqlf+%28Christian+Headlines+Top+Headlines%29


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 07, 2011, 11:46:40 am
China supports Palestinian UN bid
http://en.rian.ru/world/20110907/166497017.html
13:03 07/09/2011
China on Wednesday announced its support for Palestine's plans to seek full membership in the United Nations next month.

China on Wednesday announced its support for Palestine's plans to seek full membership in the United Nations next month.

Because Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the terms of Palestinian statehood have been frozen since 2008, Palestinians have decided to seek UN recognition of an independent "Palestine" in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War.

Should the bid be successful, Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas claimed the Palestinian Authority would discuss the finer details of a future Palestinian state in talks with the Israeli leadership.

"China has always supported the just cause of Palestinian people. Having its own state is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people co-existing peacefully with Israel," Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday that the Palestinian bid for UN recognition would "set back peace, and might set it back for years."

Washington has also opposed UN recognition of a Palestinian state, calling it a unilateral step in a conflict that should be resolved through negotiation. The U.S. administration has made clear that it would veto any Palestinian request to the Security Council for membership as a state.

But a majority at the General Assembly is expected to support the promotion of the Palestinians to the status of non-voting observer state.

Two senior White House envoys arrived Tuesday for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a last-ditch effort to head off the Palestinian bid. They are pressing for a resumption of the peace talks.



Title: Israels right wing prepares for UN recognition of Palestine
Post by: Christian40 on September 08, 2011, 04:08:23 am
How internal politics are shaping up in Israel in preparation for September 20th.

Coalition chairman MK Zeev Elkin (Likud) blasts IDF top brass for siding with Palestinians rather than the government.

Right-wing activists, settlement leaders and Knesset members convened on Wednesday to discuss how to deal with expected confrontations with Palestinian demonstrators should the United Nations General Assembly recognize a Palestinian state later this month.

Yoni Yosef, spokesman for Jewish settlers in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, suggested invoking the "Dromi Law," which permits home owners to kill intruders and could be used to shoot Palestinians attempting to approach Jewish homes in the neighborhood.

Coalition chairman MK Zeev Elkin (Likud ) blasted Israel Defense Forces preparations for defending the settlements, saying: "The top brass turned into the main lobbyist for the Palestinian Authority against the political leadership, which is responsible for the senior commanders' adoption of the two-state concept."

Elkin criticized what he called the IDF's preference for giving PA security forces responsibility for dealing with incidents affecting the Palestinians.

Yaakov Katz (National Union ) called on his colleagues to organize marches of thousands of right-wing activists toward Palestinian cities in response to the marches on Jewish communities being discussed by Palestinians. He said he suspected the IDF will not ready an appropriate response to Palestinian marches but would deploy large forces if it feared countermarches by the right.

Katz proposed arranging for marches in a few strategic locations, such as from Kiryat Arba to Hebron, from Beit El to Ramallah and from Elon Moreh, Itamar and Yitzhar to Nablus, and announcing that the moment Palestinians marchers set out from Nablus, for example, a right-wing march would set out in the direction of Nablus. If such an announcement is made, Katz suggested, "then maybe there's a chance the army will prepare, in order to keep the Jews from reaching" Palestinian cities.

From:
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-s-right-wing-prepares-for-un-recognition-of-palestinian-state-1.383130


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 08, 2011, 06:45:10 am
Palestinians Officially Launch Statehood Campaign


The Palestinians on Thursday officially launched their campaign to join the United Nations as a full member state, saying they would stage a series of peaceful events in the run-up to the annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly later this month.

Some 100 Palestinian officials and activists gathered at the U.N. offices in Ramallah for a short ceremony, where they announced their plans in a letter addressed to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The letter urges Ban to add his "moral voice in support of the Palestinian people."

"Families of the tens of thousands of victims of Israeli occupation, including those martyred, wounded and imprisoned, and countless others who were expelled from their homes or lost their homes and their property, hope that you will exert all possible efforts toward the achievement of the Palestinian people's just demands," it says.

The letter was handed over by Latifa Abu Hmeid, a 70-year-old woman who lost one son in fighting with Israel and has seven other sons in Israeli prisons because of alleged militant activities.

Officials said Abu Hmeid was selected to deliver the document because her personal story reflects the plight of the Palestinians. A resident of a West Bank refugee camp, her house has been twice demolished by Israeli authorities as punishment for her sons' activities, they said.

The Palestinians have decided to turn to the U.N. to recognize their independence after two decades of unsuccessful peace efforts with Israel. The latest round of talks broke down a year ago.

The campaign seeks recognition of an independent Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem -- areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel rejects a return to its 1967 lines.

While any U.N. vote will be largely symbolic, the Palestinians believe a strong international endorsement will boost their position and put pressure on Israel should negotiations resume. Israel has been lobbying the international community to oppose the vote, saying peace can only be achieved through negotiations.

The letter says the campaign will include a series of peaceful events "in various international cities and capitals" leading up to the Sept. 21 opening of the General Assembly. Two days later, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will address the gathering in New York and ask for admission to the United Nations.

It remains unclear whether the Palestinians will turn to the Security Council or the General Assembly.

The Council needs nine votes out of 15 and no veto from any of its permanent members to pass a decision. However, the United States, which opposes the Palestinian bid, is expected to veto any request in the Council.

The Palestinians could then seek admission as a "nonmember state" of the General Assembly, like the Vatican.

Approval in the Assembly, which is dominated by developing nations sympathetic to the Palestinians, is assured. But the vote would not be legally binding. The Palestinians say they will continue their campaign until they gain full U.N. membership.

Although the Palestinians say their campaign will be peaceful, Israeli military officials fear that mass demonstrations in the West Bank could turn violent.

Security forces have been preparing for the possibility of violence, conducting exercises and stockpiling what they say is "non-lethal" riot-control equipment like tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/palestinians-officially-launch-statehood


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 08, 2011, 10:21:11 am
US confirms it will veto Palestinian statehood bid

"If any such resolution were put in front of the Security Council, then we would veto it,” official states; George Mitchell says US probably can't stop PA from becoming non-member state at General Assembly.


The US will veto a Palestinian request for state recognition if it is submitted to the UN Security Council later this month, a US official said Thursday.

Wendy Sherman, President Barack Obama's nominee for undersecretary of state for policy, the department's third-ranking position, told the Senate during confirmation hearings that “if any such resolution were put in front of the Security Council, then we would veto it.”

rest: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=237199


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 08, 2011, 12:29:13 pm
US confirms it will veto Palestinian statehood bid

"If any such resolution were put in front of the Security Council, then we would veto it,” official states; George Mitchell says US probably can't stop PA from becoming non-member state at General Assembly.


The US will veto a Palestinian request for state recognition if it is submitted to the UN Security Council later this month, a US official said Thursday.

Wendy Sherman, President Barack Obama's nominee for undersecretary of state for policy, the department's third-ranking position, told the Senate during confirmation hearings that “if any such resolution were put in front of the Security Council, then we would veto it.”

rest: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=237199

Either one of 2 things why they are vetoing it...

1) They're lying - Obama HATES Israel, he will likely vote for it.

2) They're playing the Hegelian Dialect - Obama KNOWS the PA state will happen, and will act like merely vetoing it will somehow make him look good.(at least in front of the "truther" movement, that is)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Believer on September 08, 2011, 12:44:13 pm
Either one of 2 things why they are vetoing it...

1) They're lying - Obama HATES Israel, he will likely vote for it.

2) They're playing the Hegelian Dialect - Obama KNOWS the PA state will happen, and will act like merely vetoing it will somehow make him look good.(at least in front of the "truther" movement, that is)

Number 2, mos def, but in his heart...number 1. 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: William on September 11, 2011, 01:02:28 pm
PA: Israel's reaction to UN bid is 'hysterical'

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
09/11/2011 18:27

PLO secretary-general accuses Israel of inciting against Abbas, says Israel alone responsible for deterioration of relations with Turkey, Egypt.
 
 
The Palestinian Authority on Sunday condemned as “hysterical” Israel’s reaction to its plan to ask the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, Secretary-General of the PLO, accused Israel of inciting against PA President Mahmoud Abbas because of his intention to go to the UN later this month.

Abed Rabbo held Israel alone responsible for the deterioration in its relations with Egypt and Turkey. He was referring to claims that Abbas’s policies were increasing tensions anti-Israel sentiments in the region.

The Palestinians are also opposed to any attack on any diplomatic mission or embassy, Abed Rabbo said, referring to the assault on the Israeli embassy in Cairo over the weekend.

He said that the Europeans were not opposed to the PA’s plan to go to the UN. “The Europeans wants us to return to the negotiations and we are not against this,” he explained. “But we want serious negotiations.”

Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Sunday that there was a “misunderstanding” regarding the PA’s statehood bid. He said that the PA’s move was not aimed at achieving Palestinian independence, because that’s something that the Palestinians already declared in Algeria in 1988.

Erekat said it was also wrong to say that the PA was seeking recognition of a state. “Recognition is not the business of the UN,” he pointed out. “Recognition is something that comes from each country on an individual basis and this is what we are seeking to achieve through a comprehensive and wide diplomatic campaign.”

Erekat said that the PA was actually seeking full membership of a Palestinian state in the UN on the basis of the 1967 “borders” with Jerusalem as its capital.

He said that Abbas, “in his capacity as head of the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinians,” will submit the PA application to the UN Secretary-General and the president of the Security Council.

“This is just a step on a long road and its goal is not to de-legitimize or isolate anyone,” he said. “Rather, it’s intended to de-legitimize the occupation.”

Erekat said that “those who believe in the importance of peace and the two-state solution” should support the PA’s move at the UN.

Asked what would change if the UN approved the PA request, Erekat said: “If we win recognition, we don’t believe that the settlements will be automatically removed or that Israeli provocations and crimes would stop. The only difference is that Palestine will become a state that is occupied by another member of the UN. This means that the final-status negotiations would be only over working out a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal.”

PA negotiator Nabil Sha’ath announced, meanwhile, that some EU foreign ministers have said that they would support the PA step at the UN “and won’t vote against any Palestinian decision.”

He said that Abbas was scheduled to meet in Cairo on Monday with Catherine Ashton, the representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, to hear about the EU’s final position toward the statehood bid.

From: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=237542&R=R1#_tab (http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=237542&R=R1#_tab)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Lisa on September 11, 2011, 01:17:56 pm
Biblically Jerusalem will i believe be divided and conquered until the rapture/tribulation

Luke 21

24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.  

 25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 12, 2011, 10:02:27 am
US confirms it will veto Palestinian statehood bid

"If any such resolution were put in front of the Security Council, then we would veto it,” official states; George Mitchell says US probably can't stop PA from becoming non-member state at General Assembly.


The US will veto a Palestinian request for state recognition if it is submitted to the UN Security Council later this month, a US official said Thursday.

Wendy Sherman, President Barack Obama's nominee for undersecretary of state for policy, the department's third-ranking position, told the Senate during confirmation hearings that “if any such resolution were put in front of the Security Council, then we would veto it.”

rest: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=237199


Susan Rice warns against U.N. vote on Palestinian statehood

A vote by the United Nations to approve Palestinian statehood could prove detrimental to the peace process with Israel and to the Palestinian people, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said Monday.

“A showdown in New York could have adverse negative consequences for the Palestinian people and for our partners and allies at a time when things are already fragile,” Rice said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington. Rather, she said, Israelis and Palestinians must come together for peace talks If there is a vote, she said, the effect on Palestinian “relations with the United States is for the president and the Congress to decide.”

Ultimately, Rice said, “steps to try to circumvent” peace talks, such as a U.N. vote on statehood, “are ultimately counterproductive and self-defeating.”

If there is a vote approving Palestinian statehood, “This isn’t one day of hoo-ha and celebration … and then everybody goes home,” Rice said.

Countries that would vote for Palestinian statehood would “have a responsibility to own the consequences of their vote,” she said. A U.N. resolution wouldn’t create borders, improve the economy or otherwise set Palestinians on a path to true statehood.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/63244.html#ixzz1XkbgqbqV


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 13, 2011, 11:33:08 am
PLO to seek full UN recognition 
 
Palestinians will ask Security Council for recognition, despite expected US veto, Fatah official Mohammed Shtayyeh says.
 


The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) will go to the United Nations Security Council and seek full membership in the world body next week, despite the looming threat of a US veto, a Palestinian official said.

The announcement was made by Mohammed Shtayyeh, a senior member of Fatah's central committee, at a news conference in Ramallah on Tuesday. Fatah is the largest Palestinian faction in the PLO.

His announcement would seem to end months of speculation about the PLO's diplomatic strategy.

"We are going to the United Nations, we are going to the Security Council," Shtayyeh said. "We are going to seek full membership based on 1967 borders."

rest: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/09/20119121463224416.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 13, 2011, 12:30:32 pm
Clinton: Road to Palestine does not run through UN

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that the path to a two-state solution creating a Palestinian state beside Israel runs through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not through New York.

Speaking at a news conference, Clinton repeated the US view that the Palestinians should not seek full membership in the United Nations later this month and instead should resume direct talks with the Israelis. She said she is sending two US envoys, David Hale and Dennis Ross, to Israel and the Palestinian territories to try to find a way to revive talks. (Reuters)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4121895,00.html


Title: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Believer on September 14, 2011, 12:05:17 pm
Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid

http://www.debka.com/article/21299/

Quote
The tempest which Israel had tensely anticipated for September in the wake of a Palestinian bid for unilateral UN recognition of their state looks like fizzling out before it begins as a result of a massive US campaign to avert it, backed by Saudi Arabia, Europe and Egypt.

Early Wednesday, Sept. 14, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas decided crucially not to submit his application to the UN Security Council.  He also notified Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and European Union foreign executive Catherine Ashton in Cairo that he was considering watering down his application to the UN General Assembly – possibly by dropping the "state within 1967 borders" provision from the text.

Abbas said he would make his final decision known in a public address from Ramallah Friday, Sept 16 before flying to New York to join world leaders at the UN General Assembly's 66th session which began Tuesday.

But first, he meets Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair in Amman for a conversation which DEBKAfile's exclusive sources term critical, because Blair will hand him a document termed by senior Washington sources "an outline" of a new format designed to oil Palestinian wheels into unlocking the long-stalled Palestinian dialogue with Israel.

This outline has been endorsed by Washington, the EU and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. It is now subject to acceptance by Israel and the Palestinians. Moscow has not yet indicated whether it approves the document or wants changes.

By Wednesday morning, the Israeli government had not yet received a copy. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has no doubt that he will be called upon for concessions extreme enough to lure the Palestinian leader back to the table. Blair is expected to deliver the document to Netanyahu some time Thursday after Abbas has seen it. To tie up the ends, senior White House envoys, Dennis Ross and David Hale, are due back in Jerusalem and Ramallah Wednesday.

During his visit to Cairo, Mahmoud Abbas was sternly warned by Saud al Faisal, Ashton and Egyptian leaders of the grave consequences awaiting the Palestinians if he forced the US to exercise its veto against their statehood at the UN Security Council.  US President Barack Obama Tuesday made it crystal clear that he "objects very strongly" to the Palestinian statehood motion as "counterproductive" and "a distraction from solving problems that can only be addressed through negotiations."

US sources report that the US President has refused to talk to Abbas for the past eight months owing to his refusal to join Israel for direct peace talks. He was advised by the Europeans, the Saudis and Egyptians this week that the US presidential boycott would almost certainly extend to fellow Palestinian leaders and US financial aid. The Palestinian Authority would thus be placed under American sanctions. However, if he withdrew his statehood bid from the Security Council and accepted the new position paper, Obama would consider restoring communications.

Tuesday, Sept. 13, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "The path to creating an independent Palestinian state lies through direct talks between Ramallah and Jerusalem – not New York," she said. Early Wednesday, the General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar reported that the Palestinians had not yet submitted their request to the General Assembly. It would therefore not come up for debate before October.

DEBKAfile's sources report that while Mahmoud Abbas appears to have been hassled into a partial climb-down from his original plan to bypass talks with Israel by gaining UN approval of Palestinian statehood, he may not have caved in completely. Neither is it clear whether Netanyahu will swallow the new blueprint Tony Blair is about to dish up.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 14, 2011, 02:27:14 pm
PLO official: Palestinians, Israelis must be totally separated
Commenting on the subject of minority rights in the potential Palestinian state, PLO envoy to the U.S. says past experience shows the two people should be 'totally separated.'


The future independent Palestinian state will not include a Jewish minority, a top Palestinian official told USA Today on Wednesday, adding that it was in the best interest of both peoples to "be separated."

Maen Areikat, PLO Ambassador to the United States, made the comment just as the Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, was preparing to offer up Palestinian statehood to a vote in the United Nations General Assembly later this month.

Answering a question about the legal status of a Jewish minority in the future state, Areikat apprently rejected the issue, saying: "I believe, I still believe that as a first step we need to be totally separated," adding "I think we can contemplate these issues in the future."

"After the experience of the last 44 years, of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it will be in the best interest that the two peoples should be separated," Areikat added.

Former U.S. National Security Council official Elliot Abrams responded to the Palestinian official's comment, saying to USA Today that the Palestinian demand was "a despicable form of anti-Semitism," adding: "No civilized country would act this way."

rest: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/plo-official-palestinians-israelis-must-be-totally-separated-1.384493


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 15, 2011, 10:40:26 am
September 15, 2011
Palestinians to go through with UN Security Council statehood bid
Abbas went back on his assurance 24 hours earlier to Saudi, European and Egyptian officials and
decided to go through with his application to the UN Security Council on Sept. 23 for the admission of a Palestinian state to the world body.
http://debka.com/article/21299
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011...mbership-sept-23/?test=latestnews



Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on September 16, 2011, 11:11:28 am
Abbas: Palestinians want full UN membership


Palestinian leader says PA to proceed with UN bid in September because President Obama endorsed Palestinian state; 'I’m going to the UN in order to demand our legitimate rights and secure full membership,' he says



The Palestinian Authority will be seeking full United Nations membership in its statehood bid later this month, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas said Friday.

"I’m going to the UN in order to demand our legitimate rights and secure full membership for the state of Palestine," the Palestinian president said in Ramallah. "We hope to secure full membership."

"We are going to the Security Council," Abbas added, but then made it clear that "all options are open" and that a final decision has not been made yet.

Abbas said the Palestinians will be aiming to "secure independence in the 1967 borders and its holy capital, Jerusalem." He also urged his countrymen to avoid violence, saying "we must avoid force."

"We are the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and we intend to keep going until we secure full independence," he said.

Abbas added that the Palestinians are proceeding with their United Nations statehood bid in September because US President Barack Obama said previously he wanted to see a Palestinian state.

rest: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4123199,00.html



Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 16, 2011, 11:54:37 am
Here's what I don't understand-if Obama is endorsing it, then why does he want to veto the UN vote? Is it b/c he wants a different kind of negotiating without the UN?

Even with Israel's/USA's vetos, the opposition will still have enough to override it?



Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on September 16, 2011, 12:39:06 pm
Here's what I don't understand-if Obama is endorsing it, then why does he want to veto the UN vote? Is it b/c he wants a different kind of negotiating without the UN?

Even with Israel's/USA's vetos, the opposition will still have enough to override it?



You cant overide a Security Council veto.


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 16, 2011, 12:46:37 pm
You cant overide a Security Council veto.

Well, what I was asking is if Obama supports a Palestinean state, then why is he vetoing it? Does he have other agendas up his sleeve? Or does he want to do the negotiating himself without the UN?

Some things are confusing here...


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on September 16, 2011, 12:54:02 pm
Well, what I was asking is if Obama supports a Palestinean state, then why is he vetoing it? Does he have other agendas up his sleeve? Or does he want to do the negotiating himself without the UN?

Some things are confusing here...

ohhh,  :D dont know. I doubt if the USA will veto.


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 16, 2011, 01:42:42 pm
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/16/abbas-paints-us-into-corner-with-palestinian-statehood-demand-at-un/


Abbas Paints U.S. Into a Corner With Palestinian Statehood Demand at U.N.

Published September 16, 2011



Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' daring the United States to veto his people's bid for statehood has put the Obama administration and ally Israel in a corner and has left several lawmakers wondering what U.S. policy on the Middle East is trying to achieve.

Abbas' declaration on Friday that he would pursue statehood at a U.N. Security Council meeting next week was expected -- despite Arab League efforts to encourage the Palestinians to seek observer status in the General Assembly. The move will set up a potential showdown that has been brewing for months and could leave the U.S. with diminished credibility among the Arab world. 

It also has the head of the House Intelligence Committee wondering what the U.S. was trying to achieve by not averting the situation in the first place.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said the administration's policy is confused at best since it supports an "Arab Spring," but not a Palestinian awakening while at the same time making Israel even more insecure in a hostile neighborhood that includes former Israeli ally Turkey.

"The Israelis don't know if they think we're our friends right now, but they're not sure," he said "Without any U.S. strength in that whole region, we are as close to a disaster as we can possibly get."

On Wednesday, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said if the U.S. wants to stop the Palestinian statehood bid in its tracks, it should dangle the threat of no more aid.

"Despite decades of assistance totaling billions of dollars, if a Palestinian state were declared today, it would be neither democratic, nor peaceful, nor willing to negotiate with Israel. By providing the Palestinians with $2.5 billion over the last five years, the U.S. has only rewarded and reinforced their bad behavior," she said.

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., the ranking member on the same committee, suggested that even if the U.S. vetoes a Palestinian bid at the Security Council, approval by the General Assembly of limited recognition, which would require a two-thirds vote, would be cataclysmic to the Israelis.

"If the General Assembly enhances the Palestinians' current status as a non-state observer to that of a state, the Palestinians would have standing to bring cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and that is exactly what President Abbas has indicated he will do," Berman said. "Of course, that would merely waste more time and further poison relations with Israel, making statehood and peace further away than ever
."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other members of the Obama administration say they support statehood for the Palestinians but through negotiations with Israel, not through a statehood bid.

"The Palestinians will not and cannot achieve statehood through a declaration at the United Nations," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "It is a distraction, and in fact, it's counterproductive. That remains our position."

National Security Council spokesman Ben Rhoades on Friday added that the only way for the Palestinians to achieve statehood is through agreements with Israel on issues like recognition, agreed-upon borders and security cooperation. He said President Obama will make clear during his speech at the U.N. next week -- where he also plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- that peace can only be achieved through negotiations.

But blurring the message, Rhoades then added that while every situation is different, what is constant is U.S. support for self-determination.

Offering a sample of what a Palestinian state would be like, Palestinian Ambassador to the U.S. Maen Rashid Areikat told reporters earlier this week that it would be free of minorities, implying that Jews would not be permitted within the borders of a new Palestine.

"After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated," he was quoted saying by the Christian Science Monitor.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/16/abbas-paints-us-into-corner-with-palestinian-statehood-demand-at-un/#ixzz1Y8t3IPBf


Title: What does Abbas hope to achieve with UN state bid?
Post by: Believer on September 16, 2011, 01:45:44 pm
What does Abbas hope to achieve with UN state bid?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-14955728

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told his people in a televised address on Friday evening that he plans to ask the United Nations Security Council to upgrade his nation's representation at that international body to that of a member state.


Quote
Mr Abbas hopes the move will gain popular support
This represents a strategy of confrontation with the US and involves many risks.

When I was writing earlier this week from New York, I reported the views of diplomats at the UN that the Palestinians might seek the easier path of tabling a resolution in the General Assembly (where America does not have a veto), perhaps also taking the "Vatican option" of raising the Palestinian Territories' status to that just below a full ranking membership of the organisation.

When talking to former US secretary of state Colin Powell and others last week he certainly made the assumption that this issue would play out in the General Assembly rather than the Security Council.

Supporters of Mr Abbas argue that the peace process fostered by the US and other Quartet nations was meant to deliver independence by this month, only the UN Security Council can endorse fully fledged membership, and that two years of stalemate in negotiations with Israel have produced intense frustration among Palestinians.

Veto threat
All of this is true, but since US President Barack Obama has already said his country will veto any such Security Council resolution it is worth asking whether Mr Abbas more interested in bringing about a diplomatic confrontation with the US than in gaining this goal for his people.

The most charitable explanation of his actions is perhaps that he believes the US is bluffing or will have to bow to world opinion in the matter.

But since the Palestinian leader has already ignored American pleas not to push ahead, including from two envoys sent at the least minute to meet him, it stands to reason that the White House must now make good its threat to veto or risk losing a great deal of credibility.

Opponents of the Palestinian bid argue that it is a unilateral action that will undermine attempts to negotiate a two state solution, and that it could be little more than an empty gesture even if it succeeded, since it will hardly charge the lives of Palestinians.

Some have argued that it could touch off a wave of violence across the Middle East, and turn the Arab Spring against the US.

11th hour negotiations
No doubt Mr Abbas, who is part of that generation of Arab leaders now feeling the heat of frustration across the region, hopes that he can seize the initiative, gaining popular support in the process.

The denunciation this evening of his bid for full UN membership by his political rivals in the Islamist party Hamas suggests that they too may see that the Palestinian president may be tapping into the anger of his people.

Of course Middle East watchers will be anxiously waiting for the day after the resolution (either being passed or vetoed).

Nobody can predict its exact effects, but it is a fear of the possible consequences that will produce much 11th hour diplomacy on the margins of the UN in New York in an attempt to avoid a clash in the Security Council.


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 16, 2011, 01:55:22 pm
Yes, with the USA vetoing it, I really wonder the true agendas of Obama and the US federal government in all this? It's not like Obama is Israel-loving.

Are they trying to start civil wars and more terrorist attacks? Does Obama want to do the negotiating himself without the UN?

Again, there has to be some draconian agendas behind this...


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on September 17, 2011, 11:19:19 am
PA to US: Statehood veto would 'destroy' two-state solution


Erekat says anyone who supports two-state solution should back Palestinian efforts at UN, says would consider dismantling the PA if statehood bid is thwarted; PLO official says UN bid inspired by Obama speech.

The Palestinian Authority on Saturday warned the US against using the veto to thwart its plan to seek membership for a Palestinian state in the UN next week.

The PA said that a US veto would "destroy" the two-state solution.

The warning came hours after PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced in a speech in Ramallah that he would ask the UN Security Council to accept membership of a Palestinian state.

Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat warned that the US Administration's use of a veto to foil the PA move would destroy the two-state solution.

"Anyone who supports the two-state solution should back the Palestinian effort [at the UN]," he said.

Erekat hinted that the Palestinians would consider dismantling the PA if the US thwarted their statehood bid.

REST: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=238310


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on September 18, 2011, 10:59:12 am
Palestinians See U.N. Bid as Their Most Viable Option

The Palestinian decision to apply for full United Nations membership at the Security Council, announced Friday by President Mahmoud Abbas, was the most viable of the only options possible: surrender, return to violence or appeal to the international community, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday.

The official, Nabil Shaath, spoke to journalists before leaving for New York as part of the Palestinian delegation heading to the United Nations. He said that the appeal would change the ground rules of the conflict, and that although the Obama administration had vowed to veto the request and Israel had threatened punitive countermeasures, the Arab uprisings should make them reconsider.

“If I were President Obama or Israel, I would ask myself what is happening in the region,” he said, adding of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel: “Mr. Netanyahu is a pragmatist. If the odds change, he may change his calculations.”

Going to the Security Council instead of to the General Assembly, where there is no veto and where a pro-Palestinian majority is virtually guaranteed, has been considered a riskier and more confrontational approach because it invites an American veto.

rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/world/middleeast/palestinians-see-united-nations-appeal-as-best-option-available.html?_r=2&ref=world


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on September 19, 2011, 06:44:59 am
Obama conflicted over Palestine question

Exactly a year ago this week, President Barack Obama stood at the podium at the UN General Assembly and declared his support for a Palestinian state.

“Palestinians will never know the pride and dignity that comes with their own state,” Mr Obama told the general assembly, unless the two parties reached a peace agreement.

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So it will be some degree of awkwardness that Mr Obama returns to the UN this week and directs his representatives to vote against a plan that would lead to Palestinians achieving that exact destination, albeit by a different route.

Indeed, the US president will be acutely aware how hypocritical he must appear: voicing support for democratic transitions across the Middle East at the same time as scuppering Palestinian aspirations for recognition. Mr Obama hardly wants to be seen as being on the wrong side of the change sweeping through the Arab world.

Palestinian leaders this week plan to make a bid for full membership of the UN, a move that would officially make it a state, Palestine, on an equal footing with Israel. But the US has explicitly stated that it will use its veto power through the Security Council to block any such move.

Washington has long insisted that the only way to arrive at a Palestinian state is through negotiation and US presidents have long shunned the UN as the vehicle for getting there.

rest: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0e21ea0a-dfe2-11e0-a820-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1YOhipjFN



Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on September 19, 2011, 06:46:42 am
Abbas defiant as "all hell" breaks out over U.N. plan

President Mahmoud Abbas said he is sticking to his plan to seek full United Nations membership for a Palestinian state although "all hell has broken out" over the move opposed by the United States and Israel.

Abbas, speaking en route to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, said he had been told by the United States and European governments that "matters will be bad" after a move which reflects his frustration with a moribund peace process.

"To what extent, we will know later on," said Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority which depends on international financial aid for its survival in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The United States and Israel wanted to keep the peace process restricted to "a bilateral dialogue" overseen from afar by Washington, he said. But all the while this dialogue had failed, prompting the U.N. membership move.

"We decided to take this step and all hell has broken out against us," he told reporters on his flight to New York.

Abbas has said he will present the request for full U.N. membership during his speech to the General Assembly on Friday.

rest: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/19/us-palestinians-israel-un-idUSTRE78H28J20110919


Title: Wave of terror to compliment U.N. vote
Post by: Mark on September 19, 2011, 06:51:36 am
Wave of terror to compliment U.N. vote

surprise, surprise..

The Palestinian Authority has information about terrorist attacks being planned to coincide with its bid this week to seek a unilateral declaration of state at the United Nations, WND has learned.

Despite knowledge of which cells may be plotting attacks, the PA has made an internal security decision to not disrupt the violent plans or arrest cell members, informed Israeli security officials said.

The security officials said the plots are being hatched by both Hamas and by renegade members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the so-called military wing of PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.

Hamas is aiming to use the attacks to retake the narrative after its Fatah rivals are expected to garner Palestinian and larger Arab popularity following any U.N. declaration of a Palestinian state, the officials said.

The Al Aqsa Brigades members believe violent attacks focused on Israel's Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, commonly referred to as the West Bank, could be used as a pressure tactic against the Jewish state's presence there.

(Story continues below)

Read more: Wave of terror to compliment U.N. vote? http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=346185#ixzz1YOlRC61W


Title: Re: Wave of terror to compliment U.N. vote
Post by: Mark on September 19, 2011, 06:55:05 am
World plays high-stakes poker over Palestinian statehood
Iran, Israel send top leaders to negotiate controversy at United Nations


WND has learned that an extraordinary game of high-stakes political poker is about to get under way in New York City this week.

The players in the drama will include President Barack Obama, Russian President Dimitri Medvedev, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the entire senior leadership of Israel, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The visits are officially connected to the 2011 United Nations General Assembly and the annual Clinton Global Initiative, but in reality, the meetings are going to be preoccupied with the Palestinian campaign to set the road for eventual U.N. membership.

Currently, the Palestinian Authority only has a non-voting observer status at the U.N. with limits on its participation, but Abbas has publicly vowed to change that.

Israel has considered the Abbas campaign so serious, that WND has learned Jerusalem has dispatched most of its senior leadership to NYC.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

The Israeli trio is expected to confer with U.S., French, U.K. and Russian counterparts to see if there is anyway to avoid a confrontation with the Palestinians at the U.N. forum.

Abbas has publicly vowed to carry his campaign to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly, where he is expected to hand Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a formal letter seeking U.N. membership.

Ironically, only two-hours later, Netanyahu is scheduled to address the same U.N. body.

It is developing into a scene of high drama, say U.N. delegates.

While no vote on the Palestinian request is expected for several days, the public relations value of the Abbas move, which is expected be televised worldwide, will be "enormous," say veteran diplomats.

Upping the diplomatic stakes is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has pledged all-out support for the Palestinian campaign and is arriving in New York City several days in advance of his U.N. speech to help lobby Abbas' cause.

The Iranian efforts have been effective in unofficially lining up more than the 130 General Assembly votes needed to approve an "enhanced" observer status. Such a status would broaden Palestinian participation in several U.N. bodies, where it could intensify pressure on Israel to negotiate any potential peace plan on PA terms.

The U.S. is expected to blunt the PA campaign in the U.N. Security Council, where Obama has vowed a veto. Such a veto would temporarily kill any Palestinian U.N. membership, but the PA could then move the matter to the General Assembly, which could then vote to expand its rights, but just fall short of full membership.

The U.S. and its allies could do little since no veto exists.

So what could the U.S. do? Congress has threatened to cut off all aid to the Palestinians if they follow through on their U.N. campaign, a sum the State Department says exceeds $1 billion annually.

Congress has also threatened to suspend all money paid to the U.N. in general if the General Assembly approves the PA campaign.

This has put Ban Ki moon in the uncomfortable position of refusing all comment on the tug-of-war. Ban has also invited all the principles to a lunch scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at U.N. headquarters.

"It is a fluid situation," explained a senior General Assembly official who requested confidentiality. "This could literally change on a minute's notice."

Read more: World plays high-stakes poker over Palestinian statehood http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=346169#ixzz1YOm08HtI


Title: Re: Wave of terror to compliment U.N. vote
Post by: MrAV1611Truth on September 19, 2011, 04:00:06 pm
You ever notice the hypocrisy of certain people where they will slate the UN over things like Libya and say how evil they are, NWO etc. Yet they will then back the UN when it comes to Israel and use quotes from within the UN to try and justify their support for "Palestine". Particularly on the RT videos on Youtube. Just an observation. This will be an interesting month...


Title: Re: Wave of terror to compliment U.N. vote
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 19, 2011, 04:14:13 pm
You ever notice the hypocrisy of certain people where they will slate the UN over things like Libya and say how evil they are, NWO etc. Yet they will then back the UN when it comes to Israel and use quotes from within the UN to try and justify their support for "Palestine". Particularly on the RT videos on Youtube. Just an observation. This will be an interesting month...

Don't forget the entire so-called "truth movement" as well.

Basically, they say how the NWO is runned by Zionist-Jews, Israel, and their respective bankers, and are responsible for every wicked deed on the planet. So they pretty much ignore the entire spiritual battles aspect Christians face daily.(it's as if they believe this Zionism is man-made, and they can defeat them by getting the "truth" out) They don't believe the Vatican, Islam, Mormonism, and other high level wicked entities are involved at all.

Obviously, they too heavily support a Paletinean State.


Title: Re: Wave of terror to compliment U.N. vote
Post by: Mark on September 19, 2011, 04:40:34 pm
PA Terrorists Resume Rocket Attacks on Southern Israel
Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists launched rocket attacks on southern Israel, and rioting on the road further north.


Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists are ignoring a warning by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that attacking Israel is counterproductive while he seeks United Nations recognition of the PA as a sovereign nation and full member of the international body.

In southern Israel, a short-range Qassam rocket fired by Gaza-based PA Arab terrorists exploded in an open area of the Eshkol Regional Council district.

The explosion, which came Monday night at about 9:30 p.m. local time, did not cause any damage or physical injuries.

The Color Red air raid siren alerted nearby communities, sending families racing once again for safe rooms and bomb shelters. Those with small children were forced to decide on a split second's notice whether to wake them, or **** on the chance that perhaps the missile would land “elsewhere” this time.

Further north, PA Arab rioters blocked the Cross-Binyamin Highway near the Jewish town of Neve Tzuf.

The rioters hurled rocks, clashing violently with IDF soldiers who were sent to the scene.

No injuries were reported, and after a short time, the soldiers were able to reopen the highway.

rest: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/148071#.TnevY9SraSp


Title: The Truth About the Peace Process
Post by: Christian40 on September 20, 2011, 03:59:42 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAuBc_cbXo0&feature=youtu.be

Israel's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon explains the historical facts relating to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The video explains that the reason there is no successful peace process is because of decades of Palestinian and Arab recalcitrance and the main reason for the conflict is not Israel's presence in the West Bank, but successive Palestinian leaders resistance to Jewish sovereignty.


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Christian40 on September 20, 2011, 04:00:52 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAuBc_cbXo0&feature=youtu.be

Israel's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon explains the historical facts relating to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The video explains that the reason there is no successful peace process is because of decades of Palestinian and Arab recalcitrance and the main reason for the conflict is not Israel's presence in the West Bank, but successive Palestinian leaders resistance to Jewish sovereignty.


Title: Re: Wave of terror to compliment U.N. vote
Post by: MrAV1611Truth on September 20, 2011, 02:24:24 pm
Don't forget the entire so-called "truth movement" as well.

Basically, they say how the NWO is runned by Zionist-Jews, Israel, and their respective bankers, and are responsible for every wicked deed on the planet. So they pretty much ignore the entire spiritual battles aspect Christians face daily.(it's as if they believe this Zionism is man-made, and they can defeat them by getting the "truth" out) They don't believe the Vatican, Islam, Mormonism, and other high level wicked entities are involved at all.

Obviously, they too heavily support a Paletinean State.

Many of those also subscribe to the Zeitgeist lie, without realising they are actually promoting theosophy. They don't seem to care H. Blavatsky is one of the main sources used in it. They are not "truthers".


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: William on September 22, 2011, 01:37:12 pm
PM to meet Obama amid effort to avert UN ‘train wreck'

By HERB KEINON
09/21/2011 05:39

Netanyahu set to arrive in US, will work to prevent Palestinian statehood bid from passing in UNSC; Nigeria to abstain in statehood resolution.

(http://www.jpost.com/HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=165901)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu departed early Wednesday morning to do battle against recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN, with his first stop being a meeting in New York with US President Barack Obama just a few hours after arrival.

Before leaving, Netanyahu told Likud MKs and mayors meeting in the Knesset that “We don’t want peace just on paper, but a lasting peace. For that we need to stand up for our interests. It’s much easier to give in to pressure, not stand up, and get applauded by the world that doesn’t understand what we have been through. We are determined to protect our interests and stand up for our truth.”

The Netanyahu-Obama meeting, the eighth between the two leaders since they both took office in early 2009, takes place four months after a meeting in May at the White House during which administration officials reportedly fumed at Netanyahu for what they perceived as his lecturing of the president over Obama’s call for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to begin on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, with mutually-agreed land swaps.

Though Netanyahu came out strongly against that proposal at the time, in the intervening months he has rolled back his position and agreed in principle to accept – with reservations – the pre-1967 lines with mutual swaps as part of the formula for renewing talks. That agreement was based on the condition that the Palestinians agree that the parameters would also include recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people.

This idea is still serving as the basis for attempts by the Quartet to find a formula to restart the negotiations and thereby take much of the “sting” out of any resolution on statehood that the PA brings to either the Security Council or the UN.

Quartet envoys were scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon in New York for the third consecutive day to discuss the matter. Among other ideas that are being bandied about to restart negotiations are for the Palestinians to delay a vote on the matter in the Security Council or General Assembly for six months, and for Israel to declare another settlement construction freeze.

Ironically, Netanyahu’s meeting with Obama comes as the US president is being pummeled by Republican presidential candidates over his treatment of Israel, a week after his Middle East positions had a part to play in the loss of a safe Democratic seat in a very Jewish district in New York, but as Netanyahu is saying that coordination with the administration is the best it has been since the beginning of the Obama term.

In a sign of the closeness of the cooperation, US Envoy to Israel Dan Shapiro flew on the prime minister’s plane to New York, something US ambassadors have not done since Martin Indyk used to fly on Ehud Barak’s plane when he was prime minister.

The Obama-Netanyahu meeting is expected to focus on the Palestinian statehood bid at the UN, with both the US and Israel having the shared interest of trying to keep the Palestinians from getting nine positive votes on the 15-member council, so the US would not have to use its veto to shoot down the measure.

That effort received a boost Tuesday when Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan told Defense Minister Ehud Barak during a meeting that his country would abstain if the measure came to a vote in the Security Council.

At this point Israel believes the other countries who may be convinced to either vote against or abstain on the measure in the Security Council are, in addition to the US, Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Colombia, and Gabon. The other countries on the council are India, Brazil, South Africa, Lebanon, China and Russia.

Netanyahu will meet with the heads of state of a number of these countries before Friday when Abbas is expected to formally request to UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon that the issue be taken up by the Security Council.

Netanyahu is expected to meet Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho on Wednesday, as well as French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Netanyahu is also expected to meet Ban on Wednesday.

The meeting between Barak and Jonathan was set up about a week ago, and – according to a statement put out by Barak’s office – was coordinated both with Netanyahu and the US.

In addition to discussing the Palestinian issue, the statement said the two also discussed the “challenges of international terrorism and ways the two countries can cooperate in this area.” Nigeria, one of Israel’s closest friends in Africa, has been plagued over the last number of years by radical Islamic terrorism.

In Netanyahu’s meeting with Obama, the two are also expected to talk about Israeli- Turkish tension, with Obama scheduled to meet Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the margins of the UN General Assembly meeting as well. Previous efforts by the US to calm down the tension between its two allies did not bear fruit.

Netanyahu is also expected to discuss Iran with Obama, as well as thank him again for his efforts and intervention with the Egyptians two weeks ago that led to the safe evacuation of the six Israeli security guards holed up in Israel’s embassy in Cairo ransacked by a mob.

Netanyahu and Obama are not scheduled to hold a press conference after their meeting, but are expected to issue brief statements at the beginning.

Meanwhile, Abbas’s statement broadcast Monday that he would be willing to meet Israeli leaders anywhere – quickly followed by Netanyahu’s proposal to meet in New York – has not led to any concrete steps to set up a meeting between the two. They are, however, expected to be in the same room at a reception hosted by Obama at the UN.

Netanyahu told the gathering of Likud MKs and mayors in the Knesset that he has told Abbas many times that “the path to peace comes through negotiations, and not through unilateral acts.

The way to get to the end of negotiations is to start them and stick with them. That’s what Israel wanted to do, but the Palestinians refused.

There is a growing understanding in the world about what has to be done before a state is created. That’s what I will speak about in the UN.”

In a related development, opposition leader Tzipi Livni – who has been withering in her criticism of Netanyahu both inside Israel and abroad – called him ahead of his departure to New York and said the trip was “critical to Israel’s future.”

“Any action taken by the UN endangers Israel’s security and national interests,” she said. “But it can be prevented.

It’s not too late.

Opening real negotiations can prevent the expected action in the UN and will serve the national interests of Israel that are eroding. If you start negotiating with the Palestinians, Kadima will support you.”

Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.

From: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=238804&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab (http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=238804&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab)


Title: Obama 'peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will not come through UN'
Post by: Lisa on September 23, 2011, 07:02:45 am
 

U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday that peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will not come about through resolutions at the United Nations, issuing a warning to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of his UN Security Council bid on Friday.

Addressing world leaders at the opening of a UN General Assembly session, Obama put the onus on the two sides to break a yearlong impasse and get back to the negotiating table.

  U.S. President Barack Obama addresses the 66th United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, September 21, 2011.
 
Photo by: Reuters 
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-un-resolutions-won-t-bring-israel-palestinian-peace-1.385829
"There is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades. Peace is hard work. Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations," Obama said.

"Ultimately, it is Israelis and Palestinians who must live side by side," Obama continued.  "Ultimately, it is Israelis and Palestinians – not us – who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and security; on refugees and Jerusalem."

Obama stressed that he believed in an independent Palestine, but one that will be achieved through negotiations with the Israelis.

"One year ago, I stood at this podium and called for an independent Palestine. I believed then – and I believe now – that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own. But what I also said is that genuine peace can only be realized between Israelis and Palestinians themselves."

"Israel deserves recognition. It deserves normal relations with its neighbors. And friends of the Palestinians do them no favors by ignoring this truth, just as friends of Israel must recognize the need to pursue a two state solution with a secure Israel next to an independent Palestine."

Obama will follow up his speech with separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders as he seeks to coax both parties back to direct peace talks.

At the same time, U.S. officials are conceding that they most likely will not be able to prevent Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas from moving forward with a request to the UN Security Council for full Palestinian membership.

Recognizing that Abbas seems intent to proceed, Obama is expected to privately ask the Palestinian leader to essentially drop the move for statehood recognition after Abbas delivers a formal letter of intent to the UN on Friday.



Title: Re: 'We've been waiting 60 years for these words'
Post by: William on September 23, 2011, 09:28:40 pm
100 gather in east Jerusalem to watch PA President Abbas's speech to the UN General Assembly on Palestinian statehood bid.
 
 
A crowd of more than 100 people of all ages gathered outside of Damascus Gate in east Jerusalem on Friday evening to watch Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech to the United Nations, as emotions and excitement ran high.

“We’ve been waiting for what he’ll say tonight for more than 60 years, we’ve been waiting for these words, this is what Palestinians inside and outside of Palestine are waiting to hear, and it will definitely bring a big effect on the situation,” said Ibrahim, an east Jerusalem resident, ahead of the speech.

East Jerusalemites had originally planned to show the speech on a giant screen set up at Damascus Gate, but it was canceled after police said that a showing of the speech would block traffic. At the last minute it was moved to a community center in the A Tur neighborhood, but some people still gathered at a small store across from Damascus Gate which had rigged up a large projection screen.

“Everybody, the whole world is listening to Mahmoud Abbas’s speech,” said an ecstatic Fadu Ahwad, also from Jerusalem, immediately after the speech’s conclusion, as firecrackers were shot off from the top of a nearby restaurant and cars passed, honking, with young people hanging out of the windows flashing the victory sign. "Even if we get the American veto, we will [bring it to vote] again and again even tens of times we will bring it, so there will be no more settlements, no more apartheid wall, and we will live in peace together!"

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (I Thessalonians 5:3 AKJV 1611)

After the speech, the crowd, joined at the end by Mufti of Jerusalem Muhammed Ahmad Hussein, trooped over to the amphitheater surrounding Damascus Gate and sang traditional songs while chanting “Liberation for Palestine!”

“This is not the end of the road for us, this is one battle in the war,” said Ghada Zughayar, the executive director of the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity in Palestine, an NGO that monitors corruption in the Palestinian Authority.

 “We will continue our struggle, we will not give up, because we are fully aware of our legitimate right… we are only asking for our right to exercise our right as a people, as Abbas said, we are the last nation in the whole world that is still under occupation.

"This is the moment the whole world [is watching], and 2/3 of the world is supporting our right… we are not asking for anything that is against international legitimacy. This is the time for us to do fair and justice to the Palestinians,” she said.

Others were less enthusiastic about the speech. Osuma Azorba, a 19-year-old photography student, said he was very worried about the issue of refugees and the right of return, since his parents are refugees from the village of Lifta, at the entrance to Jerusalem.

“I am pessimistic because of everything that’s happened before, they are still neglecting the Palestinians, and the strongest countries are against [the statehood bid] so nothing can change,” he said.

His concern about the right of return was echoed by Rali Bakir, a 71-year-old refugee from the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. “If I don’t have my old house then I have nothing, if I don’t have my house they can forget their speech,” he said on Friday night.

Still, the speech infused the crowd with excitement and hope for the future. “It was amazing for us to hear him speaking about the refugees and ending the occupation,” said Amad Zorba, who works in Al Quds University. “We have one red line, Jerusalem is our capital… I hope to see my flags in Jerusalem as soon as possible, because that’s my right,” he said.

No one stayed for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United Nations.

From: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=239253&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab (http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=239253&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab#_tab)


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Christian40 on September 26, 2011, 04:38:54 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebOsg9CCj6c&feature=player_embedded

Full Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu UN address to General Assembly Sept 23 2011


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 26, 2011, 11:26:17 am
Council takes first step on Palestinian UN bid

The U.N. Security Council is taking its first step to consider the Palestinian request for U.N. membership.

The council will meet behind closed doors Monday afternoon for an initial discussion of the application submitted Friday by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

Israel and the United States oppose the move and consider it a step back for long-stalled peace talks, and the U.S. has said it will veto a resolution recommending membership.

Nonetheless, the council is moving ahead and will hold a formal meeting Wednesday to transmit the bid to a committee on admission of new members, which includes all 15 council nations, diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations have been private.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hjamkJUEw8_n-kISUZEAn55DT_kA?docId=a8684f71ee2e4d34a6740b5b89f91745


Title: State of Endless War
Post by: akfools on September 29, 2011, 03:32:50 pm
State of Endless War

Posted By Daniel Greenfield On September 28, 2011

In his UN speech, Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority used the word “peace” twenty-eight times. “We believe in peace,” he said. But what sort of peace he believes in is another matter.

Abbas began his statehood campaign with the “Mother of Martyrs,” a mother of seven imprisoned terrorists, four of them murderers, two of whom were involved in suicide bombings, one of whom was a member of Hamas.

One of her sons, Nasser Abu Hmeid, specialized in decapitating fellow Arab-Muslims who were enemies of Fatah. Hmeid had been jailed for murdering nine Arabs, and was released in 1999 as part of a peace deal. He joined the Palestinian police forces as an “interrogator” and then moved on to the notorious Tanzim unit, which was responsible for numerous murders of Israeli civilians. Two years later, Israel finally arrested him and shoved him back into prison.

This is the real face of the proposed Palestinian state. A brutal totalitarian regime funded by US money and dedicated to the murder of political opponents and the genocide of the Jewish people.

Abbas speaks of peace at the UN — “We extend our hands to the Israeli government and the Israeli people for peace-making” — but to the home crowd, the message is quite different.

On Al-Jazeera, Fatah Central Committee Member Abbas Zaki explained the reasoning:

When we say that the settlement should be based upon these borders, President Abbas understands, we understand and everyone knows that the greater goal cannot be accomplished in one go. If Israel withdraws from Jerusalem, evacuates the 650,000 settlers, and dismantles the wall — what will become of Israel? It will come to an end.

If we say that we want to wipe Israel out…  it’s not acceptable policy to say so. Don’t say these things to the world. Keep it to yourself.

But many of his compatriots aren’t keeping it to themselves. A recent poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion showed that while Hamas’ popularity isn’t as high as it used to be, the vast majority of Palestinian Arabs agree with its genocidal charter.

80 percent of respondents agreed with the statement:

For our struggle against the Jews is extremely wide-ranging and grave… reinforced by successive battalions from the multifarious Arab and Islamic world, until the enemies are defeated and Allah’s victory prevails.

73 percent agreed with the genocidal Hadith quoted in the Hamas charter:



“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”

While a majority was in favor of diplomatic negotiations, it was also against two states for two peoples. The majority favored a one-state solution that would destroy Israel and opposed a two-state solution that would allow them to coexist side by side. And by a factor of two to one, they agreed with the statement that: “The real goal should be to start with two states but then move to it all being one Palestinian state.”

When three quarters of the population believes that there is a religious mandate to kill the Jews, it follows that two thirds will believe that negotiations are only a means of achieving the destruction of Israel.

Despite all the hype, the majority of Arab-Muslims in the West Bank and Gaza have no strong feelings about the statehood bid at the UN and the majority do not think that it will bring a state into being. A UN vote is not their endgame, the stones and the trees of the Hadith are.

It is impossible to understand the conflict without seeing it through the eyes of the Koran. There is no room for a permanent peace agreement with non-Muslims in Islamic theology. Such agreements are temporary measures until the “greater goal” of destroying them and subsuming their lands into the Ummah is achieved.

For the Muslim believer, the conflict with Israel is one phase of an apocalyptic struggle that began in 7th century Saudi Arabia and will conclude in the end times. And the vast majority of Muslims in the region are believers in that long struggle that will eventually end when Islam rules over the entire world.

While Israel and the West see hope for an agreement, the other side sees only one phase in a prolonged war. It doesn’t really matter what Israel puts on the table– the other side expects to get everything anyway because Allah promised it to them.

How do you negotiate peace with members of a genocidal belief system that permits deceit in pursuit of its goals? You make offers to them; they accept your concessions and continue the violence. That is what nearly two decades of negotiations have looked like. Across the administrations of three presidents, five Israeli prime ministers and two Palestinian Authority leaders– the same story has repeated itself again and again.

Those numbers hold their own clue. America and Israel change governments, but the PA’s leaders only leave when they die. The same poll cited before showed that Palestinian-Arabs don’t see themselves as part of the Arab Spring. Seventy-four percent agreed that they are not part of the Arab Spring revolutions. Sixty-four percent worry that the revolutions will bring instability to their territory. Fifty-nine percent disagree that the revolutions offer them new opportunities, and 47 percent disagree that they offer strong positive examples for change at home.

That brings us back to Hmeid, once imprisoned for beheading Arabs, now imprisoned for murdering Jews– and to the nature of what a Palestinian state really is. It’s not aspirational or democratic; it’s a giant refugee training camp for the next generation of cannon fodder in the genocidal wars of Islam.

The Palestinian Muslims have always recognized that there can be no end to the conflict as long as Israel continues to exist. Poll after poll has told the same story, the tale of a permanent war whose blood and charred metal is scattered across the sand and dust. UN statehood is just another phase in a long war which ends in mass murder. The Muslim world howls for genocide and the ranks of the US- and EU-funded militias, the Iranian-funded thugs and the rest of their ilk, are the cunning tools that they have selected for the task.

The state of Palestine is a state of war. The state of war will not end at the UN or the negotiating table. It will only end when the Muslim world stops believing that it has a right to kill in the name of its religion.

http://frontpagemag.com/2011/09/28/state-of-endless-war/print/


Title: EU says Israel flouting settlement 'obligations'
Post by: akfools on October 18, 2011, 03:48:58 am
EU says Israel flouting settlement 'obligations'

BRUSSELS — The EU accused Israel of riding roughshod through "obligations" surrounding peace efforts Sunday, by granting legal status to new and existing settlements in Palestinian territories.

European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said decisions to proceed with 2,600 new housing units in the settlement of Givat Hamatos and to legalise housing in West Bank outposts were "unacceptable" and "run against roadmap obligations."

"Settlements are illegal under international law. These decisions should be reversed," she said in a statement released overnight Saturday.

Her condemnation followed that of UN leader Ban Ki-moon, but was issued before Israel published a list of 477 Palestinian prisoners to be released next week as part of the deal to free Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who has been in captivity in Gaza for more than five years.

"The proposed constructions in Givat Hamatos are of particular concern as they would cut the geographic contiguity between Jerusalem and Bethlehem," Ashton underlined.

Frustrated in her role as negotiator for the Quartet of international powers trying to jumpstart peace talks -- the United States, Russia, the EU and the UN -- she said the Israeli policy on settlement activities ran contrary to "Israel's stated commitment to this process."

She added: "Both parties are responsible for the creation of an environment of trust conducive to negotiations."

The Quartet launched a new bid to restart peace talks on the day that Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas launched its pending application for Palestinian membership of the United Nations.

The Palestinian Authority has rejected direct talks with Israel since a freeze on settlement building was ended in September 2010.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hc1vg0Fw-7LAMqU45NgyMD-UCglw?docId=CNG.47299426ba9bd13a25aab752eb57f4ce.841


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 21, 2011, 05:29:28 pm
Shaath: Palestine has 9 votes in Security Council

Published Tuesday 11/10/2011 (updated) 12/10/2011 21:49

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=428092

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Fatah central committee member Nabil Shaath said Monday that nine countries in the Security Council were committed to supporting Palestine's bid for membership in the UN.

Shaath told Ma'an "the nine states that have confirmed voting to us, and we do not question their stance, are the following: Gabon, Bosnia, Brazil, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, South Africa, China and Russia."

Six Security Council members -- Brazil, China, India, Lebanon, Russia and South Africa -- have publicly indicated their backing for the Palestinian bid.

"We should not doubt our allies and we should help these countries in facing US and Israeli pressure and to reinforce the stance of these states through constant meetings and to get assistance from the Arab countries who could support these states," Shaath said.

President Mahmoud Abbas last month submitted a formal application to the UN Security Council for recognition of statehood, ignoring a US threat to veto the measure if it is put to vote.

The UN membership request, which Abbas formally presented to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Sept. 23, is being studied by the 15-member Security Council, which is expected to vote on it in the coming weeks.

The Security Council has a review period of 35 days for membership application.

Responding to the Quartet's call on Sunday to invite Palestinians and Israelis to meet, Shaath said that the PLO would not return to negotiations without a halt in settlement activity.

The Quartet has damaged its own credibility in light of a current polarization whereby the US consistently defends Israel, he added.

The Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, US and UN -- proposed on Sept. 23 a return to talks within 30 days, proposals on substantive issues in three months and a peace deal by the end of 2012.

The proposal did not insist on a halt to settlement building in the occupied West Bank, which Palestinian officials say is necessary for the viability of a Palestinian state.

Abbas responded to the most recent Quartet invitation by saying: "We are at any moment willing to return to the negotiating table if Israel is of the same mind."

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told EU policy chief Catherine Ashton that he was "happy to meet Mahmoud Abbas at any time," his office said in a statement.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 26, 2011, 07:53:41 am
U.S. Funding on the Line As UNESCO Mulls Membership for ‘Palestine’

The United Nations’ cultural agency has begun a high-level conference that will decide on an application for membership for “Palestine” – a move that could lead to a legally-mandated severing of U.S. funding.

Unless intensive lobbying results in the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) withdrawing its request, the application is expected to achieve the required two-thirds majority in a vote by the General Conference of the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/us-funding-line-unesco-mulls-membership-palestine


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 28, 2011, 11:18:22 am
Israel must give Palestinians their land back: Baroness Jenny Tonge

Former British Member of Parliament (MP) Baroness Jenny Tonge has said that the Israelis must give Palestinian people’s land back in order to solve the Palestinian issue. 

“They (the Israelis) really must solve this huge problem that they have made for themselves, entirely their fault, they have made this problem and they have got to solve it by giving the Palestinians their land back and creating a secure and prosperous day to Palestine,” Tonge said on Press TV’s program ‘Remember Palestine’.

The program, which also aired the views of Samira Quralshy, a political analyst for Middle East Monitor, was broadcast on Thursday from London.

http://tehrantimes.com/index.php/middle-east/3999-israel-must-give-palestinians-their-land-back-baroness-jenny-tonge


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 29, 2011, 03:34:57 pm
Palestinians press U.N. for statehood vote
U.S. prepared to use veto if Security Council passes resolution


The Palestinian drive for United Nations membership may be resolved in the upcoming week, say diplomatic sources.

The United States has promised to veto the application, which has been under review in the Security Council for over a month. But Washington hopes to avoid casting such a stop sign.

The State Department is counting on the Palestinian Authority move receiving less than the required nine votes for Security Council approval, making a U.S. veto unnecessary.

Diplomats say the unofficial head counts put the yes votes between eight and nine.

A closed series of consultations is scheduled to consider the issue during the first week of November.

Washington will press for more time to consider the application, but the Palestinians are under pressure at home to move the issue to a vote.

Last week, the confrontation between the Palestinians, the U.S. and Israel rose to the surface during a brief Security Council meeting on the regional situation in the Middle East.

(Story continues below)



Read more: Palestinians press U.N. for statehood vote http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=361557#ixzz1cCmC5fsd


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 31, 2011, 12:12:17 pm
Unesco gives Palestinians full membership
Unesco, the United Nations' cultural agency, has decided to give the Palestinians full membership of the body, in a vote that will boost their bid for recognition as a state at the UN.


Unesco is the first UN agency the Palestinians have sought to join as a full member since President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full membership of the United Nations on Sept. 23.

The United States, Canada and Germany voted against Palestinian membership. Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa and France voted in favour. Britain abstained.

Huge cheers went up in Unesco after delegates voted to approve the membership Monday. One shouted "Long Live Palestine!" in French.

Israel said that the vote will harm prospects for the resumption of Middle East peace talks.

"This is a unilateral Palestinian manoeuver which will bring no change on the ground but further removes the possibility for a peace agreement," Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "This decision will not turn the Palestinian Authority into an actual state yet places unnecessary burdens on the route to renewing negotiations."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/8859839/Unesco-gives-Palestinians-full-membership.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 03, 2011, 05:51:29 am
UN Secretary-General: Palestinian efforts to join UN agencies beyond cultural arm 'not beneficial' for Palestine, anybody else - AP

http://www.breakingnews.com/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 03, 2011, 08:40:01 am
Israel halts $2 million payments to UNESCO, protesting group's decision to accept Palestine as member - @Jerusalem_Post

Israel halted its $2 million annual payment to UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, on Thursday, in protest over its decision Monday to accept Palestine as its 195th member.

Earlier this week, the US and Canada also froze their UNESCO funding.

In a statement, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, "Such steps [the UNESCO vote] distances peace, it doesn't advance it. The only path to peace is through the immediate resumption of negotiations without preconditions."

http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=244286


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 09, 2011, 07:04:01 am
Decision on Palestine’s statehood bid needed by New Year – ambassador

A vote on Palestine’s statehood bid at the United Nations must be held by the New Year, Palestinian Ambassador to Moscow Fayed Mustafa said on Wednesday.

“It is expected that voting in the UN Security Council should finish by the New Year, even despite the fact that its permanent members have various opinions on this issue,” Mustafa said, adding that the situation will become much clearer after the crucial vote of the UN Security Council scheduled for November 11.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Abed Rabbo, said that a total of eight out of fifteen members of the UN Security Council, including Russia, China, Brazil, India, South Africa, Lebanon, Nigeria and Gabon support Palestine’s admission to the UN.

Security Council decisions require the approval of at least nine of the 15 members, and no vetoes from the five permanent members (Russia, USA, France, Britain or China), in order to pass. The United States, however, has repeatedly stated its intention to block the adoption of Palestine.

Mustafa also said that if Palestine fails to be recognized this time, it will make more efforts in the future to get recognition. “We will probably fail [on November 11] since the United States strongly opposes it…This issue will remain on the agenda…and we will continue our efforts to resolve this problem.”

http://en.ria.ru/world/20111109/168546060.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on November 09, 2011, 12:13:52 pm
Wait! Did I read that date correctly? November 11. They are going to vote on 11/11/11 for Palistinian statehood?

(http://endtimescurrentevents.freeforums.org/download/file.php?icon=indifferent0025.gif)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 09, 2011, 12:26:12 pm
Wait! Did I read that date correctly? November 11. They are going to vote on 11/11/11 for Palistinian statehood?

(http://endtimescurrentevents.freeforums.org/download/file.php?icon=indifferent0025.gif)

thats what it says.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 09, 2011, 12:33:30 pm
Even though Obama says he will veto it...from out of the heart comes...in Obama's heart, he's anti-Israel.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 10, 2011, 09:41:27 am
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=244869

11/9/11

McCain: Bill Clinton should run ME peace efforts

Former presidential candidate calls on Obama to make Clinton special envoy because he has credibility with both Israelis and Palestinians.
Talkbacks (73)   
  WASHINGTON - Republican Senator John McCain has some advice for US President Barack Obama to help energize stalled Middle East peacemaking: put former President Bill Clinton in charge.

Democrat Bill Clinton, husband of Obama's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is always "the smartest guy in the room" and so would he be in a roomful of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, McCain told the Reuters Washington summit on Tuesday.

RELATED:
UN panel draft: No consensus on Palestinian UN bid
Sarkozy gaffe rekindles talk of US-J'lem tensions
'Bill Clinton’s criticism of PM doesn’t reflect US views'

The Republican presidential nominee in 2008 who lost to Obama, McCain said Clinton had credibility with both Israelis and Palestinians and had come the closest of anyone to producing peace.

That was an apparent reference to the 2000 Camp David talks between then-prime minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat, the late head of the Palestinian Authority.

"I believe that the president should call in the one person who has a chance of negotiating, having both sides negotiate with good faith, and that's one Bill Clinton," McCain said.

"I would ask him to take on the role of the president's special envoy, mediator, potentate, whatever you want to call it because he's the person that came the closest and he's the person that has the most credibility," McCain told Reuters.


McCain's suggestion was rare praise from a Republican for a Democrat in Washington these days and came as Obama was having a not especially stellar day on the Middle East front, at least not so far as US ally Israel was concerned.

It emerged on Tuesday that Obama apparently failed to defend Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu when French President Nicolas Sarkozy branded him a "liar" in a private conversation that was overheard by journalists.

McCain said that Obama's rejoinder to Sarkozy -- "I have to deal with him even more often than you" -- reflected the "deterioration" in US-Israeli relations since Obama had become president.

Quartet envoys to meet sides separately

"There has not been one bit of progress" in the Middle East, certainly not on the Israeli-Palestinian front, since Obama was elected, McCain declared.

An Obama administration effort to broker direct peace negotiations fell apart after it was launched last year, and the United States has had little success in bringing the two sides back to the table.

With both sides at a standoff, Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, resigned earlier this year. McCain said Obama's best chance to turn the situation around now would be to bring in Clinton.

"He (Clinton) has the respect, he has the clout" and the parties would fear upsetting him, McCain said. "And he knows the issue better than anybody."

There is already a Middle East envoy for a group known as the Quartet, a body comprising the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations: former British prime minister Tony Blair.

"I've watched Tony Blair try to make progress," McCain said. But Blair, in seeking to broker new talks, has run into some of the same problems that bedeviled Mitchell's efforts.

Netanyahu says he wants talks now, but the Palestinians say the Israelis must halt all building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank before they return to the table, and that is something Netanyahu's government says it will not do.

Quartet envoys will try again to jump start peace moves on Nov. 14, meeting separately with Israeli and Palestinian officials in Jerusalem, the US State Department said on Tuesday.   


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 11, 2011, 09:53:21 am
Well, today's the big day, but I haven't seen any news about it on yahoo et al - anyone know the time they will take this vote at the UN?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 16, 2011, 11:27:30 am
Abbas calls on Palestinians to mount non-violent resistance against Israel

Palestinian president says his people ‘will not succumb to the occupation,’ says will meet Hamas leader next week to discuss implementation of unity agreement.


President Mahmoud Abbas called Wednesday on the Palestinians to mount non-violent resistance to Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

"We will not succumb to the occupation and we will not give up on our rights," he said at a ceremony in the city of Ramallah to commemorate Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died seven years ago.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-calls-on-palestinians-to-mount-non-violent-resistance-against-israel-1.395958

non violent my butt


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 16, 2011, 12:01:23 pm
Israel strikes Gaza sites after rocket lands near Israeli kindergarten
Jewish Telegraphic Agency - ‎17 minutes ago‎   


JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli airstrikes hit two terrorist targets in Gaza in retaliation for two rockets fired at southern Israel, including one that landed near a kindergarten.

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/11/16/3090319/israel-strikes-gaza-sites-kassam-lands-near-israeli-kindergarten

thanx Abbas


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 19, 2011, 06:44:27 am
Unesco gives Palestinians full membership
Unesco, the United Nations' cultural agency, has decided to give the Palestinians full membership of the body, in a vote that will boost their bid for recognition as a state at the UN.


Unesco is the first UN agency the Palestinians have sought to join as a full member since President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full membership of the United Nations on Sept. 23.

The United States, Canada and Germany voted against Palestinian membership. Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa and France voted in favour. Britain abstained.

Huge cheers went up in Unesco after delegates voted to approve the membership Monday. One shouted "Long Live Palestine!" in French.

Israel said that the vote will harm prospects for the resumption of Middle East peace talks.

"This is a unilateral Palestinian manoeuver which will bring no change on the ground but further removes the possibility for a peace agreement," Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "This decision will not turn the Palestinian Authority into an actual state yet places unnecessary burdens on the route to renewing negotiations."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/8859839/Unesco-gives-Palestinians-full-membership.html

Palestinians Trying to 'Wipe Out Jewish History'

An Israeli official says that the admission of Palestinians as a member state of UNESCO has emboldened them to claim Judeo-Christian biblical sites as their own.

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization admitted the Palestinians as a member state Nov. 1.

One of those sites is the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Four thousand years ago, the Bible says Abraham bought the cave in Hebron to bury his wife Sarah. Isaac, Jacob and their wives are also buried there.

But Palestinians want UNESCO to recognize the Cave of the Patriarchs and other sites as Muslim holy places in "Palestine."

Israeli government minister Yuli Edelstein said the Palestinian request is not about peace.
 
"Their demand is not about cooperation. Their demand is a political demand to wipe off all the traces of the Jewish history and Jewish connection to the region," Edelstein said.

The cave is currently divided between a mosque and a synagogue so each faith has a place to pray.

Israel was highly criticized when it announced plans to improve the site last year and include it as an Israeli heritage site.

The head of the Islamic authorities in Hebron said at the time that the site is holy only to Muslims.

"It is a pure Muslim holy place and there is no right for non-Muslims to be here or to pray here, and I'm against the presence of the Jews, even in the old city," Haj Zeid al Ja'bari, general director of Islamic Religious Authorities in Hebron, told reporters then.
 
Even before UNESCO admitted what it calls Palestine as a full member this month, it had already called the Cave and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem "Palestinian sites."

The Palestinian Authority now also wants the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem to be deemed a Palestinian site. The church is built over the site many believe to be the birthplace of Jesus.

Palestinians are also threatening to sue Israel for what they say is stealing Palestinian antiquities and attempting to change what they call the Islamic and Arabic character of Jerusalem's Old City.

Israelis say Jews and Christians alike should be concerned. Based on past experience, they won't likely be able to visit the site in Hebron if it comes under Muslim Palestinian control.
 
"We know for a fact that when the authorities were not Israeli authorities, Jews were not allowed even to be here," Edelstein said.

"The concept of an Islamic holy place is that no one else is allowed to be here," said David Bedein, bureau chief, Israel Resource News Agency.

"The concept of a Jewish holy place is exactly the opposite," he said. "When there's a Jewish holy place, everyone can visit."

Bedein said that in 1975, Israel's then-ambassador to the U.N. Chaim Herzog answered an Arab challenge to Israel's rights to the Cave by using the Bible to make his case.

"He opened up the Bible to Genesis 23 and said, 'This is our right. We purchased it.'"

"It's ours and we're going to live here," he continued. "We're going to pray here and we're going to invite all the nations of the world to pray with us here.'"

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2011/November/Palestinians-Trying-to-Wipe-Out-Jewish-History/


Title: The rejection of PA statehood bid at the UN will plunge the region into anarchy.
Post by: Lisa on November 23, 2011, 01:06:41 pm
PA Threatens 'Violence and Anarchy'
Officials in Ramallah say the rejection of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas' statehood bid at the UN will plunge the region into chaos.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/149652
By Gavriel Queenann
First Publish: 11/11/2011, 11:53 AM



Saeb Erikat
Israel news photo: Flash 90Palestinian Authority officials warned Thursday the region would descend into "violence and anarchy" because of the failure of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas' statehood bid at the United Nations.

Officials in Ramallah refused to say what they were planning to do now that they have conceded the measure does not have sufficient support in the UN Security Council to be passed on to the General Assembly for a vote.

According to a Security Council subcommittee PA officials will not be able to muster the necessary 9 votes for approval. It also noted opposition from the US - who promised to veto the measure if the security council approved it - was insurmountable.

But PA officials have pushed forward anyway, demanding a vote hoping a propaganda victory with the necessary backing would demonstrate the US was isolated in its support of Israel.

However, diplomatic sources say a Security Council vote on the issue will not occur at that point – if at all. The Security Council, they say, could simply choose to discontinue consultations on the matter.

It remains unclear if the PA will now turn to the UN General Assembly and ask for observer status – a move they previously said was unacceptable.

Ramallah's frustrated threats come amid reports senior Fatah and PLO officials are debating the administrative body's future, with some saying it was time to shut down the PA and "throw the keys back at Israel."

Such a move, observers say, would be intended to pressure Israel into making radical concession in order to avoid taking responsibility for for affairs in enclaves currently administered by the PA.

Israel successfully administered those areas from 1967 to 1993 with an across the board increase the standard of living, which has seen a downturn under the PA. A spokesman in Netanyahu's office said, while Israel does not want the PA to shut down, that such an outcome "wouldn't be the end of the world."

At the same time, Netanyahu's government reportedly lobbied US lawmakers to unfreeze $200 million in funds to the PA out of a fears its collapse will lead to Hamas replacing it. It has also been reported Israel may reverse a decision to freeze tax revenue payments to the PA for the same reason.

Amid the threats of "violence and anarchy" from Ramallah, the Quartet - the US, EU, UN, and Russia - plans to hold separate meetings with Israel and the PA on Monday.

However, PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat maintains the PA will not return to negotiations with Israel unless accepts the pre-1967 borders as a basis for a future Palestinian State and halts all construction in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem.

Israel has said it will sit down to talks without preconditions, noting a previous 10-month building freeze by Israel aimed at meeting PA demands and restarting demands was rebuffed by Ramallah.

Not only were more preconditions added, officials in Jerusalem say, but the PA chose instead to violate the Oslo Accords and pursue its unilateral track at the United Nations.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 02, 2011, 10:12:48 pm
12/2/11

http://news.yahoo.com/panetta-israel-must-address-growing-isolation-232927884.html

Panetta: Israel must address its growing isolation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called on Israel on Friday to take diplomatic steps to address what he described as its growing isolation in the Middle East.

Panetta, in prepared remarks that he was due to deliver in Washington on Friday evening, stressed U.S. efforts to bolster regional stability and to safeguard Israel's security.

"Israel, too, has a responsibility to pursue these shared goals -- to build regional support for Israeli and United States security objectives," Panetta said, according to portions of the speech released to reporters before delivery.

"I believe security is dependent on a strong military but it is also dependent on strong diplomacy. And unfortunately, over the past year, we've seen Israel's isolation from its traditional security partners in the region grow."

Panetta lamented the moribund peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, which he said had "effectively been put on hold."

read more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 29, 2011, 08:40:12 pm
Congress frees $40 million in aid to Palestinians


.
.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers have freed up a little more than 20 percent of $187 million in U.S. assistance to the Palestinians that had been frozen over the Palestinian bid for U.N. membership.

Members of Congress have made available $40 million in economic and humanitarian funding for the Palestinians, the State Department said Wednesday. The money is administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development and "has been vital to establishing and strengthening the foundations necessary for a future Palestinian state," the department said.

The Obama administration had been urging lawmakers, with Israel's backing, to release the money as it contributes to Palestinian stability and Israeli security. "It is in the interest of the Palestinians, Israel and the United States, to ensure these efforts continue," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "They help to build a more democratic, stable, and secure region."

The administration is pressing Congress to release the remaining $147 million that comes from the last budget cycle in which aid to the Palestinians was to total 545.7 million. New funding for the Palestinians will be subject to additional scrutiny and can be blocked if they win full admission to the United Nations before a peace deal with Israel is agreed.

The administration has asked Congress for $513.4 million in aid for the Palestinians in fiscal year 2012.

http://news.yahoo.com/congress-frees-40-million-aid-palestinians-213327501.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 02, 2012, 12:57:14 am


http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-palestinian-envoys-meet-tuesday-official-154812630.html

Israel, Palestinians to meet Tuesday; prospects hazy

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will meet this week after more than a year of deadlock in peacemaking, officials said Sunday, but both sides played down prospects of any imminent resumption of talks.
 
Yitzhak Molcho of Israel and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat will meet Tuesday in Jordan alongside representatives of the Quartet of Middle East mediators - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
 
"This aims at reaching a common ground to resume direct talks between the two sides and to achieve a Palestinian-Israeli peace accord ... by the end of 2012," the official Jordanian news agency Petra quoted Mohammad al-Kayed, spokesman of the Foreign Ministry in Amman, as saying.
 
"It is essential that both sides take advantage of this opportunity," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement released in Washington.

read more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 02, 2012, 03:15:22 pm
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/palestinians-plan-diplomatic-steps-to-put-israel-under-international-siege-1.404973

1/2/12

Palestinians plan diplomatic steps to put Israel under 'international siege'

Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat to meet Netanyahu's envoy in Jordan Tuesday for preliminary talks aimed at setting an agenda for peace negotiations
.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy Isaac Molho will meet with top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat in Amman Tuesday for preliminary talks aimed at setting an agenda for peace negotiations, even as the Palestinians are preparing a diplomatic campaign that aims to put Israel under "a real international siege."

Among those who have been pushing hard for the meeting Tuesday, the first official meeting between Israeli and Palestinian representatives in several months, are Jordan's King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and the Quartet's Mideast envoy, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Senior Israeli officials said there was very little chance that the meeting would lead to the renewal of negotiations.

read more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 02, 2012, 08:46:17 pm
Muslim Brotherhood Plans to Cancel Peace Pact with Israel

1/1/12

 The Muslim Brotherhood comes up with a neat trick to break the peace treaty with Israel without formally doing so. Egypt’s next likely ruling party says it simply will hold a plebiscite and let the people do it.

Rashad Bayoumi, deputy Supreme Leader of the Brotherhood, told the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat on Sunday it respects international treaties and will leave the issue of the peace treaty in the hands of the people. The pact was signed by then-Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, but a "cold peace" has set in over the past several years.

“People will express their opinions on it. All parties can reconsider the treaty and Egyptians haven't yet had their say,” he explained. “We won't violate the treaty. We can put it for referendum among people or parliament,” Bayoumi said.

The ploy would ostensibly take the onus off the radical Muslim party, which Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, has said will respect the treaty.

read more

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151278#.TwCLOVbfW2U


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 03, 2012, 09:55:11 am
Gaza's Hamas PM warmly welcomed in Turkish parliament

Gaza's Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya received a warm welcome on Tuesday from lawmakers of Turkey's ruling party during a visit to the Turkish parliament.

The Palestinian leader received a standing ovation from the ranks of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) for his surprise entry into the room as the prime minister was making his weekly address to his fellow deputies.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was praising intra-Palestinian reconciliation between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah and the Islamist movement Hamas governing Gaza as Haniya headed into the room.

Haniya, who also met with the leaders of Turkey's opposition parties, declined to speak to the press but made a "V" for victory sign to the cameras.

An aide told AFP that Haniya would return to Istanbul late on Tuesday and fly on to Tunisia on Wednesday as part of his first trip abroad since Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007.

Haniya has already visited Egypt and Sudan on a tour which his office said was aimed primarily at seeking aid to rebuild Gaza City.

The Gaza premier arrived in Turkey on Sunday for a meeting with Erdogan in Istanbul. In a symbolic visit, on Monday he toured a Turkish vessel stormed by Israeli troops in a raid that left nine activists dead in May 2010.

The incident led a furious Turkey to downgrade relations with Israel, a one-time ally, and Ankara is seeking an apology and compensation for the victims before it restores full ties.

Since 2007, the Palestinian territories have been politically divided into two separate territories, with Abbas's Fatah largely ruling the West Bank and Hamas governing Gaza.

Turkey has sought to mediate in reconciliation efforts between the Fatah faction and Hamas, despite Israeli ire over its contacts with the Islamist movement.

Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government insists that peace cannot be achieved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if Hamas is excluded from the process.

Erdogan has rejected the "terrorist label" for the Islamist group, insisting its members are "resistance fighters struggling to defend their land".

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Jan-03/158702-gazas-hamas-pm-warmly-welcomed-in-turkish-parliament.ashx#axzz1iPXPsK2r


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 03, 2012, 05:40:45 pm
No breakthrough on Mideast peace, talks to go on

AMMAN (Reuters) - Israeli and Palestinian negotiators made no breakthrough during their first high-level discussions in more than a year on Tuesday, but agreed to hold further talks in Amman on a confidential basis, Jordan's foreign minister said.
 
Tuesday's talks were aimed at agreeing terms under which the two sides' leaders - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - could resume talks.
 
Negotiations foundered in late 2010 after Israel refused to renew a partial freeze on Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, as demanded by the Palestinians.
 
Nasser Judeh, who hosted the talks, reported no significant progress but added: "The important thing is the two sides have met face to face."

read more

http://news.yahoo.com/no-breakthrough-mideast-peace-talks-223543160.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 04, 2012, 11:32:50 am
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-palestinians-hold-positive-talks-024115258.html;_ylt=AlQBJ4qwsnQrmqRUk2sb01UbANEA;_ylu=X3oDMTRvYTVnajV2BGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwM3YTliNmE3NS1kZDQwLTM0MGQtYWQ5Zi04YjFjMmVlOTE4N2IEcG9zAzQEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDOGY1OWVkMDAtMzY3ZS0xMWUxLWJmMTktYzFhNmVmYWFlODI4;_ylg=X3oDMTMwcmE5bmQ0BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDYTFkNjYwMTItYzVmOC0zMTlmLTgyYWUtYjJhOTc3NDEzNDJlBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQR0ZXN0Aw--;_ylv=3

1/3/12

Israel, Palestinians hold 'positive' talks

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators held a "positive" first face-to-face meeting in more than 15 months and agreed to meet again on Friday, but cautioned that full-blown talks were still some way off.
 
"The talks and atmosphere were positive," Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told reporters after Tuesday's talks in Amman between Israel's chief negotiator Yitzhak Molcho, his Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erakat and Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayyeh.
 
Washington too welcomed what it described as a "positive development" after months of deadlock in peace talks over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal in 2010 to renew a freeze on most settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
 
Judeh, who hosted the meeting in the Jordanian capital, voiced cautious optimism. "The two sides expressed their commitment to a two-state solution. We do not want to raise the level of expectations, but at the same time we do not want to minimise the importance of this meeting," he said.

read more


Title: EU to PA Arabs: We'll Help You 'Grab Land' from Israel
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 12, 2012, 06:33:54 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151660#.Tw7-xIFfT7g

1/12/12

EU to PA Arabs: We'll Help You 'Grab Land' from Israel

The EU plans a "land grab" in Judea and Samaria, seeking to gain PA control of Area C, in violation of the Oslo Accords
.

The battle for control of Judea and Samaria – and specifically Area C, which, according to the Oslo Accords, is under Israeli military and political control – may come down to a “horse race,” if the European Union decides to act on a policy paper that was published by Hebrew daily Yediot Achronot Thursday. According to the document, "Area C and Palestinian state building," the EU plans to encourage, and fund, Arab building and development in Area C, without bothering to seek Israeli approval for projects, and in violation of laws regarding zoning, security, and the environment.
Under the Oslo Accords, Judea and Samaria is divided into three areas:

 

  Area A, which is fully administered by the PA, and which Israelis are banned from even entering – both by Israel and the PA;

  Area B, which is formally under Israeli security control, but is under PA control for all other purposes; and

  Area C, consisting for the most part of the “settlement blocs,” such as Gush Etzion, Ma'aleh Adumim, and the Jewish towns in Samaria in the vicinity of Ariel.


Some 90% of Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria live in Area C, while the PA Arab population of the area is barely 6%.


Nevertheless, the EU document makes it clear the Europeans intends to ensure a future Arab state in Judea and Samaria does not “lose” Area C, in order to ensure territorial contiguity between PA-controlled areas. The best way to do that, the document says, is to create “facts on the ground” - projects by and for PA Arabs, building more homes and communities for them, expanding the territories occupied by Arab towns, and attracting more PA Arabs to live in these new neighborhoods.

read more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 18, 2012, 10:12:33 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151864#.Txc3FoFfT7g

Video: Obama Tosses ‘Peace Process’ In Abdullah’s Lap
Obama thanked King Abdullah for hosting talks with the PA and Israel, possibly giving the president a scapegoat for expected failure.

President Barack Obama warmly praised Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House Tuesday, thanking him for hosting talks with the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

“We have very few countries around the world that are better friends and better partners than the Jordanians,” said the president. “And so I want to publicly express my appreciation for His Majesty’s leadership not only in forging a strong bilateral relationship, but also all the multilateral efforts that he is engaged in to encourage peace and prosperity during what has been an extraordinary time.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qvbNrlw3R8&feature=player_embedded


Title: Vatican body asks UN to end Israeli occupation
Post by: Christian40 on January 19, 2012, 03:01:22 am
In final statement of two-week conference, bishops' synod says Biblical concept of 'promised land' cannot be used to justify settlements

Israel cannot use the Biblical concept of a promised land or a chosen people to justify new "settlements" in Jerusalem or territorial claims, a Vatican synod on the Middle East said on Saturday.

In its concluding message after two weeks of meetings, the synod of bishops from the Middle East also said it hoped a two-state solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians could be lifted from dream to reality and called for peaceful conditions that would stop a Christian exodus from the region.

"We have meditated on the situation of the holy city of Jerusalem. We are anxious about the unilateral initiatives that threaten its composition and risk to change its demographic balance," the message said.

US-brokered peace talks have stalled since Israel rejected appeals to extend a temporary moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank that expired last month.

Since the freeze expired, Israel has announced plans to build another 238 homes in two east Jerusalem neighborhoods, drawing the condemnation of Palestinians and world leaders.

In a separate part of the document, a section on cooperation with Jews, the synod fathers also took issue with Jews who use the Bible to justify settlements in the West Bank, which Israel captured in 1967.

"Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the Word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable," the document said.

Many Jewish settlers and right-wing Israelis claim a biblical birthright to the West Bank, which they call Judea and Samaria and regard as a part of historical, ancient Israel given to the Jews by God.

Asked about the passage at a news conference, Greek-Melchite Archbishop Cyrille Salim Bustros, said:

"We Christians cannot speak about the promised land for the Jewish people. There is no longer a chosen people. All men and women of all countries have become the chosen people.

"The concept of the promised land cannot be used as a base for the justification of the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of Palestinians," he added. "The justification of Israel's occupation of the land of Palestine cannot be based on sacred scriptures."

The synod's concluding message repeated a Vatican call for Jerusalem to have a special status "which respects its particular character" as a city sacred to the three great monotheistic religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Jerusalem remains a key issue of dispute. Palestinians want east Jerusalem for capital of a future state. Israel has annexed the area, a move never recognized internationally, and has declared Jerusalem to be its "united and eternal" capital.

Israel did not include east Jerusalem as part of its 10-month building freeze, though most plans there were put on hold in March, when the US protested reports of a new housing project leaked during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden.

While recognizing "the suffering and insecurity in which Israelis live" and the need for Israel to enjoy peace within internationally recognized borders, the document was much more expansive and detailed on the situation of Palestinians.

It said Palestinians "are suffering the consequences of the Israeli occupation: the lack of freedom of movement, the wall of separation and the military checkpoints, the political prisoners, the demolition of homes, the disturbance of socio-economic life and the thousands of refugees."

It urged Christians in the region not to sell their homes and properties. "It is a vital aspect of the lives of those who remain there and for those who one day will return there."

It condemned terrorism "from wherever it may proceed" as well as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and discrimination against Christians.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3973590,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on January 19, 2012, 03:00:05 pm
Quote
Israel cannot use the Biblical concept of a promised land or a chosen people to justify new "settlements" in Jerusalem or territorial claims, a Vatican synod on the Middle East said on Saturday.

Uh, what's wrong with that picture?

Let me see if I get this...

The Vatican, an alleged Christian group...who's beliefs are based on, and came out of Judaism, says that Judaism cannot be used as a reason for Israel wanting to settle their own lands, within their own territorial borders?

Did I just step right into the Twilight Zone? (http://endtimescurrentevents.freeforums.org/download/file.php?icon=sFun_ahohno.gif)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 21, 2012, 06:15:36 am
Palestinians to renew efforts for bid to U.N.
Talks with Israel delayed attempt


Palestinian officials say that they will resume their effort to gain U.N. membership, and that they could launch a nonviolent third intifada because they see no chance of reaching a peace deal with the current Israeli government.

The Palestinians had put their U.N. bid on hold to participate in informal Jordanian-sponsored talks with Israel that began at the beginning of the year in Amman.

The Middle East “Quartet” — the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia — had urged the parties to submit proposals on borders and security by Jan. 26, with the goal of reaching an agreement by the end of 2012.

rest: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/19/palestinians-to-renew-efforts-for-bid-to-un/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 21, 2012, 08:15:01 am
Honestly, I don't think any "peace" agreement will be reached until this one world charismatic figure arises out of the ashes. Or maybe a vague blueprint will be agreed to and then ultimately "confirmed" by the AC. I don't know.


Title: Palestinian leader: Talks with Israel over
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 26, 2012, 04:25:31 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-leader-talks-israel-over-155558536.html

1/25/12

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A low-level dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians about a future border has ended without any breakthrough, the Palestinian president said Wednesday, reflecting the impasse plaguing the negotiations for at least three years.

President Mahmoud Abbas said he would consult with Arab allies next week to figure out how to proceed now. While frustrated with the lack of progress, Abbas is under pressure to extend the Jordanian-mediated exploratory talks, which the international community hopes will lead to a resumption of long-stalled formal negotiations on establishing a Palestinian state.

Israel said Wednesday it's willing to continue the dialogue. Abbas didn't close the door to continued meetings, saying he'll decide after consultations with the Arab League on Feb. 4.

A Palestinian walkout could cost Abbas international sympathy at a time when he seeks global recognition of a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

The gaps between the leaders are vast, and Abbas believes there is no point in returning to formal negotiations without assurances, such as marking the pre-1967 war lines as a basis for border talks and halting Israeli settlement building on occupied lands. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says everything should be discussed in negotiations and insists he is serious about reaching a deal by year's end.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 03, 2012, 06:58:20 pm
Memo to Obama...

LEAVE ISRAEL ALONE!!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/tornadoes-tear-through-midwest-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Ftornadoes-tear-through-midwest-slideshow%252Fevans-looks-rubble-her-parents-belongings-were-blown-photo-185336013.html%253B_ylt%253DAnvLpsqfZOiso8EImQh0C9htzwcF%253B_ylu%253DX3oDMTNyYmJiNTFzBHBrZwM1YWFjYzQ3Mi1hYmVlLTM1NWQtYTNkZC04OWY5MGIxMmI5OTgEcG9zAzU2BHNlYwNNZWRpYUNhcm91c2VsUGhvdG9HYWxsZXJ5Q0FYSFIEdmVyAzUxNDliZDQwLTYzZDAtMTFlMS04YjY0LWMzMWU2MzdjOTM0NA--%253B_ylv%253D3

Entire Month's Worth of Tornadoes Strike in One Day

In what may be the biggest daily tornado outbreak on record for March, an entire month's worth of twisters struck in a single day
.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 04, 2012, 04:13:53 am
Personally, I don't think there can be any tie-in to storms for not supporting Israel. We are WAY beyond that. Prophecy says there will be tribulation just from unbelief alone. Yeah, those who oppopsed Israel would pay in the past before Jesus on earth, but that's not the case with US storms these days. To suggest such sounds like a Pat Robertson style-comment or something.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 04, 2012, 08:37:37 am
Personally, I don't think there can be any tie-in to storms for not supporting Israel. We are WAY beyond that. Prophecy says there will be tribulation just from unbelief alone. Yeah, those who oppopsed Israel would pay in the past before Jesus on earth, but that's not the case with US storms these days. To suggest such sounds like a Pat Robertson style-comment or something.

Either way, from all reports, it's been said that this is something that noone's seen unlike ever before. The number of these storms that would happen in one month happened in ONE DAY.

The birth pangs are really intensifying now.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 05, 2012, 01:48:38 am
I do agree with the "birth pangs".


Title: President Obama is Israel's worst frenemy
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 07, 2012, 05:45:02 pm
Published March 05, 2012

President Obama is Israel's worst frenemy

Excerpt:

The question deserves an honest answer, though the truth is not likely to cut through the fog of presidential self-pity. A man who compares himself to Lincoln, Gandhi, King, Mandela and FDR isn’t the sort to welcome disagreement.

And that is the heart of his problem. Obama is certain he knows what’s good for Israel. Given his record and the Iranian threat, it’s an impossible sell.
 
He came into office thinking Israel was the obstacle to Middle East peace; three years later, his policies are producing more signs of war than peace. The Palestinians won’t negotiate for their own state because the president foolishly urged them to make a ban on Israeli settlements a precondition.
 
He was wrong from the git-go, and still is. But facts don’t stand a chance. As a Democrat who speaks to Obama about the Mideast told me, he has a “stubborn worldview.”
 
How stubborn will be revealed today and tomorrow during crucial meetings with Israeli leaders. The Iranian march to nukes will top the agenda, but Obama’s view on Iran is typical of how he sees the region and his role in it.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/03/05/president-obama-is-israels-worst-frenemy/#ixzz1oTfkuyYf


Title: Re: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines
Post by: rockmaryam on March 10, 2012, 07:05:15 am
Just a fast hello also to thank you for discussing your ideas on this page.


Title: 200 Rockets Hit Israel, 23 Gazans Killed in Return
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 12, 2012, 01:33:27 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/200-rockets-hit-israel-23-gazans-killed-return-145000964--abc-news.html

3/12/12

TEL AVIV - The fourth consecutive day of violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in the coastal enclave of Gaza saw the number of rockets landing in southern Israel climb to more than 190 and the death toll of Palestinians - most of them militants - to 23.

At least 40 rockets landed in Israel today, the Israeli Defense Forces said, the closest landing around 25 miles from the country's biggest city, Tel Aviv. Another hit the city of Ashdod, which has a population of 200,000.

An 80 year-old Israeli woman was reported wounded by shrapnel in Ashdod, there have been no Israeli deaths.

It is the worst violence between Israel and Gaza in over a year, which started when the Israeli Air Force targeted the leader of the Popular Resistance Committee, one of the militant groups operating in Gaza, accusing the group of planning on attack on Israel via Egypt.

more


Title: Rocket Hits Ashdod, 80-Year-Old Woman Injured
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 12, 2012, 05:36:52 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153673#.T137wIHvx0Q

First Publish: 3/12/2012, 3:24 PM
 
Gaza terrorists hit Ashdod on Monday morning despite the presence of the Iron Dome defense system. A Grad missile slammed into the center of the city, demolishing cars and damaging storefronts
 
An 80-year-old woman was hit by flying glass and injured. She was taken to Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot for treatment.
 
Others in the area suffered shock.
 
A second rocket hit the city of Gadera, causing damage and sending multiple bystanders into shock. The strike was the farthest from Gaza that terrorists have managed to hit.
 
Until the mid-afternoon strike on Ashdod, the city had remained relatively untouched despite near-constant attempted attacks. While terrorists fired many rockets at the area, the Iron Dome system shot nearly all of them down, and there had been no injuries reported.
 
Further rockets were fired Monday following the successful hit on the city. No injuries have been reported.


Title: IDF Ground Invasion Option ‘On the Table’
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 12, 2012, 05:38:21 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153657#.T1374oHvx0Q

3/12/12

The IDF is trained and prepared for a ground invasion of Gaza, but it won’t happen in the immediate future, says its chief spokesman Yoav Mordechai.

Speaking to Voice of Israel government radio on the possibility of a ground incursion, he said, “The IDF is organized for that option. The situation in southern Israel is intolerable, but I can’t say if and when it will happen.”

The last major ground maneuver into Gaza was the three-week Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign from the end of December 2008 until the middle of January.

The Olmert government, in which Tzipi Livni was Foreign Minister, agreed to a ceasefire after accepting American and European promises they would place monitoring systems to prevent smuggling of weapons from Egypt into Gaza. However, little was done, and European observers declined to be stationed in the area because of the dangers.

Mordechai said that the armed forces have killed 20 terrorists in Gaza since the resumption of violence Friday. He contrasted the pinpoint Israeli attacks on terrorists with the more than 140 rockets and missiles fired by Gaza terrorists on Israeli civilian areas.

The only Arab civilian casualty who was not a terrorist was a 12-year-old boy who approached a rocket launching site where a terrorist cell was about to be targeted, Mordechai said.

“The IDF attacked six targets overnight, one of them an Islamic Jihad weapons storage center in an area where people are living,” he added. “There have been civilian injuries. This is what happens when Islamic Jihad deploys in civilian population areas.

“We are defending Israel and we are worried about two million people in southern Israel who are not able to lead routine lives.”

He also confirmed that IDF Chief of Benny Gantz has canceled a planned trip to the United States, where he was to speak at an event honoring the IDF. Mordechai said that Lt. Gen. Gantz will decide later in the week whether to fly to Washington for scheduled meetings with government and military officials.


Title: Gaza: Chinese Missiles Aimed at Israel
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 12, 2012, 05:42:40 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153658#.T1372YHvx0Q

3/12/12

Hamas is in possession of missiles made in China, and hopes to get its hands on more, according to the Israel Defense website.

Israel has previously intercepted Chinese missiles being smuggled into Gaza. Several C-704 missiles were among the many tons of weapons found hidden aboard the “human aid” ship Victoria last year.

Updated versions of the missiles include a warhead with 19 kilograms of explosives surrounded by metal fragments. The fragments increase casualty rates on impact.

The three-meter missiles have a range of up to 40 kilometers.

Hamas possesses only the missiles themselves, and not the launchers designed to give greater accuracy. Instead, Gaza terrorists use simple ground launchers to send the missiles at Israeli population centers.

Several dozen armies worldwide use the rockets Hamas hopes to obtain. The terrorist group has previously been given weapons by Middle East regimes, including Iran and Syria.


Title: Quartet to Meet, Discuss Stalled Peace Process
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 12, 2012, 05:51:41 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153653#.T138AIHvx0Q

3/12/12

Quartet to Meet, Discuss Stalled Peace Process

The Quartet for Middle East Peace – the European Union, Russia, United Nations, and United States – will meet on Monday in an attempt to revive the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

According to a report in the Moscow-based RIA Novosti news agency, the meeting will be held in New York and will be attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The report said that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will also be in attendance. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and the Quartet’s special envoy to the Middle East, former British premier Tony Blair, will participate via a video link.

The last meeting of the Quartet took place in September 2011 in the UN headquarters, RIA Novosti noted. During that meeting, which took place after the PA submitted its unilateral statehood bid to the UN, the Quartet suggested a timetable which will allegedly bring forth a peace agreement by the end of 2012.

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Title: Obama presses Abbas on direct talks with Israel
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 19, 2012, 10:27:13 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-presses-abbas-direct-talks-israel-021859684.html

3/19/12

Could there be signs of a thaw in the long-frozen Middle East peace talks? President Barack Obama discussed the stalled process by telephone with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, underlining the importance of "direct discussions" with Israel while avoiding "provocative actions" that damage already-bleak prospects for ending the conflict, White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

In Ramallah, Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said the Palestinian leader had "informed President Obama about the contents of a message he will send to the Israeli prime minister," but did not elaborate on the contents, AFP reported.

Talks between the two sides have been in limbo since late 2010, and most observers doubt that any progress can be made until after the November elections settle whether Obama or one of his Republican rivals will hold the reins of American foreign policy.

Carney said that Obama had "reaffirmed America's commitment to Middle East Peace and to the overall objectives outlined by the Quartet"  -- the diplomatic grouping of the United States, Europe, Russia, and the United Nations that has worked to find a way to end the conflict.

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Title: Iran promises retaliation ‘in kind’ to any attack by the U.S. or Israel
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 20, 2012, 09:20:52 pm
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/iran-promises-retaliation-in-kind-to-any-attack-by-the-u-s-or-israel/

Iran promises retaliation ‘in kind’ to any attack by the U.S. or Israel

March 21, 2012 – IRAN - Tehran will retaliate against any attack by Israeli or American forces “on the same level,” Iran’s top leader said on Tuesday in a defiant address just moments after US president Barack Obama appealed directly to the Iranian people with a message of solidarity. The contrasting approaches highlighted the broad range of political posturing and tactics as the standoff deepens over Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking on state TV to mark the Iranian new year, repeated his claims that the country does not seek atomic weapons, but said all their conventional firepower was ready to respond to any attack. “We do not have atomic weapons and we will not build one. But against an attack by enemies – to defend ourselves either against the US or the Zionist regime – we will attack them on the same level that they attack us,” he said. Despite the hard-edged tone for most of the speech, there were hints of overtures toward America before a possible resumption of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers. He urged the U.S. to have a “respectful attitude” toward Iran – suggesting it could bring dividends. –Times of India


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 23, 2012, 06:35:29 pm
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-4206949,00.html

'Israel warned neighbors: Don't march to Jerusalem'

According to Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Arab countries, Palestinians warned not to approach Israeli borders during 'Universal Jerusalem march' next Friday
Roi Kais

Following the deadly clashes last year during the Naksa and Nakba marches to its northern border, Israel issued a stern warning to Arab countries and Palestinians to refrain from approaching the border.

London based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Friday that the warning was issued in reference to the "Universal Jerusalem March" planned for next Friday to commemorate "Land Day."

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Title: Israeli court rejects 2015 settlement evacuation
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 25, 2012, 04:17:44 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-court-rejects-2015-settlement-evacuation-171013419.html

3/25/12

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday rejected the state's request to postpone dismantling a large, unsanctioned West Bank settler enclave until late 2015, dealing a serious blow to settler hopes to keep dozens of rogue outposts standing.

The ruling could ignite a violent showdown with settlers, who have vowed in the past not to abandon their hilltop stronghold, Migron. Settler leader Shimon Riklin, one of the enclave's founders, told Israel's Channel 2 TV that the evacuation of Migron "would not pass quietly."

A spokesman for the Palestinians, who claim all of the West Bank as part of a future state, was skeptical that the ruling would be carried out.

The state submitted the delay petition earlier this month, seeking to bypass the high court's earlier order to dismantle the Migron outpost by March 31 because it was built on privately held Palestinian land.

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Title: Officials: Israel ready for ‘Global March to J'lem’
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 26, 2012, 11:40:52 am
Officials: Israel ready for ‘Global March to J'lem’


By OREN KESSLER, YAAKOV LAPPIN AND HERB KEINON
26/03/2012



 


Processions planned on Israel's borders to mark 36th anniversary of Land Day; Iran pressuring its Jews to take part.

 




 



Israel is prepared to handle this week’s “Global March to Jerusalem,” officials said on Sunday, as organizers plan a multi-pronged rush on the country’s borders to mark the 36th anniversary of Land Day on Friday.

Organizers of the event – known as “GMJ” – say they are planning peaceful marches on the Israeli border in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, at checkpoints in the West Bank and at entrances to the Gaza Strip.

“Our aim is to end the Zionist policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and Judaization, which all harm the people, land and sanctity of Jerusalem,” they wrote on the event’s official homepage. “The GMJ is comprised of a diverse coalition of Palestinian, Arab and international activists who are united in the struggle to liberate the holy city of Jerusalem (the city of peace) from illegal Zionist occupation.”

Organizers said processions would also be organized in Arab and Muslim capitals worldwide, and in front of Israeli embassies in a number of unspecified countries.

Friday marks 36 years since the first Land Day, when tens of thousands of Israeli Arabs – and Palestinians marching in solidarity in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon – rallied against government plans to take control of hundreds of hectares of land in the Galilee and the Negev. Six Israeli Arabs were killed and around 100 were wounded in the protests.

On Sunday, officials said security forces had been given refresher training on non-lethal crowd dispersal techniques. They said border police have been put on alert in Israel and the West Bank, and additional officers deployed to the northern borders to reinforce IDF units.

“We’ve been through this before,” a security source said of Friday’s planned marches. Last May, 13 people were killed while trying to breach the Syrian and Lebanese borders with Israel on “Nakba Day,” the annual date when Palestinians mourn the Jewish state’s creation in 1948. The following month 12 people were injured on the Syrian frontier on “Naksa Day,” marking Arab defeat and territorial losses in the 1967 Six Day War.

Another official said all necessary precautions were being taken, and that Jordan and Egypt had an interest in keeping their borders quiet.

The situation in Lebanon is less clear. One Israeli official said marchers would likely proceed as far as Beaufort – a Crusader castle several kilometers north of the border – while another warned that Iranian involvement in Lebanon’s south means no scenario could be ruled out.

Earlier this week, the Israel-based Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported that Iran is the primary force behind the initiative, both directly and through proxies such as Hezbollah. In February, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei described the Global March as an expression of Iran’s policy to strengthen “resistance operations” against Israel.

This month, the GMJ website claimed a Jewish-Iranian umbrella group had thrown its support behind the marches. “We the Iranian Jewry alongside the strata of Iranian people, under the guidance of the leadership, announce that we shall fight against imperialism and Zionism until all the lawful rights of the valiant nation of Palestine are met,” the Society of Iranian Jews was quoted as saying.

“We the Iranian Jewry would also like to show the disassociation of the anti-humanitarian works committed by the occupying Israeli regime and their usurping army with the commandments of divine laws of Prophet Moses (P.B.U.H). We would like to show our support with all those who desire the lawful rights of the valiant nation of Palestine,” the group said.

The statement was signed by Ciamak Mordesadegh – who holds the one Iranian parliamentary seat reserved for Jews – and Rabbi Mashallah Golestaninejad, a Jewish leader in the country.

DEBKAfile reported on Friday that Hussein Sheikholeslam – an Iranian parliamentarian it describes as one of the march’s organizers – instructed Jewish leaders to provide 10 men aged 18 to 22 to be given “the honor” of acting as the vanguard in breaking through the Lebanese-Israeli border fence. The report – which could not be independently verified – quoted Iranian sources as saying authorities may have demanded the inclusion of Jewish marchers so Israeli soldiers would be constrained from opening fire.

In January, the GMJ’s International Central Committee held its first and only meeting in Beirut. The committee consists of anti-Israel activists from the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and several other Arab, Muslim and Western states.

The panel includes one Israeli citizen – Muhammad Zeidan, chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, a nongovernmental organization representing Israeli Arabs at the national level. Zeidan sailed on the Mavi Marmara in the 2010 Gaza protest flotilla, in which nine people were killed by Israel Navy commandos while trying to run the Israeli blockade.

One of the GMJ’s major themes is what it describes as Israel’s “Judaization” of Jerusalem.

“Over the last several years Zionist efforts to ‘Judaize’ the city have quickened pace in an attempt to erase Jerusalem’s physical, cultural and spiritual characteristics,” organizers wrote, adding that such efforts have been aimed at changing the city’s demographics “from a Palestinian to a Jewish majority.”

The GMJ website refers to all of Israel as occupied land.

“Massive marches will be organized in Palestine (the 1948 seizures, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) towards Jerusalem or to the nearest point to it,” it says.

The logo on the homepage features all of Mandatory Palestine, and is set against a banner showing Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock and Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Muslim and Christian holy places are set against the backdrop of the Mount of Olives, but the sprawling 3,000-year-old Jewish cemetery with its 150,000 tombstones is absent, replaced by a barren hillside.


Title: Storm clouds of nuclear war gathering on horizon: Iran threatens ‘total annihila
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 26, 2012, 11:55:11 am
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/storm-clouds-of-nuclear-war-gathering-on-horizon-iran-threatens-total-annihilation-of-israel-if-it-attacks/

Storm clouds of nuclear war gathering on horizon: Iran threatens ‘total annihilation’ of Israel if it attacks

March 26, 2012 – IRAN - A senior Iranian cleric says the Israeli threats of a military strike on Iran are mere “psychological warfare” as Tel Aviv fully understands any such venture would lead to its “total annihilation.” “There has been some talk in the media for some time of a military move [against Iran] by the Zionist regime [of Israel] in particular; these menacing murmurs are nothing but psychological warfare,” Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami said on Monday. Last year during a period, foreign media created hype about a war [against Tehran] and anyone who paid attention to these media felt the US would attack Iran the following day,” he said. The senior Iranian cleric, who is a member of the presiding board of the Assembly of Experts, said Israeli officials know that a military offensive against Iran would mean the complete annihilation of the Zionist regime. “We are not aggressors but our response to aggressors will be devastatingly crushing.” Ayatollah Khatami further referred to the failed Israeli invasion of Lebanon during the 33-Day war in 2006 as evidence that Tel Aviv stands no chance against a more powerful and better equipped Iran. “They could not even endure resist against Hezbollah weapons, with a maximum range of 70 kilometers, and [were forced to] raise their hands in surrender after 33 days. So how will they ever withstand Iranian missile might?” The US, Israel and some of their allies have accused Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran has refuted the allegations over its nuclear energy program, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Tehran is entitled to the peaceful use of nuclear technology. The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence indicating that its nuclear energy program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production. –Press TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZHBWA5p87k&feature=player_embedded


Title: Palestinians to fan Israeli-Arab Earth Day disorders Friday. Damascus to pitch i
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 27, 2012, 09:59:00 am
Palestinians to fan Israeli-Arab Earth Day disorders Friday. Damascus to pitch in

http://debka.com/article/21862/

Israel’s warnings to its Arab neighbors and the Palestinian Authority to curb violent assaults on its borders on the annual Israeli Arab Earth Day Friday, March 30, have fallen on deaf ears.

The Palestinian Authority is for the first time making it a joint Palestinian-Israel Arab event, organizing mass anti-Israel disturbances in Jerusalem, Jaffa and other places, while also instigating West Bankers to rally and smash through Israeli border checkpoints and fences.

Syria is lining up buses for thousands of Palestinians to storm Israel’s northern border at Quneitra on the Golan.
Scattered Palestinian disturbances are already springing up outside the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, at the Jerusalem-Bethlehem checkpoint, Rachel’s tomb and the Kalandia checkpoint north of Jerusalem. They are exercises for splitting Israeli police and troops among several points of disorder.

Palestinian websites, social networks and media are whipping up frenzied anticipation for confrontations with Israel forces, the knife-edge atmosphere further inflamed by the impact of the murder in Toulouse of a rabbi, his two small children and a third child by a French Islamist terrorist at the Ozar Hatorah school.

Along with a general IDF and police alert for trouble, anti-terror units are on the lookout for terrorists taking advantage of the mayhem. March 15, a Palestinian man stabbed a woman soldier on the light train; March 25, a Palestinian gang beat up an unarmed Israeli soldier on the street.
A Palestinian marathon was staged with many children runners - both to compete with the international marathon Israeli staged in Jerusalem last Friday, March 23, and to gridlock East Jerusalem’s roads so as to slow down riot police responses

Taking a hand in Israeli Arab protests for the first time, the Palestinian Authority is organizing a march in Jaffa from the port to Ajami Square. The main event of this year’s Earth Day will take place in the Galilee town of Deir Hanna. Expatriate Palestinians were also instructed to stage demonstrations outside Israeli embassies in key cities.

The Palestinian Authority aims to make the outbreaks as striking and clamorous as possible in order to reach the ears of Arab rulers attending the 23rd Arab League summit in Baghdad at the same time. The Palestinian delegation was ordered to keep a low profile there because Saudi Arabia and the Gulf emirates each have serious issues with the PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Since those countries have cut off regular financial aid, the Ramallah-based PA has run up an all-time record deficit of $1.4 billon and is too broke to buy medicines, debkafile’s sources report. No Arab or Middle East bank will extend the defaulting PA any more credit. When they saw no hope of getting paid, many contractors have downed tools in the middle of projects.

Bashar Assad also has a big stake in getting even with the Arab mainstream which has roundly condemned his brutal crackdown on dissent. He was told his presence at the Arab summit was undesirable and he should send foreign minister Walid Moallem instead. His reply was to send no-one and prepare a convoy of buses to carry thousands of Palestinians to the Israeli Golan border at Quneitra. They are instructed to rush the Israeli border and knock over its Israeli guards Friday in tune with the Palestinian-generated showdown with Israeli forces planned for Israel and the West Bank.

The Syrian ruler’s object is to show up his Arab colleagues on widely propagated footage as lounging at ease in the sumptuous halls of Baghdad while leaving the Palestinians to the mercies of Israeli troops.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 27, 2012, 02:11:00 pm
State Department Won’t Say Jerusalem Is in Israel

An official State Department communication has labeled Jerusalem and Israel as separate entities.

In an official press release yesterday, the State Department announced that “Acting Under Secretary Kathleen Stephens Travels to Algeria, Qatar, Jordan, Jerusalem, and Israel.”

Keeping up with its longstanding policy, the State Department refuses to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s official capital—despite a U.S. law stating otherwise. Obama faced criticism on the issue last year, when it was revealed that the White House had scrubbed all references to Jerusalem being part of the Jewish state from a collection of photos on its website.

Obama has also been lambasted by pro-Israel leaders and some on Capitol Hill for capitulating to pressure from the State Department, which has long opposed U.S. law on the matter.

A senior GOP aide condemned the State Department’s recent press release as unsound foreign policy.

“Once again, President Obama’s administration reminds Jewish voters why he cannot be trusted when it comes to Israel’s security,” said the source. “He doesn’t think Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Is it its own sovereign nation?”

The GOP source also chided Obama for continuing to buck U.S. law on the issue.

“Under U.S. law, Jerusalem is recognized as the undivided capital of Israel—period,” said the adviser. “Unlike the U.S. embassy’s move, that fact is not subject to any waiver or exception. So the question really is, why is Barack Obama ignoring U.S. law and refusing to recognize Israel’s capital?”

http://freebeacon.com/state-department-wont-say-jerusalem-is-in-israel/print/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 27, 2012, 04:57:27 pm
Quote
“Under U.S. law, Jerusalem is recognized as the undivided capital of Israel—period,” said the adviser. “Unlike the U.S. embassy’s move, that fact is not subject to any waiver or exception. So the question really is, why is Barack Obama ignoring U.S. law and refusing to recognize Israel’s capital?

Uh, because he's Muslim.  ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 27, 2012, 05:39:50 pm
Yep, it's only a matter of time now before EVERYONE gets on the same bandwagon as Obama - no, not just the Muslims, but the New Age Movement, the "truther" movement, the Catholic Church, the pseudo-christian church, etc, etc.


Title: Arabs prepare for 'Jerusalem March'
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 29, 2012, 09:57:41 am
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-4209532,00.html

Hundreds of thousands of people expected to take part in pro-Palestinian protest over weekend; marches to be held across region. Anti-Israel fly-in taking shape

Turbulent weekend in cards? International supporters and hundreds of thousands of participants are expected to take part in the Global March on Jerusalem Friday, as Israel braces for potential attempts to breach the Jewish state's borders..

The event, which is expected to include marches and protests across the region, is entering its final preparations, as IDF forces are also deploying in a bid to prevent any disruptions on Israel's borders.

The IDF is preparing for the possibility that attempts will be made to breach Israel's borders. The forces have been directed to prevent any beaches of Israeli sovereignty with minimal injuries to the protestors, if they do approach the border.

Sources within the defense establishment have conducted talks with Palestinian security officials to coordinate the events and make sure they remain within the jurisdiction of Palestinian towns.

Sa'id Yakin, one of the protest organizers in the Palestinian Authority, told Ynet that rallies will be held at three West Bank focal points.

"We expect thousands of participants," Yakin said. "We have no interest in confrontation, and this march will not give rise to a third Intifada. We hope this move will affect Israel and its government's policy."

(http://www.ynetnews.com/PicServer3/2012/03/26/3823587/REUTERS0RAT28_MOROCCO-_0325_11508901_Wa.jpg)

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 29, 2012, 04:03:45 pm
Quote
"We expect thousands of participants," Yakin said. "We have no interest in confrontation

Typical Arabic double-speak. Confrontation is exactly what the march is. They can march, shout, carry signs, then go home, and all would be fine, but it never seems to be that simple. Confrontation is exactly what is building around Jerusalem.

"And their dead bodies [shall lie] in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." Revelation 11:8 (KJB)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 30, 2012, 07:07:45 am
The Global March to Jerusalem
by David Solway on FrontPageMag

 www.olivetreeviews.org

March 29, 2012



Once again, Israel is confronted by a major threat to its existence, namely, the so-called Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ) scheduled for March 30. It is organized by the usual suspects--the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, the swelling tribe of Ayatollah lovers, the devil's spawn of radical Leftists--whose intention is to mobilize a million people to breach Israel's borders and converge on Jerusalem. They are convinced that Israel will either find itself helpless before a "peaceful" onslaught of this magnitude or be forced to take action that would lead to a PR disaster. From their perspective, it's a win-win situation. One way or another, Israel would be gravely weakened and, according to an unlettered exchange between some of the event's organizers, "This will undermine the Israeli state...& the Zionist edifice which is unraveling as we speak, will soon fall."

A million unarmed zealots determined to challenge the Jewish state are by no means unarmed. They are enemy combatants armed with the sympathy of the international community and the propaganda weapon furnished by a world-wide anti-Zionist media. They know that Israel is bound to lose the propaganda war regardless of how it decides to respond. Islamic states do not suffer from a similar dilemma. After all, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has slaughtered over 9,000 of his own people in attempting to repress a popular uprising. But the GMJ organizers--including such well--known bigots as George Galloway, Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who sit on the advisory board--have little or nothing to say about this ongoing atrocity. Clearly, they are not eager to Occupy Damascus since they might actually get hurt. But Jerusalem is another matter. They will have the Israeli Left cheering them on and can bank on the reluctance of the IDF to apply lethal force.

The GMJ is also armed with a formidable body of outright lies and gross distortions that the radical Left, in concert with Islamofascist dogma, has adopted as doctrinal truth. The so-called Anti-Imperialist Camp, which supports the march, and the official  GMF website have listed the standard batch of falsifications as ideological ammunition for its adherents. Among the myths and libels enumerated in these venues, we learn:

that Palestinians are being expelled from Jerusalem, a claim refuted even by the Leftwing The Nation which recorded a 3% growth of Arab Jerusalemites compared to a mere 1% growth of the Holy City's Jewish residents. According to the  globalpost, the Arab population of Jerusalem has grown 209% since the Jordanian defeat in the 1967 war.

that 85% of Palestinian territory has been despoiled by "foreign settlers." Of course, the organizers are referring to Israel proper, oblivious to the fact that it was Israel that was robbed of 78% of its legally mandated territory, which became the artificially constructed Emirate of Transjordan.

that only Jewish citizens benefit from Israeli democracy, a lie so brazen that only the terminally brainwashed could believe it.
that Israel is in violation of international law--when it is Israel, and only Israel, that is in compliance with the League of Nations Mandate, the dispositions of the San Remo Conference, Article 80 of the UN Charter and UN Resolution 242, as well as the laws of war validating the results of the 1967 and 1973 hostilities.

that Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine, a contention that scurrilously negates several historically attested facts, for example, that there is no such country called Palestine, that a significant proportion of the Arab inhabitants of the contested area are not indigenous "Palestinians" but relative latecomers originating in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and North Africa, and that Jerusalem throughout history was the political and spiritual capital of the Jewish people. Indeed, Jews formed the majority of the city's population for much of the census-taking period, as is evident from such meticulously documented volumes as Mitchell Bard's  Myths and Facts and Joan Peters'  From Time Immemorial.

Buttressed by such fabrications, the GMJ has effectively declared war on Israel and has embarked on what is nothing less than a massive invasion of its sovereign territory. The email previously cited envisions a "human tide" of one million people now, but aims for five million "next time...& it will only grow from there." Obviously, this is war by another name, and Israel is being attacked with a view not only to inflict a humiliating defeat upon it but to eliminate it entirely from the roll-call of the world's nations. In essence, this is only a more "humane" version of the Iranian project to wipe Israel off the map.

Judaism is a life-affirming religion; unfortunately, in the world of practical affairs, it is all too often the life of its enemies that is affirmed. The IDF distributes leaflets advising its antagonists of impending operations, so as not to harm civilians. Jewish organizations engage in "dialogue" and "outreach" with those who are sworn to their extirpation. The Jewish Left promotes the boycotting of Israeli goods, agitates on behalf of the Palestinians and condemns the Jewish inhabitants of Judea and Samaria--Israel's ancient heartland--as colonialist "settlers." The Israeli ruling elite is prone to surrendering legitimately acquired land in exchange for illusory promises, exposing its citizens to ambushes, incursions and even short-range missile attacks in ever-contracting territory.

And now we have the proposed million-man march on Jerusalem. Of course, it is unlikely that the number is even remotely achievable, but let us assume for the sake of argument that it were. The question then poses itself. How should Israel react to the inundation of its capital by a million people swarming in from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt? With water cannons? With the sonic boom of low-flying F-16s? With conciliatory rhetoric? With civilized debating points? With the keys to the city? Such expedients do not seem especially convincing.

Plainly, a workable means of deterrence to what is theoretically a significant menace to the continued existence of the Jewish state will have to be arrived at. In the face of the GMJ, no less than the genocidal policy of Iran, Israel will need to find some way of affirming itself for a change and ensuring the survival of its Jewish citizens.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 30, 2012, 07:27:30 am
Israeli forces fire tear gas at Palestinians as Land Day turns violent

Israeli security forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up groups of Palestinian stone-throwers on Friday as annual Land Day rallies turned violent.

Palestinian activists have called for a "Global March to Jerusalem" to mark the day when Israeli Arabs protest against government policies that they say has stripped them of land.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arab news channel Al Jazeera reported in a live blog on its website that the Israeli army was "pushing protesters back towards Ramallah with the use of tear gas and water cannons".

It also reported that there are close to 1,000 protestors gathered in Ramallah.

Israeli forces were put on high alert at frontier crossings with Lebanon and Syria but there were no reports of any protesters nearing the border fences, unlike last year when several demonstrators were killed there in Land Day protests.

REST: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/30/10937603-israeli-forces-fire-tear-gas-at-palestinians-as-land-day-turns-violent


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 30, 2012, 12:16:22 pm

http://www.thejerusalemconnection.us/blog/2012/03/29/obama-admin-refuses-to-call-jerusalem-israels-capital.html

BY RYAN JONES, ISRAEL TODAY—
 
A long-standing point of contention between Israel and the US (one of the few that exists) is the fact that while Congress and the vast majority of American citizens recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state, the White House refuses to do so.
 
The Obama Administration’s position on Jerusalem took center stage this week when a State Department spokeswoman refused during a press briefing to accept that the city, even the non-contested and Jewish dominated western half, is the capital of Israel.
 
Early in the week, the Washington Free Beacon political blog discovered that a State Department communication posted online had identified “Jerusalem” and “Israel” as separate Middle East entities. Following that revelation, the State Department quickly altered the communique to list only cities and not countries.
 
At Wednesday’s weekly press briefing, a reporter asked State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland to comment on the issue, to which she replied, “Our policy with regard to Jerusalem is that it has to be solved through negotiations. We are not going to prejudge the outcome of those negotiations, including the final status of Jerusalem. …That’s all I have to say…”
 
But the reporter in question was not satisfied, and pressed Nuland, stating, “That seems to suggest that you do not regard Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.” Nuland still was not budging, so the reporter tried to “give her an out” by asking, “Is it your position that all of Jerusalem is a final-status issue, or do you think — or is it just East Jerusalem?”
 
Nuland still refused to acknowledge that even the western side of Jerusalem, which has been under Israeli sovereignty since 1948, is the legitimate seat of Israel’s government. The Weekly Standard transcribed the entire exchange at the press briefing.
 
The United States continues to maintain its embassy in Tel Aviv, despite a 1995 act of Congress that stipulated the American mission was to be moved to Jerusalem no later than 1999. Successive American presidents have consistently invoked “national security” powers to avoid implementing the Jerusalem Embassy Act.
 
Israel is unfazed by the fresh commotion over the status of its capital, said an official [cited by the Times of Israel] [3].
 
“Jerusalem is Israel’s capital by decision of the Knesset and nothing can change that,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor stated. “It’s our capital, no matter what anyone else is saying.”


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 30, 2012, 02:14:10 pm
Israeli forces fire tear gas at Palestinians as Land Day turns violent

Israeli security forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up groups of Palestinian stone-throwers on Friday as annual Land Day rallies turned violent.

Palestinian activists have called for a "Global March to Jerusalem" to mark the day when Israeli Arabs protest against government policies that they say has stripped them of land.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arab news channel Al Jazeera reported in a live blog on its website that the Israeli army was "pushing protesters back towards Ramallah with the use of tear gas and water cannons".

It also reported that there are close to 1,000 protestors gathered in Ramallah.

Israeli forces were put on high alert at frontier crossings with Lebanon and Syria but there were no reports of any protesters nearing the border fences, unlike last year when several demonstrators were killed there in Land Day protests.

REST: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/30/10937603-israeli-forces-fire-tear-gas-at-palestinians-as-land-day-turns-violent

Quote
They can march, shout, carry signs, then go home, and all would be fine, but it never seems to be that simple.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 31, 2012, 11:05:49 am
IDF and Hamas battle Jihad Islami snipers trying to provoke Gaza warfare

3/31/12

The most violent event of Palestinian-backed Earth Day Friday, March 30, was a battle around the Gaza-Israeli Erez crossing between Israeli forces and marksmen of the Iran-backed Palestinian Jihad Islami, debkafile’s military sources report. The shooters were laying down fire to cover a mass Palestinian rush on the Israeli border and the crossing so as to force Israeli soldiers to shoot into the crowd. Multiple Palestinian casualties would have given Jihad the pretext for reviving its missile offensive against Israeli towns and villages which partly died down two weeks ago.
Our sources report that IDF fire was not aimed at the demonstrators but the marksmen. All the same, in the subsequent melee, one Palestinian man was killed – Mahmoud Zachout, member of a prominent Gazan family, and 14 were injured. At an early stage, members of the Hamas internal security battalion intervened. They split up - one section to stop the Jihad fire, the other, to block the procession’s march on the Israeli border.  Zachout may have been killed by bullets from either side. Their source is under investigation.

debkafile has not established whether the rare collaboration between Israeli forces and Hamas was planned or that both sides happened at same point to appreciate their shared goal, which was to stop Jihad Islami violence and de-escalate the tension. The result was to save a demonstration from descending into a bloodbath.

Israeli commanders commented at the end of the day that, although all the country’s borders remained intact and Palestinian mobs were prevented from breaking through to Israeli areas, as they had planned in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, the turmoil may not be over.  Only thousands turned up for pro-Palestinian street demonstrators in Israel and its Arab neighbors, a mere fraction of the March of a Million that was planned jointly by Iran, Hizballah, Syria and Jihad Islami, Tehran’s tool in Gaza.

more
http://debka.com/article/21879/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 22, 2012, 08:53:39 am
http://news.yahoo.com/eu-condemns-palestinians-eviction-east-jerusalem-134353569.html
.
EU condemns Palestinians' eviction in east Jerusalem

AFP – Sat, Apr 21, 2012.

..

The European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah condemned on Saturday the recent eviction of a Palestinian family from its east Jerusalem home, ahead of its inhabitation by Jewish settlers.
 
The EU missions "condemn the eviction of the Natshe family from their home in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Beit Hanina," a statement read.
 
They were also "deeply concerned by the plans to build a new settlement in the midst of this traditional Palestinian neighbourhood," the statement continued, noting that "settlements are illegal under international law."
 
On Wednesday, Israeli police evicted the family from their home in the annexed east Jerusalem neighbourhood after Jewish settlers won a court battle over ownership.
 
The eviction of the 14-member Natshe family from two houses in Beit Hanina was the first successful attempt by settlers to secure a property in the well-heeled Arab district in the northern part of east Jerusalem.
 
Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War, and considers all the city its "eternal, undivided" capital. It does not consider construction in the eastern sector settlement building.
 
But the Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state, and furiously denounce any move by Israel to buy or build property there.
 
The international community considers all Israeli settlement on occupied land to be illegal under international law.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 01, 2012, 12:06:55 pm
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-4222830,00.html

Israel begins buildings wall on Lebanon border

Army says wall that will stretch from Metulla to Kila intended to 'prevent firing from Lebanese side'
Maor Buchnik, Reuters

Israel began building a wall on Monday along a 1-km (0.6 mile) -stretch of its border with Lebanon, saying the barrier was necessary to boost security for an Israeli frontier town across from a Lebanese village.

An Israeli security fence already runs along the entire border but the military said defenses had to be bolstered with a 5-7 meter-(16-23 feet) high cement wall between the Israeli town of Metulla and the Lebanese village of Kila.

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 07, 2012, 12:35:26 pm
Troop movement renews Sinai reoccupation buzz

Oil, natural gas fields ripe for takeover that also would undermine terror attacks

5/4/12

WASHINGTON – The reported call-up by the Israeli Defense Forces of six battalions of reservists to be assigned mostly along the 150-mile border with Egypt facing the Sinai Peninsula has renewed buzz that Israel is planning to reoccupy the region, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

The move underscores not only concern by Tel Aviv of heightened terrorist attacks launched from the deserts there, but also the possibility of a remedy, at least temporarily, to the growing energy crisis that has emerged following Egypt’s cancellation of the contract that brought natural gas into Israel.

The gas, which met some 40 percent of Israel’s energy requirements, flowed through a pipeline that has been sabotaged some 14 times since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak last year.

The interim governing Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, then decided to pull back Egyptian troops from that frontier, and Israelis say now it is showing increased al-Qaida and Bedouin tribe violence.

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 07, 2012, 12:38:31 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155467

Jordanians Protest, Call to End Peace with Israel

Thousands of Jordanians take to the streets, demand an end to the country‘s 18-year-old peace treaty with Israel.


5/5/12

Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets on Friday demanding an end to the country‘s 18-year-old peace treaty with Israel.
 
According to a report by the dpa news agency, in a series of nationwide protests, demonstrators urged Amman to cut ties with the Jewish State.
 
The protesters burned Israeli flags and chanted “death, death to Israel”, the report said.
 
The protests took place in seven cities across the country, and the protesters urged authorities to expel the Israeli ambassador from Amman, chanting “no to a Zionist embassy on our land.”
 
Protest organizers, including the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood and youth movements, told dpa the demonstrations came as a direct response to King Abdullah‘s recent nomination of Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh, who served as a key figure in the 1994 Jordan-Israel peace process.
 
Various political and social groups have expressed outrage over comments recently made by Tarawneh indicating that, if given a second chance, he would still support the controversial peace treaty.
 
“This is a person who obviously does not respect the people‘s will and his words are proof of how out of touch he is with average citizens,” Jamil Abu Baker, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, told dpa.
 
Tarawneh was appointed prime minister last week, after the resignation of 62-year-old Awn Khasawneh, an International Court of Justice judge who formed his cabinet last October and resigned just six months later.
 
On Wednesday, Tarawneh’s cabinet, which is tasked with pushing for reforms, was sworn in.
 
Jordanians have been demonstrating since January of last year, demanding sweeping political and economic reforms as well as an end to corruption, as part of the Arab Spring protests.
 
The dpa report noted that Friday’s protests marked a departure from activists‘ usual demands for democratic reforms.
 
(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 12, 2012, 07:44:48 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-palestinians-meet-strike-talks-ongoing-145000209.html

Israel Palestinians meet, strike talks ongoing

5/12/12

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israelis and Palestinians are negotiating through Egyptian mediators to end a mass Palestinian hunger strike, officials said Saturday. Later, an Israeli envoy is set to meet with the Palestinian president about stalled peace talks.

Some 1,600 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails are on hunger strike to demand better conditions and to put an end to detention without trial. The Egyptian-brokered talks mark the first time that substantive negotiations have been reported to be under way to defuse the protest since it began weeks, and in some cases months, ago.

Palestinian officials say Egyptian mediators are trying to hash out an agreement between the strikers and Israel. An Israeli official confirmed talks were taking place but would not elaborate.

All requested anonymity, because of the matter's sensitivity. Egyptian officials weren't immediately available for comment.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 13, 2012, 01:35:30 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-responds-palestinian-letter-215234971.html

5/12/12

Netanyahu responds to Palestinian letter
By Ali Sawafta | Reuters – 20 hrs ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinian Authority issued a rare joint statement on Saturday, saying they were committed to peace after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispatched an envoy to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
 
The envoy carried a letter from Netanyahu replying to one he received last month from Abbas, in which the Palestinian leader stated his grievances over the collapse of peace talks in 2010 and laid out his parameters for a resumption of negotiations.
 
Details of Netanyahu's letter were not released, but Israeli officials said last week that they did not expect him to accept a key Palestinian demand to halt all settlement building in the occupied territories before reopening any talks.
 
Netanyahu's office issued a joint statement with the Palestinians after envoy Isaac Molcho met Abbas in Ramallah -- the Palestinian Authority's administrative capital.

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 16, 2012, 09:32:16 am
http://news.yahoo.com/eu-slams-israel-over-settlements-palestinians-151434976.html

5/14/12

EU castigates Israel over settlements, Palestinians

EU foreign ministers on Monday issued a harsh critique of Israel, saying the gathering pace of settlement-building, settler extremism and ill-treatment of Palestinians threatens a two-state solution.
 
"The EU expresses deep concern about developments on the ground which threaten to make a two-state solution impossible," the bloc's 27 ministers said in a statement issued during talks in Brussels.
 
"The viability of a two-state solution must be maintained," the three-page European Union statement added.
 
Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said on Monday that Israel was moving ahead with plans to build around 2,000 new homes in the settlement of Gilo, in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 10, 2012, 01:17:34 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-palestinian-negotiators-quietly-meet-132820822.html

6/10/12

[size=18]Israeli, Palestinian negotiators quietly meet[/size]
By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH | Associated Press – 2 hrs 30 mins ago.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been meeting quietly in recent weeks in hopes of ending a three-year standstill in peace efforts, both sides confirmed Sunday.

Officials acknowledged the agenda of the recent talks has been modest, and stressed there is no breakthrough in sight. Nonetheless, the revelations gave a small sign of hope that a formula can be found to restart formal negotiations addressing core issues.

Peace talks broke down in December 2008, and have remained frozen ever since. The Palestinians say they will not resume negotiations until Israel halts settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, occupied lands claimed by the Palestinians for a future state. The Palestinians also want Israel to accept its pre-1967 boundaries, before it captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem, as the basis of a final border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says talks should restart without preconditions.

Palestinian officials said their chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, and Netanyahu's envoy, Yitzhak Molcho, have been meeting on a regular basis in hopes of finding a formula for restarting talks. They said they have not eased their demands, but were open to scheduling a meeting between Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The two men have not met since a short-lived attempt to relaunch negotiations in late 2010.

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 14, 2012, 10:42:57 am
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23254/language/en-US/Default.aspx

6/13/12

Jewish, Arab believers meet for true reconciliation in Jerusalem

Muslim background followers of Jesus from various Middle Eastern countries met with their Messianic Jewish and Christian counterparts May 7 – 12  in the Old City of Jerusalem at Christ Church, the oldest Protestant Church in the Middle East.  Although similar conferences have been held over the years in the Middle East, this is the first time such a gathering has been held in Israel.
   
At the Crossroads convened in the context of Isaiah’s vision of a highway that will run from Egypt and Israel to Assyria – a model of worship and partnership for Christians across the region that will lead to the Middle East becoming a “blessing on the earth.” 
   
More than seventy delegates came from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Israel, Iraq, Palestinian Authority, Cyprus, Armenia, Turkey, Europe and North America. Worshiping and praying together in Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Hebrew, and hearing testimonies about the blessings and challenges of following Jesus in our region were among the highlights of the conference.

Due to security concerns the conference was a closed, invitation only gathering.  However, two sessions were open to local guests featuring speakers Rev. Andrew White, the “Vicar of Baghdad”, and Pastor Ali Pektash, a Muslim who came to faith in Jesus through a dream while on hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. 

Messianic Jewish and Palestinian leaders, including Taysir Abu Saada, author of Once an Arafat Man, also addressed the delegates, testifying to God’s power not only to reconcile enemies but to enable them to take risks by crossing ethnic, political and religious divides to work together to expand God’s kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in this troubled and unstable region. 

In the words of one of the organizers, “It is all too easy for Christians in the Middle East to become ghettoized due to their minority status and the many ethnic and political divisions. Consequently we often fail to see how God is working in our midst.  Our focus must extend beyond these conflicts and only the survival of existing Christian communities.  Without ignoring the suffering and injustice in so many parts of our region, we should focus on the call of Jesus to expand God’s sovereignty by making disciples, recognizing the crucial role Jewish believers in Israel have in the Great Commission to bless their neighbors with the Good News.  And equally so, the followers of Jesus in the surrounding nations have a unique role in helping Israel become part of the blessing that God intends for this region.”   


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 28, 2012, 10:40:11 pm
I have questions about this in my next post here...

President Obama Signs US-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act(Video of signing and PC inside link)

7/27/12
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2012/07/27/president-obama-signs-us-israel-enhanced-security-cooperation-act

President Obama signs the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012, which strengthens Israel’s qualitative military edge and support for Administration initiatives that deepen U.S. defense and security cooperation with Israel.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr4133/text

HR 4133 RFS
 
112th CONGRESS
 
2d Session
 
H. R. 4133
 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
 
May 10, 2012
 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
 
AN ACT
 
To express the sense of Congress regarding the United States-Israel strategic relationship, to direct the President to submit to Congress reports on United States actions to enhance this relationship and to assist in the defense of Israel, and for other purposes.
 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
 
This Act may be cited as the ‘United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012’.
 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
 
Congress finds the following:
 
(1) Since 1948, United States Presidents and both houses of Congress, on a bipartisan basis and supported by the American people, have repeatedly reaffirmed the special bond between the United States and Israel, based on shared values and shared interests.
 
(2) The Middle East is undergoing rapid change, bringing with it hope for an expansion of democracy but also great challenges to the national security of the United States and our allies in the region, particularly our most important ally in the region, Israel. Over the past year, the Middle East has witnessed the fall of some regimes long considered to be stabilizing forces and a rise in the influence of radical Islamists.
 
(3) Iran, which has long sought to foment instability and promote extremism in the Middle East, is now seeking to exploit the dramatic political transition underway in the region to undermine governments traditionally aligned with the United States and support extremist political movements in these countries.
 
(4) At the same time, Iran may soon attain a nuclear weapons capability, a development that would fundamentally threaten vital American interests, destabilize the region, encourage regional nuclear proliferation, further empower and embolden Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, and provide it the tools to threaten its neighbors, including Israel.
 
(5) Over the past several years, with the assistance of Iran and Syria, Hizballah and Hamas have increased their stockpiles of rockets, with more than 60,000 rockets now ready to be fired at Israel. Iran continues to add to its arsenal of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, which threaten Iran’s neighbors, Israel, and United States military forces in the region.
 
(6) As a result, the strategic environment that has kept Israel secure and safeguarded United States national interests for the past 35 years has eroded.
 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
 
It is the policy of the United States:
 
(1) To reaffirm the enduring commitment of the United States to the security of the State of Israel as a Jewish state. As President Obama stated on December 16, 2011, ‘America’s commitment and my commitment to Israel and Israel’s security is unshakeable.’. And as President Bush stated before the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel on May 15, 2008, ‘The alliance between our governments is unbreakable, yet the source of our friendship runs deeper than any treaty.’.
 
(2) To provide Israel the military capabilities necessary to deter and defend itself by itself against any threats.
 
(3) To veto any one-sided anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations Security Council.
 
(4) To support Israel’s inherent right to self-defense.
 
(5) To pursue avenues to expand cooperation with Israel in both defense and across the spectrum of civilian sectors, including high technology, agriculture, medicine, health, pharmaceuticals, and energy.
 
(6) To assist Israel with its on-going efforts to forge a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that results in two states living side by side in peace and security, and to encourage Israel’s neighbors to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
 
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES ACTIONS TO ASSIST IN THE DEFENSE OF ISRAEL AND PROTECT AMERICAN INTERESTS.
 
(a) Sense of Congress- It is the sense of Congress that the United States should take the following actions to assist in the defense of Israel:
 
(1) Provide Israel such support as may be necessary to increase development and production of joint missile defense systems, particularly such systems that defend the urgent threat posed to Israel and United States forces in the region.
 
(2) Provide Israel assistance specifically for the production and procurement of the Iron Dome defense system for purposes of intercepting short-range missiles, rockets, and projectiles launched against Israel.
 
(3) Provide Israel defense articles and defense services through such mechanisms as appropriate, to include air refueling tankers, missile defense capabilities, and specialized munitions.
 
(4) Allocate additional weaponry and munitions for the forward-deployed United States stockpile in Israel.
 
(5) Provide Israel additional surplus defense articles and defense services, as appropriate, in the wake of the withdrawal of United States forces from Iraq.
 
(6) Strengthen efforts to prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza pursuant to the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access following the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and to protect against weapons smuggling and terrorist threats from the Sinai Peninsula.
 
(7) Offer the Israeli Air Force additional training and exercise opportunities in the United States to compensate for Israel’s limited air space.
 
(8) Expand Israel’s authority to make purchases under the Foreign Military Financing program on a commercial basis.
 
(9) Seek to enhance the capabilities of the United States and Israel to address emerging common threats, increase security cooperation, and expand joint military exercises.
 
(10) Encourage an expanded role for Israel within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including an enhanced presence at NATO headquarters and exercises.
 
(11) Support extension of the long-standing loan guarantee program for Israel, recognizing Israel’s unbroken record of repaying its loans on time and in full.
 
(12) Expand already-close intelligence cooperation, including satellite intelligence, with Israel.
 
(b) Report on Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge-
 
(1) STATEMENT OF POLICY- It is the policy of the United States--
 
(A) to help Israel preserve its qualitative military edge amid rapid and uncertain regional political transformation; and
 
(B) to encourage further development of advanced technology programs between the United States and Israel given current trends and instability in the region.
 
(2) REPORT- Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on the status of Israel’s qualitative military edge in light of current trends and instability in the region.
 
(c) Reports on Other Matters- Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on each of the following:
 
(1) Taking into account Israel’s urgent requirement for F-35 aircraft, actions to improve the process relating to Israel’s purchase of F-35 aircraft to improve cost efficiency and timely delivery.
 
(2) Efforts to expand cooperation between the United States and Israel in homeland security, counter-terrorism, maritime security, energy, cybersecurity, and other appropriate areas.
 
(3) Actions to integrate Israel into the defense of the Eastern Mediterranean.
 
(d) Definitions- In this section:
 
(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES- The term ‘appropriate congressional committees’ means--
 
(A) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and
 
(B) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
 
(2) QUALITATIVE MILITARY EDGE- The term ‘qualitative military edge’ has the meaning given the term in section 36(h)(2) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(h)(2)).
 
SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE LOAN GUARANTEES TO ISRAEL.
 
(a) In General- Chapter 5 of title I of the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public Law 108-11), as amended, is further amended in the item relating to ‘Loan Guarantees to Israel’--
 
(1) in the matter preceding the first proviso, by striking ‘September 30, 2011’ and inserting ‘September 30, 2015’; and
 
(2) in the second proviso, by striking ‘September 30, 2011’ and inserting ‘September 30, 2015’.
 
(b) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
 
Passed the House of Representatives May 9, 2012.
 
Attest:
 
KAREN L. HAAS,
 
Clerk.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 28, 2012, 10:45:00 pm
OK, I'll admit I may be jumping the gun and reading too much into this, which is why I'm asking questions to help clear this up...

Do you guys think that maybe, MAYBE this is the blueprint for the Daniel 9:27 AC covenant? Or even a STRETCH here...did Obama just sign THE Daniel 9:27 covenant?

Again, I'll admit I jumped out of my seat when I saw the bolded print, in particular, in the post above - but at the same time it would be very foolish of me to go around screaming this in everyone's ears like it's prophecy being fulfilled.

Thank you! :)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 17, 2012, 10:22:13 am
http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=287999

Rice: US does not accept legitimacy of settlements

By JPOST.COM STAFF
16/10/2012
Ambassador Susan Rice tells UN council US opposes outposts, says Israel must step up efforts to deter violence, hate crimes.

US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Susan E. Rice said on Monday that the US "does not accept the legitimacy of Israeli settlement activity, and will continue to oppose any efforts to legalize outposts."

Speaking at the Security Council Open Debate on the Middle East, Rice emphasized: "The fate of existing settlements must be dealt with by the parties along with other permanent-status issues."

Referring to anti-Palestinian violence and desecration of religious sites, Rice added: "Israel should step up its efforts to deter, confront, and prosecute anti-Palestinian violence and extremist hate crimes."

She stated: "In the West Bank, the recent and repeated destruction of Palestinian olive groves, a critical source of income for the local population, is deplorable. We look to Israeli authorities to act decisively to protect these resources and investigate such acts."

Turning to Middle East peace efforts, Rice commented: “We actively support the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution resulting from direct negotiations without preconditions between the Israelis and Palestinians.”

The US ambassador added that unilateral actions, including initiatives to grant Palestinians non-member state observer status at the United Nations, would "only jeopardize the peace process and complicate efforts to return the parties to direct negotiations."

She said such actions "will neither improve the daily lives of Palestinians nor foster the trust essential to make progress towards a two-state solution."

Commenting on the Palestinian fiscal crisis, the US Permanent Representative thanked Israel for its support which served to "to provide financial resources to meet the basic needs of the Palestinian people."

Blaming inaction as the reason for the severity of the economic situation in the Palestinian territories, Rice urged for continued international support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, to further its efforts to provide assistance for Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, and elsewhere until a final negotiated solution is reached.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 22, 2012, 09:14:28 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/jimmy-carter-says-mideast-peace-vanishing-155117602.html

Jimmy Carter says Mideast peace is 'vanishing'

10/21/12

JERUSALEM (AP) — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Monday during a visit to Jerusalem that the prospect of an Israel-Palestinian peace accord is "vanishing," blaming Israeli settlement of the West Bank.

Carter, a longtime critic of Israeli policies, called the current situation "catastrophic" and blamed Israel for the growing isolation of east Jerusalem from the West Bank. He said a Palestinian state has become "unviable."

"We've reached a crisis stage," said Carter, 88. "The two-state solution is the only realistic path to peace and security for Israel and the Palestinians."

Carter is currently on a two-day visit leading a delegation known as the "The Elders," which includes the former prime minister of Norway and the former president of Ireland. The group met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

But they didn't meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Carter said that the delegation didn't request a meeting because they haven't been granted meetings on previous visits.

Netanyahu has pledged support for a Palestinian state but peace talks with the Palestinians have been frozen for most of his tenure. Carter criticized him for not doing enough.

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 24, 2012, 07:55:29 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-kills-one-second-day-gaza-strikes-062552365.html

.
Israel says 79 rockets fired at it from Gaza
By Jeffrey Heller | Reuters – 3 hrs ago.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinians fired dozens of rockets into Israel from Gaza on Wednesday and an Israeli air strike killed a militant, a day after the Emir of Qatar made a rare visit to the enclave's Hamas leadership.
 
Hamas claimed responsibility for some of the rocket and mortar bomb attacks, prompting some Israelis to wonder whether it had been emboldened by the Qatari visit on Tuesday that broke the Islamist group's diplomatic isolation.
 
In recent months, Hamas has largely held its fire when other militant factions have launched cross-border rocket attacks, but the sudden upsurge in violence stoked fears that the hostilities could escalate further.
 
Hamas accused Israel of stepping up air strikes in the Gaza Strip, a move it said was meant to convey Israeli anger over Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani's visit, and pledged to "continue to hold a gun ... until Palestine is liberated".

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 07, 2012, 11:58:21 am
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-victory-spells-trouble-israels-netanyahu-124053396.html

11/7/12

Obama victory spells trouble for Israel's Netanyahu

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces an even more awkward time with Washington and re-energized critics at home who accused him on Wednesday of backing the loser in the U.S. presidential election.

With Iran topping his conservative agenda, Netanyahu will have to contend with a strengthened second-term Democratic president after four years of frosty dealings with Barack Obama and a rift over how to curb Tehran's nuclear program.

Facing his own re-election battle in January, polls give Netanyahu little chance of losing but perceptions that he has mishandled Israel's main ally have been seized on by opponents.

"I will continue to work with President Obama to ensure the interests that are vital for the security of Israel's citizens," Netanyahu said in a short, congratulatory statement hailing what he called strong strategic relations with Washington.

But in remarks underscoring a rift with the United States over possible Israeli military action against Iran, Netanyahu said in an interview broadcast on Israel's Channel 2 this week: "If there is no other way to stop Iran, Israel is ready to act."

Relations between Netanyahu and Obama hit a new low two months ago after the Israeli leader said nations which failed to set "red lines" for Iran - which denies seeking atomic arms - did not have the "moral right" to stop Israel from attacking.

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on November 07, 2012, 04:06:42 pm
Think they are in a pickle now? What are they going to do if Barry announces a "conversion" to Islam?

What would people do if Obama did that? Not vote for him? And can you legally go after a person soley because of their religious beliefs? According to the government, no, in policy. In practice? That's another story.

So then who could really make a stink if Obama did announce he was Muslim all the time, and he then proceeded to explain the Muslim mentality of lying when it forwards the cause of Islam as justification. He could easily argue if he had made it known his true religion, he would not have been able to be a "good president" with all the "distractions" it would have brought. Sounds plausible.

That said, just think of the uproar over it. Eventually the American public would realize that they had been duped by, of all people, a Muslim in disguise, when considering 9/11. Now can we see how Obama wouldn't want his records made public? The pieces all fit.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on November 08, 2012, 03:06:42 pm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/08/us-palestinians-un-statehood-idUSBRE8A71EF20121108 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/08/us-palestinians-un-statehood-idUSBRE8A71EF20121108)

Quote
Palestinians prepare U.N. upgrade despite U.S., Israel warnings

(Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority circulated a draft resolution to U.N. member states on Wednesday that calls for upgrading its U.N. status to that of an "observer state" despite U.S. and Israeli suggestions that the Palestinians could face retaliatory moves.

The draft resolution, which could be put to a vote in the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly later this month, also reiterates the Palestinian Authority's commitment to the "two-state solution" in which Israel and an independent Palestinian state would co-exist in peace.

If approved, the resolution would "accord to Palestine Observer State status in the United Nations system, without prejudice to the acquired rights, privileges and role of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people," according to a draft obtained by Reuters.

The Palestinians are currently considered an observer "entity" at the United Nations. Acceptance of the Palestinians as a non-member state, similar to the Vatican's U.N. status, would implicitly recognize Palestinian statehood.

The upgrade could also grant the Palestinians access to bodies like the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where they could file complaints against Israel.

(cont.)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 10, 2012, 11:08:11 am
Israeli tank shells wound at least 16 Palestinians in Gaza Strip after apparent attack on Israeli patrol - @Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/10/us-palestinians-israel-violence-idUSBRE8A90BE20121110


At least 2 killed, 20 injured in clashes between Israeli army and Palestinian militants near Gaza City - @BBCBreaking
http://twitter.com/BBCBreaking


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 13, 2012, 02:59:11 pm
http://www.thegoldenreport.com/reports/414-you-can-believe-god-will-bring-the-jews-home

11/13/12

You Can Believe God Will Bring The Jews Home.
 
Anti-Semitic hatred in Europe is not only increasing but in places like Norway has been successful in running all the Jews out of the country. With only a few hundred Jews left in Norway and all of them now reporting that they are leaving as well for fear of their lives. Read recent article HERE.
 
The Neo-Nazis in Germany are forcing Jews in parts of Germany to live in fear, and Jewish men dare not wear their Kippots (head covering) many have been beaten and Synagogues have been brunt down much like the 1930's and 40's.

France the largest concentration of European Jews has seen a several hundred percent increase in violence towards Jews and Jewish businesses over the past year. French Jew who can afford has bought homes and apartments in Israel as a last minute place to run to. Many American Jews have been doing the same thing.

In London they have built a new Mosque that holds up to 40,000 Muslim worshippers and it is not uncommon to see streets down town closed because the Muslims have decided to pray by the thousands in the middle of the streets while the police standby and do nothing, they are afraid to do anything. 
 
If you live in the United States you might want to look at Detroit and Dearborn Michigan where there are Muslim neighborhoods the police will not go into for fear of their own life. Or for that matter you have noticed the Muslim women showing up with the traditional head scarf's in your town. This should be a sign to you that you're next.

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Title: Palestinians to Renew UN Bid for Statehood
Post by: Mark on November 19, 2012, 07:14:49 am
Palestinians to Renew UN Bid for Statehood

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas will once again seek recognition for a Palestinian state at the United Nations.

Though a similar bid last year before the U.N. Security Council failed, most believe it will succeed in the General Assembly where the P.A. can count on broad support from Arab and Islamic member nations.

Last week, President Obama reportedly called Abbas to try to convince him not to go to the General Assembly, but the P.A. leader said he intends to pursue it, confident he'll succeed.

Abbas will make his appeal later this month, on Nov. 29.

Israel said if the United Nations does upgrade Palestinian status, that would threaten existing agreements.

According to a document from Israel's Foreign Ministry, the Jewish state will "reconsider and nullify" its 1990 peace agreement with the Palestinians.

It also warned of "grave consequences" and a "unilateral Israeli response."

Israel and the United States maintain that the Palestinians can gain independence only through direct negotiations.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/November/PA-to-Renew-UN-Bid-for-Palestinian-Statehood/


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on November 23, 2012, 05:55:38 pm
France Hints it Will Support PA's UN Bid
French Foreign Minister reminds senate that President Hollande promised to promote recognition of a Palestinian state.


France is considering voting in favor of the Palestinian Authority’s unilateral statehood bid at the United Nations, its foreign minister hinted on Thursday.

Speaking at a hearing in the French senate, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reminded that French President Francois Hollande promised during his election campaign to promote the issue of Palestinian statehood.

"I would like to mention that in his election campaign, President Hollande said he would work toward international recognition of a Palestinian state," Fabius said.

While he did not specifically say how France would vote when the PA submits its request, a French government official said Fabius’ remarks are a hint that France would support the PA’s request for recognition as a non-member observer state.

Earlier this week, British Foreign Secretary William Hague called Abbas to back off from his plans to ask for UN recognition, saying, "While there is any chance of achieving a return to talks in the coming months, we continue to advise President Abbas against attempts to win Palestinian observer state status.

"We judge that this would make it harder to secure a return to negotiations, and could have very serious consequences for the Palestinian Authority," Hague told the British parliament.

Meanwhile, Channel 10 News reported on Thursday that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have asked Jerusalem not to punish Abbas as a result of his UN bid. Previous reports indicated that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has threatened that if the PA goes ahead with its unilateral statehood bid he “will work to ensure the PA will collapse.”

Lieberman reportedly stressed that a unilateral statehood bid by the PA will "put an end to the chances to resume peace negotiations."

Channel 10 reported that the international community is trying to come up with a compromise which would allow Abbas, on the one hand, to return from New York to Ramallah with UN recognition, but at the same time would prevent him to file lawsuits against Israel in the International Criminal Court.

Abbas recently announced that the PA will present its bid for non-state UN membership on November 29. That date was chosen on purpose, as it is the anniversary of the day in 1947 in which the United Nations voted in favor of the partition plan. The resolution recommended the creation of two states, one Arab, one Jewish and granted a small portion of the area, under the British Mandate, to the new Jewish state.

U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that he opposes the PA bid and asked Abbas not to go through with it. However, Abbas responded to Obama with a direct “no”.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has told its ambassadors to explain that the PA’s plan to ask for UN recognition is a violation of the Oslo Accords and may cause Israel to officially announce that it is “canceling them partially or completely.”

The agreement commits the PA to negotiate with Israel for the establishment of an independent PA entity.

Lieberman, meanwhile, insisted on Thursday that Israel would not back down and would sanction Abbas if he goes ahead with his bid.

“We respect the American government," Lieberman told Channel 10 News, “but we act according to Israeli interests, and I do not think we should it let it slide if Abbas takes such a far-reaching unilateral step, and there must be a serious Israeli response.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/162433#.ULAMzoYXElR


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 23, 2012, 06:49:54 pm
Since Obama's re-election, things seem to be speeding up, kinda rather quickly.

These were the same agendas that tried to get rammed through last year, but came up short. Yeah, not surprised that any of this went away at all.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 26, 2012, 12:47:55 pm
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=293489

Hamas lends support to Abbas's UN statehood bid

By REUTERS

11/26/2012 15:20

Mashaal calls PA president to back bid in unexpected change of heart; Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri says group backs any political gain Abbas can achieve at UN "without causing harm to the national Palestinian rights."

The Islamist group Hamas said on Monday it was backing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's attempt to win more clout for Palestinians at the United Nations, the latest sign of a rapprochement between the political rivals.

The Palestinians are registered as an observer entity at the UN and Abbas wants to see them upgraded to a "non-member state" in a UN General Assembly vote on November 29, giving him access to other international organizations.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on November 27, 2012, 02:28:58 am
Well, with Ehud Barak calling it quits from politics in January, some changes are definately coming with the coming Israeli elections, and his replacement may not be so conservative as Barak. I guess Hamas sees this as an opportunity to get what they can.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/ehud-barak-israel-defense_n_2190889.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/ehud-barak-israel-defense_n_2190889.html)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 27, 2012, 11:30:25 am
http://news.yahoo.com/france-back-palestinian-u-n-status-142305239.html

France to back Palestinian U.N. status

11/27/12
PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Tuesday it would vote in favour of Palestinian non-member status at the United Nations, boosting Palestinian efforts to secure greater international recognition.

Frustrated that their bid for full U.N. membership last year was thwarted by U.S. opposition in the U.N. Security Council, Palestinians have launched a watered-down bid for recognition as a non-member state, similar to the status the Vatican enjoys.

The proposal, which is due to be put to the vote in the General Assembly at the end of the week, would implicitly recognize Palestinian statehood. It could also grant access to bodies such as the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where the Palestinians could file complaints against Israel.

"This Thursday or Friday, when the question is asked, France will vote yes," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced in the French National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.

Abbas' bid seems certain to win approval in any vote in the 193-nation assembly. The United States say Palestinian statehood must be achieved by negotiation and has called on Abbas to return to peace talks that collapsed in 2010 over Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.

"It is only with negotiations between the two sides that we demand immediately without any preconditions that a Palestinian state can become a reality," Fabius said.

France, a member of the U.N. Security Council, had under former President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to support Abbas if he opted for the upgrade option and broke from its closest allies last year voting in favour of giving the Palestinians full membership of the U.N.'s cultural agency UNESCO.

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Angus MacSwan)



Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on November 27, 2012, 08:54:50 pm

U.N. poised to offer Palestinians ‘non-member observer’ status


 The U.N. General Assembly is poised to recognize Palestine as a “non-member observer state” on Thursday, a move that will strengthen the Palestinians’ legal basis for pursuing possible war-crimes prosecutions against Israeli troops and set up a showdown with the United States and Israel.

Supporters hope the vote will provide a desperately needed political boost to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party has been eclipsed in recent weeks by rival Hamas, the militant movement whose fortunes have risen with those of its Islamist allies in Egypt and elsewhere.

rest: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/un-poised-to-offer-palestinians-non-member-observer-status/2012/11/27/851f84f6-38e6-11e2-a263-f0ebffed2f15_story.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 28, 2012, 11:04:19 am
http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-un-bid-last-ditch-peace-effort-122127535.html

11/28/12

Palestinians say UN bid is last-ditch peace effort

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A bid for U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine is a last-ditch attempt to rescue troubled Mideast peace efforts, a Palestinian spokeswoman said Wednesday, rejecting Israel's charge that it is an attempt to bypass negotiations.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, urged the U.S. to drop its opposition to the bid, dismissing Washington's stance as "pathetic" and harmful to American interests in the region. The Palestinians have come under intense pressure from the U.S., Britain and others to modify the bid but "have not succumbed," she said.

On Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to ask the U.N. General Assembly to recognize Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but still controls most access.

The Palestinians expect some two-thirds of the General Assembly's 193 members will accept Palestine as a non-member observer state. The U.S., Israel, Canada and a few others are opposed.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on November 28, 2012, 11:45:58 am
They are no state! And "Palistine" is the region, not Israel, and definately not just Arab-decent peoples. Technically, anybody that is born in the region is a Palistinian, no matter their blood heritage. It's like saying only people that are natural born citizens can be called Americans. It's silly, but what do you expect from a people that believe it's okay to lie if it forwards Islam. ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 28, 2012, 02:06:18 pm
UN To Vote Thursday On Raising Palestinian Status

The Palestinians said the U.N. General Assembly will vote Thursday afternoon on a resolution raising their status at the United Nations from an observer to a nonmember observer state, a move they believe is an important step toward a two-state solution with Israel. Unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the General Assembly and the resolution is virtually certain of approval. The world body is dominated by countries sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and the resolution only requires a majority vote for approval. To date, 132 countries - over two-thirds of the U.N. member states - have recognized the state of Palestine. 

MORE: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121127/DA2Q1B880.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 28, 2012, 02:12:37 pm
You have this on Thursday, and then on Friday the USSC will decide whether to hear the CA Prop 8 case.

The end of this week is going to be really interesting...


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2012, 06:15:56 am
UN To Vote Thursday On Raising Palestinian Status

The Palestinians said the U.N. General Assembly will vote Thursday afternoon on a resolution raising their status at the United Nations from an observer to a nonmember observer state, a move they believe is an important step toward a two-state solution with Israel. Unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the General Assembly and the resolution is virtually certain of approval. The world body is dominated by countries sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and the resolution only requires a majority vote for approval. To date, 132 countries - over two-thirds of the U.N. member states - have recognized the state of Palestine. 

MORE: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121127/DA2Q1B880.html



Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2012, 06:18:29 am
Palestinian Statehood Push May Derail Peace Efforts

Palestinian leaders are hoping the United Nations will upgrade their status this week to statehood. It's a move many say will scuttle decades of U.S.-backed peace talks. Israel, the United States, Canada and a handful of countries are opposing the move by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for non-member state at the U.N.  The PLO sent out a clip of a CNN interview saying Hamas and all Palestinians are united. "So we really have unanimous, total support for going to the U.N. General Assembly and getting the upgrade to state status," Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, a PLO Executive Committee member, said. She addd that the move will determine the boundaries of a Palestinian state and its claims to Jerusalem.   

MORE: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2012/November/Palestinian-Statehood-Push-May-Derail-Peace-Efforts/


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2012, 07:04:46 am
Vatican Supports Palestinian Arab Intifada For “Zionist-Free Middle East”

Hizbullah's officials, the Shiite terrorist group based in Lebanon, were hosted in Rome by the Vatican during the recent ceremony for the election of six new cardinals. Among the new cardinals is the Lebanese Patriarch, Bechara Boutros Rai. As head of Lebanon’s Catholic Church, Rai recently sent his envoy, Father Abdo Abou Kassem, to Teheran to attend a conference in support of the Palestinian Arab Intifada and of a “Zionist-free middle east”. The conference was attended also by Hizbullah ideologue, Mohammad Raad, and by the Hamas’ leader Khaled Meshaal. Cardinal Rai recently said in Paris that he supports Hizbullah's war against Israel: "Only when the international community exerts pressure on Israel to vacate the occupied Lebanese territory and Israel allows Palestinians in Lebanon to return to their homes, can Hizbullah be asked to hand over its arms because they will no longer be needed". It is not clear from the Cardinal's remarks to which...

more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/12491#.ULKlboZfakI


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 29, 2012, 08:43:43 am
Vatican Supports Palestinian Arab Intifada For “Zionist-Free Middle East”


"Zionist-Free"? Now where have we heard this before? From the so-called "truth" movement? ::)


Title: Re: Palestinians back off UN Security Council statehood bid
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2012, 09:04:34 am
"Zionist-Free"? Now where have we heard this before? From the so-called "truth" movement? ::)

Norway is now officially "Judenrein" -- free of Jews.
http://israelamerica.blogspot.co.il/2012/08/western-europe-will-soon-bejudenrein.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2012, 09:10:10 am
U.N. set to implicitly recognize Palestinian state, despite U.S., Israel threats

The U.N. General Assembly is set to implicitly recognize a sovereign state of Palestine on Thursday despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinian Authority by withholding much-needed funds for the West Bank government.

A resolution that would change the Palestinian Authority's U.N. observer status from "entity" to "non-member state," like the Vatican, is expected to pass easily in the 193-nation General Assembly.

Israel, the United States and a handful of other members are planning to vote against what they see as a largely symbolic and counterproductive move by the Palestinians, which takes place on the 65th anniversary of the assembly's adoption of resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.

rest: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/29/us-palestinians-statehood-idUSBRE8AR0EG20121129


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2012, 02:26:09 pm
As Fatah fades, UN recognition of Palestine may eventually benefit Hamas

 Thursday night, Nov. 29, the UN General Assembly grants Palestine non-member observer status within the 1967 borders by majority vote. But to which Palestinian rule does it apply?  Abbas’s Fatah is fading, whereas the extremist Hamas in the Gaza Strip is a rising force. If it qualifies for a place in the Sunni Middle East grouping Egypt, Turkey and Qatar are building with US backing and Israeli approval, Hamas may become the beneficiary of the upgraded Palestinian status won by Abbas.

Read more: http://www.debka.com/article/22570/As-Fatah-fades-UN-recognition-of-Palestine-may-eventually-benefit-Hamas


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2012, 02:29:09 pm
Netanyahu: No Palestinian state without recognizing Israeli

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu repeated Thursday that the UN resolution [approving Palestinian nonmember status] changes nothing in practice. “No Palestinian state will come into being without recognizing Israel as the state of the Jewish people. No matter how many hands are raised [in the UN chamber] nothing in the world will make us  compromise on Israel’s security.”

http://www.debka.com/newsupdatepopup/3063/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 29, 2012, 06:50:14 pm
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/29/15546351-un-upgrades-palestinian-status-bolstering-statehood-claim?lite

11/29/12

UN upgrades Palestinian status, bolstering statehood claim

The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution on Thursday giving implicit recognition to Palestinian statehood despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinian Authority by withholding funds for the West Bank government.

The resolution, which lifts the Palestinian Authority's U.N. observer status from "entity" to "non-member state," like the Vatican possesses, easily passed the 193-nation General Assembly with 138 nations voting in favor, and nine opposed, including the United States. Forty-one countries abstained, including the United Kingdom.

Israel, the United States and the other members who opposed the resolution see it as a largely symbolic and counterproductive move by the Palestinians. The vote took place on the 65th anniversary of the assembly's adoption of resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2012, 07:53:54 pm
UN General Assembly votes in favor of Palestinian statehood

The U.N. General Assembly voted Thursday in favor of Palestinian statehood, after the Palestinians asked it to recognize a non-member state of Palestine in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The resolution upgrading the Palestinians' status to a nonmember observer state at the United Nations was approved by a more than two-thirds majority of the 193-member world body -- a vote of 138 to 9, with the U.S. and Israel among those who opposed. There were 41 abstentions.

Real independence, however, remains an elusive dream until the Palestinians negotiate a peace deal with the Israelis, who warned that the General Assembly action will only delay a lasting solution. Israel still controls the West Bank, east Jerusalem and access to Gaza, and it accused the Palestinians of bypassing negotiations with the campaign to upgrade their U.N. status.

The United States immediately criticized the historic vote. "Today's unfortunate and counterproductive resolution places further obstacles in the path peace," U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said.

And U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the vote "unfortunate" and "counterproductive."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the General Assembly shortly before the vote "defamatory and venomous," saying it was "full of mendacious propaganda" against Israel.

Abbas had told the General Assembly that it was "being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine." Abbas said the vote is the last chance to save the two-state solution.

After the vote, Netanyahu said the UN move violated past agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and that Israel would act accordingly, without elaborating what steps it might take.

Just before the vote, Israel's U.N. ambassador, Ron Prosor, warned the General Assembly that "the Palestinians are turning their backs on peace" and that the U.N. can't break the 4,000-year-old bond between the people of Israel and the land of Israel.

The vote had been certain to succeed, with most of the member states sympathetic to the Palestinians. Several key countries, including France, this week announced they would support the move to elevate the Palestinians from the status of U.N. observer to nonmember observer state.

Thursday's vote came on the same day, Nov. 29, that the U.N. General Assembly in 1947 voted to recognize a state in Palestine, with the jubilant revelers then Jews. The Palestinians rejected that partition plan, and decades of tension and violence have followed.

The vote grants Abbas an overwhelming international endorsement for his key position: establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, the territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. With Netanyahu opposed to a pullback to the 1967 lines, this should strengthen Abbas' hand if peace talks resume.

The overwhelming vote also could help Abbas restore some of his standing, which has been eroded by years of standstill in peace efforts. His rival, Hamas, deeply entrenched in Gaza, has seen its popularity rise after an Israeli offensive on targets linked to the Islamic militant group there earlier this month.

Israel has stepped back from initial threats of harsh retaliation for the Palestinians seeking U.N. recognition, but government officials warned that Israel would respond to any Palestinian attempts to use the upgraded status to confront Israel in international bodies.

The Palestinians now can gain access to U.N. agencies and international bodies, most significantly the International Criminal Court, which could become a springboard for going after Israel for alleged war crimes or its ongoing settlement building on war-won land.

However, in the run-up to the U.N. vote, Abbas signaled that he wants recognition to give him leverage in future talks with Israel, and not as a tool for confronting or delegitimizing Israel, as Israeli leaders have alleged.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/29/israeli-official-downplays-palestinian-statehood-bid-ahead-un-vote


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2012, 07:55:41 pm
I would assume, but doesn't that mean that Israel can now legally declare war on Palestine and put an end officially to this mess.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on November 30, 2012, 04:05:51 am
Hmm, interesting point. One cannot declare war on occupiers that are no people. Well, now they are officially according to the UN, a state, so that means the Palistinian state is now responsible for terrorst attacks on the state of Israel. Which one can make the case those attacks are not just acts of terrorism, but acts of war.

But then, according to prophecy, it's all a moot point. Israel, then everybody else, will lose.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 30, 2012, 06:38:02 am
UN Recognizes Palestinian Statehood

The U.N. General Assembly approved an implicit recognition of Palestinian statehood on Thursday despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinian Authority by withholding funds for the West Bank government.  A resolution that would lift the Palestinian Authority's U.N. observer status from "entity" to "non-member state," like the Vatican, passed easily in the 193-nation General Assembly. The vote was 138 in favor, 9 against, 41 abstentions. Israel, the United States and a handful of other members voted against the effort which they... 
MORE: http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/un-recognizes-palestinian-state/2012/11/29/id/465893


Palestinians Celebrate UN Statehood Vote


Palestinians have erupted in wild cheers, hugging each other and honking car horns after the United Nations voted to grant them, at least formally, what they have long yearned for - a state of their own.
MORE: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121129/DA2RTVCO3.html


Netanyahu: UN Can't Force Israel to Compromise on Security

With Israel facing a stinging diplomatic defeat Thursday at the UN, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that regardless of how many vote against Israel, "no force in the world will get me to compromise on Israel's security." He also said no force in the world can sever the thousands-year-old tie between the Jewish people and the land of Israel.
MORE: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=293919


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 30, 2012, 08:28:00 am
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=294089

Vatican hails UN Palestine vote, wants guarantees for J'lem

By REUTERS

LAST UPDATED: 11/30/2012 11:45

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican hailed the United Nations' implicit recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday and called for an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem, something bound to irritate Israel.

The 193-nation UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's observer status at the United Nations from "entity" to "non-member state," the same status as the Vatican.

"The Holy See welcomes with favor the decision of the General Assembly by which Palestine has become a Non-member Observer State of the United Nations," a statement said.

But it also said it was a "propitious occasion" to recall a "common position" on Jerusalem expressed by the Vatican and the Palestine Liberation Organization when the two sides signed a basic agreement on their bilateral relations in 2000.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on November 30, 2012, 11:47:59 am
Well, we know the end results of this back and forth over Jerusalem, but it's interesting to watch take place.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 30, 2012, 08:11:44 pm
Israel Pushes Housing After U.N. Vote

Israel announced plans Friday to advance a wave of construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in what appeared to be swift retaliation against a resolution the United Nations General Assembly passed overwhelmingly the previous day giving the Palestinian territories observer status.

The government authorized the building of 3,000 new housing units, an Israeli official said. Israel also gave preliminary planning approval for thousands more units, including the highly sensitive corridor just east of Jerusalem known as the E-1 land tract. The area is watched closely by the international community amid concern that a robust Israeli presence there would virtually bisect the West Bank and render a Palestinian state unviable.

The Israeli move shows how, after getting a badly needed boost in domestic and international standing by the U.N. vote, the paths ahead for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas—such as peace talks with Israel or reconciliation with Hamas—are likely to bring challenges.

The mention of E-1 is a blunt challenge by Israel, as it highlights the gap between the Palestinians' resounding but symbolic international victory at the U.N., and the situation inside the West Bank, where Israel exercises exclusive control.

"Israel is saying, 'You are taking unilateral steps? We are taking unilateral steps, too. And whereas your unilateral steps are empty, ours are tangible,' " said Nathan Thrall, an analyst for the International Crisis Group.

Mr. Abbas argued at the U.N. that the statehood resolution will enable him to push for a resumption of peace talks with Israel. That is because the international recognition of the West Bank and Gaza as part of a future Palestinian state ostensibly gives Mr. Abbas support in negotiating territorial claims with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who refuses to declare the Green Line border of the West Bank as the basis for negotiations.

rest: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324205404578151184058853890.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 02, 2012, 11:09:17 am
Abbas 'Victory Speech': Jerusalem 'Eternal Capital of Palestine'

PA Chairman promises that someday the PA flag will fly over “Jerusalem, eternal capital of the state of Palestine.”


PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Sunday promised someday the PA flag would fly over “Jerusalem, eternal capital of the state of Palestine.”

Thousands of people greeted Abbas rapturously upon his return from the United Nations, where the General Assembly granted the PLO, representing the PA, upgraded status as a nonmember observer state.

"Raise your heads high, because you are Palestinians!” Abbas told the joyous crowd, waving PA flags in the PA capital of Ramallah, located in Samaria.

"You have proof that you are stronger than the occupation, because you are Palestinians... stronger than the settlements, because you are Palestinians.

"We were threatened with punishment and sanctions from various sides,” Abbas continued, in a reference to attempts by the United States and Israel to dissuade him from proceeding with the application.

"And if we had listened to those threats we wouldn't have gone to the U.N.

"One day, a young Palestinian will raise the Palestinian flag over Jerusalem,” he vowed, “the eternal capital of the state of Palestine!"

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/162753#.ULuK7IYXElR


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 02, 2012, 11:16:54 am
Abbas in Ramallah: We now have a state

PA president vows to pursue efforts to end the split between Gaza, West Bank, dedicates UN "victory" to late PA president Arafat.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday vowed to pursue efforts to end the split between the West Bank and Gaza and thanked Hamas and all Palestinian groups for supporting his statehood bid at the UN.

Abbas, who was speaking to thousands of supporters in Ramallah during a rally organized by the PA to celebrate the UN General Assembly's vote in favor of upgrading the status of the Palestinians to non-member observer state, said he would focus his efforts now on "restoring unity of the Palestinians and their lands and institutions."

The crowd, which consisted mostly of PA civil servants and Fatah activists, responded by chanting, "We want national unity!" and "With blood and soul, we redeem Abu Mazen [Abbas]."

In the coming days, Abbas said, "We will study accelerating moves to achieve reconciliation [with Hamas]."

Abbas hailed the outcome of the UN vote as an "historic achievement," adding that November 29 has become a "decisive turning point in our national struggle."

Noting that more than 75% of the UN members had voted in favor of the statehood bid, Abbas said that most of the countries that had abstained congratulated the Palestinians on their achievement.

"The message to us is very clear," he said. "We are not alone. History is with us. The future belongs to us and God is with us."

Abbas said he decided to go to the UN despite pressure and warnings from several parties. "They told us that if we go the world would explode," he added. "They asked us to postpone the move. Finally, they told us to change our policy and project. But we remained steadfast and triumphed because the world heard the voices of our people."

Abbas said he was presenting the UN "victory" as a gift to the the "soul of the late leader Yasser Arafat." He said that the Palestinians would continue to march in the footsteps of Arafat.

Abbas said the Palestinians would continue their struggle until the Palestinian flag is raised over the walls of Jerusalem's Old City and churches. He said that Jerusalem was the "eternal capital of the State of Palestine."

Abbas said he was also presenting the UN "victory" to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails for their "legendary sacrifices and steadfastness."

Abbas boasted that the UN vote has both provoked and isolated Israel in the international arena."

Abbas concluded his speech by telling Palestinians to "raise your heads high because you are Palestinians and you have proven that you are stronger than occupation and settlements."

Hamas responded to Abbas's call for unity by calling for "urgent meetings" between the two sides to solve their differences.

Hamas representative Salah Bardaweel pointed out that Abbas did not set pre-conditions for ending the dispute during his speech in Ramallah.

Bardaweel noted that Palestinians who greeted Abbas had chanted slogans in favor of ending the Hamas-Fatah rivalry.

"This shows that there is a real desire for achieving reconciliation," the Hamas official said.

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=294294


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 02, 2012, 02:45:57 pm
Pushback: Israel withholds Palestinian revenue, approves new settlements

The Israeli moves came in response to the Palestinians’ successful bid to be recognized at the United Nations as a state.


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government struck a $120 million blow to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority today and further undermined its territorial claims, announcing plans to move forward with a controversial settlement that would effectively divide the West Bank in two.

The moves came in response to the Palestinians’ successful bid last week to be recognized at the United Nations as a state. After Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas received a standing ovation for a speech in which he repeatedly referred to Israel’s “racist, colonial occupation,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today characterized the Nov. 29 UN vote as an attack on Zionism and the state of Israel.

The Israeli moves caught many off-guard, including some dismayed government officials, and caused some to sound a funeral toll for the peace process.

rest: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/1202/Pushback-Israel-withholds-Palestinian-revenue-approves-new-settlements


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on December 03, 2012, 04:21:36 am
One thing about their little statehood status upgrade, Israel now has every right to treat them as a state, and that includes protecting it's borders from a rogue state, but they must clearly define those borders. Sorry, but that would mean the areas of "Palistine", wherever they are, must be fenced off from it's neighboring state, Israel.

It means also protecting it's borders from foreign residents that might want to do harm to Israel, so that means borders and passports just like any other border between nation states.

Now, the UN has made it so that "Palistinians" are now in Israel illegally, being foreigners without passports or visas. "Papers please!"


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 05, 2012, 07:10:16 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-palestinians-harden-positions-settlement-showdown-shows-no-213017587.html

12/5/12

Israel, Palestinians harden positions as settlement showdown shows no sign of easing

JERUSALEM - Palestinians and Israelis hardened their positions Wednesday over a contentious new settlement push around Jerusalem, with Israel going full throttle on plans to develop the area and the Palestinians trying to block it through an appeal to the U.N. Security Council.

The settlement push — Israel's retaliation for the Palestinians' success in winning U.N. recognition of a de facto state — has touched off an escalating international showdown. Palestinians claim the construction would deal a death blow to Mideast peace hopes. Even Israel's staunchest allies have been outraged by the move, feeding speculation they might squeeze Israel more than usual to back down on its construction plans.

The U.N. move came last week, with the General Assembly recognizing a Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip — territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel, which rejects a return to its 1967 lines, says borders with a future Palestine should be resolved through negotiations.

Although the Israelis say construction could be years away, the settlement plans have sent a message that within these U.N.-recognized borders, Israel remains in firm control. The plans include 3,000 new settler homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and intentions to press ahead with two other projects that would drive a wedge between east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' desired capital, and its West Bank hinterland.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 06, 2012, 10:30:13 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/emboldened-hamas-leader-visit-gaza-first-time-45-000600776.html

12/6/12

Emboldened Hamas leader to visit Gaza for first time in 45 years

GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas's exiled leader will step onto Palestinian land for the first time in 45 years on Friday for a "victory rally" in the Gaza Strip, displaying his newfound confidence after last month's conflict with Israel.

The Islamist group's leader, Khaled Meshaal, who has not visited the Palestinian Territories since leaving the West Bank at age 11, emerged emboldened from the eight day conflict which ended in a truce he negotiated under Egypt's auspices. He has since spoken of reaching out to other Palestinian factions.

"There is a new mood that allows us to achieve reconciliation," Meshaal told Reuters in an interview last Friday from Qatar, where he has set up home since leaving Syria earlier this year.

He will stay for a little more than 48 hours in the coastal enclave, which Hamas has ruled since a 2007 war with Fatah that rules the West Bank.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on December 11, 2012, 01:46:13 am
Cool story, just the kind of news i need to read each day to tickle my ears. I'm surprised they didn't accuse it of eating dead Sudanese pigeons which was most likely its real mission :D


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 18, 2012, 05:21:11 pm
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=8164

New Fatah logo erases Israel

Official logo celebrating Fatah's 48th anniversary
includes map that shows all of Israel as "Palestine"


by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

12/12/12

(http://palwatch.org/STORAGE/Bulletins/2012/48%20logo%20map%20palestine%20101212%20clear.jpg)

The official Palestinian Authority daily published a picture of the official logo chosen by Fatah for celebrations marking the movement's 48th anniversary. The logo features various symbols, including a map of "Palestine" that includes all of Israel, the number 48, the Palestinian flag, and the slogan for the 48th anniversary: "The state and the victory."

Palestinian Media Watch has documented that official PA maps do not acknowledge Israel's existence and mark all of Israel as "Palestine." The maps appear in all official frameworks including schools, government offices, official PA media, logos, at events and in official documents.

Other symbols central to Fatah ideology also appear in the logo, including a rifle and a key symbolizing the Palestinian claim of ownership to houses within Israel (see letters in yellow). The pattern in the map is reminiscent of the Palestinian keffiyeh-scarf. The dove breaking the chain symbolizes the freeing of all Palestinian prisoners. The golden dome represents both Islam and the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem.

The following is the article announcing the new logo in the official PA daily:

"Senior Fatah official in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Rabah, stressed that the movement this year will hold a big, central rally in the Gaza Strip on the day of the 48th anniversary of the beginning of the Palestinian revolution. Rabah explained to Ma'an that the event will be held considering the atmosphere of reconciliation and unity that has prevailed in the Palestinian arena in the last few weeks following the accomplishments in the battlefield (i.e., the Hamas-Israel military conflict in Gaza November 2012) and the accomplishments at the UN (i.e., UN vote granting "Palestine" observer status). The organizing committee for the 48th anniversary of the Fatah movement approved this year's main anniversary logo... [The rally] will take place in Gaza to mark the 48th anniversary of the modern Palestinian revolution under the slogan 'the state and the victory.'"


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 20, 2012, 05:05:46 am
Human Rights Watch: Israel violated laws of war by targeting media in recent Gaza operation

Human Rights Watch says Israeli army attacks on journalists and media facilities in the Gaza Strip during last month's military operation violated the laws of war.

Two Palestinian cameramen were killed and at least 10 media personnel were wounded in the offensive, which was launched after weeks of rocket attacks on Israel. The Israeli government says each of the targets was a legitimate military objective.

A statement released Thursday by the New York-based rights group says it found no indications that these targets were valid military objectives.

Sarah Leah Whitson, the Mideast director at HRW, says that "just because Israel says a journalist was a fighter or a TV station was a command center does not make it so."

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the report.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/20/human-rights-watch-israel-violated-laws-war-by-targeting-media-in-recent-gaza/#ixzz2FaZcCoKe


Im pretty sure, in war, that enemy propaganda and intelligence sources are legit targets, actually in WAR, there are no rules. 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 20, 2012, 07:21:07 am
Israeli PM vows to build in Jerusalem despite criticism

- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday his government would press ahead with expanding Jewish settlements around Jerusalem despite Western criticism of its plan to build 6,000 more homes in territory Palestinians seek for a state.

In addition to several thousand housing units approved earlier this month, Israeli media reported that initial approval was granted on Wednesday for construction of another 3,400 units in Jerusalem and in the West Bank.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-pm-vows-build-jerusalem-despite-criticism-160010139.html



Israel moves to further seal off Jerusalem from West Bank

Israeli officials approved plans for 2,612 homes on Givat HaMatos, a hill between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Critics say the move would so fragment Palestinian areas that drawing borders of a future state would be unworkable.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-moves-further-seal-off-jerusalem-west-bank-214304472.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on December 20, 2012, 02:21:36 pm
Quote
Im pretty sure, in war, that enemy propaganda and intelligence sources are legit targets, actually in WAR, there are no rules.

Pretty much.

And FOX of course fails to mention that a terrorist(s) was hiding in that media center, which has been admitted to by Palestinian leaders.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 21, 2012, 09:44:55 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-aim-to-change-the-rules-of-the-game-harness-international-commuity-to-isolate-israel/

Palestinians aim to change the rules, harness international community to isolate Israel

If Netanyahu is reelected, PA officials are set to advance war crimes charges and end security cooperation in the West Bank

12/20/12

AMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Weeks ahead of the Israeli elections, Palestinian officials are already plotting a series of tough steps against Israel to be taken if, as polls predict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is re-elected and peace efforts remain stalled.
 
Emboldened by their newly upgraded status at the United Nations, the Palestinians are talking of filing war crimes charges against Israel, staging mass demonstrations in the West Bank, encouraging the international community to impose sanctions, and ending the security cooperation that has helped preserve quiet in recent years.
 
These plans, combined with growing international impatience with Israeli settlement construction on occupied land, could spell trouble and international isolation for the Israeli leader.
 
In a series of interviews with The Associated Press, a number of Palestinian officials all voiced a similar theme: Following the UN General Assembly’s recognition of “Palestine” as a nonmember observer state in November, the status quo cannot continue.
 
“2013 will see a new Palestinian political track. There will be new rules in our relationship with Israel and the world,” said Hussam Zumlot, an aide to President Mahmoud Abbas.
 
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down shortly before Netanyahu’s election in early 2009 and have remained frozen throughout his term, mostly, the Palestinians say, due to the dispute over Israel’s construction of settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Palestinians claim the areas, along with the Gaza Strip, for a future state. Israel captured the areas in the 1967 Six Day War.
 
The Palestinians have demanded that Israel halt settlement construction before negotiations can resume, saying the continued building is a show of bad faith. Netanyahu says talks should resume without preconditions, and notes that a 10-month partial freeze on construction he imposed two years ago failed to bring about substantive negotiations.
 
Frustrated with the impasse, the Palestinians turned to the United Nations for recognition of an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza. Israel, which withdrew from Gaza in 2005, rejects a return to its 1967 lines.
 
Although the UN vote did not change the situation on the ground, it had deep implications. Opposed by just nine countries, it amounted to a strong international endorsement of the Palestinian position on future borders. It also cleared the way for them to join international agencies to press their grievances against Israel.
 
Netanyahu has accused the Palestinians of bypassing direct negotiations.
 
“One would hope we will in fact see in 2013 the re-emergence of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiating process,” said Netanyahu’s spokesman, Mark Regev. “There is no substitute for direct talks. You’re not going to make peace in resolutions at the United Nations or other international forums.”
 
At the heart of the deadlock are the huge gaps between the two sides’ conditions. Netanyahu has embraced the idea of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Without action soon, the thinking goes, Israel will find itself in permanent control of millions of disenfranchised Palestinians, threatening its status as a democracy with a Jewish majority.
 
Palestinian officials say they are hopeful that a formula for restarting talks can be found after Israel’s election on January 22, perhaps through a new initiative from President Barack Obama.
 
The Palestinians have begun to speak of a trial, six-month negotiating period. Azzam al-Ahmed, a top aide to Abbas, said Arab diplomats will present the plan in Western capitals, Russia and China next month. But with the Palestinians insistent on a settlement freeze, and opinion polls forecasting a new hardline Israeli coalition headed by Netanyahu, expectations are low.
 
The Palestinian officials said they will not rush toward any punitive measure, but they are determined not to stand pat.
 
“We have to prepare ourselves for a long and tough battle,” added Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestinians’ top decision-making body. “We will use all the political tools available.”

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 23, 2012, 06:18:54 am
http://www.thegoldenreport.com/reports/414-you-can-believe-god-will-bring-the-jews-home

11/13/12

You Can Believe God Will Bring The Jews Home.
 
Anti-Semitic hatred in Europe is not only increasing but in places like Norway has been successful in running all the Jews out of the country. With only a few hundred Jews left in Norway and all of them now reporting that they are leaving as well for fear of their lives. Read recent article HERE.
 
The Neo-n@zis in Germany are forcing Jews in parts of Germany to live in fear, and Jewish men dare not wear their Kippots (head covering) many have been beaten and Synagogues have been brunt down much like the 1930's and 40's.

France the largest concentration of European Jews has seen a several hundred percent increase in violence towards Jews and Jewish businesses over the past year. French Jew who can afford has bought homes and apartments in Israel as a last minute place to run to. Many American Jews have been doing the same thing.

In London they have built a new Mosque that holds up to 40,000 Muslim worshippers and it is not uncommon to see streets down town closed because the Muslims have decided to pray by the thousands in the middle of the streets while the police standby and do nothing, they are afraid to do anything. 
 
If you live in the United States you might want to look at Detroit and Dearborn Michigan where there are Muslim neighborhoods the police will not go into for fear of their own life. Or for that matter you have noticed the Muslim women showing up with the traditional head scarf's in your town. This should be a sign to you that you're next.

more

German official: Jews should go to Uganda
Head of Buchenwald concentration camp memorial accused of anti-Semitism


(Jerusalem Post) Israeli-born author Tuvia Tenenbom has called for the dismissal of Volkhard Knigge, the head of the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial in Weimar, Germany, after alleging that Knigge told him that Jews should have settled in Uganda instead of establishing the State of Israel.

Tenenbom, the director of the Jewish Theater of New York, described Knigge’s anti-Israel remarks in an interview on Sunday with the regional daily paper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.

Tenenbom wrote a 2011 book on his observation of modern anti-Semitism in Germany. The book, I Sleep in Hitler’s Room: An American Jew Visits Germany, describes his experiences with diverse forms of anti-Semitism in Germany and includes an interview with Knigge and Daniel Gaede, an educator at Buchenwald.

Read the full story ›

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=296833


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 06, 2013, 04:44:29 pm
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/palestinian_authority_to_change_mUaCanJpXkrXskxTyrI5BJ?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=%0a%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20International

Palestinian Authority to change name to 'State of Palestine'

1/6/13

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president has ordered his government to officially change the name of the Palestinian Authority to "State of Palestine."

The move follows the November decision by the United Nations to upgrade the Palestinians' status to that of a "non-member observer state."

President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that all official Palestinian stamps, stationery and documents will now bear the new name.

A statement from his office said the move was aimed at enhancing Palestinian "sovereignty on the ground" and was a step on the way to "real independence." Israel still controls most of the West Bank.

Israel objected to the Palestinian statehood bid at the U.N., calling it a unilateral step aimed at bypassing direct peace negotiations. Abbas denied that.

Israel had no comment Sunday.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 15, 2013, 09:42:06 am
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23618/Default.aspx

1/14/13

Israeli deputy PM warns against Palestinian state

Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Saturday stated that it was no longer seen as being in Israel's interest to allow the establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian Arab state.

Speaking at a pre-election event in the Tel Aviv area, Ya'alon said all the evidence of the past decade of failed peace-making pointed to the fact that an independent Palestinian state would become a platform for further hostility against Israel, just as happened in Gaza.

Ya'alon warned that those holding aloft Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas as a genuine peace partner are making a mistake.

"There are those who are trying to market Abbas as relatively moderate, but his goals are the same as those of Hamas. He does not believe in an agreement based on pre-1967 lines and he is refusing to come to the negotiating table," said the Likud candidate and former IDF chief.

Israeli expert Dr. Guy Bachor issued a statement in the Israeli press largely echoing Ya'alon's warnings.

Bachor explained that despite signing a peace agreement that would ostensibly bring a final conclusion to the conflict, a new Palestinian state would immediately open its doors to hundreds of thousands of Arabs claiming "Palestinian" descent and thereby create a demographic problem of epic proportions for Israel.

"The amazing thing is that there are those who actually use the demographic argument to justify a Palestinian state, while if that happens, demographic realities will become unbearable for every Israeli," wrote Bachor.

Ya'alon's boss, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has again stated publicly that his official policy is to work for a peace deal that culminates in the creation of a Palestinian Arab state, but many in his party now oppose that goal.

Rather, many like Ya'alon are more receptive of the platform of Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett, who is advocating autonomy, but not sovereignty, for the Palestinian Arabs.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 16, 2013, 04:03:06 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/saudis-100-million-palestinians-190024230.html

1/16/13

Saudis will give $100 million to Palestinians

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will give the Palestinian government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank $100 million to help alleviate a worsening budget crisis, the Palestinian president's office said on Wednesday.
 
President Mahmoud Abbas has struggled to convince Arab countries to deliver a $100 million monthly "safety net" they promised when he secured de facto U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state in November, prompting Israeli sanctions.
 
Abbas thanked Saudi Arabia, a longtime benefactor to his government, for the funds, which will be transferred imminently.
 
"The state's budget is facing a large deficit as a result of the docking of Palestinian money by the Israeli government as a punitive step after the U.N. recognition of Palestine as an observer state," Abbas said in a statement.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 17, 2013, 06:53:21 am
Israel advances settlement plans after alleged Obama rebuke

After report that Obama privately criticized Netayahu's settlement policies, tenders issued for some 200 new homes in Kiryat Arba, Efrat in W. Bank; Yacimovich, Livni slam PM for damaging relations with US.

The Housing and Construction Ministry issued tenders for some 200 new housing units in the West Bank on Wednesday, a day after a US columnist released comments allegedly made by US President Barack Obama in which the American leader harshly criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanayahu's settlement policies.

According to Channel 2, the tenders are for 84 new housing units in Kiryat Arba near Hebron, and for an additional 114 tenders in the West Bank settlement of Efrat.

Bloomberg columnist Jeffrey Goldberg on Tuesday quoted Obama as saying “Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are,” in regard to Israeli plans to advance new settlement construction, including that in the controversial E1 corridor.

“With each new settlement announcement, in Obama’s view, Netanyahu is moving his country down a path toward near isolation,” Goldberg wrote.

Sources close to Netanyahu responded carefully, saying that the prime minister would continue to protect the country’s vital national security interests in the coming government that he would lead. The sources noted that Obama had said Israeli-US defense and security cooperation were at unprecedented levels, which was evident in US support for Israeli missile defense systems and diplomatic backing during Operation Pillar of Defense.

But Likud officials accused Obama of “gross interference” in the Israeli election and said the president was “taking revenge” against Netanyahu for his perceived intervention in the November US election on behalf of unsuccessful Republican challenger Mitt Romney. The officials said Obama had been swayed against Netanyahu by President Shimon Peres and former prime minister Ehud Olmert.

The publishing of tenders for new settlement units on Wednesday drew condemnation from Netanyahu's political opponents.

The Tzipi Livni Party blasted the plans, saying "Netanyahu is destroying Israel's international relations and is sacrificing national interests for political considerations right before an election."

"The Netanyahu government's order of priorities is set by its 'natural partners,' the extreme Right and haredim, not the Zionist, sane majority in Israel," the party added.

Livni's party stated that Netanyahu's policies lead to a double loss by isolating Israel and weakening settlement blocs by building outside of them.

Similarly, Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich criticized Netanyahu for ignoring Obama's advice and isolating Israel.

"Instead of listening to criticism, Netanyahu is behaving irresponsibly and provocatively a week before the election," she stated. "The battle against [Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali] Bennett is more important to Netanyahu than facing Obama. Netanyahu is desperately trying to distract from his failures, which were revealed again this week when we saw he has no control over Israel's economy, and is trying to work in the diplomatic field, where he is also a failure."

According to Yesh Atid, Netanyahu is proving once again that he prefers settlers over the middle class.

"Instead of investing in housing, education and lowering the cost of living, the prime minister chooses, a moment before the election, to invest in settlements and is further isolating Israel," the party stated. "In the competition between him and Bennett for votes, Netanyahu chose to wink at the extreme right instead of protecting national, social and economic interests."

Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On said of the new settlement plans that Netanyahu had responded to the "American warning" on settlements "with Chutzpa that will end up costing us dearly."

Strong Israel leaders Arieh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari said that "it's too bad there aren't elections twice a week," "If Netanyahu would have built in his four years in the government the way he's promising before the election, there wouldn't be a housing crisis in Israel and the attempts to establish a Palestinian state would be considered science fiction."

Eldad and Ben-Ari accused Netanyahu of trying to "steal" settler's votes, while saying he is committed to establishing a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. The two expressed hope that those faithful to the Land of Israel know not to give their votes to someone who plans to uproot them from their homes.

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=299755


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 17, 2013, 07:26:33 am
PM hits back at Obama: I know what's best for Israel

Netanyahu visits Gaza border, says over last four years Israel has stood up to strong pressure and will continue to do so.

“I think everyone understands that only Israel’s citizens are those who will be the ones to determine who faithfully represents Israel’s vital interests,” the prime minister said in his first direct response to Obama’s reported criticism.

Netanyahu said over the past four years he had withstood “enormous pressure,” including demands that Israel curb its pressure on Iran, withdraw to the pre- 1967 lines, divide Jerusalem and stop building in the eastern part of the capital.

“We fended off all those pressures, and I will continue to stand firm on Israel’s vital interests for the security of the citizens of Israel,” he declared.

Netanyahu, who was joined on his visit by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF brass, said he was “very impressed” by the advanced technological measures being deployed in the area, “and even more so by our young soldiers operating them here.”

The IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and other security forces were doing “very important work,” he said. “They are maintaining the quiet that has been kept since Operation Pillar of Defense.”

Netanyahu said that no one had any illusions, and that the quiet could be shattered at any time.

But, he added, the IDF was prepared for any scenario. “We will do everything necessary to defend Israel’s citizens here and everywhere else,” he said.

Barak attributed the calm in the area primarily to “the serious blow sustained by Hamas and the other terrorist organizations” in Gaza during November’s military operation.

Barak said that a secondary factor was “the positive influence of Egypt,” adding, however, that the foremost reason for the cease-fire having held up was the “exceptional work being carried out here by IDF battalions, the observational post system, the division,” and the new Sinai security fence.

The IDF “is prepared here with tools that are more and more advanced,” Barak said, adding that he had been shown “an amazing exhibition of field intelligence abilities.”

At the same time, “at any given moment, it goes back to the old things, to sticking to the objective, to the speedy orientation of commanders, to the responses of soldiers and commanders,” the defense minister said.

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=299796


Title: Former GOP Arizona Congressman BLAMES ISRAEL for Sandy Hook shootings
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 19, 2013, 12:12:22 pm
Well, this guy seems to forget that the current President in the White House putting out 23 EOs is an anti-Israel MUSLIM!

>:( >:(

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/middle-east-north-africa/273481-failed-gop-candidate-blames-israel-for-sandy-hook-shooting-on-iranian-television

12/18/12

Failed GOP gubernatorial candidate blames Israel for Sandy Hook shooting on Iranian television

 By Julian Pecquet - 12/18/12 01:02 PM ET

A one-time Republican candidate for governor of Arizona blamed Israeli "death squads" for the Sandy Hook shooting during an appearance on Iran's state-run Press TV Tuesday.

Michael Harris came in third place in the 2006 Republican primary, which Len Munsil won before falling to Democrat Janet Napolitano. He is now the Phoenix-based financial editor of Veterans Today, a conspiracy-minded “military and foreign affairs journal” whose editorial board includes former Pakistani and Russian spies.

“I want to remind you of the Norway shooting of Mr. Breivik, which followed a week after Norway had agreed to support Palestine,” Harris told Press TV. “Now you look at Israel just lost their bid to thwart Palestine from being recognized by the United Nations and now here we go, here is a revenge killing in the U.S., sponsored by Israel, that killed all these innocent children and that is something that Israelis do very, very well.

“They target the innocent, they target the children, they target women and they avoid the issue because they are angry. They did not get their way and now Palestine has standing at the U.N, and Israel is going to be subject to the international criminal courts and their leadership is going to be taken to task.”

Press TV followed up by running a column written by Gordon Duff, the senior editor at Veterans Today, summarizing Harris's points and pointing to the Republican Jewish Coalition's opposition to former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) as secretary of Defense as further proof of an Israeli conspiracy.

“Washington is terrified of Israel, their powerful lobby and its relationship with organized crime,” Duff wrote. “Now, a key former Senator, Chuck Hagel, who has helped expose this fact, is likely to be nominated as the secretary of Defense, despite vocal protests from Israel.”

While some conservative Jewish groups have indeed criticized Hagel, liberal groups such as J Street called Hagel a “staunch friend of the state of Israel and a trusted ally in the Senate, speaking out on behalf of America’s commitment to Israel’s security.”

The Israeli government has so far remained silent on the matter.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 28, 2013, 08:30:50 am
Obama secretly pledges to divide Jerusalem
Will press Israel into new so-called land-for-peace talks


Now that he has secured his second term, President Barack Obama has already secretly pledged to the Palestinians he will press Israel into a new round of so-called land-for-peace negotiations, a top Palestinian Authority negotiator told WND.

The negotiator said top members of the Obama administration told the Palestinians the U.S. president will renew talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state in the so-called 1967 borders – meaning in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and, notably, eastern Jerusalem.


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/obama-secretly-pledges-to-divide-jerusalem/#uAwRsHBMFiTEpuR1.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on January 29, 2013, 03:57:04 am
Quote
A one-time Republican candidate for governor of Arizona blamed Israeli "death squads" for the Sandy Hook shooting during an appearance on Iran's state-run Press TV Tuesday.

That's a "source" that keeps getting posted at PPF as a reliable source or something. Iran tosses out some propaganda about the US, and some "truthers" eat it up as fact. And of course anything anti-Israel.

Press TV is not news, it's just propaganda.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 29, 2013, 11:15:56 am
Evangelical leader: Israel is safest place on earth

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=301342&utm



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on January 29, 2013, 03:28:04 pm
That reads like a pr press release. Nowhere in that article did it say "why" he thinks it's safe. Which Matthew and Revelation have a different take on Israel's safety.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 29, 2013, 03:32:31 pm
That reads like a pr press release. Nowhere in that article did it say "why" he thinks it's safe. Which Matthew and Revelation have a different take on Israel's safety.

He also calls himself an "Apostle". I believe scripture says there's ONLY 12 of them...

Rev 21:14  And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

[Paul here]
1Cor 15:1  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5  And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1Co 15:6  After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
1Co 15:8  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.




Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on January 29, 2013, 03:46:12 pm
Uhm, it references "the 12", but they weren't the only apostles of the time. The verses you posted shows that. Notice that it mentions "the 12", then later a verse says "then all the apostles". That means the 12 were not the only apostles. Jesus even sent out 70 of them at one time.

"After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come." Luke 10:1 (KJB)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 29, 2013, 03:50:21 pm
Uhm, it references "the 12", but they weren't the only apostles of the time. The verses you posted shows that. Notice that it mentions "the 12", then later a verse says "then all the apostles". That means the 12 were not the only apostles. Jesus even sent out 70 of them at one time.

"After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come." Luke 10:1 (KJB)

Oh OK, I think I understand the bigger picture now(with the 70 appointed also).

With that being said, if someone in our present day calls themself an Apostle(like the guy in the article), wouldn't that raise a red flag nonetheless? B/c Apostles themselves in the bible were appointed by the Lord directly.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on January 29, 2013, 04:07:21 pm
We are exhorted to not take titles, so I see a person that claims to be an apostle is not sound doctrine. We are all spiritually apostles as God moves us, but generally an apostle is one who was selected by Jesus. None of those apostles are alive today, they sleep.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 09, 2013, 10:45:01 am
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-4342746,00.html

Cyprus upgrades Palestinian diplomatic status

2/8/13

FM Kozakou-Marcoullis informs visiting Palestinian counterpart Malki of 'important decision' to upgrade status of Palestinian mission to that of 'Embassy of the State of Palestine'; says Israeli construction in E1 zone would 'seriously undermine' peace prospects

Cyprus said on Friday it has upgraded its relations with the Palestinians to full diplomatic mission status, one of just eight European Union countries to do so.

The decision was announced by Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis during an official visit by her Palestinian counterpart Riyad Malki.

"I informed my Palestinian counterpart of the decision of the government to upgrade the status of the Palestinian diplomatic representation in Cyprus from that of a Diplomatic Mission to that of an Embassy of the State of Palestine," Marcoullis told reporters.

She said this "important decision" was in line with the recognition of the "Palestinian state" in 1988 by Cyprus, and follows seven other EU members that have recognized a Palestinian State – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.

A Cyprus Representation Office opened in Ramallah in the West Bank in 2009.

Malki said the decision sent a "very important message," adding: "We hope this courageous step taken by Cyprus will be taken by others in the European Union."

Palestinian Ambassador to Nicosia Walid Al-Hassan told AFP: "Now we have diplomatic representation in Cyprus like any other country in the world. This applies to our legal situation and the immunity which accompanies diplomatic status."

On November 29, Cyprus also voted in favor of the successful Palestinian bid for upgraded UN General Assembly status.

"All official correspondence will now be done in the name of the State of Palestine. Cyprus is the first European state to upgrade Palestinian status since the UN vote," Hassan said.

Marcoullis said Cyprus expressed "full support" for resolving concerns of Palestinian aspirations for

statehood and sovereignty and those of Israel for security, through a comprehensive negotiated peace based on a two-state solution.

Nicosia backs an enhanced EU role in efforts for renewed and substantial peace efforts in 2013.

Cyprus has expressed "deep dismay and strong opposition" at controversial Israeli settlement plans for an area near east Jerusalem known as E1.

"The E1 plan, if implemented, would seriously undermine the prospects of a negotiated resolution of the conflict," Marcoullis said.





Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 10, 2013, 04:20:46 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-discuss-iran-syria-palestinians-obama-115835152.html

2/10/13

Netanyahu to discuss Iran, Syria, Palestinians with Obama

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iran's nuclear ambitions, the civil war in Syria and stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts will top the agenda of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
 
"It is a very important visit that will emphasize the strong alliance between Israel and the United States," Netanyahu, who has had a testy relationship with Obama, told his cabinet.
 
The White House announced on Tuesday that Obama plans to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan this spring, raising prospects of a new U.S. push to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts frozen for the past two years.
 
The White House gave no exact dates for the trip, Obama's first to Israel since taking office. Israel's Channel 10 television station cited unnamed sources in Washington last week saying the visit to Israel would start on March 20.
 
In public remarks at the cabinet session, Netanyahu put Iran at the top of his list of talking points with Obama and referred only in general terms to peace efforts with the Palestinians, stopping short of setting a revival of bilateral negotiations as a specific goal of the visit.
 
"The president and I spoke about this visit and agreed that we would discuss three main issues ... Iran's attempt to arm itself with nuclear weapons, the unstable situation in Syria ... and the efforts to advance the diplomatic process of peace between the Palestinians and us," Netanyahu said.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 12, 2013, 07:38:00 am
Israel gives final approval for 90 new settler homes


 Israel gave final approval on Monday for 90 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, driving another wedge into a rift with Washington ahead of a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

The dwellings will be built in Beit El, a major Jewish settlement north of Jerusalem, and will house educational staff, the Defense Ministry said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that 300 new homes will eventually be erected in Beit El, where 30 settler families were evicted last June after the Supreme Court ruled they were living illegally on private Palestinian land.

Israel has come under international criticism, including from its main ally the United States, over its construction policy in the West Bank, territory it captured in the 1967 war and which the Palestinians want for their future state.

Settlement expansion has been an irritant in a testy relationship between Netanyahu and Obama, who is due to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan this spring.

Both Israel and the United States have played down speculation that the trip could result in the revival of U.S.-hosted peace talks with the Palestinians that collapsed over the settlement issue in 2010.

"The Palestinian position is clear. There can be no negotiation while settlement continues," Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said in response to the new Beit El construction.

Most countries consider Israel's settlements illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and Biblical links to the land.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said she had not seen the announcement but repeated the Obama administration's opposition to such settlement building.

"Our position on this has not changed. We don't think it's helpful," Nuland told reporters at her daily briefing.

There are now more than 325,000 settlers in the West Bank, with a further 200,000 living in East Jerusalem, which was annexed by Israel after 1967 in a move not recognized internationally.

It is claimed by the Palestinians as their capital city.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/11/us-palestinians-israel-settlements-idUSBRE91A12Z20130211

Joshua 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.


just saying... as there is NO bias in the article,,,  ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 12, 2013, 10:20:53 am
'Israel, Vatican near historic relationship upgrade'

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=301475

1/30/12

Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon: J'lem is on verge of signing agreement to formalize diplomatic relations with the Holy See.

After 14 years of glacial negotiations, Israel and the Vatican are on the verge of signing a long-elusive agreement that would formalize diplomatic relations, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Tuesday.

Ayalon’s comments to The Jerusalem Post came after a meeting in Jerusalem of a working commission that has been trying to iron out various issues between Israel and the Holy See since 1999.

Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic ties in 1993.

“In the last four years a lot of ground has been covered, and after long, intensive and serious negotiations we have overcome most if not all the outstanding issues that have prevented signing of this agreement for so long,” Ayalon said.

He said the two sides were “on the verge of signing, subject to final approval by the government of Israel and the Holy See.”

Ayalon explained that the final agreement was not signed on Tuesday, because it was not appropriate for a caretaker government to sign the agreement, and that the actual acceptance and signing should be left to the next government.

“All the ground work is finished and I trust the new government will sign soon, which is nothing short of a milestone in the relationship,” he said.

Ayalon, who has led the negotiations with the Vatican for the past four years, but will be leaving his post next week, said the conclusion of the agreement signifies a “real upgrade in relations between Israel and the Holy See, and between the Jewish people and one billion Catholics around the world, to the benefit of both sides.”

Ayalon and his counterpart from the Vatican, Ettore Balestrero, the under-secretary of the Holy See for the relations with states, issued a joint communiqué saying the joint commission that met on Tuesday “took notice that significant progress was made and looks forward to a speedy conclusion of the agreement.”

Jerusalem expects this agreement to improve relations not only with the Vatican, but also with other Catholic countries around the world for whom the Vatican’s position vis-a-vis Israel is important.

Over the years the discussions have centered around three main issues: the status of the Catholic Church in Israel; the issue of sovereignty over some 21 sites in the country, including the Cenacle – the site of the Last Supper on Mount Zion; and taxation and expropriation issues.

Ayalon said that agreements have been reached on each of the issues.

The most contentious was the issue of sovereignty over the Last Supper Room, with the Catholic Church demanding ownership, and Israel not willing to relinquish it. The two sides have essentially agreed to disagree on the matter, but not let it stand in the way of the overall accord.

While the Catholic Church does not pay taxes on its properties in Israel, under the agreement, religious institutions owned by the Holy See will be exempted from tax, just as synagogues and mosques are, but church-owned businesses will not.

The agreement also works out the issue of expropriating Church property for infrastructure purposes, with a list of five sites – including the Mount of Beatitudes and Capernaum near Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) and the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth – where land expropriation would not be allowed except for public safety in situations of emergency, and then only after coordination with the Church.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 12, 2013, 10:43:46 am
Luk_12:15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Eph_5:3  But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

Col_3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:


http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/12814#.URFHNvXTmUn

2/1/13

Op-Ed: Exclusive: A Seat for the Pope at King David's Tomb

Israel seems to have sold Jerusalem to the Vatican.

An historic agreement has been drafted between Israel and the Vatican. The Israeli authorities have granted the Pope an official seat in the room where the Last Supper is believed to have taken place, on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and where David and Solomon, Jewish kings of Judea, are considered by some researchers, to also be buried.
 
It is the culmination of a long campaign by the Catholic Church to regain religious stewardship over the place where Jesus is supposed to have broken bread and drunk wine with his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion.

This is an enormous issue pushed through without any public debate.

According to our sources, the agreement, which is expected to be ratified next June, gives the Pope a “special authority” over the second floor of the building, so that Christian pilgrims will be able to celebrate religious functions like Pope John Paul did in 2000.

The agreement constitutes Israel’s capitulation to the Vatican’s efforts to “Christianize” the holy site, like when a Catholic convent was built in Auschwitz.

The Catholic Church has long wanted control over part of the area on Mt. Zion so as to turn it into an international religious center for Catholics. The blueprint of the agreement reads as follows: “The Vatican hands over this use of the Cenacle to the Custody of the Holy Land which will keep the Cenacle open from 6 AM to 8 AM for the celebration of the Holy Mass”.

In the long term, the gesture will increase tensions between Jews and the large assets of the Vatican. The Church has long been working to reduce Jewish rights in Jerusalem and in the Old City. Now, after the Muslim Waqf authority expelled the Christians from the Temple Mount and turned it into a mosque, it’s the turn of the Vatican to lay its hands on the Jewish Jerusalem.

The Custody of the Holy Land, the Franciscan order who, with Vatican approval, is in charge of the holy sites, campaigns with the Arabs against Israel.

As far back as May 2000, Yasser Arafat met Islamic and Christian clergymen at the presidential offices in Ramallah to back Palestinian Arab sovereignty over Jerusalem. Among the clergymen who attended the meeting, Diodoros I, patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, Torkom II, patriarch of the Armenian Orthodox Church, Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah and officials from the Custody of the Holy Land.

"An official meeting took place in Ramallah, Palestine, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine". This is the official note of the Vatican press office about the meeting between the Catholic officials and the PLO representatives which took place this week.

The Vatican is also asking that Israel hand over to the Vatican’s control dozens of sites, 19 in Judea and Samaria and 28 in Jerusalem. The Catholic Church want to discuss some properties on Mount of Olives, Har Hazeitim, which is the very history of the Jewish people. If you want to keep Jerusalem united, you have to keep Har Hazeitim. The Vatican knows that.

In 1989 charges were made by the Catholic authorities that Israel desecrated the Cenacle on Mount Zion. The charges, which appeared in the Italian bishops’ newspaper Avvenire, said that the Israelis put a memorial plaque on the roof of the Cenacle. The plaque was put in place after the 1948 War of Independence in memory of soldiers who fell in the Old City and whose burial place was unknown. Every year, the bereaved families cleaned the plaque.

Why did the Catholic authorities complain? Last year a similar charge was made from the Catholic authorities that Israel wants to “Judaize” Mount Zion.

Should the Vatican gain sovereignty over Mount of Zion, millions of Christian pilgrims will flock to the site, and this will threaten the Israeli presence in the Old City’s Jewish Quarter and Jewish access to the Western Wall.

The Vatican wants the Jews out of the Old City and apparently Israel’s government is agreeing with them. Turning the Cenacle into an active church is also a way of desecrating the holiness of the site known as the Tomb of David.

The Vatican and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation expressed a common position in the Basic Agreement of 15 February 2000, intended to support the recognition of a special statute for the City of Jerusalem. In the memorandum, signed by Vatican officials and the PLO, an organization dedicated to the mass deportation of Israel’s Jews, the Catholic Church wants Israel relinquishing sovereignty at the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. The Vatican-PLO agreement’s preamble on Jerusalem shows that the Vatican's attitude on Israel's capital is still stuck in the unforgivable anti-Semitic rhetoric of the 1940s.

Until 1948, Christian access to the Cenacle was severely limited, because it was used as a mosque. Since then, the State of Israel is committed to protecting the holy places of all religions, and guaranteeing the right of worship for all faiths.

But no Israeli government must tolerate any policy of division, “shared control” or “internationalization” that opens the door to a return to the Arab apartheid of Jordanian occupation between 1948 and 1967.

Jerusalem is not for sale. For thousands of years, the Cenacle area was almost always totally closed off to Jews.

Sovereignty over Mount Zion is politics, not only religion. The day after the Pope celebrated a mass on Mt. Zion in 2000, he went to Yasser Arafat headquarter to support the Palestinians’ right to return.

A few months later, the Oslo war began. And Jews were sacrified again on the altar of “peace”. It was their last supper.
 
This week, the Vatican in its official documents began referring to the "State of Palestine".


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on February 13, 2013, 01:49:00 am
That's just crazy, Muslims and Catholics running off Jews from their own land. But, we knew it was coming.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 19, 2013, 05:38:09 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israels-netanyahu-names-ex-foreign-minister-tzipi-livni-181607780.html

2/19/13

Israel's Netanyahu names ex-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to lead peace talks with Palestinians

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's Netanyahu names ex-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to lead peace talks with Palestinians.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Phord on February 19, 2013, 05:54:02 pm
i have been looking at mapss of the land "Israel" is supposed tto have and they have like only maybe 1 3rd the land or less they should. they should control some of syria i believee. one of the maps comes from a chick tract called "somebody angry?" and its sad, because they dont have much land to begin with compare to like 99% of all other nations on earth.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Phord on February 19, 2013, 06:01:29 pm
another thing. Israel is supposed to have that land, and it was given them to God because as i have noticed in my studies that land has those four rivers or did have all four rivers flowing into it when it was still the garden of Eden, and it all goes back to Adam and Eve as the first humas, and so Eden or part of it was where Israel now is. explains why land should be theirs too.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 19, 2013, 08:34:23 pm
Yeah, it amazes me how tiny the land of Israel is, but thus far(and never will for that matter) will the Palestineans nor any of their other enemies covet even a bit of it.(although the AC will divide the land just for a short bit in the tribulation)



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 22, 2013, 10:06:46 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-forces-palestinians-clash-throughout-west-bank-135638177.html

2/22/13

Israeli forces, Palestinians clash throughout West Bank

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian protesters throughout the occupied West Bank on Friday, capping a week of violence amid a hunger strike by four Palestinians in Israeli jails.
 
Tension and anticipation is rising in the West Bank a month before U.S. President Barack Obama is due to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah, though he has announced no concrete plans to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks stalled for three years.
 
From the precincts of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, both one of Islam's holiest sites and revered by Jews as the site of their Biblical temple, youths threw stones at Israeli police after Friday prayers.
 
Dozens of Israeli officers briefly entered the politically sensitive compound. Witnesses said officers fired tear gas and threw percussion grenades at the demonstrators as bystanders and elderly worshippers ran for cover.
 
more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 24, 2013, 04:56:29 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/jewish-settlers-palestinians-clash-west-bank-132532723.html

2/23/13

Jewish settlers, Palestinians clash in West Bank

JERUSALEM (AP) — Clashes erupted Saturday in the West Bank where Jewish settlers shot two Palestinian demonstrators in the northern village of Kusra, an Israeli military official and Palestinian residents said.
 
The clashes reflected mounting friction in the West Bank, where Palestinians have faced off against Israeli troops in recent weeks in a series of large demonstrations protesting Israel's control of the territory in general and in solidarity of four hunger-striking prisoners in Israeli jails.
 
Also Saturday, a Palestinian prisoner died in an Israeli jail, an event that is likely to intensify tension in the area.
 
In the West Bank skirmish, Helmi Abdul-Aziz, 24, was shot in the stomach by Jewish settlers, Palestinian demonstrators said. They said Jewish settlers also shot 14-year-old Mustafa Hilal in the foot.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 26, 2013, 08:47:49 pm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/26/us-palestinians-israel-gaza-idUSBRE91P04420130226

2/26/13

Rocket explodes in Israel, first attack from Gaza since November truce

(Reuters) - A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in Israel on Tuesday, the first such attack since a November truce, and a militant group said it launched the strike to retaliate for the death of a Palestinian in an Israeli jail.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's West Bank-based Fatah movement, called the rocket a "first response" to inmate Arafat Jaradat's death in disputed circumstances on Saturday.

"We must resist our enemy by all available means," the group said in a statement emailed to reporters. "We stress our commitment to armed struggle against the Zionist enemy."

Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, said it was investigating the attack, which caused no casualties and followed a surge in West Bank protests since Jaradat's death and intermittent hunger strikes by four other prisoners.

The rocket hit a road near the southern city of Ashkelon, police said. Israel responded by closing the Kerem Shalom border crossing through which produce and other goods are moved into the Gaza Strip, but it took no immediate military action.

The rocket was the first to hit Israel since a November 21 truce brokered by Egypt that ended eight days of cross-border air strikes and missile attacks in which 175 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed.

In addition to the fire from Gaza, a surge of unrest in the occupied West Bank has raised fears in Israel of a new Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.

Abbas accused Israel of inciting the unrest but urged calm.

"We did not want things to go as far as they have. We do not want tension or any escalation," Abbas said in the West Bank, in his second appeal in as many days to tamp down the violence.

TORTURE ALLEGATIONS

On Monday, thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank turned out for the funeral of Jaradat, 30, who died a week after his arrest for throwing stones at Israeli vehicles.

Palestinian officials said he had died after being tortured in prison. But Israel said an autopsy carried out in the presence of a Palestinian coroner was inconclusive.

In confrontations after the emotive funeral, Israeli police shot and wounded five Palestinian youths in Bethlehem and outside a West Bank prison, leaving a 15-year-old boy with a critical head injury, Israeli and Palestinian medics said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman, commenting on the incident, said troops had opened fire at Palestinians who threw homemade hand grenades at a Jewish holy site called Rachel's Tomb.

Before the rocket attack from Gaza, media reports said Israeli officials had hoped the Palestinian protests were winding down.

Palestinian frustration has also been fuelled by Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements in territory captured in a 1967 war and deadlocked diplomacy for a peace agreement since 2010.

The U.S. State Department said American diplomats have contacted Israeli and Palestinian leaders to appeal for calm.

The United Nations coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, called Tuesday's rocket fire "totally unacceptable" and urged an investigation into Jaradat's death.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Jeffrey Heller)



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 27, 2013, 10:53:58 am
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23695/Default.aspx?ref=newsletter-20130225

2/25/13

Palestinians warn Obama over Temple Mount visit

Palestinian political and religious figures over the weekend warned US President Barack Obama that he should probably avoid ascending Jerusalem's Temple Mount during his upcoming visit to Israel, but provided a list of instructions should he go ahead with a stop at the contentious holy site.

The White House has not said a word of Obama going to the Temple Mount during next month's visit, but Palestinian leaders are fairly certain the American leader will want to do so. If that is the case, Obama better follow the Muslims' rules, they said.

First of all, Palestinian Authority (PA) official in charge of Jerusalem affairs, Hatem Abdel Qader, said Obama must not coordinate any Temple Mount visit with the Israeli authorities, but must rather approach either the PA or Jordan for permission.

Further to that, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, head of the Waqf Islamic Trust that oversees the Temple Mount, insisted that Obama must enter the compound via the Lion's Gate, which has Muslim guards, rather than the Mughrabi Gate (near the Western Wall), which is guarded by Israeli police.

In this way, Sabri said the "Muslim sovereignty" over the Temple Mount will be preserved. Sabri also cautioned Obama not to bring any Israeli officials with him to what is in reality Judaism's most holy site.

At an event with Sabri, Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, said that should Obama follow all these rules, he will be welcome at the Al Aqsa Mosque that currently occupies the Temple Mount.

"The US president is likely to visit the Aqsa Mosque, but we should affirm that our position towards such situation will be in conformity with the constants of the Muslim and Arab nations, and the Palestinian people as well as with the issue of Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque," said Salah.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on February 27, 2013, 02:55:28 pm
Yeah, that's the ultimate sticky situation politically.

If Obama were to abide by Islamic demands and visits that mosque on the Mount, that would be a huge recognition of the "Palestinian state", and a direct insult to Israel and Judaism all in one.

I don't see how he can politically make such a visit without offending one side or the other.

With the approval of Hagel, and others, it looks like he just might make that visit anyway.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 28, 2013, 12:06:00 pm
Palestinians Advise Obama Temple Mount Visit

The Palestinian Authority and Muslim religious leaders want President Obama to coordinate any visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City with Palestinian or Jordanian officials and not through Israel, reports are saying. 

Though it's not clear Obama plans to visit the Temple Mount, they want Muslims and not Jews to be perceived as in charge of the site.

The Temple Mount that now hosts the Dome of the Rock and al-Aksa Mosque is the site of the First and Second Jewish Temples, destroyed in 585 BC and 70 AD, respectively.

Since Israel re-united Jerusalem under its sovereignty in 1967, the nation has maintained overall security control on the contested site while allowing the Islamic religious authorities to handle religious affairs there.

Muslim Prayer Only

Neither Jews nor Christians are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. And many Arab and Muslim leaders deny any Jewish connection to it.

In July 2008, then-Sen. Obama visited the Western Wall as a candidate for president, where he prayed at Judaism's holiest site.

Political and religious leaders agreed it would be better for the president not to visit the Temple Mount, though they anticipate he may want to, Israel Today reported earlier this week.

But Palestinian and Muslim religious leaders are offering suggestions to President Obama during his upcoming visit to Israel.

According to the report, the P.A. minister of Jerusalem affairs, Hatem Abdel Qadar, advised Obama to confirm his visit with the Palestinian Authority or Jordan, not with Israeli officials, though Israel is responsible for security on the Temple Mount.

Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, head of the Waqf, the Islamic trust overseeing the day-to-day administration of the area, suggested the president enter through the Lion's Gate used by Muslims rather than the Mughrabi Gate, the only entrance used by non-Muslim visitors, which is staffed by Israeli security personnel. Israel Police also enter the Temple Mount via the Mughrabi Gate when it's necessary to restore calm there.

Sabri said using the Lion's Gate will help affirm Muslim control over the Temple Mount. He also advised Obama not to bring any Israelis with him.

Welcome to Enter al-Aksa Mosque

Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, said the president would be welcome to enter the al-Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount. Salah has served prison time in the past for incitement to violence against the State of Israel. 

"The U.S. president is likely to visit the Aksa mosque, but we should affirm our position… with the constants of the Muslim and Arab nations and the Palestinian people as well as with the issue of Jerusalem and the Aksa mosque," the report quoted Salah.

A tentative itinerary for Obama's first visit to Israel as president did not include the Temple Mount, though it does include visits to Mount Herzl, Yad VaShem Holocaust Museum, the Israel Museum, and the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed.

From 1948-1967 the area was under Jordanian rule. After destroying all the synagogues in the Old City's Jewish Quarter, the Jordanians forbad Jews to pray at the Western Wall, the only remaining vestige of the First and Second Temples, which served as a retaining wall during Temple times. The area was strewn with rubble and garbage.

The 1967 Six Day War ended the Jordanian occupation of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and reunited Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty.

Israel allowed the Waqf to continue religious administrative tasks on the Temple Mount, while retaining security control over the area.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2013/February/Palestinians-Advise-Obama-Temple-Mount-Visit/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on February 28, 2013, 02:34:32 pm
Wait, what?...

Quote
Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, head of the Waqf, the Islamic trust overseeing the day-to-day administration of the area, suggested the president enter through the Lion's Gate used by Muslims rather than the Mughrabi Gate, the only entrance used by non-Muslim visitors, which is staffed by Israeli security personnel. Israel Police also enter the Temple Mount via the Mughrabi Gate when it's necessary to restore calm there.

I totally missed that when I first read the article. I was focused on the political fallout of the visit, and didn't pay attention to the significance of this.

Obama CLAIMS to be a Christian, right?...

Quote
Neither Jews nor Christians are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. And many Arab and Muslim leaders deny any Jewish connection to it.

And he's allowed to use the gate that is for Muslims only? But he's Christian isn't he? That's what he claims.

So what's really going on here? Up front, no doubt this is as much propaganda by the "Palestinians" to get more recognition as a state, and as stated, it's politically a bad move, but what is revealing is the terms set by the head of the Waqf, who has a history of stirring up violence, and who also denies the Jews have any history on the temple mount. The going operative word apparently being used in the Arab media is "alleged" temple.

Plenty of proof what some leaders in the PA and in the Islamic leadership are saying about the temple mount, etc.
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=489&all=1 (http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=489&all=1)

For what it's worth, it's "Palestinian Media Watch", who reports on what the Arab world is saying about Israel and Jews.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 01, 2013, 09:03:10 pm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4351218,00.html

03/01/13
Israel may lose $500 million in US aid

After Washington fiscal talks fail, new budget crisis begins. If parties fail to reach compromise, cuts may affect foreign aid as well, including military aid for development of anti-missile batteries


WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama emerged Friday from a unsuccessful, last-minute meeting with congressional leaders declaring there was no progress on blocking what he called "dumb and arbitrary" cuts that will begin carving $85 billion of government spending by day's end.

The cuts will likely affect American citizens, but also Washington's military aid to Israel. If the crisis is not solved in a compromise reached during the 2013 fiscal year, the Jewish state stands to lose up to $760 million in security aid.

As far as the American economy is concerned, the cuts will affect the level of services, layoffs and automatic salary cuts. But the cuts may also affect US foreign aid, and Israel could gradually lose $263.5 in the coming year out of the annual military aid which amounts to more than $3 billion.

Yet while the annual military aid will continue to flow into Israel, with a 3% cut, the American aid for the development and manufacturing of the Iron Dome, Arrow and Magic Wand anti-missile batteries will be stuck as long as the US defense budget for 2013 is not approved.

The expected budget for the Iron Dome rocket interception system, which is pending approval in the US Congress, stands at $210 million for 2013 as part of the four-year Iron Dome aid package of $680 million.

Israeli envoy: Ready to carry our share of burden

Apart from Iron Dome, the Congress has been working on a special aid package of $268 million for a joint Israeli-American development of Arrow and David's Sling missiles to defend Israel on different levels against ballistic missiles. Out of this sum, $100 million are guaranteed but $168 million are now in danger.

Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren told Ynet in response, "As the United States' closest ally in the Middle East, Israel understands the difficult budget challenges the Americans are dealing with.

"We are ready to carry our share of the burden, while trying to maintain the projects which are crucial for Israel's security, like Iron Dome."

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 02, 2013, 04:55:52 am
Quote
Israel may lose $500 million in US aid

Is that all? That's pocket change. Tell Israel to go hit up Spielberg and his buddies for the cash if Israel is so short. ::)

We got no business giving cash to other countries, not that way. All this is contractors crying they might lose some government contracts.

Quote
Yet while the annual military aid will continue to flow into Israel, with a 3% cut, the American aid for the development and manufacturing of the Iron Dome, Arrow and Magic Wand anti-missile batteries will be stuck as long as the US defense budget for 2013 is not approved.

See that? "...with a 3% cut".  They make it sound like the whole military budget to Israel is at risk! We are talking a measly 3 percent. That's a joke not even worth talking about.

These kinds of games they play with the public's money turns my stomach.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 05, 2013, 10:51:57 am
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/165886

Netanyahu Reportedly Mulling Ceding Land to PA

Maariv: defense establishment recommends transferring territory to PA control, as pre-Obama visit gesture.


Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is considering the possibility of approving a "meaningful package of gestures" toward the Palestinian Authority in advance of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Israel this month, reports Maariv.

The newspaper said that the recommendations to cede land were handed to the Prime Minister by "the defense establishment," which also explained that the "gestures" would not endanger Netanyahu politically.

The unnamed elements within the defense establishment also reportedly said that "the gestures are of a diplomatic nature, and will create an important effect for Israel on the consciousness level, at a low price, politically and coalition-wise." In the past, the "gestures" were discussed, in part, with Quartet Middle East Envoy Tony Blair – but Netanyahu rejected them then.

One of the "gestures" is the transfer of some areas that are currently under full Israeli control (Area C) to full Arab control (Area A). These territories would include access roads to the new PA city of Rawabi and another road that leads to the Tul Karm industrial area.

Yet another suggested "gesture," according to Maariv, is the approval of zoning plans for about 10 illegal Arab outposts in Area C. Yet another "gesture" is the release of "a meaningful number" of Fatah terrorist prisoners from Israeli jails, and the transfer of light ammunition to the PA forces.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 06, 2013, 04:08:48 am
Senators Press Resolution To Expedite Bible Armageddon

A joint resolution set to be introduced by Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC) and Robert Menendez (NJ), a Republican and Democrat, respectively, declares U.S. support for an Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear program. The resolution, which expresses the sense of the Congress, will be supported by the thousands of delegates to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee annual conference that will stream through the Capitol this weekend. With prominent liberal Democrats already signing on, AIPAC's lobbying heft will likely propel a bill that, in Congressional sentiment at least, commits the U.S. to active support of a potential Israeli attack that experts think could have consequences as grave as further destabilization in the region, adverse global economic consequences, and even a hardening of Iranian resolve to get a weapon. According to a copy obtained by Open Zion, the resolution, while affirming increasingly harsh sanctions, also "urges that, if the Government of Israel is compelled to take military action in self-defense, the United States Government should stand with Israel and provide diplomatic, military, and economic support to the Government of Israel in its defense of its territory, people, and existence." Tempering some fears about the bill, the authors added that the resolution shouldn't "be construed as an authorization for the use of force or a declaration of war" by the U.S. Though the caveat will surely...

rest: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/28/senators-press-to-green-light-israeli-attack-on-iran.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 12, 2013, 10:59:17 am
Hamas: ‘Declaration Of War’ If Obama Visits Temple Mount

Hamas is warning that if President Obama visits the Temple Mount it would be a “declaration of war” against the Islamic world.

Israel National News reports the terror group made the threat during a protest march at the religious site following riots on Friday.

Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas spokesman, called for a third intifada if Obama visits the contested religious site in Jerusalem’s Old City between Israelis and Muslims.

Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich believes the warning will lead to violence flaring up in the region ahead of the president’s visit.

“The Palestinians have not said the final word yet and we expect that there will be attempts to take advantage of the upcomingevents, like the visit by Barack Obama, in order to continue the violence,” Aharonovich told Israel National News.

White House officials have said Obama doesn’t plan on visiting the Temple Mount during his trip.

Both Israelis and Muslims have claimed sovereignty over the Temple Mount since Israel liberated the site during the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel left the Waqf in charge of the compound.

Obama met with about 10 leaders of Arab American groups on Monday, encouraging the president to deliver a message of hope to the Palestinian people.

“[T]here are opportunities for him to say things that get into the public discourse about America’s commitment to them, about America’s understanding of their situation,” Jim Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, told The Associated Press.

Following the meeting, the White House said Obama told the group that his trip was not meant to resolve a specific policy issue, but that it was an opportunity for Obama to demonstrate U.S. commitment to the Palestinian people.

Obama told them he intends to reiterate the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and to discuss regional concerns – including Syria – with Jordan’s leadership, the White House said.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/03/12/hamas-declaration-of-war-if-obama-visits-temple-mount/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 16, 2013, 10:34:43 am
http://www.debka.com/article/22827/
Netanyahu signs deal for new coalition government
DEBKAfile Special Report March 15, 2013, 6:50 PM (GMT+02:00)

After weeks of tough haggling, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s third government was in the bag Friday, March 15, having finally signed deals with two political newcomers, Yair Lapid (centrist Yesh Atid – Future) and Naftali Bennett (pro-settlement Habayit Hayehudi – Jewish Home). Both insisted on the new lineup excluding the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties from the government for the first time in a decade, stipulating an end to the draft exemptions and welfare subsidies traditionally extended to them.

Shas and Torah Judaism now join Labor on the opposition benches. The new government will be presented to President Shimon Peres Saturday night and sworn in Monday, March 18, two days before President Barack Obama arrives for a visit.

Although Netanyahu’s Likud-Israeli Beitenu came out of the Jan. 22 election as the largest faction, it only garnered a disappointing 31 seats (in the 120-member Knesset). For a 61 majority, the prime minister was forced to part with a larger slice of government than his own party liked in the lengthy negotiations with Lapid and Bennett.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 18, 2013, 05:47:28 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-government-sends-mixed-signals-peace-201322527.html
3/18/13
Israeli government sends mixed signals on peace

(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/El2L5xEJ4__cRQuYKQNj6Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MjgwMztjcj0xO2N3PTQyMDU7ZHg9MDtkeT0wO2ZpPXVsY3JvcDtoPTQyMDtxPTg1O3c9NjMw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/0316a8fd4e597e092c0f6a706700e4bf.jpg)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Ahead of the arrival of President Barack Obama on a high-profile Mideast mission, Israel's new government on Monday sent mixed messages about pursuing peace with the Palestinians.
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament that his hand is outstretched in peace and that he is ready for a "historic compromise," but one of his closest allies called hopes for peace "delusional."
 
The conflicting signals gave a glimpse of the infighting that is likely to hinder the government if Netanyahu, who has historically been reluctant to make serious concessions to the Palestinians, decides to launch any new diplomatic initiatives.
 
"The rhetoric about peace is one thing and doing peace is something else. Doing peace requires deeds," Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said of the new Israeli government.
 
Well aware of the large gaps between the sides, Obama has been careful to lower expectations for the 48-hour visit, which begins Wednesday. The White House has already said he will not bring any bold new initiatives. He will leave the details of diplomacy to his secretary of state, John Kerry, who is expected in the region in the coming weeks.
 
Instead, Obama plans to meet separately with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in hopes of finding some common ground. Toward that goal, the White House confirmed Monday that the president has added a third, previously unscheduled meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday, immediately after returning from talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. There are no plans for the three to meet together.
 
Upon taking office in 2009, Obama vowed to make Mideast peace a top priority. But talks never got off the ground, and ultimately Obama turned his attention elsewhere.
 
The Palestinians have refused to negotiate while Israel continues to build in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories where they hope to establish a state. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.
 
The Palestinians say construction in the areas, now inhabited by more than 500,000 Israelis, is a sign of bad faith. The Palestinians say the pre-1967 lines should be the basis for a future border.
 
Early in his term, Obama persuaded Israel to impose a partial freeze on settlement construction, allowing talks to resume briefly in late 2010, toward the end of the Israeli moratorium. Netanyahu refused to extend the freeze, and negotiations collapsed weeks later. A frustrated Obama later backed off his calls for a halt in settlement building, leaving the Palestinians disillusioned.
 
Netanyahu says negotiations should resume without preconditions.
 
Since winning re-election in January, Netanyahu has pledged to make a new push for peace.
 
"We extend our hand in peace to the Palestinians," Netanyahu said in Monday's speech, delivered shortly before his new Cabinet was sworn into office. "With a Palestinian partner that is willing to hold negotiations in good will, Israel will be ready for a historic compromise that will end the conflict with the Palestinians once and for all."
 
Netanyahu gave no details. The Palestinians have suggested he again halt settlement construction or release the longest-held Palestinian prisoners Israel is holding as a goodwill gesture.
 
Making any significant concession would be a struggle for Netanyahu. The coalition, stitched together during nearly six weeks of negotiations following a Jan. 22 parliamentary election, is focused more on domestic issues than peacemaking. And on the Palestinian issue, his partners include moderates and hard-liners who share little common ground.
 
On one hand, Netanyahu has appointed Tzipi Livni, a dovish former foreign minister who has good ties with the Palestinians, to be his chief negotiator. His largest coalition partner, Yair Lapid of the centrist Yesh Atid Party, has called for an aggressive attempt to reach peace.
 
In contrast, the pro-settler Jewish Home Party rejects any concessions to the Palestinians, and Netanyahu's Likud-Yisrael Beitenu bloc itself is dominated by hard-liners. His new defense minister and housing minister, who each wield great influence over Israel's policies in the West Bank, are both sympathetic to the settlers.
 
Ahead of Netanyahu's speech, Avigdor Lieberman, a powerful ally of the prime minister and himself a West Bank settler, said anyone who thinks peace can be reached with the Palestinians is "delusional."
 
"This conflict cannot be solved. This conflict needs to be managed," he told his Yisrael Beitenu Party, an ultranationalist faction that has formed a joint parliamentary bloc with Netanyahu's Likud Party. Lieberman said he would fight any attempt to halt settlement construction.
 
Considering this recipe for deadlock, the Palestinians have shown no optimism over the new Israeli government.
 
"This is a government of political paralysis. It's also the government that has given the settlers enormous powers," said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official.
 
The Israeli election focused heavily on domestic issues, such as the high cost of living and calls to end a contentious system that has allowed ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students to be exempt from compulsory military service.
 
Addressing his party Monday, Lapid made no mention of the Palestinians, appealing to the ultra-Orthodox to work with him on draft reform.
 
Netanyahu said that while there is a "golden moment" to deal with domestic issues, his first concern was to protect Israel. He listed a number of security threats to Israel, including Iran's suspect nuclear program, instability in neighboring Egypt, the civil war to Israel's north in Syria and the threat of sophisticated weapons reaching the hands of violent anti-Israel groups.
 
Zahava Gal-On, leader of the dovish opposition party Meretz, said Jewish settlers were the "big winners" of the election.
 
"The next government will not make peace, will not narrow social gaps, will not concern itself with equality for all citizens of the state. The next government will continue to do much for the settlers and little for the rest of the Israeli public," she said.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 18, 2013, 05:52:43 pm
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-4356663,00.html
3/16/13
Obama to travel Jerusalem in 'The Beast'

US president to ride around capital in moving fortress; 5,000 policemen to secure his every move
Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON - United States President Barack Obama 's security team is taking no chances: During the presidential visit in Israel which begins next Wednesday, the president will ride around Jerusalem in The Beast, the aptly named tank-turned-car, a rolling fortress.

Obama's motorcade will include two such vehicles – each costing $300,000 – driving around between a huge entourage of uniformed and undercover security men.

Though the American people have a historical affinity to seeing their presidents out in the open waving from horse drawn carriages and convertible limousines, these preferences were sadly laid aside following John Kennedy's assassination in 1963.   

The Beast, the latest and the most significant change in presidential security procedures, was revealed at Obama's first inauguration in 2008, when upon seeing it, the president remarked on its similarity to a Boeing airplane.
 
The car is sealed and protected from chemical and biological weapons. The windows are bullet-proof, and its doors are an alloy of steel, aluminum, titanium and porcelain – proof against roadside-charges and rocket fire.

In addition, the gas tank is armored; the bumpers are equipped with night-vision sensors, cameras and devices to launch tear-gas.

The tires can still function if punctured, and, better safe than sorry, the trunk is filled with oxygen tanks, emergency blood units and fire-fighting equipment.

But this only covers the president's car.

On his visit to Israel, Obama will be secured by 5,000 police officers wherever he goes, and joint scenarios with the American Secret Service have been exercised simulating threats varying from an attempted assassination to general disruptions of order.

“This is a 48 hour visit but the preparations have been going on for more than a month," Police Head of Operations Brigadier General Nissim Mor told Ynet.

"There's no room for error," he added.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 19, 2013, 03:47:10 am
The most significant place on earth, a place that is suppose to be our friends, and he's only spending 48 hours on the ground in 2 terms, 8 years, in office? I realize presidents are busy and all, but come on, 2 days? What could be accomplished by such an expensive, and short, visit?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 19, 2013, 05:52:35 pm
Barack Obama Israel itinerary
March 19, 2013

Wednesday, March 20
12:15 p.m.: Obama lands at Israel’s international airport and is received with an honor guard. President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lead the welcoming committee. Obama speaks briefly. He also visits an Iron Dome battery, specially deployed nearby. The president then helicopters to Jerusalem.
4:00 p.m.: President Shimon Peres hosts Obama — a ceremonial welcome, plenty of singing, and then a working session.
5:20 p.m.: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosts Obama for the trip’s most substantive talks, through the late afternoon into the evening.
8:10 p.m.: Netanyahu and Obama hold a joint press conference, then move to a working dinner and more talks, before Obama retires to his suite at the nearby King David Hotel.

Thursday, March 21

9:00 a.m.: Obama visits the Israel Museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls, tour an exhibit showcasing Israeli innovations, and meet local high-tech entrepreneurs.
11:00 a.m.: Obama travels to Ramallah, holds meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad, delivers an address to young Palestinians.
4:40 p.m.: Obama delivers the key public address of his visit, to a mainly young audience at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center.
5:40 p.m.: The president meets with US diplomatic staff at the American Consulate in Jerusalem. Obama then returns to the President’s Residence, where Netanyahu joins him and Peres.
8:00 p.m.: Peres hosts Obama for a state dinner, attended by politicians, military brass, judges, Nobel laureates, authors, Miss Israel, high-tech trailblazers and other notables, featuring more speeches and Peres’s awarding of Obama with the Presidential Medal of Distinction.

Friday, March 22

8:40 a.m.: Obama visits Mount Herzl and lays wreaths on the graves of Theodor Herzl and Yitzhak Rabin.
9:30 a.m.: Obama tours the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum.
12:00 p.m.: Obama visits the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
3 p.m: Obama says goodbye at an official sendoff at the airport, with Peres leading the farewells.
During Obama’s visit the main highway from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv (Route 1) will be closed for lengthy periods of time. Also, the streets around the King David Hotel, where the president will be staying, will be closed for the duration of the visit.

The Israeli smartphone WAZE navigation app will be synchronized with Israel police, aiming to update drivers in real-time about blocked roads and to redirect traffic to alternative routes.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/president-obamas-timetable-in-israel


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 20, 2013, 08:17:24 pm
Jerusalem Post Editor: 'We Can't Figure Out What He's Doing Here'
http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Journalism/2013/03/20/Obama%20Netanyahux-large.jpg
3/20/13

Caroline Glick, Senior Contributing Editor of the Jerusalem Post said the Israeli people consider President Obama "a hostile president overall," on "Mornings on the Mall" on WMAL-FM in Washington DC. 
 
Appearing with Brian Wilson and myself Wednesday morning, Glick said the Israeli people "can't figure out what he's doing here," when asked about the mood in Jerusalem as the President's plane touched down for the first time in his presidency. 
 
"Essentially his goal is to empower the un-electable, incredibly radical left in Israel to put pressure on the Israeli government for whatever concessions he wants it to make to the PLO," said Glick in evaluating the reasons why Obama will be meeting with university students and members of the Palestinian Government during his visit. 
 
When asked about how the installment of Chuck Hagel as the Secretary of Defense was received by the Israeli people, Glick said, "It's a hostile act." 

Video news clip inside link


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 21, 2013, 07:41:42 am
US President Obama visits Ramallah, March 2013

Obama: 'We do not consider continued settlement activity to be appropriate or constructive' for peace  - @pdanahar

President Obama at press conference with Abbas: Palestinians deserve sovereign state, end to occupation and to daily indignities  - @AP

 :o


what do you expect...


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 21, 2013, 08:30:25 am
ROCKETS RAIN ON ISRAEL

(http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/acPt5F6aoC.6fZb65Ulmtw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zNzY7cT04NTt3PTUxMg--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/0a64a91ca9fbc1092c0f6a7067007f1e.jpg)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4359306,00.html


ISRAELIS: We're 'Victims of Obama'...
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/166448#.UUsCwBzqmxU

PREZ: 'Palestinians Deserve State Of Own'....
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/03/21/obama-says-palestinians-deserve-independent-state/

'Don't Want to Put Cart Before Horse'...
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-i-dont-want-put-cart-horse_708750.html

Abbas: Palestine, US 'partners'...
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Abbas-Palestine-US-partners-in-pursuit-of-just-peace-307279

Protest: 'We want RPGs!'
http://www.haaretz.com/news/obama-visits-israel/palestinians-protest-obama-visit-we-want-rpgs-not-cia-collaboration-1.511027

REUTERS: 'Occupied'...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/21/us-israel-palestinians-obama-settlements-idUSBRE92K0H820130321


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 21, 2013, 08:48:07 am
White House Map 'Erases' Jerusalem, Biblical Territories

The White House has released what it says is a map of Israel. The only problem is that Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights are missing. An Obama administration video highlighting the president’s plans for his Mideast trip depicts Jerusalem, the Golan and the West Bank – also known as Judea and Samaria – as non-Israeli territory.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/latest-headlines-from-the-web/2013/03/20/white-house-map-erases-jerusalem

(http://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Israel-WH1.png)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 21, 2013, 10:15:14 am
Pic says it all!!!

(http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02516/obama-arafat_2516395b.jpg)

In a stark contrast to his smooth-running public appearances with Israeli leaders, the US president found himself on the back foot when forced to address the issue after a 90-minute meeting with Mr Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Mr Obama said he had told Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, that settlement expansion in east Jerusalem and the West Bank on land the Palestinians want for a future state was not "constructive" or "appropriate".

But he did not repeat his previous call, issued in 2009, that building must cease, pleading instead for resumed talks on the "core issues" of establishing a sovereign Palestinian state and providing security for Israel.

"That's not to say settlements aren't important. That's to say if we solve those two problems, the settlement issue will be resolved," Mr Obama told a press conference in a rambling answer in which his normal fluency seemed to desert him.

Referring to Palestinian demands for a building freeze before re-starting talks, he admitted that settlements were "frustrating".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/9946213/Flustered-Barack-Obama-on-the-back-foot-over-Israeli-settlements.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 21, 2013, 10:25:28 am
'It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of their own,' Obama says - live video

Obama in Hebrew while speaking in Israel: 'As long as there is a US, you are not alone' - @haaretzcom

Obama: I believe you have a "true partner" in President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. #Israel
 :o


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 21, 2013, 10:50:06 am
Wow...when Obama initially came to Israel, didn't he act like a friend to Israel and Netenyahu?

Talk about doublespeak...


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 21, 2013, 11:01:42 am
More: In Israel speech, Obama says there should be '2 states for 2 people' - @NBCNews

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/21/17396987-obama-appeals-to-israelis-give-justice-to-the-palestinians?lite

Bet the land of Amerika gets divided also...


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 21, 2013, 02:14:55 pm
Obama urges Israelis to compromise for peace...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_OBAMA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-03-21-11-08-44

compromise on what? they compromised when they made TRANSJORDAN and gave part of their land to EGYPT. What do they need to compromise on?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 21, 2013, 03:18:58 pm
That whole debate won't be settled till Jesus returns. What the "Palestinians" really want is for Israel to the leave the region. Ain't going to happen either, no more than Islam will back down from their claim to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. Jordan COULD play a big role in this though, as they are the state in charge of the Temple Mount area.

Whatever the details, we know from prophecy it will get ugly and not better.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 21, 2013, 09:05:16 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-israelis-put-yourself-palestinians-shoes-225809351.html
Obama to Israelis: 'Put yourself' in Palestinians' shoes
President Obama took a fatherly approach in his speech to Israelis Thursday, both assuring them of America's commitment to their country and urging them to make the hard choices for peace.


President Obama’s speech in Jerusalem Thursday was appropriately delivered to a largely youthful audience, because in many ways the president’s tone and message were those of a father expressing unconditional support – even as he prods with lessons of tradition, compassion, and justice.

Mr. Obama went further than he ever had, perhaps further than any US president, in asserting America’s bonds with Israel. But having once established those unshakable links, he went on to admonish his listeners, as any father has his children: He urged them to have the strength and an ancestral sense of right to be even better human beings and correct the wrongs around them.

Obama’s admonitions in large part focused on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and the limitations that occupation would, in the long run, place on Israel’s fulfillment as a democratic Jewish state. “Put yourself in their shoes – look at the world through their eyes,” Obama told his Israeli audience – again, with a line any father has used. He went on to list the ways that Israel’s occupation “is not right” and is as damaging to Israelis as it is to Palestinians.

The speech set a tone that was appropriate, some analysts say, given Obama’s audience and his objectives. “It is a speech in a fatherly mode, but the Israelis, and I would say the Palestinians, do need to put themselves in the other’s shoes,” says Doron Ben-Atar, a history professor at Fordham University in New York. “So what he did was absolutely necessary.”


more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 22, 2013, 02:35:45 am
Quote
Obama’s admonitions in large part focused on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and the limitations that occupation would, in the long run, place on Israel’s fulfillment as a democratic Jewish state. “Put yourself in their shoes – look at the world through their eyes,” Obama told his Israeli audience – again, with a line any father has used. He went on to list the ways that Israel’s occupation “is not right” and is as damaging to Israelis as it is to Palestinians.

He actually said that, to an Israeli audience, in a "fatherly" tone? Wow. He might as well just slapped Israelis across the face and told them they don't know how to manage their own country. ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 22, 2013, 11:54:48 am
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-arrives-jordan-last-stop-mideast-145120371--politics.html
3/22/13
Obama arrives in Jordan, last stop in Mideast

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — President Barack Obama arrived in Jordan on Friday for the final stop on his four-day visit to the Middle East and a day of meetings with King Abdullah II that are expected to focus on the influx of refugees from the civil war in neighboring Syria.

More than 400,000 Syrians have crossed the border into Jordan to escape the violence, crowding refugee camps and overwhelming aid agencies run by this important U.S. ally in the Middle East. Abdullah has voiced fears that extremists and terrorists could create a regional base in his country.

Obama will also seek to bolster Jordan's efforts to reform its government as it seeks to stave off an Arab Spring-style revolution.

Before arriving in the Jordanian capital of Amman, Obama closed a three-day visit to Israel, another important U.S. ally in the region, by paying respects to the nation's heroes and to victims of the Holocaust. He also solemnly reaffirmed the Jewish state's right to exist.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 22, 2013, 04:20:27 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-applauds-call-between-israeli-turkish-prime-ministers/
3/22/13
Israel, Turkey to normalize ties, after PM apologizes for flotilla deaths

In dramatic phone call, Erdogan accepts Netanyahu’s apology over loss of life in the Mavi Marmara raid; Obama brokers reconciliation minutes before leaving Israel


In a dramatic reconciliation urged and brokered by President Barack Obama shortly before he left Israel on Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone and agreed to end three years of frozen relations.

In the call, Netanyahu apologized to the Turkish people “for any errors that could have led to loss of life” in the May 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, “and agreed to complete the agreement on compensation,” his office later said in a statement. Erdogan reportedly said he accepted the Israeli apology.

In the first conversation between the leaders since 2009, Netanyahu made it clear that the tragic consequences of the Mavi Marmara flotilla interception — in which nine Turkish citizens were killed by Israeli naval commandos who had come under attack as they sought to commandeer the Gaza-bound vessel — were unintentional.

The leaders agreed to return their respective ambassadors and pledged to overcome differences.

Erdogan also “withdrew” recent comments calling Zionism a crime against humanity, though he did not apologize for them, an informed source said.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke today with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two men agreed to restore normalization between Israel and Turkey, including the dispatch of ambassadors and the cancellation of legal steps against IDF soldiers,” Netanyahu’s office said in the statement.

Netanyahu told Erdogan that he had “good talks” with Obama “on the issue of regional cooperation and the importance of Israeli-Turkish relations. The prime minister expressed regret over the deterioration in bilateral relations [with Turkey] and noted his commitment to working out the disagreements in order to advance peace and regional stability,” the statement added.

“The prime minister made it clear that the tragic results regarding the Mavi Marmara were unintentional and that Israel expresses regret over injuries and loss of life. In light of the Israeli investigation into the incident, which pointed out several operational errors, Prime Minister Netanyahu apologized to the Turkish people for any errors that could have led to loss of life and agreed to complete the agreement on compensation,” the statement continued.

Netanyahu “also noted that Israel has already lifted several restrictions on the movement of civilians and goods to all of the Palestinian territories, including Gaza, and added that this will continue as long as the quiet is maintained. The two leaders agreed to continue to work on improving the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories,” the statement concluded.

Turkey and Israel were once close allies, but relations unraveled in recent years, exacerbated in 2010 by the Israeli interception of the Mavi Marmara as it sought to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. Turkey had conditioned warmer ties on an Israeli apology and compensation.

The reconciliation took place shortly before Obama completed his three-day visit to Israel, in a call from Ben-Gurion Airport. Initially Obama spoke to Erdogan, reports said, and then he handed the phone to Netanyahu. The US had indicated for some time that it saw an imperative for Israel and Turkey to heal the rift between them, especially given the regional challenges posed by Iran’s nuclear drive and the raging civil war in Syria.

Secretary of State John Kerry had laid the groundwork for the call earlier, and Netanyahu had told IDF Chief of the General Staff Benny Gantz and his Cabinet colleagues that the move was imminent.




Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 22, 2013, 04:24:03 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-calls-turkey-apology-a-serious-error/

Liberman calls Turkey apology a ‘serious mistake’

Former FM says Netanyahu’s Obama-brokered reconciliation with Erdogan hurts Israel’s public image, bolsters radicals


By Adiv Sterman March 22, 2013

Former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday for his decision to apologize to his Turkish counterpart for the “operational errors” made by Israel during the 2010 raid that led to Turkish fatalities on the Turkish-registered, Gaza-bound ship Mavi Marmara.

“Israel’s apology for the soldiers activity against a terrorist organization is a serious mistake,” said Liberman, who served as Israel’s top diplomat during the height of the crisis with Turkey, and who is also Netanyahu’s No. 2 in their joint Knesset Likud-Beytenu faction.

“Anyone who watched the photos taken on the ship Mavi Marmara understands beyond any doubt that the IDF soldiers acted in self-defense against the activists of the IHH organization, recognized in European countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, as a terrorist organization,” stated Liberman.

Nine Turkish citizens were killed by IDF naval commandos who had come under attack as they sought to commandeer the vessel that was attempting to bypass Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The May 2010 incident led to the freezing of ties between the two former allies, a relationship said to be on the path to normalization following a phone call between the countries’ prime ministers on Friday.

The dramatic reconciliation was brokered by US President Barack Obama shortly before he left Israel on Friday. Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone and agreed to end three years of dire relations.

In the call, Netanyahu apologized to the Turkish people “for any operational errors that could have led to loss of life” in the Mavi Marmara incident, “and agreed to complete the agreement on compensation,” his office later said in a statement. Erdogan reportedly said he accepted the Israeli apology and said his government would end legal prosecution of Israeli officers and officials involved in the incident.

“Such an apology harms the motivation of soldiers and their willingness to go out on missions in the future and bolsters the radical elements in the region,” Liberman said. As foreign minister until resigning to battle a breach of trust charge in December, Liberman was publicly opposed to any talk of an Israeli apology.

Erdogan has become an increasingly bitter critic of Israel in recent years, repeatedly denouncing its policies on the Palestinians, and expressing support for the Gaza-based terror organization Hamas.

On Wednesday, Erdogan clarified a statement he made in February in which he called Zionism a “crime against humanity” on par with anti-Semitism and fascism,” saying he was misunderstood and signaling that a reconciliation might be near.

Speaking to a Danish newspaper, Erdogan said that he knew his remarks caused “some debate” but that “no one should misunderstand what I said.” He said “everyone should know” that his comments were directed at “Israeli policies,” especially as regards to “Gaza and the settlements.”

Liberman, unmoved by the phone call and by Obama’s apparent pressure for a headling of ties, said that “Erdogan’s tirades against Israel at every opportunity, from the attack on the President [Peres] in 2009 at [a public panel at the World Economic Forum's] Davos conference, up to his words few weeks ago — that Zionism is racism and crime against humanity — and his refusal to apologize for this statement explicitly while simultaneously accepting an apology from Israel, harms the dignity and status of Israel in the region and in the world.”

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, on the other hand, welcomed the attempt at mending ties.

“Reconciliation is a very important step and correct at this time, especially with what is happening in Syria,” Livni said, adding that “Israel, Turkey and the United States have shared security interests.”

The defense establishment also welcomed news of the agreement, though military sources likened Israel’s apology to a half-sincere one given to an aunt when apologizing for not attending the Passover Seder.

IDF chief of General Staff Benny Gantz was reportedly fully briefed on Netanyahu’s plan to apologize to Erdogan. Channel 10 said Netanyahu had also informed his senior Cabinet ministers on his plan ahead of the phone call.

Labor Party Chairman Yachimovich said that the prime minister made the right choice by reconciling with Erdogan.

“Turkey is a regional power and relations with the country are very important to Israel,” Yachimovich said. “Even if the apology to the Turks was done with a heavy heart, it is good that it has been done.”

The Labor party leader went on to explain that “it is better to forgive and do what is wise and beneficial for the state,” rather than focus on Israel’s honor.

“We hope that reconciliation with the Turks after three years of disconnect is the first step towards a new political re-entrenchment that will strengthen our diplomatic and strategic position,” she said.

The reconciliation took place shortly before Obama completed his three-day visit to Israel, in a call from Ben-Gurion Airport. Initially Obama spoke to Erdogan, reports said, and then he handed the phone to Netanyahu.

The move was planned and coordinated by US Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of Obama’s visit, Channel 2 reported.

The US had indicated for some time that it saw an imperative for Israel and Turkey to heal the rift between them, especially given the regional challenges posed by Iran’s nuclear drive and the raging civil war in Syria.

“The timing was good for that conversation to take place,” Obama said later Friday in a speech in Jordan.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on March 22, 2013, 11:08:07 pm
"In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." (Genesis 15:18)

(http://imageftw.com/uploads/20130322/600365_10151140183658365_1524942689_n.jpg)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 23, 2013, 01:33:10 am
Very interesting - FWIW, I don't think Obama or anyone else will draw up some "peace treaty" for the AC to "confirm" b/c IMHO it may be a previous one like the Oslo Accord(sp). But at the same time, from what I've read, Obama quietly played both sides of the aisles and may have planted some seeds during his trip in Israel this week.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 23, 2013, 02:26:43 pm
Weather plays havoc with final hours of Obama visit
3/22/13
http://www.timesofisrael.com/weather-plays-havoc-with-final-hours-of-obama-visit/

(http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2013/03/beth-e1363952890443.jpg)

Winds, dust clouds ground presidential choppers, lead to cancellation of formal airport farewell ceremony

The arrival of inclement Middle East weather Friday disrupted the final hours of the visit to Israel and the West Bank by US President Barack Obama.

The air was filled with dust Friday morning and early afternoon, blown by strong winds. Visibility was minimal in and around Jerusalem, in the nearby West Bank area, and at Ben-Gurion Airport.

The president was supposed to be in Bethlehem at 12:30 p.m., for a visit to the Church of the Nativity, but only left Jerusalem shortly before 2 pm. This was partly because of the weather, reports indicated, but also partly because his one-on-one meeting at the King David Hotel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on for longer than expected, focusing on security arrangements for Israel if and when it moves forward in negotiations with the Palestinians.

Obama had planned to fly by helicopter from Bethlehem, his final stop, to the airport, but that proved impossible.

The Bethlehem visit was the Christian component of his Holy Land trip, and an element he was reluctant to cancel but in the end had to keep short.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced that the planned farewell ceremony at the airport would be canceled because of winds whipping the tarmac, and that a smaller ceremony would be held without the press.

From the airport, Obama was flying to Amman.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 24, 2013, 04:51:20 am
Quote
The Bethlehem visit was the Christian component of his Holy Land trip, and an element he was reluctant to cancel but in the end had to keep short.

I'm sure he was just tore up over having to leave early and miss the "Christian component" of his trip. Got his other business done, but failed on the Christian part, the part that involves what is suppose to be his religion.

They think they were blinded by the dust, but it's their unbelief that has blinded them.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 24, 2013, 02:48:04 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-applauds-call-between-israeli-turkish-prime-ministers/
3/22/13
Israel, Turkey to normalize ties, after PM apologizes for flotilla deaths

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Erdogan-confirms-intention-to-visit-Gaza-W-Bank-in-April-307492
3/23/13
Erdogan: Too soon to drop case against IDF officers
Turkish PM says it is still too early to fully restore diplomatic ties with Israel, appoint new ambassadors.


Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that despite Israel's apology over the IDF raid of the 2010 Gaza-bound flotilla, it is still too early to drop the case against IDF generals accused by Ankara of being responsible for the death of nine Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara, Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reported.

Erdogan said Netanyahu's apology satisfied Turkish expectations when he used the word "apology" instead of "regret," but that it was still too soon to fully restore diplomatic ties and appoint new ambassadors, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

“We will see what will be put into practice during the process. If they [Israel] move forward in a promising way, we will make our contribution. Then, there would be an exchange of ambassadors,” he said.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on March 24, 2013, 10:56:46 pm
(http://watch.org/html/images/BG-Helicopter.jpg)

Obama's helicopter grounded

(http://watch.org/html/images/BG-OliveTree.jpg)

Ben Gurion olive tree uprooted by wind

(http://watch.org/html/images/BG-Farewell.jpg)

Obama farewell tent blown over

I would be willing to make an educated guess here that God is not pleased with the message that Obama brought to Netanyhu, and He is not pleased with the message that Obama brought to the people of Israel.

http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/march2013/carlw323.htm


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 26, 2013, 04:01:33 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-turkey-begin-talks-on-compensating-raid-victims/
Israel, Turkey begin talks on compensation for Marmara victims

Ankara’s Deputy PM calls start of negotiations ‘a big success of Turkish foreign policy’


3/26/13

Israeli and Turkish officials met on Monday to discuss the terms of Israel’s compensation to victims of the 2010 raid on the Mavi Marmara.

“Officials delegated by the two sides will work on the compensation issue. We gave the kickstart for it today,” Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting.

Arinc called the talks “a big success of Turkish foreign policy.”

The negotiations began three days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and apologized for “operational errors” made during the raid on the Marmara, a vessel seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, in which nine Turkish activists were killed by naval commandos who were attacked when they boarded.

The call came in the final minutes of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel last week, having been brokered by the Americans. Erdogan accepted Netanyahu’s apology and the two agreed to return their respective ambassadors and pledged to overcome differences.

In an apparent backtrack, however, the Turkish premier said Sunday that normalized relations with Jerusalem would only happen if Israel implemented its side of an ostensible new bargain with Turkey that he said included Israel lifting its blockade on Gaza — something which Netanyahu did not agree to do in the phone conversation.

On Sunday, President Shimon Peres urged Turkey to restore normalized relations with Israel, citing mutual interest and common history as two of several factors that require the mending of ties between the former allies.

“I can think of a thousand reasons why Turkey and Israel should be friends,” Peres said in a special interview at the President’s Residence with CNN Turk. “I cannot find one reason why they shouldn’t be friends.”

“Both countries wanted to put an end to this misunderstanding and return to the good relations that existed between Turkey and ourselves for many good years,” the president said, adding that he hoped to travel to Ankara and shake hands with the Turkish leader soon.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 27, 2013, 07:32:44 pm
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23756/Default.aspx?hp=readmore
10 misconceptions behind Obama's speech in Israel
3/25/13

US President Barack Obama's visit to Israel was widely seen as a success, given that the primary goal was to win over the hearts of an Israeli public that had been, at best, suspicious of the American leader.

But behind all the praise and admiration Obama heaped upon Israel, there was a gentle chiding that showed he still views the lack of peace in the region as primarily the fault of the Jewish state.

Zionism is great and is the unprecedented culmination of a millennia-old dream, but Israel must surrender part of the vision for the sake of peace and justice. That was the thrust of Obama's overall message to Israelis.

Obama's approach revealed three important truths:
1.
It demonstrated that despite being a "Christian" nation, the government of the US doesn't see the biblical significance of Israel's rebirth.

2.
It showed a clear lack on Obama's part to take even recent history into account. The Jews have in fact surrendered part of the Zionist vision, numerous times. The Jews did not protest when in 1922 the British lopped off two-thirds of their promised homeland to create Jordan, or in 1947 when the UN partitioned what was left of that homeland. In 1993, the Jews agreed to again relinquish those lands, and in 2005, tired of waiting for an agreement to be signed, Israel unilaterally surrendered Gaza.

3.
Lastly, Obama showed that 10 serious misconceptions continue to undergird the international community's approach to the peace process.


But brighter minds have elaborated on these 10 misconceptions better than I could. The following video produced by the Jerusalem Institute of Justice (JIJ) doesn't mention Obama by name, but it was no accident the clip was published while Obama was in the Land.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdtGOY8T5XE&feature=player_embedded#t=0s


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 02, 2013, 09:35:06 pm
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/israel-launches-air-strike-gaza-first-since-truce-213212290.html
4/2/13
Israel launches air strikes on Gaza; first since truce

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the first such attacks since an eight-day war in November, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that controls the territory, and Israel's military said.

"Occupation planes bombarded an open area in northern Gaza, there were no wounded," a statement from the Hamas Interior Ministry said.

The strikes threatened to end an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a truce that has kept the frontier relatively quiet since November, when some 170 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed in a brief cross-border war.

A statement from Israel's military said Israeli aircraft targeted "two extensive terror sites in the Northern Gaza Strip," in response to rockets fired from the Palestinian enclave at Israel.

Earlier on Tuesday, the military said Palestinians launched three rockets at Israel. Two landed in Gaza and one hit an open area in southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries.

An al Qaeda-linked group, called Magles Shoura al-Mujahedeen, claimed responsibility for the rocket salvo.

Israel launched its November 2012 offensive with the declared aim of ending Palestinian rocket fire into its territory.

Tuesday was the third time since the November truce that rockets from Gaza have hit Israel. There have been no casualties in the attacks.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 04, 2013, 11:23:14 am
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Israels-truce-with-Hamas-hangs-in-the-balance-308583
Israel's truce with Hamas hangs in the balance
By YAAKOV LAPPIN, HERB KEINON
04/03/2013

Rocket fire from Gaza and subsequent IAF airstrikes threaten five-months of quiet; Hamas's determination and ability to keep small jihadi groups in check, will be what determines the extent of the IDF's response. The five-month truce between Israel and Hamas hung delicately in the balance on Wednesday, after a small global jihadi group in Gaza again targeted the town of Sderot with rocket fire, just as parents were bringing their children to schools and kindergartens. Two rockets exploded in open areas near Sderot on Wednesday, triggering alerts and sending frightened families fleeing for shelter, in scenes the IDF and senior defense officials vowed would not be tolerated. The IDF believes that Hamas does not seek a return to hostilities, and that it is still licking its wounds from November’s bruising eight day conflict with Israel. But Hamas’s determination and ability to keep small jihadi groups in Gaza, bent on firing at Israeli civilians, in check, will be what determines the extent of the IDF’s response.

more


http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Rocket-fire-from-Gaza-Code-Red-siren-wakes-South-308630
South wakes to rockets from Gaza, Code Red siren
4/4/13

Amid rising tensions following death of prisoner Abu Hamdiyeh, rocket hits open area in south; no injuries or damage reported. A rocket hit an open area in southern Israel on Thursday, marking a third straight day of projectile fire after several months of calm. No Gaza militant group claimed responsibility for the latest launch. IDF Spokesperson Avital Leibovich tweeted: "Not such a good morning to residents of southern Israel where another rocket was fired from Gaza." No casualties or damage were reported. Tensions have risen rapidly in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip following the death from cancer on Tuesday of Maissara Abu Hamdiyeh, 64, who was serving a life sentence in an Israeli jail.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on April 04, 2013, 04:53:31 pm
See, typical eye for an eye mentality. Some prisoner dies, so instead of going through"normal channels" in dealing with a death investigation, they start lobbing rockets into Israel. Then no doubt now that Israel has retaliated under the "eye for an eye" of the law mentality, they'll most likely be blamed for it all, accused of unprovoked attacks on poor defenseless Palestinians, again, of killing babies or something. ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 07, 2013, 08:42:05 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/decade-old-mideast-peace-plan-emerges-192334734.html
Decade-old Mideast peace plan re-emerges
4/7/13

JERUSALEM (AP) — A dormant, decade-old Mideast peace plan has suddenly emerged as a possible key to breaking years of deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians.

A top Palestinian official said Sunday that the visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed interest in reviving the so-called Arab Peace Initiative, a 2002 plan in which the Arab world offered comprehensive peace with Israel in exchange for a full pullout from all territories it captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Arab officials confirmed the Arab League was set to discuss the matter on Monday.

The initiative was revolutionary when it was introduced by Saudi Arabia's then crown prince, King Abdullah, and later endorsed by the 22-member Arab League at a summit in Beirut. However, the plan was overshadowed by fierce Israeli-Palestinian fighting at the time and greeted with skepticism by Israel. The Arab League re-endorsed the plan in 2007, and technically, the offer remains in effect.

Key obstacles remain. Israel has not softened its objections to the plan, and the Palestinians turned down a request from Kerry for changes in it.

In the 1967 war, Israel took control of the West Bank, east Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, Sinai and Golan Heights. Israeli returned the Sinai to Egypt in 1982 in the framework of a peace treaty and pulled out of Gaza unilaterally in 2005. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, and peace talks with Syria over the territory have repeatedly failed.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been deadlocked since late 2008, in large part over the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians refuse to talk while Israel settles its population on the occupied territories where they want to establish their state. They have demanded that Israel accept the 1967 lines as the basis for a future Palestine. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a return to the 1967 lines and calls for talks with no preconditions.

The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation has also endorsed the 2002 Arab peace initiative.

The plan, if adopted, considers the Arab-Israeli conflict "ended," offers "normal relations" with Israel and calls for providing "security for all the states of the region."

Israel has rejected a return to the 1967 lines for both security and spiritual reasons. Israeli leaders have long argued that the 1967 frontiers are indefensible. In addition, a return to those boundaries would mean a withdrawal from east Jerusalem, home to the city's holiest Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious sites.

Israel has annexed east Jerusalem, and Netanyahu has vowed never to share control of the sensitive area. The Palestinians say there can be no peace without establishing their capital in east Jerusalem. These conflicting claims to east Jerusalem are perhaps the most emotional and explosive issue in the conflict.

Kerry on Sunday kicked off what is expected to be several months of shuttle diplomacy between Israel and the Palestinians with a stop in the West Bank for talks with President Mahmoud Abbas.

It was not immediately clear whether the Arab initiative came up in Sunday night's talks. A senior State Department official said the meeting "included a discussion on how to create a positive climate for negotiations," but that Kerry had asked all participants to keep the details confidential. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of Kerry's orders not to brief reporters.

Abbas spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said Abbas urged Israel to release Palestinian prisoners it is holding, called on Israel to halt settlement construction and urged Israel to commit to a solution based on the 1967 lines. He did not say whether the Arab peace initiative was discussed but confirmed Abbas was leaving Monday for talks on the plan at an Arab League meeting in Qatar.

Mohammed Subeih, the Arab League's undersecretary for Palestinian affairs, confirmed a special committee on the peace initiative would hold "an urgent meeting" in Doha on Monday.

He said the prime minister of Qatar would chair the meeting, and foreign ministers of key countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Palestinians, would attend. The Arab League's chief Nabil El-Araby is also expected, he said.

Subeih said the committee would form a delegation, chaired by El-Araby and the Qatari prime minister, to travel to Washington in the coming weeks. In Washington, the delegation will try together with the American side draw a road map to "end Israeli occupation," he said.

Earlier Sunday, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said Kerry has been floating the Arab initiative as a possible way out of the deadlock.

Officials say Kerry has proposed two small changes to make it more palatable to Israel, saying the 1967 lines could be modified through mutual agreement and pressing for stronger security guarantees. Security-obsessed Israel has grown increasingly jittery during the upheaval that has swept through the Middle East over the past two years.

Speaking to the Voice of Palestine radio station, Erekat said the plan could not be changed. "Kerry asked us to change few words in the Arab Peace Initiative but we refused," he said.

Israeli officials refused to comment on the matter. An Israeli official said the Israelis were planning to offer "a wide spectrum of ideas" to Kerry when they meet with him in the current days. The official declined to elaborate. He spoke on condition of anonymity because nothing has been formally presented yet.

In the past, Netanyahu has described the Arab peace initiative as a welcome sign of acceptance from the Arab world but refused to accept it in its current form. Netanyahu has said that presenting the plan as an ultimatum would undermine negotiations.

But after years of deadlock, and growing international isolation over continued Israeli settlement construction, Netanyahu could find himself in a difficult position if the offer is again extended
.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 12, 2013, 11:39:25 am
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/11/us-israel-syria-idUSBRE93A0MJ20130411
4/11/13
Israel on guard as Golan goes from bloom to bloodshed

Reuters) - The slopes of the Golan Heights, with springtime wild flowers now in full bloom, are dotted with discarded rusty tanks that are remnants of a 1973 war. For decades, the Israel-Syria front has been quiet - but not anymore.

Small Israeli military lookout posts abandoned for years have been put into action and regular military and special forces have replaced reservists at many points.

Israel is worried that the Golan, which it captured from Syria in 1967, will become a springboard for attacks on Israelis by jihadi fighters, who are taking part in the armed struggle against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In recent months, battles between Assad loyalists and rebels have raged in some villages on the Syrian foothills of the Golan, with mortar shells and machinegun fire spilling across into Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel, which returned fire in some of those incidents, believes that around one in 10 of the rebels are Sunni Muslim radicals.

"Tension in the Golan Heights is the highest it has been since 1974," a senior Israeli military officer in the area told Reuters this week. "We simply do not know who will control the territory next to the border."

While the fall of Assad, an ally of Israel's enemy Iran, could be in the Jewish state's interest, a descent into chaos on the Golan Heights would pose a new security challenge.

Some 20,000 Israeli settlers live on the Golan and the strategic plateau overlooks Israeli towns and villages along the Sea of Galilee.

On its southern borders, Israel has long faced rocket attacks from armed Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip and has watched with concern the rise of Islamist militancy in Egypt's Sinai desert.

One Israeli general, the commander of forces in the north, raised the possibility in an Israeli newspaper interview last month of creating a buffer zone in Syria, in cooperation with local forces wary of jihadist fighters, should Assad be toppled.

"Some very key decision-makers are opposed," an Israeli official said. "(Army chief) Benny Gantz, for example, was the Israeli commander who literally closed the door on south Lebanon when we withdrew from the security zone there in 2000, and he has shown little interest in seeing a repeat on the Golan."

Alon Liel, a former diplomat who led secret peace talks with Damascus, said Israel had limited room for maneuver over Syria. "Israel is paralyzed from a diplomatic perspective," he said. "We may be strong militarily but any intervention in a neighboring country would draw deep objection from both sides in Syria because Israel is so weak in the region diplomatically."

SYRIA STRATEGY

World powers trying to craft a Syria strategy, and weighing whether to arm the rebels, have been struggling to distinguish between mainstream fighters who might stabilize the country should Assad fall, and jihadi insurgents.

"There's no unified position on that yet," a senior Israeli official said. "No one really knows what post-Assad Syria would look like. No one really knows who the rebels are as a collective."

Israel has been wary of being seen to take sides in the Syrian conflict and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has avoided echoing calls from Israel's main ally, the United States, for Assad to step down.

One senior Western diplomat in Israel told Reuters Syria has been moving up a list of Israeli security concerns topped by Iran's nuclear program.

"Syria is starting to edge ahead of Iran as far as the (Israeli) military is concerned, but also among politicians, partly because of U.S. reassurances over Iran but also because the situation in Syria is getting so alarming," he said.

One Israeli official said the fluid situation in Syria meant that Israel had to assess events there almost daily.

"That makes for a far more intensive examination (by Israeli decision-makers)," the official said. "Add to that the fact there is a new (Israeli) government, with new ministers who have little time to get up to speed on these things."

One of Israel's main worries is the possibility of Syria's chemical weapons falling into the hands of Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, with which it fought a 2006 war, or ending up in the hands of jihadis.

Israel has cautioned it will not allow that to happen. In an attack it has not formally confirmed, Israeli planes bombed an arms convoy in Syria in February, according to Western sources, destroying anti-aircraft weapons destined for Hezbollah.

END OF UNDOF?

The green expanses and snow-capped mountains of the Golan are a major attraction for Israeli tourists who flock to the plateau. On a sunny spring day, a group of hikers admired the view as an elderly farmer slowly drove through his apple orchard.

A few miles away, Israeli troops on patrol stopped their armored vehicles near an old abandoned tank for a break. Asked if it was quiet that day, one soldier made a "so-so" hand gesture. "When it's quiet, that's when it's scariest," he said.

In another sign Israel was keeping a close eye on the area, two drones, visible from the road, were parked in a fenced-in facility.

Among those battling against Assad's forces are fighters from the Nusra Front, an Islamist militant group linked to al Qaeda and blacklisted by the United States as a "terrorist group".

Nusra Front forces, which include foreign fighters, have come to prominence in the revolt and last month fought in battles near the Israel-Syria ceasefire line

Last month, Assad's forces appeared to push back the rebels in the area. "There is a still a visible (Syrian army) troop presence there, though it is unclear whether they have significant control or even a unified central command," an Israeli official said.

Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai, Israel's chief military spokesman, told Army Radio last week that global jihad groups were fighting under the rebels, and "exploiting the anarchy", some of them have moved into the Golan Heights.

"In the future we will have to deal with terrorism from the Golan Heights, after 40 years of impressive and exemplary quiet," Mordechai said.

An Israeli military officer said new Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon had ordered "that no fire from Syria into Israel, be it deliberate or stray, is left without response."

Israel is building a new, 5-metre tall fence on the Golan beside the older, partly rundown barrier that runs along the 70 km (45 mile) front.

The ceasefire line has been monitored since 1974 by a 1,000-strong U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). Arming the Syrian rebels could have implications for the peacekeepers, posing another potential headache for Israel.

Austria has cautioned that lifting the embargo to arm rebels would make the European Union a party to the conflict and make it difficult to keep the 375 Austrian peacekeepers on site.

UNDOF has faced increasing difficulties in the Golan and U.N. diplomats have expressed concern over its future. Last month, rebels held 21 Filipino UNDOF observers for three days, prompting the force to scale back on patrols.

Israeli military sources said they fear the peacekeeping force will not hold up under the insurgency in the Golan.

In the past three months, Japan and Croatia said they were withdrawing their troops. Should the Austrians leave, it could spell the end for the UNDOF mission because they are the biggest contingent and it is unclear who would want to replace them.

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger met Netanyahu on Thursday and is due to visit U.N. peacekeepers on the Golan Heights Friday.

"We have some of the world's most dangerous weapons and we cannot allow them to fall into the world's most dangerous hands: Hezbollah, al Qaeda and other terrorist groups," Netanyahu told reporters as he and Spindelegger met.

"That is one of the great concerns for us and a great concern for you as well and I want to discuss with you how to prevent that from happening," the Israeli leader said.

Spindelegger said Austria would try to stay as long as it could but that would not be possible without security guarantees from both rebel and government forces in Syria.

(Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer and Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Michael Shields in Vienna; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Giles Elgood)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on April 12, 2013, 03:52:03 pm
It makes sense that Israel would watch that area closer. Kind of militarily obvious. There is a full blown war taking place across that border! ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 13, 2013, 04:42:56 pm
Abbas accepts Palestinian prime minister's resignation
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/13/17736080-abbas-accepts-palestinian-prime-ministers-resignation?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=3
4/13/13
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday, a Palestinian official and the Palestinian news agency said.

"Abbas agreed to accept Fayyad's resignation," the Palestinian official said. News agency Wafa said Abbas had asked Fayyad to stay on as caretaker until a new government was formed.

Sources told Reuters on Fayyad had offered his resignation to Abbas on Wednesday following a rift between the two men over government policy.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 27, 2013, 01:02:17 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-us-have-enormous-stake-in-mideast-peace-obama-says/
Jordan, US have ‘enormous stake’ in Mideast peace, Obama says

US president praises visiting King Abdullah for pro-democratic reforms, says countries see eye to eye on Syrian crisis and Israeli-Palestinian peace


US President Barack Obama welcomed King Abdullah II of Jordan to the White House Friday where the two leaders discussed “urgent matters,” namely the Middle East peace process and reports by Washington officials that Syria used chemical weapons against its own population.

Obama called the Jordanian monarch “a great partner” and a “great friend” of the US, and praised him for enacting a series of pro-democratic, entrepreneurial reforms.

“We think Jordan can be an extraordinary model for effective governance in the region,” Obama said to reporters before beginning his private meeting with Abdullah.

Obama said the two would also discuss the Middle East peace process. He noted that the last time he met with Abdullah was after his trip to Israel and the West Bank in March, during which he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

“Jordan, like the US, has an enormous stake in this,” the president said, referring to the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He said that the US and Jordan see eye to eye on there being a “window of opportunity” during which a peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians can take place — an agreement that would make Israel secure and enable it to normalize its relations with its neighbors, and also establish a sovereign Palestinian state.

The president then touched on recent reports and assessments by officials in Washington that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons. He said the matter was of grave importance, and that he and the king would discuss the regional implications of the Syrian crisis as well as the influx of several hundred thousand Syrian refugees into Jordan during their meeting.

Abdullah echoed Obama’s sentiments by stating that Jordan would continue to work closely with both the Israelis and Palestinians to try to secure a peace deal.

He then said that the Syrian crisis has become a vexing crisis for Jordan and the entire region. ”One of our major concerns right now is the challenge of Syria,” he said. Jordan is tied to the Syrian humanitarian crisis, Abdullah explained, referencing the half a million refugees who fled across the border or were displaced to the Hashemite kingdom.

He also said that a political solution to the Syrian crisis is paramount.

“I think, sir, we are both working hard to find a political solution to the problem in Syria, one that is inclusive,” he said to Obama, adding that preventing the “surge of militant terrorist organizations in Syria” is  a major goal. “But I’m confident that with your leadership… and through our meetings, that we will find a solution.”


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on April 27, 2013, 02:08:02 pm
Quote
King Abdullah II of Jordan

Abdullah means "servant of allah" in Arabic.

Go figure, seeing that Jordan manages the Temple Mount.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 02, 2013, 12:12:49 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israels-netanyahu-says-put-peace-deal-referendum-143455709.html
Israel's Netanyahu says would put peace deal to referendum
5/2/13

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he would put any peace deal with the Palestinians to a referendum, raising expectations that direct negotiations might soon resume following a two-year stalemate.

It was the second time in just three days that Netanyahu has publicly mentioned the possibility of holding a nationwide vote on an eventual accord and came as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Israeli politicians in Washington to discuss talks.

"If we get to a peace agreement with the Palestinians, I'd like to bring it to a referendum, and I'd like to talk to you about your experiences with that," Netanyahu said as he met Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter.

Switzerland regularly holds referendum on a broad range of issues. Israel, by contrast, has never held a referendum in its 65-year history, and previous peace treaties with Arab neighbors Egypt and Jordan were approved by parliament.

Netanyahu leads a center-right coalition that includes supporters of the settlement movement, many of whom are fiercely opposed to the idea of allowing the Palestinians an independent state on land seized by Israel in the 1967 war.

By pledging to put any deal to a referendum, Netanyahu could be hoping to avert any immediate far-right backlash to a decision to talk land-for-peace with the Palestinians, promising that the Israeli people would have the final word.

"There is a very serious effort under way to get talks to resume," said a senior Israeli official who declined to be named. "People are devoting a lot of time and effort to this. It is possible and it is doable."

OBSTACLES

U.S. President Barack Obama came to Jerusalem in March and his secretary of state has visited the region three times in little over six weeks. Kerry was due to see Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni later on Thursday in Washington.

Livni has been designated by Netanyahu to be his chief peace negotiator. She was traveling with one of the prime minister's top officials and confidants, Yitzhak Molcho.

Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2010 over the issue of continued Jewish settlement building on 1967 land. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will not return to the table until there is a construction freeze. Israel says there should be no pre-conditions.

Unexpectedly highlighting the issue of referendum has fueled hopes that the impasse might soon be overcome. However, there was little sign that the core questions dividing the two sides, including the status of Jerusalem, were any nearer resolution.

"No one thinks we are near a historic agreement. But any historic agreement will need national legitimacy," the Israeli official said.

The Palestinians have also said that they would hold a referendum on an eventual accord, with no guarantees that their diverse electorate, including the far-flung refugee population, would accept the likely compromises needed to seal a deal.

Israel passed a law in 2010 for a referendum to approve any handover of East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights, territory captured in the 1967 war and which it has annexed.

Moves are under way in parliament to expand that law to include the West Bank, which has not been annexed and is under Israeli military occupation
.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 03, 2013, 07:45:32 pm
Church of Scotland Denies Jewish Claim to Land of Israel
Report Attacks Scriptural and Political Claims
5/2/13

A report by the Church of Scotland, published this week, denies any special privilege for the Jewish people in the land of Israel. The church, which in recent years has jettisoned its once philosemitic character, opened a wide rift with the Scottish Jewish community with the report. Among other controversial statements, the report argues that, “Christians should not be supporting any claims by Jews, or any other people, to an exclusive or even privileged divine right to possess particular territory.”

The report, titled “The inheritance of Abraham? A report on the ‘promised land’”, was prepared for the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, to be held in two weeks. It is the latest in a series of documents published over the last decade criticizing Zionism and the Christians that support it.

The report acknowledges the fact that the Church of Scotland was once a believer in the right of the Jews to the ancient land of Israel and a Scottish minister, Alexander Keith, may even have coined the famous phrase: “A land without a people, for a people without a land.”

However, the latest report makes clear such affection is a thing of the past. It analyzes the various scriptural and theological claims of Jews to the land and rejects those verses in which the land is promised to the children of Abraham. Furthermore, it dismisses the “belief among some Jewish people that they have a right to the land of Israel as a compensation for the suffering of the Holocaust.”


Read more: http://forward.com/articles/175926/church-of-scotland-denies-jewish-claim-to-land-of/#ixzz2SHRB6iQm


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 03, 2013, 08:44:36 pm
Google recognises Palestine on homepage

Google has recognised the Palestinians' upgraded UN status, placing the name "Palestine" on its search engine instead of "Palestinian Territories".

The domain name www.google.ps, Google's search engine for the territories, now brings up a homepage with "Palestine" written underneath the Google logo.

The change took effect on Wednesday, Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said in a statement.

"We're changing the name 'Palestinian Territories' to 'Palestine' across our products. We consult a number of sources and authorities when naming countries. In this case, we are following the lead of the UN ... and other international organisations," he said.

The UN General Assembly in November upgraded Palestine to the status of non-member observer state by a vote of 138 votes in favour, nine against and 41 abstentions.

Palestinian authorities have since begun to use the "State of Palestine" in diplomatic correspondence and issued official stamps for the purpose.
Israel questioned Google's decision.

"This change raises questions about the reasons behind this surprising involvement of what is basically a private internet company in international politics - and on the controversial side," said foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/google-recognises-palestine-on-homepage-20130504-2iza7.html#ixzz2SHgEjDWh


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 06, 2013, 11:04:38 am
Israel says Google's "Palestine" page harms peace hopes
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-says-googles-palestine-page-110627268.html
5/6/13

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A senior Israeli official accused Google (GOOG.O) on Monday of setting back Middle East peace hopes by putting the name "Palestine" under the banner of its search page for the Palestinian territories. (www.google.ps)

Palestinians hailed Google's move as a virtual victory on the long path to the state they seek in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, which Israel seized in the 1967 war.

With bilateral negotiations stalled for 2-1/2 years over Jewish settlement building, the Palestinians have campaigned for foreign recognition of statehood, and were upgraded to "non-member state" at the United Nations in November.

Following the U.N. lead, Google's Palestinian homepage and other products previously labelled "Palestinian Territories" were changed on May 1 to read "Palestine".

"I think that the Google decision from the last few days is very, very problematic," said Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"When a company like Google comes along and supports this line, it actually pushes peace further away, pushes away negotiations, and creates among the Palestinian leadership the illusion that in this manner they can achieve the result," he told Israel's Army Radio.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 06, 2013, 02:09:26 pm
Xi calls for Middle East talks

President Xi Jinping called for talks between Palestine and Israel on Monday amid an unusual diplomatic situation in which leaders of both countries made separate, overlapping visits to China.


Analysts said the simultaneous visits of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu show that China is in a unique position to help solve the Palestinian issue because it maintains good relations with both sides.

Xi made the call for talks when meeting Abbas at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

According to a statement from the Foreign Ministry, Xi said "negotiation should be taken as the only way to peace between Palestine and Israel. The two sides should follow the trend of the times, pursue peace talks, show mutual understanding and accommodation, and meet each other halfway".

Talks between Israel and Palestine have been deadlocked for four years and there was no indication that a meeting would take place.

The president also said that the right direction should be an independent Palestinian state and the peaceful co-existence of Palestine and Israel. "At the same time, Israel's right to exist and its legitimate security concerns should also be fully respected," Xi said.

The immediate priority is to stop settlement activities, end violence against innocent civilians, lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip and properly handle the issue of Palestinian prisoners to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of peace talks, Xi said.

Objective stance

Abbas said his country highly appreciates China's objective stance on the Palestine issue and expects Beijing to continue playing an important role.

They later witnessed the signing of agreements on economic technical cooperation and cultural exchanges.

Abbas also met Premier Li Keqiang on Monday. Li said China will use "its own way and its own impact" to promote the peace talks.

Also on Monday, Netanyahu began a visit to the financial hub of Shanghai. He is due in Beijing on Wednesday following Abbas' departure on Tuesday.

This is the first trip by a top Israeli leader to China since former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert visited in 2007. It is reported Netanyahu is due to sign a number of deals and discuss the issue of Iran.

China has maintained close relations with the Palestinians for decades. In recent years, it has also developed good ties with Israel.

Speaking to Xinhua News Agency ahead of the visit, Abbas said "it is very good that Netanyahu will visit China too because it is a good opportunity that the Chinese listen to both of us".

The Foreign Ministry said last week it would be willing to help set up a meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu if they want to, but the two leaders were not expected to be in the same city at the same time.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-05/07/content_16480677.htm



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on May 06, 2013, 04:15:56 pm
"And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham [is] the father of Canaan." Genesis 9:18 (KJB)

Looks to me like that place is called Canaan, not Palestine, being settled after the flood by, dare I say, the forefathers of Israel.

Not sure Islam wants to talk about that part!


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 12, 2013, 11:26:27 pm
Jordan wants to boot Israeli ambassador
5/9/13
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23838/Default.aspx?hp=article_title

Jordan's parliament on Wednesday voted unanimously to eject Israeli Ambassador Daniel Nevo over this week's arrest of Jerusalem Mufti Sheikh Muhammed Hussein. Jordan technically exercises religious control over the Temple Mount, though Palestinian Authority-appointed officials have been effectively been running the show for over a decade.

Jordanian Interior Minister Hussein Mahalia summoned Nevo to express his country's severe condemnation of the mufti's detention.

Israel arrested the mufti on Tuesday for his role in inciting violence against Israeli police stationed at the holy site. The police officers were attacked because they had tried to quiet a Muslim youth who was loudly hurling insults at Jewish visitors.

Israeli President Shimon Peres sent a message to Jordan stressing Israel's commitment to the peace treaty between the two nations and to freedom of religion in Jerusalem.

The Jordanian outburst over what amounted to Israel slapping the mufti on the wrist is par for the course. At the same time, these self-declared defenders of religious freedom think it perfectly acceptable to deny Jews and Christians the right to pray at the Temple Mount, the most holy site in the world for Jews and many Christians.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 15, 2013, 01:05:38 pm
Partition plan for Jerusalem
 News of construction freeze in Jerusalem received with apathy by even the most hardline Likudniks


The prime minister gave Jerusalem an odd gift on its holiday: A construction freeze. On the 46th anniversary of the city's liberation by a Labor government, a Likud government is freezing it. Levi Eshkol liberated, Benjamin Netanyahu is freezing. He hardly built any homes in Jerusalem during his previous term, and now he is not building any at all. The new housing minister revealed this week that he is not being authorized to add even one apartment to the capital. The prime minister summoned him a few days ago and handed him a freezing order for all construction beyond the Green Line.

To his credit, Netanyahu did not attend the Jerusalem Day ceremonies this year, so we were spared the traditional dissonance between his tough talk and lack of action. Praising a united Jerusalem while dividing it is extremely hypocritical. Netanyahu is forbidding Jews from building in Pisgat Ze'ev but does nothing to prevent Arabs from building in Shufat, Beit Hanina and the Temple Mount.

Israel's capital can expand only to the east or the north, as the City has run out of land reserves in its western part long ago. It is no coincidence that the most talked about building project in Jerusalem over the past decade has been the Holyland apartment complex. Despite its immense size, the project did not solve the housing shortage in the city or thwart the threats of withdrawal it faces.

When Netanyahu froze Jerusalem during his last term, on the occasion of Biden's visit, it caused an uproar in the Right. This week, even the most hardline Likud members did not say a word. News of the construction freeze was received with shrugs or lip biting. The former Likud rebels have become deputy ministers, and the Likudniks have yet to realize that Netanyahu version 2013 is cruising toward the 1967 lines.

Today, Netanyahu is closer to Zahava Gal-On than to his old self. His diplomatic rhetoric is Tzipi Livni's rhetoric. On Independence Day he delivered a leftist speech to foreign diplomats in which he lauded the tenets of the 1947 Partition Plan (he said something along the lines of 'we said yes to it then, and we say yes to it now').

People still suspect, mistakenly, that he is not serious when he makes such statements, but he means what he says. If his party continues to devote itself to denial rather than protest, he may implement his plans as well.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4378765,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 15, 2013, 02:05:17 pm
Israel Cozies Up to China

Will China Become the New Mideast Mediator?
5/7/13

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/05/07/isreal-cozies-up-to-china/

I suspect this relates to China recently surpassing Australia as our most important trade partner. It looks like World War III is about to break out any day now in Syria. Thus what I like most about CCTV-English is that they have a correspondent in Damascus (unlike US networks, the BBC or even Al Jazeera) with sources among rebel groups and the Syrian military. .

Two nights ago, I was really intrigued to learn that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in China at the time of the Israeli air strikes on Syria. So was Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. This was no accident, as China’s new president Xi Jinping was very hopeful the two leaders would take up his offer to mediate a meeting between them.

Israel’s Export Imperative

Netanyahu was in China hoping to increase exports to the world’s second largest economy. Given that 40% of Israel’s GDP is based on exports, Bibi is keen for trade with China(Israel’s number 3 trading partner) to reach $10 billion over the next three years. While also interested in increasing exports, Abbas is more interested in economic aid China has offered, as well the likelihood their intervention could shift the stalemated peace process.

China’s new president Xi Jinping has issued a four point proposal for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to a statement issued by Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying: “The immediate priority is to take credible steps to stop settlement activities, end violence against innocent civilians and lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip in order to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of peace talks,”

She added that China is firmly opposed to Israel’s settlement construction in Palestinian territory occupied by Israel and that this places the primary obligation on Israel to remove the barriers for peace talks.

Bibi Gets the Message

Netanyahu seems to have got the message. Scarcely twelve hours later, Reuters was citing an Israeli Army Radio report that Netanyahu had frozen tenders for settlements in the West Bank. Given Netanyahu’s prior aggressive pro-settlement position, this is a historic concession. Reuter minimizes (in fact they omit it entirely) the role China played in prompting it. Typically the corporate media has buried the story with belligerent allegations about Chinese involvement in cyber espionage to steal US military and industrial secrets.

Abbas left China without agreeing to meet with Netanyahu. The Palestinian president stipulates Israel must accept 1967 Palestinian borders before he agrees to resume peace talks.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on May 15, 2013, 03:39:04 pm
China, the only country on the planet that can amass, and some say currently have, a 200 million man army.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 25, 2013, 08:44:14 pm
Jordan to host 18-nation drill

15,000 soldiers from Arab and ‘friendly’ countries to take part in two-week military exercise

5/26/13

http://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-to-host-18-nation-drill/

Soldiers from 18 countries are set to participate in a large military exercise hosted by Jordan in the coming weeks, a source at the Jordan Armed Forces said Saturday.

According to the source, roughly 15,000 troops from Arab and other “friendly countries,” will take part in the drill, named Eager Lion 2013.

Other countries participating in the drill include: Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.

According to the US Central Command, the exercise promotes cooperation among participating forces, builds functional capacity, practices crisis management and enhances readiness.

Similar, though smaller, exercises took place in Jordan in 2011 and 2012.

Reports of the drill surfaced at a time of tension in Israeli-Jordanian relations, though security coordination between the two countries is good, Israeli military sources say.

Two weeks ago, the Jordanian Parliament voted unanimously in favor of petitioning the government to expel Israel’s ambassador in Amman and recall Jordan’s ambassador in Tel Aviv in protest of alleged Israeli desecration of holy sites in Jerusalem.

And last month, a majority of Jordan’s parliament petitioned the government to pardon the Jordanian soldier who murdered seven Israeli schoolgirls during a school trip at the border in 1997. A source in the Jordanian parliament said King Abdullah did not intend to grant the request to free Ahmad Musa Mustafa Daqamseh, who is serving life imprisonment with hard labor for the murders.

Over the weekend, the king hosted a meeting of the World Economic Forum on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, attended by world and regional leaders, including a sizable Israeli delegation. President Shimon Peres was set to travel to Jordan on Sunday to participate in a panel at the conference, and may meet with the king, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, other Arab leaders, and US Secretary of State John Kerry.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 27, 2013, 08:01:57 am
Erekat: Israelis want peace, Netanyahu must be convinced

PA official: Gov't not consistent in support of 2-state solution.

(http://www.jpost.com/HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=219006)
John Kerry, pure Evil
US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) shakes hands with Saeb Erekat, April 2013. Photo: REUTERS


Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday that he believes the majority of Israelis want a peace agreement and accept a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 lines, but  Israel's government has not been consistent in voicing support for such a solution.

Speaking in an interview with Army Radio, Erekat welcomed President Shimon Peres's call for an immediate resumption of peace talks in his speech to the World Economic Forum in Jordan on Sunday, however, he stated that the reactions of several ministers to Peres's speech was troubling.

Erekat said that after hearing Peres's speech, he woke up Monday morning and saw in the Israeli newspapers Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz saying Peres was not a government spokesman and Tourism Minister Uzi Landau referring to the pre-1967 lines as "Auschwitz borders."

"I know you are a democracy, but usually a coalition has a program," Erekat said in response to the different opinions being voiced by Israeli politicians.

The PA negotiator said that "everyone on Earth is convinced that a state on the 67 borders is the answer, but the one person we must convince is [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu.

Erekat stated that the PA's insistence that talks not resume until Netanyahu accepts a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 lines does not constitute a pre-condition, but rather is an Israeli obligation to conform to UN resolutions as set out in the Oslo Accords.

Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) accused Erekat of "chutzpa," pointing out differing opinions among Israeli politicians while the PA holds reconciliation talks with Hamas, which rejects a two-state solution.

Erdan said that Netanyahu has made clear that he supports a two-state solution.

In addition to Peres, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and US Secretary of State John Kerry also addressed the World Economic Forum in Jordan on Sunday. Kerry unveiled a $4 billion economic plan to revitalize the Palestinian economy, but added that the plan was not a substitute for a diplomatic process.

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Erekat-Israelis-want-peace-Netanyahu-must-be-convinced-314481


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 27, 2013, 12:55:14 pm
Israeli, Palestinian business leaders call for two-state solution

The Breaking the Impasse initiative contains both secular and religious businesspeople and academics.

About 300 Israeli and Palestinian business leaders called on their governments Monday to move swiftly toward a two-state solution and end the conflict between the two peoples.

http://www.haaretz.com/business/israeli-palestinian-business-leaders-call-for-two-state-solution.premium-1.526282


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 02, 2013, 06:55:11 am
 :o  :o  :o  :o

Kerry wants major Israeli concessions for Palestinians, including sovereign northern Dead Sea coast

US Secretary of State John Kerry put a package of proposals for reviving the moribund Israel-Palestinian peace process before Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and peace negotiator Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and then returned to Amman Monday, May 27.

He keeps the package's contents firmly under his hat. However, according to some of the details revealed here for the first time by DEBKAfile’s sources, Kerry’s top-secret plan places on Israel the onus of major concessions including strategic and national assets, for the sake of buying the Palestinian leader’s consent to sit down and talk. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is not required to pay anything real in return - although it was who stalled the peace negotiations in the first place.

As the first of these concessions, Kerry wants Israel to permit the Palestinians to build in Jericho for their prospective state an international airport for direct civilian flights to and from America and Europe. Those flights would cross Israeli air space and be coordinated with Israeli flight control authorities.

Our exclusive sources further disclose that, while Palestinian authorities would be in charge of security at the future Jericho airport, Israel would maintain control of passengers and freight traffic by means of computer and surveillance camera networks.

In 2006, a similar remote system was installed at the Gaza Strip’s Rafah border post under European controllers after Israel’s withdrawal from the territory. It soon broke down when the foreign controllers were scared away by Palestinian threats.

Kerry envisages the transformation of the entire Jericho region north of the Dead Sea and near the Jordanian border into a busy hub for galvanizing the economy of the future Palestinian state. He wants Israel to hand over to the Palestinians the Kalia region on the northern shore of the Dead Sea. Kibbutz Kalia, albeit part of sovereign Israel from its inception in 1948, is nonetheless one of the assets Kerry wants Israel to cede to the Palestinians.

The fate of the veteran Israeli kibbutz is left up in the air.

Israeli concessions would not end at the northern Dead Sea coast, according to the secret Kerry plan; it would be just the first in a series of land and sovereignty handovers granted the Palestinians in trilateral negotiations among Israel, the Palestinians and the United States.

The Palestinians would also be awarded by the process a three-year economic reconstruction program for boosting their Gross National Product by 50 percent and slashing unemployment from 21 to 8 percent.

The Middle East Quartet’s Special Envoy Tony Blair will head the program, Secretary Kerry reported to the world economic forum meeting in Jordan Sunday, May 26. His goal is to raise $4 billion for investing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“This is the biggest, boldest and most ambitious program ever granted the Palestinians since Oslo, 20 years ago,” Kerry told the forum.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has not divulged his views on the Kerry proposals - merely for winning Palestinian consent to talk peace. Since the payment of sovereign Israeli territory would be no more than the down- payment for pulling the Palestinians to the table, how many more high-value security and national assets will Israel will be required to part with along the road toward meeting the Palestinians’ ever-rising price tag?

Abu Mazen has gone on record as rejecting any economic proposals unaccompanied by political concessions. However, Kerry is still hard at his shuttle diplomacy and his talks with the Palestinian leader continue.

http://www.debka.com/article/22999/Kerry-wants-major-Israeli-concessions-for-Palestinians-including-sovereign-northern-Dead-Sea-coast-


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on June 03, 2013, 04:37:51 am
ALL that land that Arab countries have, and they want what Israel has to form a "Palestinian state". And they will keeping taking till Israel no longer exists as a state.

We can see why it will require Jesus to put an end to that mess.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 03, 2013, 11:05:26 am
ALL that land that Arab countries have, and they want what Israel has to form a "Palestinian state". And they will keeping taking till Israel no longer exists as a state.

We can see why it will require Jesus to put an end to that mess.

And the West is doing all they can to help them now - and to boot, the "truth movement" is being conned into throwing their hat into the ring as well.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 04, 2013, 09:23:26 am
Kerry: Collapse of Palestinian Authority Would be Worse for Israel and US

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is asking American Jewish leaders to help break a deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that he says helps fuel extremism and terrorism across the world. Kerry says he is considering another trip to the region to push talks forward.
 
Kerry is trying to revive a sense of urgency in the Middle East peace process, saying the relative stability of today is not guaranteed tomorrow.
 
"And the people who think somehow because there is a fence and because there has been greater security and fewer people hurt are lulling themselves into a delusion that that somehow can be sustained. It can not be," said Kerry.
 
He told a Washington meeting of the American Jewish Committee that the Palestinian Authority's commitment to non-violence is Israel's best chance for a two-state solution.
 
"If that experiment is allowed to fail, ask yourselves: What will replace it? What will happen if the Palestinian economy implodes? If the Palestinian security forces dissolve? If the Palestinian Authority fails? Surely something much worse for Israel's interests and for America's and for the region," he said.
 
Kerry says the failure of the current Palestinian leadership could bring about the same kind of extremism in the West Bank that Israelis are facing from Hamas in Gaza and from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
 
"So before anybody gives up on this hope, we have to ask whether we are prepared to live with permanent conflict, with the possibility of widespread civil disobedience, with the possibility of a civil rights movement that grows in the West Bank, with the possibility of another Intifada always looming around the corner," he said.
 
If there is no return to peace talks, Palestinian leaders already have said they will seek to join more United Nations organizations and will seek to bring Israel before the International Criminal Court.
 
Kerry told the Jewish group the United States will always have Israel's back and will always stand up for Israel's security. "But wouldn't we both be stronger," he asked, "if we had some company?"
 
Kerry has met repeatedly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas since taking over as secretary of state in February. He says "both sides are weighing the choices that they have in front of them very, very seriously" and he will decide "at some point" whether he needs to return to the region "to go push a little bit or help that process."

http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-collapse-of-palestinian-authority-would-be-worse-for-israel-and-us/1674571.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on June 04, 2013, 01:27:13 pm
Quote
"If that experiment is allowed to fail, ask yourselves: What will replace it? What will happen if the Palestinian economy implodes? If the Palestinian security forces dissolve? If the Palestinian Authority fails? Surely something much worse for Israel's interests and for America's and for the region," he said.

That is such hogwash!  ::)

What would replace it? Nothing. You can't lose what didn't exist in the first place.

Don't like Israel? Move. There is a nice Arab community right next door. It's called the Middle East!


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 05, 2013, 10:00:06 pm
Video: Obama UN Appointee in Highly Inflammatory Interview

Obama’s choice of US ambassador to UN calls for "mammoth protection force", re-allocation of aid to "new state of Palestine".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O5XxXm8wPE

President Barack Obama’s nominee for United States ambassador to the United Nations gave a highly anti-Israel interview in April 2002 in which she said that "external intervention" may be necessary to prevent "genocide" and "major human rights abuses" in the "Palestine/Israeli situation".

Responding to a hypothetical question, Samantha Power, who was named to replace ambassador Susan Rice, said if given the opportunity she would advise the president to sacrifice billions of dollars of aid to the Jewish state, allocating the funds instead  to “the new state of Palestine.”

“In the Palestine-Israeli situation, there’s an abundance of information and what we don’t need is some kind of early warning mechanism there,” she said, in response to a question regarding how the United States should monitor a situation in the Middle east which may be “moving toward genocide.”

“What we need is a willingness to actually put something on the line in service of helping the situation, and putting something on the line might mean alienating a domestic constituency of tremendous political and financial import. It may more crucially mean sacrificing or investing literally billions of dollars not in servicing Israel’s military but actually investing in the new state of Palestine, investing billions of dollars it would probably take also to support what I think will have to be a mammoth protection force,” she said.

“You have to go in as if you are serious. You have to put something on the line and unfortunately the imposition of a solution on unwilling parties is dreadful,” she continued.

Power, a longtime adviser for President Obama, left the administration in February, but was considered the favorite to replace Rice at the U.N.

She worked on his 2008 presidential campaign and was senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights during the president’s first term in office.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 09, 2013, 06:43:26 am
Israel official: No Palestinian state in '67 lines

A senior member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the Israeli government will not accept a Palestinian state with the borders favored by the Palestinians and the international community, a new hurdle to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's effort to restart peace talks in his latest visit to the region.

Netanyahu's office rushed to distance itself from the comments by Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, a rising star in the Likud.

Danon said in comments broadcast on Israel Radio that the government would not agree to a Palestinian state based on Israel's borders before the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, areas captured by Israel from Jordan in 1967.

The Palestinians say final borders between Israel and a future Palestine must be based on the 1967 lines. Israeli hardliners oppose a broad withdrawal from the West Bank on both security and religious grounds.

"We are a nationalist government and not a government that will establish a Palestinian government in 1967 lines," Danon said.

Danon went even further in comments to the Times of Israel news site last week, saying that hawks inside the governing coalition will never allow a Palestinian state to be formed.

The international community, including the U.S., has endorsed the 1967 lines as the basis for border talks. While Netanyahu says he supports Palestinian independence, he has refused to commit to any borders, saying only that all issues of disagreement should be resolved in negotiations.

Officials in Netanyahu's office said that Danon had stated a personal opinion, and his comments did not reflect government opinion.

Speaking to his Cabinet Sunday, Netanyahu said the government must speak in unison if he is to achieve his goal of restarting peace negotiations.

Kerry has been shuttling between the sides in recent months in hopes of finding a formula to restart negotiations. He is expected in the region this week on what would be his fifth visit since becoming Secretary of State early this year.

Netanyahu told the Cabinet that he will discuss the impasse with Kerry. "Together we will try and advance a way to find an opening for negotiations with the Palestinians in order to reach an agreement," he said. "That agreement will be based on a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state and solid security arrangements."

Talks have been stalled since late 2008. The Palestinians have refused to return to the negotiations until Israel ends construction in territory it wants for a future state. Israel says that settlements along with other core issues like security should be resolved through talks and have frequently called for negotiations to resume immediately without preconditions.

Kerry has been searching for a formula that would curtail most settlement construction, provide security guarantees to Israel and economic incentives to the Palestinians. But so far, there have been no signs of progress.

Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians, Tzipi Livni, said Sunday that she is working hard together with the U.S to restart talks, despite those within the government that oppose it.

"It is true that within the Likud there are radical elements and within the government there are those that oppose an agreement," Livni told Israel Radio. "The prime minister is the one who will have to decide whether he surrenders to radical elements or will promote his policy that he declared," she said.

Livni said Danon's comments "look bad."

But the top Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said Danon's remarks outline Israel's policy. "I believe that a government who continues to tender settlements and refuses the two state solution will not go for peace," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/06/09/israel-palestinian-state-danon/2404829/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 09, 2013, 09:46:17 am
Before the AC makes his appearance, I believe a lot of what they're doing now is nothing more than lip service. IOW, before the AC makes his appearance, it's as if there's going to be tons of confusion b/w everyone until a "referee" steps in to straighten things out.

JMHO.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 20, 2013, 11:40:41 am
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Controls/SendFriend.ashx?print=1&type=1&item=13456
Israel is Selling Out the Land

Why doesn't the Israeli government stand up for the rights of Jews to holy sites?

6/19/13

Mention any biblical and historic site of the Jewish people. You won't find one preserved and protected by the Israeli establishment.
 
Not only is the Temple Mount no longer "in our hands", but its easier substitute, the Western Wall, has also been conceded by Israel’s government to a group of femminists and cultural extremists.

Judaism's holiest place on earth today is the site of the most severe religious persecution of the Jews. Israeli governments have failed to stand up to wanton Palestinian acts of desecration. It’s the greatest crime of all – a religious and cultural crime of historic proportions.
 
Under pressure from Europe's multiculturalists, United States, political Islam and Unesco, which are all trying to “de-Judaize” and “Islamicize” the most holy Jewish sites, the State of Israel seems top be giving up its sovereignity on sacred sites.
 
These Israeli "leaders", leftist or rightist, seem proud that Dizengoff has replaced the Western Wall, that Herzliya is surrendering the Cave of the Patriarchs and that Holon is giving up the tomb of Rachel.
 
Israel is giving legitimacy to a fake Arabized geography which opens the Jüdenrein post-1967 areas, a de-Judaized “holy land”. When last January Benjamin Netanyahu visited the isolated "settlement" of Rechelim, it was called a "historic" visit. Why? Has Israel already forsaken these holy hilltops to the Sunni terrorists?
 
The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem— the second most important Jewish holy sites — have been omitted from the list of Israel’s national heritage sites. If it’s “West Bank” or “Palestine”, as most of Israeli establishment believes, those are justifications for saying that “Jews stole it”.

The problem in fact is that Israeli mainstream has been persuaded to think that the Palestinian Arabs, whose members came to the holy land from the Arabian desert in the 7th century, are the descendants of the non-extant, disappeared “indigenous Canaanites” of the Bible.
 
Beit HaShalom in Hevron was purchased for a million dollars, but 16 holy Jewish families were evicted by a rightist Israeli government from the premises for no reason at all – as a court ruling issued later determined.
 
Joseph’s Tomb near Nablus, which is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, is an abandoned site which can be reached by Jewish worshippers only like thieves in the night, escorted by the IDF and only once in a month. It was Ehud Barak, not Hamas, that abandoned the site to the terrorists.
 
No Jew is permitted to set foot without military escort in the Shalom al Yisrael synagogue of the “city of palms”, Jericho. What is the difference between today's segregation and that existing between 1948 and 1967, when Jews were denied access to it?
 
Who knows that the Tomb of Joshua bin Nun is in Kefel Hares?
 
A few days ago, Israel finalized the deal with the Vatican for the sovereignity over David’s tomb on Mount Zion, where some believe Jewish kings of Judea are buried. Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert wanted to turn over to the Arabs not only the Old City of Jerusalem, but also the Mount of Olives and the ancient excavated City of David.
 
Having accepted that east Jerusalem, where the real Jewish history took place, is “the Palestinian capital”, Israel gave the final ammunition to its enemies, including the liberal left, the Jewish self haters, large segments of Christianity and Islamism, which already justified the eradication of the Jewish people.
 
Israel's materialism, self anti-Semitism, consumerism and relativism have turned Beit El (the site of the Holy Ark and Prophet Samuel's court), Bethlehem (the birth place of King David), Shilo (the site of Joshua's tabernacle and the Holy Ark) and Tekoa (hometown of the Prophet Amos) into symbols of "apartheid" and "colonialism". It is Israel's fault, it is the greatest Jewish betrayal.

In the eyes of Israel's decision-makers, these holy sites, once sources of national pride, have become a "security problem". That land can't be called “Zion” without Jerusalem's real city, Bethlehem, Hevron, Jericho, Beit El, Shilo and Shechem. These are Israel's genetic code.
 
If Israel loses the sovereignty over these sacred dots on the map, the Jewish State becomes the Nazis' Luftmenschen – the human beings of the air. And that state will go down like a castle of sand.
 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on June 20, 2013, 02:54:53 pm
Quote
Israeli governments have failed to stand up to wanton Palestinian acts of desecration.

Why would they, the Israeli government is secular. There may be some practicing Jews within their government, but it's not a Jewish state. It's an Israeli state. Just like the US is not a Christian state, it's secular, and for now, with socialistic tendencies.

All the world's governments in the end are a-religious, if they want to play ball with the UN. Even the so-called "Islamic states" are secular in practice, though they present a religious front to appease the majority.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 26, 2013, 11:50:35 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-vatican-deal-on-land-use-said-imminent/
6/6/13
Israel-Vatican deal on land use said imminent

Deputy FM, in Rome, says agreement could be signed this year; Holy See to receive permission for two new churches


Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin was in Rome for high-level negotiations with Vatican officials over several outstanding land and building issues revolving around properties owned by the Holy See in Israel.

Elkin visited the Holy See to continue decades-long talks on a comprehensive land deal between Israel and the Vatican, Maariv reported Thursday.

Elkin told the Hebrew daily that, after meeting with the Vatican negotiating team and then separately with Pope Francis I, he thought an agreement would be signed by the end of the year, which would pave the way for the new pope’s promised visit to the Holy Land. Elkin’s meetings Wednesday were the first such negotiations in two years.

The two main points of discussion revolved around Vatican requests to build two new centers in Israel.

The Church has long lobbied to build a new church in a section of the Caesaria National Park where a church dedicated to St. Paul once stood. The area is now an archaeological and tourist site. Israel had previously refused the request, but now it seems Jerusalem will approve the construction of a center in the area, as long as the new complex does not have outward Christian religious symbols or resemble in its design a traditional church.

The other main issue is a plot of Vatican-owned land on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, currently used as a parking lot, but desired by the Holy See for a church. Israel won’t allow the land to be used for construction, but has reportedly offered use of an alternative swath of land in the capital.

A structure on Mt. Zion known as the Cenacle, where the Last Supper is believed to have taken place, will become open to Catholic worship once again, Italian newspaper La Stampa reported. The site will be administered by the Franciscan order but ownership will remain with Israel. The structure, also known as the “Upper Room,” rests above what’s believed to be King David’s Tomb, although many archaeologists differ on whether the Jewish king was actually buried there.

La Stampa reported in late May that under the terms of a possible agreement, commercial activities run on church properties such as restaurants or souvenir shops will become subject to Israeli sales tax.

The extensive properties owed by the church will continue to be exempt from paying property tax.

Israel and the Vatican signed an agreement in 1993 dealing with property and tax rights for Roman Catholic Church properties in Israel, which paved the way for the opening of full diplomatic relations between the two states in 1994, but several outstanding issues remained, leading to on-again off-again negotiations over the years.

“The negotiations took place in a thoughtful and constructive atmosphere… significant progress was made and the parties committed themselves to accelerate negotiations on the remaining issues, and look forward to an expedited conclusion in the near term,” a press release jointly issued by Israel and the Vatican said.

During his time in Rome, Elkin is to meet with Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and Foreign Minister Emma Bonino to discuss issues of concern to both countries. Elkin is scheduled to continue on to Russia next week.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on June 26, 2013, 01:47:06 pm
Quote
commercial activities run on church properties such as restaurants or souvenir shops will become subject to Israeli sales tax

Ah, there it is, the love of money. You know the world wants it's cut before any deal gets done.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 27, 2013, 11:30:55 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-greets-kerry-settlement-declaration-could-signal-progress-220338080.html
6/27/13
Israel greets Kerry with settlement declaration. Could that signal progress?

Instead of a red carpet, Secretary of State John Kerry got what might have looked like a knee-capping – in the form of an announcement of new settlement construction – for his arrival in Jerusalem Thursday.

But what under other conditions might have looked like a deliberate sabotaging of Secretary Kerry’s laser-like – and some say, quixotic – efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is being viewed by some regional experts as a sure sign that Kerry may be on the verge of succeeding.

“Kerry has a good chance of announcing the resumption of talks, if not on this trip then on the next, and the tell-tale sign for me is this announcement” of a new 69-unit settlement in a sensitive neighborhood of East Jerusalem, says Aaron David Miller, a former US diplomat for both Republican and Democratic administrations who is now vice president for new initiatives at the Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington.

How?

“Bibi [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] always takes a step backward before he takes a step forward,” says Dr. Miller, who, with his long experience in peace-process diplomacy, is not given to overly optimistic assessments. “So an announcement of a project like this practically on the day the secretary of state is arriving, that tells me something is coming.”

Secretary Kerry was scheduled to have a private dinner Thursday evening with Mr. Netanyahu, the opening of two days of discussions with Israeli and Palestinian officials. It is Kerry’s fifth trip in as many months to try to jump start the moribund peace talks – a quest Kerry has counted as one of his top priorities since he left the Senate to lead the State Department in early February.

If Kerry succeeds in getting the two sides back to the table it would be a feat in itself, regional analysts say, although it would only be the first and perhaps easiest step on a path toward reaching what many consider to be the fleeting goal, a two-state solution to the conflict.

But a resumption of talks would be a victory for Kerry’s approach to the peace-process conundrum, which Miller says has been to focus on building trust with Netanyahu.

“Kerry has invested a lot in this relationship, he’s acutely aware that without this relationship he has nothing – full stop,” he says.

The secretary of state also has to “invest” in his relationship with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, Miller says. But he adds that the “asymmetry” of Kerry’s attention to developing a relationship with each leader suggests he understands what it will take to break through with talks.

“Kerry gets it,” Miller says, “and in a way that Obama doesn’t get it.”

With his preferential treatment of the Israeli leader, Kerry has “stacked the deck, in a way,” to clear the way to a resumption of talks, Miller says.

The strongest evidence of this is how the issue of settlement construction has virtually disappeared from the US agenda for getting the peace process back on track. A settlement freeze was a cornerstone of Obama’s initial first-term Mideast peace initiative, but for many analysts the demand poisoned Obama-Netanyahu relations and made any meaningful peace process impossible.

But under Kerry the words “settlement freeze” aren’t spoken – even though the Palestinians hold to that condition for resuming talks – and State Department officials avoid detailed condemnations of any settlement announcements, as happened this week with the East Jerusalem case.

At the State Department Wednesday, acting deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell sidestepped a journalist’s question about the new construction, saying only that "the secretary is very focused on getting both sides back to the table.”

“You don’t even hear about settlements anymore,” says Miller. “The president has essentially taken this off the table to allow Kerry to move this forward.”

This new approach also explains the very different US response to this week’s settlement construction announcement compared with how the administration responded to a similar plan – with eerily similar timing -- in 2010.

Vice President Joe Biden was in Jerusalem as the Israelis announced approval of a settlement project, also in East Jerusalem – the part of the city the Palestinians claim as their capital. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the announcement and its timing “insulting,” and an infuriated Obama turned a cold shoulder to Netanyahu. The president’s first-term initiative to deliver an accord on a two-state solution never recovered.

To be sure, this week’s announcement of new settlement construction in East Jerusalem was criticized by Palestinian officials and even some Israelis as a “message” to Kerry that Israel has no interest in returning to negotiations.

One Jerusalem City Council member, Meir Margalit of the left-leaning Meretz party, described the announcement as the very kind of “provocation” the US has asked both sides to avoid, and said it was proof that the Netanyahu government “has no serious intentions to restart the peace process.”

Kerry sidestepped the latest controversy, focusing instead on the “urgency” of restarting Israeli-Palestinian talks soon.

Speaking at a press conference in Kuwait Wednesday, Kerry said he was not seeking to impose any “deadlines” for starting talks on the two sides. But at the same time he described it as “urgent” to get something going over the next couple of months – before the next United Nations General Assembly in September, he said – because “time is the enemy of the peace process.

“The passage of time,” he added, “allows a vacuum to be filled by people who don’t want things to happen.”

Kerry will be able to gauge at his dinner with Netanyahu whether the time and effort he has invested in the relationship has paid off – and just how much Netanyahu wants “things to happen.”


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on June 28, 2013, 03:58:32 am
Not only is the US government doing everything it can to undermine immigration laws, but that isn't enough, so they are going after Israeli immigrations as well basically. It's Israel's country, they can build stuff if they want to, yet the world is accusing them of discrimination and mistreatment?

That whole deal is one of the most frustrating things today. If it weren't for bible prophecy, none of this would make any sense. It's some of the most backward, double-talk, outright convoluted issues in the world.

The world and it's minions claim discrimination is wrong. Sounds right doesn't it? Well, God is not a respecter of persons, so they might as well tell God He's discriminating against unbelievers then.

I suspect somebody from the ACLU will file suit against God, claiming discrimination against sodomites and heathen.  ::)

One thing is for sure; there will be no illegal immigrants in heaven! The ONLY people that will be there is those who meet ALL legal requirements of the law.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 28, 2013, 10:00:25 am
discrimination - not saying this is a bad word or anything, but the PC world has over-used it to their advantage. Even the modern-day churches are doing the same - there was an article in the paper a few years ago written by a pastor who said we should allow this Christian Rock/CCM in the churches so that we wouldn't discriminate against the youth.

Uhm...he forgot how churches are opened to the public for FREE, AND the gospel is preached unto everyone that walks in for FREE. ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 28, 2013, 02:51:41 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169410#.Uc3nvWwo5jp
Kerry and Netanyahu Hold Second Meeting

U.S. Secretary of State and PM Netanyahu met in Jerusalem, their second meeting in 24 hours.

6/28/13

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem on Friday afternoon, their second meeting in 24 hours.

The contents of the meeting were not disclosed, but the two agreed to meet for a third time on Saturday night. Kerry is currently on his fifth trip to the region since taking office, and is trying to get Israel and the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiating table.

On Thursday evening, Kerry and Netanyahu met for more than four hours, soon after Kerry arrived in Israel. The content of that meeting was not made public either, but Channel 10 News quoted members of Kerry’s entourage as saying that the Secretary hopes to convince Israel and the PA to hold a meeting next week attended by representatives from both sides. It is not yet clear whether the meeting will be between Israeli negotiators Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and attorney Yitzhak Molcho and their PA counterpart, Saeb Erekat, or between Netanyahu and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas themselves.

Kerry was in Jordan on Friday where he met with Abbas. Kerry is expected to hold a press conference on Saturday night in which he will summarize his latest visit to the Middle East.

Netanyahu has clearly indicated on more than one occasion that he is willing to return to the negotiating table without preconditions. Abbas, however, has refused to talk and has continued to impose preconditions on talks with Israel, including a demand that Israel release terrorists who were jailed before 1993, freeze construction in Judea and Samaria and even present a map of the future Palestinian state before any negotiations take place.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 30, 2013, 06:16:41 am
Kerry Extends Israel Trip Amid Speculation on Talks

 In a hectic day of shuttle diplomacy with senior Israeli and Palestinian leaders in two capitals, Secretary of State John Kerry struggled on Saturday to close a deal to revive dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

 By the end of the day, however, it remained unclear to what extent Mr. Kerry had been able to narrow the gap between the two sides during three days of high-level meetings in Jordan and Israel.

Even as a dinner meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel dragged into the early hours of Sunday, the Americans signaled that Mr. Kerry would be traveling to Ramallah, West Bank, later in the day to meet again with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, whom Mr. Kerry has already met with twice in Amman, Jordan, in recent days.

Mr. Kerry had been scheduled to fly on Sunday to a long-planned meeting of foreign ministers in Brunei, and as Sunday arrived there was no announcement that his departure would be extended yet again.

From the start, Mr. Kerry acknowledged that getting Israeli-Palestinian talks started would be a formidable undertaking. But he has resolutely insisted that it is doable — so much so that he has traveled between Jordan and Israel by motorcade, Jordanian helicopter and his own American government plane pursuing a formula that could lead to the first formal negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders since 2010.

Mr. Kerry’s trip had appeared to take a dramatic turn on Saturday when he ripped up his itinerary and canceled a news conference and a trip that day to the United Arab Emirates so he could continue his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders for another day.

That spurred speculation in the Israeli news media that a summit meeting among Israeli, Palestinian and American officials might be hosted by Jordan.

At the start of Mr. Kerry’s dinner meeting here on Saturday with Mr. Netanyahu, there were indications that the principals thought speculation of a game-changing breakthrough had gotten out of hand.

“They’re saying a four-way summit?" Mr. Netanyahu was heard to say to Mr. Kerry at the start of the dinner. “Did you hear that?”

“I did,” Mr. Kerry replied.

The dinner — Mr. Kerry’s third meeting with Mr. Netanyahu in three days — was all business. On the Israeli side, it also included Tzipi Livni, Israel’s minister of justice and the government’s chief negotiator on the Palestinian issue; Isaac Molho, Mr. Netanyahu’s special envoy; Yaakov Amidror, Mr. Netanyahu’s national security adviser; and Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Mr. Netanyahu’s military secretary.

On the American side, Mr. Kerry was joined by Frank Lowenstein, his Middle East adviser; Jonathan Schwartz, a State Department legal expert; and John Bass, a senior aide to Mr. Kerry at the State Department.

But skeptics were insisting there was little reason to anticipate a breakthrough. Gilad Erdan, an Israeli government minister and member of the Likud party, asserted on Israeli television just before Mr. Kerry’s meeting with Mr. Netanyahu that the two sides were not close to resuming negotiations.

Mr. Abbas, Mr. Erdan said, "is still demanding the same preconditions that we have no intention of complying with."

Mr. Kerry said early during his travels that significant headway toward resuming the peace talks needed to be made long before September, when the General Assembly resumes its debate on the Middle East.

Mr. Kerry has frequently said that time is the enemy, arguing that attitudes could harden and that unexpected developments could complicate painstaking efforts to lay the basis for progress at the negotiating table.

Even before Mr. Kerry left on this trip to the Middle East, his fifth, American officials were signaling that he was prepared to make a sixth if needed.

On Saturday, Mr. Kerry had little to say as he went from meeting to meeting. Asked if he was making any progress as his Amman meeting with Mr. Abbas got under way, Mr. Kerry replied, “Working hard.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/world/middleeast/kerry-extends-israel-trip-amid-speculation-on-peace-talks.html?_r=0



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 16, 2013, 03:22:17 pm
Israel set to approve another 1,000 W.Bank homes: NGO

Israeli authorities are expected on Wednesday to give the green light for the construction of 1,071 new homes in six West Bank settlements, watchdog Peace Now said in a statement on Tuesday.
 
The news came as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Jordan at the start of a sixth round of intense diplomacy to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, with Israel's settlement building a key sticky point.
 
It also came as the European Union was due to publish on Friday guidelines barring member states from funding projects in Jewish settlements.
 
Peace Now said that a government committee was expected to grant initial approval for plans to build 339 homes at Galgal and Almog settlements in the Jordan valley, Kfar Adumim northeast of Jerusalem and at Kochav Yaacov and Shilo near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
 
Another 732 units were to be given a more advanced level of approval, one stage before the start of construction, at the West Bank's biggest settlement, Modiin Ilit, a community of 58,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews west of Ramallah, it said.
 
"These approvals are part of an unprecedented wave of advancing settlement plans," Peace Now said. "This is yet another message by Israel to the US and the Palestinians that this government is not ready for peace."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/16/israel-set-to-approve-another-1000-wbank-homes-ngo/#ixzz2ZF45266t


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 16, 2013, 07:47:44 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169966#.UeW2aEBy3fJ
EU Redraws Israel Borders to 1949 Lines

For the first time, the EU formally forbids trade with bodies located beyond 1949 Armistice lines, including Golan.

By Gil Ronen
First Publish: 7/16/2013, 11:05 AM

The European Union has issued orders forbidding its member states from cooperating, transferring funds, giving scholarships or research grants to bodies in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem , and even the Golan Heights, Haaretz wrote Tuesday.

The new instruction, promulgated by the European Commission, which is the operative arm of the EU, sets parameters for cooperation between the EU and its members states, on the one hand, and Israeli governmental and private elements on the other. The instructions are for the years 2014 – 2020 and will go into force on Friday, July 18.

The decision also states that any future agreement signed with Israel must include a section that says the “settlements” are not part of sovereign Israel and therefore not included in the agreement.

A senior source in the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the new EU decision is dramatic, and can be called “a true earthquake.”

"This is the first time in which a explicit and formal instruction like this is issued. Until now, there were silent understandings and agreements that the EU does not work beyond the Green Line” – as the 1949 Armistice Line is known – but this is an official and binding prohibition.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin said that the EU decision is “very worrisome” and will make it difficult for the state of Israel to conduct contacts with the EU regarding cooperation agreements.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 17, 2013, 09:16:35 am
EU Redraws Israel Borders to 1949 Lines
For the first time, the EU formally forbids trade with bodies located beyond 1949 Armistice lines, including Golan.


this is BIG news!!!

The European Union has issued orders forbidding its member states from cooperating, transferring funds, giving scholarships or research grants to bodies in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem , and even the Golan Heights, Haaretz wrote Tuesday.

The new instruction, promulgated by the European Commission, which is the operative arm of the EU, sets parameters for cooperation between the EU and its members states, on the one hand, and Israeli governmental and private elements on the other. The instructions are for the years 2014 – 2020 and will go into force on Friday, July 18.

The decision also states that any future agreement signed with Israel must include a section that says the “settlements” are not part of sovereign Israel and therefore not included in the agreement.

A senior source in the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the new EU decision is dramatic, and can be called “a true earthquake.”

"This is the first time in which a explicit and formal instruction like this is issued. Until now, there were silent understandings and agreements that the EU does not work beyond the Green Line” – as the 1949 Armistice Line is known – “but this is an official and binding prohibition.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin said that the EU decision is “very worrisome” and will make it difficult for the state of Israel to conduct contacts with the EU regarding cooperation agreements.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169966#.Ueamg20piRM


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on July 17, 2013, 04:03:02 pm
1949 Armistice Line... (notice how much is under Jordan's control, and that Gaza is under Egypt's control, which nobody is in control in Egypt.  ::))

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/furniture/in_depth/world/2001/israel_and_palestinians/key_maps/armistice_map.gif)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 18, 2013, 05:31:22 am
Israeli PM rejects EU 'dictate' on borders

 Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has said outsiders cannot tell him where his country begins or ends in reaction to new EU guidelines on settlements.

Speaking in a 40-second-long TV clip in Hebrew on Tuesday (16 July), he noted: "I will not let anybody harm Israelis living in Judea and Samaria, the Golan and Jerusalem … We will not accept any external dictates regarding borders."

He added the EU should focus on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons programme and Syria's civil war instead of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"I expect those who want peace in the region to deal with settlements after they solve the Syria crisis and the Iranian threat," he said.

His remarks come after revelations in Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the European Commission on 28 June quietly adopted new guidelines on EU funding in the region.

According to the rules, EU institutions will from 2014 onward refuse to co-fund projects unless Israel gives legal guarantees that none of the money will go to entities whose official seat is beyond the 1967 green line.

"The purpose of these guidelines is to make a distinction between the state of Israel and the occupied territories when it comes to EU support," the EU delegation in Tel Aviv said in a statement also on Tuesday.

The EU and the UN say the Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank, as well as Syria's Golan Heights, were illegally occupied by Israel after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

But Israel, which refers to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria and which claims Jerusalem as its "indivisible" capital, says they are not under occupation because there is no such thing as a Palestinian state.

It says it needs to keep the Golan Heights as a buffer against a potential Syrian attack.

It also says its final borders can only be agreed in bilateral talks with Palestinians.

Meanwhile, it has built over 100 settlements, which house more than half a million Jewish people, in the regions over the past five decades.

The settlements dispute is nothing new.

But the EU code is significant because it would force Israel's own government to sign up to the EU position on borders if it wants any more EU money for Israeli firms in the Palestinian zone.

The code also comes just as the US is trying to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Netanyahu's reaction was among the more mild ones in a series of broadsides against Brussels on Tuesday.

"This is a miserable decision, which was made in very bad timing," Israel's finance minister Yair Lapid said.

"Once again, Europe has demonstrated just how detached it is, how it can't really be a full partner to the [peace] negotiations," regional development minister Silvan Shalom noted.

"This is more fuel for Palestinian rejectionism," deputy foreign minister Ze'ev Elkin added.

The EU commission and foreign service are currently working on a second code.

They plan to publish, later this year or in early 2014, guidelines on retail labels for settlement-made products to make it easier for EU consumers to boycott them if they want to.

http://euobserver.com/foreign/120886


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 18, 2013, 12:17:42 pm
Sources: EU's Yesha Sanctions Could Boomerang
The European Union is not the only one that can impose sanctions, Israeli officials said. Israel may have to pull out of a major EU project


The European Union is not the only one that can impose sanctions and boycotts, Israeli officials said Thursday. A report in Maariv said that if the EU insists on boycotting Israelis and Jews living and doing business in the lands liberated in the 1967 Six Day War, Israel could boycott some major European Union projects that feature Israel as a central partner.

Among them is an 80 billion euro project to clean up the Mediterranean by 2020. Horizon 2020 aims "to de-pollute the Mediterranean by the year 2020 by tackling the sources of pollution that account for around 80% of the overall pollution of the Mediterranean Sea: municipal waste, urban waste water and industrial pollution,” the EU said when the project was announced in 2011. Israeli green technology is a centerpiece of the project, with Israeli researchers providing numerous systems to remove pollution from the shores of Greece, Turkey, Italy, France, and northern African countries.

Perhaps even more important is the fact that Israel is a major funder of the project, allocating 600 million euros to the project over the next seven years. Sources in the Foreign Ministry said that the EU's new policy may put the whole project in jeopardy, since at least some of the technologies Israel is contributing to the project were developed by companies and academic institutions located in Judea and Samaria and in areas of Jerusalem liberated in the Six Day War. Considering the financial crisis in many Mediterranean countries, Israel's funding for the project may be a major issue for the continuity of the project.

According to the new EU rules, Israel will have to pledge not to supply any of that technology to the project – removing a good chunk of the technology contributions Israel was slated to make.

Speaking Wednesday, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett said that he would personally ensure that Israeli businesses affected by the policy were not hurt. “We, too, can impose our own rules on the EU. For example we have something to say about EU projects in the Palestinian Authority,” Bennett told reporters. “Sanctions like this could mean the end of such projects,” as Israel must approve such projects.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/170042#.UeghA432YrU


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 19, 2013, 08:22:27 am
Palestinians: Israel must agree on borders

A stormy, high-level meeting of senior Palestinian leaders called to discuss U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's latest peace proposal ended with a decision early Friday to demand guarantees that Israel agree on the general border of a future Palestinian state, officials said.

The demand casts a cloud of uncertainty over months of U.S. mediation efforts because Israel is weary of agreeing to preconditions, arguing it has not led to successful peace talks in the past. Palestinian officials said they wanted guarantees to ensure peace talks would lead to fruition.

Hoping to push Israelis and Palestinians toward talks, U.S. President Barack Obama asked Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to work with Kerry "to resume negotiations with Palestinians as soon as possible," according to a statement released by the White House late Thursday.

After two separate meetings, Palestinian officials said they decided to send top negotiator Saeb Erekat to meet with Kerry "and inform him that Palestinians want guarantees regarding the general border," said Wasel Abu Yussef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee, who was in the meeting.

A U.S. official said Kerry will meet on Friday with Erekat in Amman, Jordan. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss Kerry's schedule publicly, said there are no immediate plans for Kerry to meet an Israeli negotiator.

Abu Yussef was referring to Israel's de facto border that separates the Jewish state from the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories that Israel conquered in the 1967 Mideast war, alongside the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians claim those territories for their future state, with modifications reached through agreed "land swaps" that would see major Jewish settlement blocks built in the West Bank becoming part of Israel proper, in exchange for territories elsewhere.

Abu Yussef said Erekat would also ask for more clarifications from Kerry on what Israel expects from negotiations.

He said Palestinians did not want to reject Kerry's efforts to restart negotiations outright. Another official in the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity, said they felt pressure from Palestinians to not restart negotiations if they could not be seen producing substantive outcomes.

Suggesting Palestinian officials would be open to talks, they deliberately did not bring up their often-repeated demand that Israel stop building in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem before talks could resume.

The anonymous Palestinian official said they had decided, so far, not to make the demand this time. He said if Israel agreed on a general border route before negotiations began, it would delegitimize Jewish settlement building in areas expected to be part of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas convened the two meetings beginning Thursday with his advisors after a lengthy meeting with Kerry earlier in the week. While Kerry has not publicized details of his plan, the Arab League's decision Wednesday to endorse his proposal raised speculation that the Palestinians would agree. Abbas traditionally has sought the blessing of his Arab brethren before making any major diplomatic initiative.

U.S. officials played down hopes that negotiations would begin soon.

"There are currently no plans for an announcement on the resumption of negotiations," Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for Kerry, told reporters in neighboring Jordan. An Israeli Cabinet minister said no deal was imminent.

A U.S. official said Kerry would consult with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Friday before ending his visit to the Middle East and returning to the United States but made no mention of an announcement of new negotiations. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss Kerry's plans publicly.

Kerry has been shuttling for months in search of a formula to allow resumption of talks after a nearly five-year break. Talks have been stalled since late 2008, with the status of Israeli settlements at the heart of the deadlock.

Netanyahu has rejected the Palestinian demands, saying talks should begin without preconditions.

Ahmed Majdalani, another executive committee member, said Kerry has proposed holding talks for six to nine months focusing on the key issues of borders and security arrangements.

He said Kerry would endorse the 1967 lines as the starting point of negotiations and assured the Palestinians that Israel would free some 350 prisoners gradually in the coming months. The prisoners would include some 100 men that Israel convicted of crimes committed before interim peace accords were signed in 1993. Israel has balked at freeing these prisoners in the past because many were convicted in deadly attacks.

Although the plan does not include a settlement freeze, it was not clear whether Israel would accept any reference to the 1967 lines.

Israeli Cabinet minister Yair Lapid said it was "too early to say" whether Kerry had found a formula for talks.

"Secretary Kerry has done a tremendous job in trying to put both sides together," he told The Associated Press. "Of course Israel is more than willing and has expressed its agreement to go back to the negotiation table, but apparently it's going to take a little more time."

While Israel has balked at Palestinian demands, the international community has largely rallied behind the Palestinian position on borders and Jewish settlements.

In a show of displeasure over the settlements, the European Union announced this week it would stop providing research and cooperation grants to Israeli entities that operate in the occupied territories. Israeli leaders condemned the decision.

On Thursday, Israeli President Shimon Peres urged the EU to reconsider the ban, saying it could undermine Kerry's efforts.

Peres urged the EU to "give priority to peace" and warned the ban "could cause another crisis."

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-israel-must-agree-borders-001629417.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 19, 2013, 08:23:07 am
Obama Urges Netanyahu to Resume Peace Talks
 

Obama calls Netanyahu, asks him to continue to work with John Kerry in order to resume talks with the PA.


U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to resume negotiations with the Palestinian Authority "as soon as possible," the White House said in a statement quoted by AFP.

The two leaders spoke by telephone as Secretary of State John Kerry made his latest trip to the region as part of marathon efforts to re-launch the stalled peace talks.

"The president encouraged Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue to work with Secretary Kerry to resume negotiations with the Palestinians as soon as possible," the White House said in the statement.

The White House added that the two leaders also discussed "recent developments in Egypt, Iran and Syria," without providing further details.

"The leaders affirmed the importance of continued close coordination between the United States and Israel on a range of security issues," it said.

Earlier on Thursday, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party effectively torpedoed Kerry's plan for restarting negotiations.

Fatah officials demanded that changes be made to Kerry's Middle East peace plan, following a meeting in Ramallah. The move means it is likely the PA will also reject the plan.

Abbas has insisted that Israel recognize the 1949 Armistice Line as a designated border for any future PA state. Israel refuses, as the pre-1967 borders are indefensible and withdrawing back to these borders would guarantee its destruction.

He has also demanded that Israel release terrorists jailed before the 1993 Oslo Accords and that it freeze all Jewish construction in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. PA officials said that Kerry's plan was rejected because it did not guarantee that Israel would freeze construction, nor did it guarantee that the talks would be based on the 1949 Armistice Line.

Netanyahu's office denied on Thursday that Israel had agreed to accept the 1949 armistice lines as the basis for renewed negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Israeli officials had been quoted in earlier press reports as confirming the claim made by a top PA official.

While denying the part about the 1949 armistice lines, Netanyahu's office did not issue a denial of the building freeze claim.

Officials in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria said that even if Netanyahu's office did issue a denial, it would be meaningless, as the government could in any case impose a “soft” building freeze, in which it just drags its feet on approving building plans and the like, as opposed to an official freeze.

Meanwhile, Bayit Yehudi Chairman and Economy Minister, Naftali Bennett, made clear that his party will not be a partner in a government that holds diplomatic negotiations based on the idea of returning to Israel's pre-1967 borders.

"The Bayit Yehudi party, which I head, will not be a partner, even for one second, in a government that agrees to negotiate based on [pre-]'67 lines,” he stated. “Our capital, Jerusalem, is not up for negotiations and will never be up for negotiations.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Controls/SendFriend.ashx?print=1&type=0&item=170066


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 19, 2013, 02:48:01 pm
Kerry Announces ‘Basis’ for Resumption of Mideast Peace Talks

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Israel and the Palestinian Authority had "established a basis" for resuming formal peace talks for the first time since 2010 and hoped to convene a meeting in Washington within a week or “very soon thereafter.”

rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/20/world/middleeast/kerry-extends-stay-in-mideast-to-push-for-talks.html?_r=0


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 20, 2013, 05:19:43 am
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/19/19559453-kerry-says-israel-palestinians-laid-groundwork-for-new-peace-talks?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=2
7/19/13
Kerry says Israel, Palestinians laid groundwork for new peace talks

AMMAN, Jordan -- Secretary of State John Kerry announced Friday that Israel and the Palestinians have laid the groundwork to resume stalled peace talks.

Addressing reporters before he flew back from the Jordanian capital of Amman, Kerry announced "an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming direct final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis."

Peace talks broke down in 2010.

He said his negotiating counterparts will join him in Washington, D.C. next week or "shortly thereafter," but that he will be the one making public comments on behalf of the whole group.

"The representatives of two proud people today have decided that the difficult road ahead is worth traveling," he added.

On his visit, Kerry had marathon talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas - including a stop Friday in Ramallah.

Kerry also met Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat in Amman and had been consulting Israeli officials by telephone, a U.S. official said.

The Palestinian leadership on Thursday did not accept Kerry's latest plan, but signaled that it was leaving the door open for him to continue pushing for talks.

"This is a significant and welcome step forward," Kerry said Friday upon making his announcement.

Negotiations, which have ebbed and flowed over two decades, collapsed in late 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories it captured in the 1967 Middle East war.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 20, 2013, 10:17:40 am
Gulf states: EU directive on Israeli settlements wise

Gulf States on Saturday hailed the European Union's decision to ban its 28 members from engaging with Israeli organizations and businesses operating beyond the pre-1967 lines, AFP reported.

The six-state Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC) “welcome the European Union’s decision which they hope will back international efforts to revive peace talks between Palestinians and Israel, and press Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories," AFP quoted GCC head Abdul Latif al-Zayani as saying.

The EU on Friday published the directives limiting its members from interaction with Israeli entities in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, which al-Zayani referred to as “wise and reflects the EU’s solid stance in rejecting Israel’s colony policy and its confiscating of Palestinian territories in a clear violation of all agreements, international law, and UN resolutions”.

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Gulf-states-EU-directive-on-Israeli-settlements-wise-320451


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 20, 2013, 11:34:50 am
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/20/19578342-israel-to-release-heavyweight-palestinian-prisoners-amid-peace-talks-drive?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=6
7/20/13
Israel to release 'heavyweight' Palestinian prisoners amid peace talks drive

JERUSALEM -- Israel has agreed to a long-standing Palestinian demand to release Palestinian prisoners in order to resume peace talks, but will not yield on other central issues, Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Saturday.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Israel and the Palestinians had laid the groundwork to resume peace talks after an almost three-year stalemate, but he warned that the deal was not final and required more diplomacy.

"There will be some release of prisoners," Steinitz told Israel Radio. "I don't want to give numbers but there will be heavyweight prisoners who have been in jail for tens of years," he said. The release would be carried out in phases, he added.

But when it came to other sticking points, Steinitz said Israel would not give way.

Palestinians have long demanded that Israel free prisoners who have been held in Israeli jails since before 1993, the year the two sides signed the Oslo Accords - an interim deal that was intended to lead to an independent state the Palestinians seek in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians have said their future state must have borders approximating the boundaries of those territories before Israel captured them in a 1967 Middle East War.

Israel has balked at this demand, saying such borders would be indefensible for the Jewish state. Steinitz said there had been no Israeli concession on that point and on the Palestinian demand that Israel halt all construction in its West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements.

"There is no chance that we will agree to enter any negotiations that begins with defining territorial borders or concessions by Israel, nor a construction freeze,” he said.

Wasel Abu Youssef, a senior member of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization, told Reuters on Friday after Kerry's announcement that "efforts will continue to secure the achievement of Palestinian demands ... Israel must recognize the 1967 borders."

Kerry said on Friday that the deal between Israel and the Palestinians was still being "formalized" and he would therefore not discuss it in detail, but that negotiators for both sides could begin talks in Washington "within the next week or so."


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 20, 2013, 11:46:26 am
Quote
Israel to release 'heavyweight' Palestinian prisoners amid peace talks drive

these are the people that as soon as they get out they will go back and try to kill as many people as they can. And when that happens its going to start more attacks, and thus stopping the peace process. I mean neither side want peace. The Isaraelis, know these people will attack so they agrre to let them go each time peace talks start. The Muslims want them released on condition of peace talks, again knowing that they will attack stopping the peace process.

am i the only one that sees this? every time?  ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 20, 2013, 11:53:42 am
these are the people that as soon as they get out they will go back and try to kill as many people as they can. And when that happens its going to start more attacks, and thus stopping the peace process. I mean neither side want peace. The Isaraelis, know these people will attack so they agrre to let them go each time peace talks start. The Muslims want them released on condition of peace talks, again knowing that they will attack stopping the peace process.

am i the only one that sees this? every time?  ::)

Yep - which is why I don't think some "peace treaty" put out by Obama/Kerry(assuming the Daniel 9:27 prophecy is nigh around the corner) will be the 7 year covenant prophecized by Daniel.

Before the AC shows up on the scene, it's going to be utter chaos around the world. Maybe not violent world war, but more along the lines of CONFUSION chaos.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 20, 2013, 01:15:14 pm
Palestinians: US says 1967 lines basis for talks

A Palestinian official says President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to restart peace talks with Israel only after receiving a letter from the U.S. secretary of state guaranteeing that the basis of the negotiations will be Israel's pre-1967 borders.
 
The official said Saturday that the letter from Secretary of State John Kerry to Abbas also stipulated that both the Israelis and Palestinians must refrain from taking any steps that would jeopardize the outcome of the talks.
 
The official says Israel is not to issue new tenders for West Bank settlements, while the Palestinians are to refrain from pursuing diplomatic actions against Israel at international organizations.
 
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to brief the press.
 
There was no immediate comment from the State Department.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/israel-palestinian-prisoners-be-freed-talks


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on July 20, 2013, 01:37:00 pm
these are the people that as soon as they get out they will go back and try to kill as many people as they can. And when that happens its going to start more attacks, and thus stopping the peace process. I mean neither side want peace. The Isaraelis, know these people will attack so they agrre to let them go each time peace talks start. The Muslims want them released on condition of peace talks, again knowing that they will attack stopping the peace process.

am i the only one that sees this? every time?  ::)

No, you know your not the only one. But I see it as not being a peace issue at all among those people of the area. I don't think it has ever been about trying to make peace, as far as the general residents are concerned. It's been about one side not wanting certain people living there. It's always been about who controls the area, and they in turn want to get rid of those they don't agree with. Culturally speaking, they have zero interest in making peace with their enemies. None. They just want them out.

We know from prophecy that only Jesus will bring peace to Jerusalem, so the "peace talks" angle is a moot point. It's all show put on by the world powers for an ignorant and unbelieving public to consume to their own demise. Lets' face it, the world wants to direct people in a way that will send their soul straight to hell. HELLO! ::)

"The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJB)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 21, 2013, 05:55:45 am
Well some one is lying, and im betting that persons name is JOHN KERRY, as that has been his modus operandi his entire life. Someone should really call him on his lying, oh, wait they did.

Israel: PA dropped preconditions; Palestinians say talks based on pre-67 lines

Negotiations are in Israel’s interest, Netanyahu says; ministers confirm pre-Oslo prisoners with blood on their hands to go free


Amid conflicting accounts of the basis on which Israel and the Palestinians are set to renew negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night hailed the resumption of the talks, announced Friday by Secretary of State John Kerry, as fulfilling Israel’s “vital strategic interests.”

Israeli ministers said the government had held firm to its insistence on there being no preconditions for resuming the negotiations, while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had given ground. According to the ministers, the talks would resume without Israel agreeing to a settlement freeze, without Israel agreeing to negotiations for a Palestinian state on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, and without there first being a release of longtime Palestinian prisoners. Still, Israel would release Palestinian prisoners, with Israeli blood on their hands — up to 350, according to some sources — in phases as the talks continued, they said.



However, a Palestinian official said Abbas agreed to restart talks only after receiving a letter from Kerry guaranteeing that the basis of the negotiations will indeed be Israel’s pre-1967 borders. The official, quoted by AP, said Kerry’s letter also stipulated that both the Israelis and the Palestinians must refrain from taking any steps that would jeopardize the outcome of the talks. Thus, the unnamed official said, Israel is not to issue new tenders for West Bank settlements, while the Palestinians are to refrain from pursuing action against Israel at international organizations.
 
In his statement Saturday night, Netanyahu said the negotiations were vital in order “to seek to bring to an end the conflict between us and the Palestinians” and important, too, “given the challenges we face, primarily from Iran and Syria.” Israel, he added, had two goals in the talks: “Preventing the creation of a single binational state between the [Mediterranean] Sea and the Jordan [River], which would endanger the future of the Jewish state, and preventing the establishment of an additional Iranian-sponsored terrorist state on Israel’s borders, which could endanger us no less.”
 
He thanked Kerry for his “great efforts” to get the sides back to the negotiating table and vowed that he would “insist upon Israel’s security need and its vital strategic interests.”
 
Israeli sources said the talks were set to last from 9-12 months. Israel would be represented by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Netanyahu envoy Yitzhak Molcho and the Palestinians by veteran negotiator Saeb Erekat.
 
Kerry said Friday he expected the talks to resume in Washington next week, but Israeli officials said logistics might require a further week of preparation.
 
Israeli sources added that Erekat would raise demands for talks on the basis of the pre-1967 lines and for a settlement freeze — but these would be issues to negotiate at the table, not preconditions. Also, they said, while Israel would release most or all of the more than 100 Palestinian security prisoners held since before the Oslo accords were signed 20 years ago, they would go free in phases, depending on the progress of the talks.
 
A first group of 82 such prisoners, many of whom have Israeli blood on their hands, could be released within four to six weeks, they said. No veteran Israeli Arab prisoners would be freed, Channel 2 reported on Saturday night.
 
Channel 2 also said Kerry had threatened to halt US aid to the Palestinians if Abbas did not come back to the table.
 
“It’s been proven that when we stand firm in our demands, we can enter talks without preconditions, without construction freezes, and certainly without the crazy demand that we base negotiations on the ’67 lines,” Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) said Saturday. “As negotiations get underway, we will insist on continuing construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank. History has taught us that building produces life, while dismantling settlements produces terror.”
 
Bennett added that, in light of recent developments, Israel would not allow the European Union to be part on the negotiations. The EU last week issued a directive forbidding joint projects with institutions that are located over the Green Line or that are active in the settlements.
 
Former foreign minister and senior coalition partner Avigdor Liberman expressed deep skepticism regarding the chances of reaching a final-status agreement with the Palestinians. Liberman said in a statement Saturday that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could not be solved, only managed, at least for the next few years.
 
“Holding negotiations is important, but holding them based on reality and not illusions is more important,” said Liberman. “The best we can strive for is a long-term interim agreement based on security and economic cooperation.”
 
Earlier, Livni, Israel’s senior negotiator with the Palestinians, said there was no risk for Israel in restarting negotiations but real opportunity.
 
“Our agreement with the Palestinians and the Americans was that we would let Kerry be the spokesman of the agreement [on returning to the talks]. I believe trust is an essential part of talks and I don’t want to risk that by patting ourselves on the back,” a cagey Livni told Channel 2′s Meet the Press Saturday evening. “That said, it must be stated that Israel is entering the negotiations, which I hope will start soon, while maintaining its vital diplomatic and security interests.”
 
Livni stressed the fragility of the agreement to enter peace talks, but stated that there was nothing in the initial basis for the negotiations that should prevent anybody, including the right-wing members of the Israeli government, from going ahead with them. “I have no doubt that as people hear more about the details of the agreement [under which the talks are resuming], there will be more support for the process itself,” said Livni.
 
As if to confirm her statement, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) said Saturday that, “We had insisted on entering talks without preconditions, including the Palestinians’ demands that we return to the ’67 lines, freeze settlements and release prisoners.”
 
“We are entering the talks with clean hands and with an honest desire to reach an agreement on ending the conflict. I only hope the Palestinians are coming to the table with the same attitude,” said Ya’alon.
 
“Everything is on the table,” said Livni, the Hatnua party leader and a former foreign minister. “But there is a difference between Israel’s position before entering the room for talks and the positions we will present when seated around the table. Along with my great satisfaction over the understandings we reached yesterday, I realize it is a great responsibility. Things will be on the table and we will have to act responsibly to protect Israel’s interests. I have done it before and I think that it is now understood that I maintained those interests last time around.”
 
Livni stressed that entering the negotiations doesn’t just pose a risk of future concessions, it also produces real opportunities for favorable developments for Israel.
 
Asked whether the current Israeli coalition can survive peace talks in which everything, including final borders, settlement evictions and the fate of Jerusalem is on the table, Livni said the government “has to go ahead with the talks because of their vital importance to Israeli interests.”
 
“When Netanyahu decided to enter the talks, he didn’t become a member of the Hatnua party. He made the decision based on his own principles. I believe the entire government, even the right, can accept those principles,” said Livni.
 
Livni made sure to temper expectations and stress the gradual nature of the process, but concluded on a positive note. “We have proven that there is hope,” she said.
 
Addressing the topic of the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of a peace agreement, Livni said she preferred that those released be terrorists who operated before there were any understandings between Israel and the Palestinians and have been serving their sentences for 25 or more years, over those who carried out their attacks in order to harm the process.
 
Livni was speaking in response to an earlier statement by Minister of Intelligence and International Relations Yuval Steinitz, who said Israel would release an undisclosed number of Palestinian prisoners in order to get talks off the ground. He added that a number of the Palestinian prisoners to be released were “serious” cases, but that a large portion of them had already served many years.
 
During an interview with Israel Radio, Steinitz said that the decision was in line with the government’s approach all along, meaning that it intends to free Palestinian prisoners in phases and would only do so as talks are resumed, not before. He also said Israel was not bound to a settlement freeze as a precondition for the resumption of negotiations.
 
On Friday, Kerry assured the Palestinians that Israel would free some 350 prisoners gradually in the coming months. The prisoners would include some 100 men convicted of terrorist crimes committed before the Oslo interim peace accords were signed in 1993. Israel had balked at freeing these prisoners in the past because many were convicted in deadly attacks.
 
In contrast to the Likud and Jewish Home, which were expected to have issues with the government’s intended concessions to the Palestinians, other parties in Netanyahu’s coalition and in the opposition came out in staunch support of Kerry’s announcement Friday that talks were resuming.
 
Opposition leader Shelly Yachimovich said she was hopeful about the relaunching of direct talks. She called on Netanyahu to clearly announce his approval of Kerry’s initiative and express his willingness to achieve an agreement with the Palestinians.
 
But Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud) told reporters Saturday that Israel “must learn from past mistakes and not release terrorists with blood on their hands as a goodwill gesture or a prize.”
 
“I trust the prime minister, who knows that talking about a return to the ’67 lines is out of the question. Ripping thousands of Israelis from their homes, like we did in the disengagement from Gaza, is a wrong that must not be repeated,” said Danon, who is associated with the hawkish flank of the Likud.
 
At a stormy late-night meeting of their leadership Thursday, Palestinians had balked at dropping a main condition for talks with the Israelis. They demanded a guarantee that negotiations on borders between a Palestinian state and Israel would be based on the ceasefire line that held from 1949 until the 1967 war, when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
 
Israel rejected preconditions for talks, and the split cast a pall of uncertainty over months of US mediation efforts.
 
Hoping to push Israelis and Palestinians toward talks, President Barack Obama asked Netanyahu to work with Kerry “to resume negotiations with Palestinians as soon as possible,” according to a statement released by the White House late Thursday.
 
Previous Israeli governments twice negotiated on the basis of the 1967 lines, but no peace accord was reached. Besides disagreeing over how much land to trade and where, the two sides hit logjams on other key issues, including dividing Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-says-pa-dropped-preconditions-but-palestinians-claim-kerry-promised-talks-on-basis-of-pre-67-lines/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 21, 2013, 06:59:13 am
Well some one is lying, and im betting that persons name is JOHN KERRY, as that has been his modus operandi his entire life. Someone should really call him on his lying, oh, wait they did.

Went from playing the role of loser in 2004 by giving the re-election to his Skull and Bones buddy George W. Bush with all of his campaign "blunders", to being rewarded the role of Secretary of State this year and playing a big role in this "peace process".

Guess nothing's a coincidence in this world...


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 22, 2013, 03:47:46 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-premier-fast-tracking-peace-referendum-bill-155141189.html
Israel premier fast-tracking peace referendum bill
7/22/13

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's premier announced Monday he is fast-tracking legislation that would allow him to put any peace deal with the Palestinians to a national referendum — an apparent attempt to silence hard-liners in his party and coalition government.

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke three days after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said progress has been made toward a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, stalled for five years.

Kerry has invited Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to Washington for preliminary talks, though wide gaps remain on the framework of the actual negotiations.

Netanyahu said Monday that a referendum is necessary to prevent a rift in Israeli society.

Polls have suggested a majority of Israelis support the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but many groups are vehemently opposed, including hard-liners among Israel's West Bank settlers. Some issues to be settled in a peace deal are particularly explosive, including a partition of Jerusalem, home to major religious shrines and claimed by both sides as a capital.

Peace talks would also determine Israel's borders with a future Palestine and the fate of Palestinian refugees and their millions of descendants.

Netanyahu said he would present legislation on a referendum to his Cabinet and parliament soon.

"Any agreement that is not approved by the people is not worthy of being signed," Netanyahu said in an announcement from Israel's parliament. On an issue as fateful as a peace deal, "it is desirable that it be presented to every single citizen to decide," he said.

Earlier Monday, one of Netanyahu's main coalition partners, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, linked crucial support in an upcoming vote on the government budget to progress on a referendum bill.

"The Jewish Home will support the state budget, but in order for that happen we demand the referendum law is being promoted by then," Bennett said.

Netanyahu's second main coalition partner, the centrist Yesh Atid party, has said it is studying the idea. Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, has said she opposes a referendum, insisting that important decisions should be left to democratically elected leaders.

Israeli media said Netanyahu will convene his Cabinet later this week to seek formal backing for a resumption of talks and for a possible release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners in several stages during the negotiations — a proposal bound to trigger vehement opposition from hawks in the coalition, including in his own Likud.

Government spokesman Mark Regev said he was not aware of plans for a Cabinet meeting on the peace talks.

Israeli analyst Yossi Alpher said pushing the referendum bill is an attempt by Netanyahu "to neutralize internal opposition from the right as early as possible."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also said in comments published Monday he would put any peace deal to a referendum, reiterating a long-standing position. He did not say whether the vote would include millions of Palestinians scattered across the globe or only those in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — the lands captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and sought for a Palestinian state.

Speaking to the Jordanian daily Al Rai, Abbas warned that "all options are open" if Kerry's efforts fail — an apparent attempt to pressure Israel to accept the Palestinian terms for a resumption of talks.

Abbas did not list other options but suggested a renewed Palestinian push for U.N. recognition, a tactic Israel fears could increase its international isolation.

In announcing progress Friday, Kerry said a broad agreement has been reached on the framework for restarting talks, but that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators still need to work out some details once they get to Washington.

Palestinian officials say key issues still need to be resolved before actual peace talks can begin. They insist on a freeze in construction in Israeli settlements, and they want Netanyahu to accept Israel's pre-1967 war lines as a starting point and release dozens of veteran Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu has refused to start border talks from the 1967 lines. He has also rejected a settlement freeze, though Palestinian officials have said he is willing to slow construction in some areas without a public announcement.

The Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now said the Netanyahu government has advanced plans for more than 5,000 new apartments in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the past four months.

Without new restrictions, "construction in settlements will continue and it will continue at a relatively fast speed," said Hagit Ofran of Peace Now, calling for a halt in construction.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 23, 2013, 04:23:19 pm
http://www.france24.com/en/20130723-kerry-finalizing-mideast-peace-talks-team
7/23/13
Kerry finalizing MidEast peace talks team

AFP - Secretary of State John Kerry is finalizing his team to help shepherd Middle East peace talks and take on the heavy lifting on a day to day basis, a US official said.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki would neither confirm nor deny reports that a former US ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, has been chosen to head up the American negotiating team.

In Amman on Friday -- at the end of his sixth trip to the region -- Kerry announced that Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed in principle to return to talks that have been frozen for three years.

Israeli chief negotiator Tzipi Livni and her Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erakat are due to travel to Washington in the coming days to start the talks.

"This is the first time in years the official negotiators for both sides have publicly agreed to meet at this level," Psaki told reporters.

But she could not give a precise date for the resumption of talks, saying US officials had been "in touch with both parties over the course of the last couple of days, but I don't have an update on the logistics of the date yet."

"Right now we are pursuing the way forward. There has been a great deal of work, compromise and sacrifice leading to this point," Psaki said.

But she stressed she was going to respect Kerry's commitment to keep the details of the negotiations secret in order to give them the best chance of succeeding.

The top US diplomat was now "focused on putting together the right combination of players to work with the parties," she said, adding no decision on a negotiator or envoy had been made.

Psaki said the talks are "going to be a challenging process. (Kerry) can't carry it all on his own shoulders day in and day out. And that's why he's looking to put together a senior team."

The State Department spokeswoman also stressed that the Israelis and Palestinians "have made clear they want to have substantive discussions as early as possible."

It is likely, however, that the agenda and process will be discussed first before the two sides try to get down to the thorny details on which they remain deeply divided.

Former US president Jimmy Carter, who helped negotiate the 1979 peace deal between Israel and Egypt in what became known as the Camp David accords, said he was "more hopeful than I was a month ago, or five years ago," about progress.

"It seems to us that this is a certainly propitious time, because it's been almost a five year absence of any real effort to bring the two parties together," he said, addressing a conference at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"No-one knows what's going to happen, they might meet the first time and adjourn. But I think there's been a pressure from the Palestinian people and from the Israeli people to have a resolution on this issue."

White House spokesman Jay Carney meanwhile said the US administration felt "very cautious optimism" about the upcoming talks, stressing that the only way "to resolve these issues is if the two parties sit down in direct face-to-face negotiations."

Indyk, currently the head of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, is a veteran of Middle East diplomacy and was named by several US media outlets as Kerry's choice to head the American team.

Indyk was assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs under then president Bill Clinton and served as ambassador to Israel from 1995 to 1997.

He then again served as ambassador to Israel from 2000 to 2001. Indyk was born in London, but emigrated to Australia as a child. He became a US citizen in 1993.

"Obviously he's a very well-respected professional with a great deal of experience and background," Psaki said when asked about Indyk's qualifications.

"But I don't have any other updates on the personnel process," she added.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 24, 2013, 08:04:38 am
For third time in a week, rockets fired from Gaza land in Israel

Despite rising tension, Hamas is more concerned over a potential conflict with Egypt than the renewal of peace talks between Israel and the PA.


Two rockets were fired on Wednesday morning from the Gaza Strip, landing in open spaces in the Eshkol Regional Council, near the border fence. There were no casualties and no damage reported.

Rockets were also fired toward Israel last Friday, after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as on Sunday evening. There were no casualties or damage in both cases.

According to security sources in Israel, extreme Islamist factions in Gaza are behind the attacks, likely carried out without consulting Hamas. After the first incident on Friday, Hamas arrested some of those involved.

rest: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.537712


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 24, 2013, 10:19:33 am
The EU declares Israel as occupier

For more than thirty years the European Union (EU) has issued statements critical of Israel, and has been supportive of the Palestinian cause. The EU Venice Declaration of 1980, the first statement it issued on foreign policy, supported the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination; asserted the unacceptability of any unilateral initiative to alter the status of Jerusalem; proclaimed the need for Israel to end its territorial occupation since 1967; and declared that Israeli settlements were an obstacle to peace.
 
Since the 1990s the EU has been a major aid contributor to Palestinians, though its monetary assistance did not substantially improve the Palestinian economy. This economy suffered from corruption, lack of a satisfactory legal framework and competent administration, absence of democratic practices, and the incompetence of Yasser Arafat, the PLO and the Palestinian Authority leader who instigated the disastrous second Intifada in 2000.
 
The EU has been critical of many of the activities of Israel, including the alleged treatment of the Arab minority and of the Bedouins, but particularly and unrelentingly about Israeli settlements. On December 10, 2012 the EU issued a statement, “all agreements between the State of Israel and the European Union must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, namely the Golan Heights, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
 
The EU discouraged companies from trading with and investing in settlements and suggested banning imports of settlement products.  At the same time Catherine Ashton, the head of EU foreign policy, pressed Israel to cancel the building of 3,000 new settler homes that, in accordance with EU policy, she considered “an obstacle to peace.” That EU policy had been made clear even before the European Commission poll taken in 2003 that the “country posing the greatest threat to world peace was Israel.” It was unclear whether the particular homes to which Ashton was referring are an obstacle to peace in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, or Iraq, issues with which she seems somewhat unconcerned.
 
Whatever the answer, this did not prevent the EU decision to implement the December 10 statement by issuing a directive approved on June 28, 2013  and made known on July 16, 2013. This was a decision by the EU to ban all funding, collaboration, scholarships, research grants, and awards to “Israeli entities” in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. All future EU agreements with Israel must have a clause stating that the settlements are not part of the State of Israel.
 
By its declaration the EU was unilaterally deciding that the borders of Israel did not embrace East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or the Golan Heights. It was making a distinction between the State of Israel and the “occupied territories” to which the ban on relations on factors such as economics, science, culture, sports, and academia will apply.
 
This is an extraordinary unwise and unhelpful decision at a time when Secretary of State John Kerry is making his sixth visit in four months to the region in his hope to revive peace talks between Israel and Palestinians. He must be troubled that the EU decision on the borders of the State of Israel may make the Palestinians unwilling to enter into direct negotiations. That unwillingness has been rewarded by the constant EU argument, one that was repeated on the very day that the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and constitute an obstacle to peace. The EU argument is belied by the reality that facts and the history of the area prove the opposite; Israeli settlement has never constituted an obstacle to peace. Nevertheless, Ashton persists in saying that “settlement activity is detrimental to current peace efforts.”
 
The EU position makes it more likely that the Palestinian will reject negotiations. If they do agree to enter into direct negotiations, they will certainly continue to insist on a number of pre-conditions, including freezing all settlement construction and acceptance of the ceasefire lines of 1949 as the borders of a Palestinian state.
 
There are two issues involved in this. One is the bypassing of all international and bilateral agreements on the need for negotiations to decide on the final status of the disputed territories. The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement of September 28, 1995 is clear on this point.  Article XXXI states, “Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank or the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations.”  Legally, the demarcation lines between the parties of 1949 are not permanent boundaries; they do not purport to establish definitive boundaries between the parties. All issues are to be negotiated between the parties.
 
The other is the misapplication of EU activity that should more properly be focused on the development of the Palestinian economy and the introduction of human freedoms, rather on than the disputed settlements. The EU, after all, could be a major player in the Middle East with its own economy accounting for almost 20 percent of world trade and including a considerable number of real democracies among its 27 members. It could be playing a role in helping deal with current  problems: Iran’s nuclear proliferation; Islamist extremism in general; the development of terrorist networks; the recognition of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization; equality for women in the Middle East; and encouragement of human rights and democracy in the Arab countries.
 
It serves no useful purpose to insist that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the main security problem in the Middle East. It is one thing to propose two states as the only feasible solution to the conflict, even if there is disagreement on the issue. It is another to attempt to resolve the conflict by putting direct economic and political pressure on Israel. The EU has done a great disservice to the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, and indeed has been counterproductive by making it less likely to come into effect.

http://balfourpost.com/the-eu-declares-israel-has-occupier/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 24, 2013, 10:20:30 am
Obama 'pushed boycott of Jerusalem,
biblical territories'
 
Israeli diplomats warn of crisis over controversial EU move 


A European Union boycott of financial dealings with Jews in the biblical West Bank, Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem was fully coordinated with the Obama administration, a senior Palestinian negotiator told WND.
 
“Without the U.S. support, the EU wouldn’t have taken such measures,” the negotiator said.

On Friday, the EU published guidelines forbidding its 28 members from having any financial dealings with what it calls Jewish settlements or territories that have been “occupied” by Israel since 1967.
 
The preface to the guidelines states “the EU does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over … the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem … and does not consider them to be part of Israel’s territory, irrespective of their legal status under domestic law.”
 
“Only Israeli entities having their place of establishment within Israel’s pre-1967 borders will be considered eligible as final recipients” of funding such as “grants, prizes and financial instruments.”
 
A high-ranking Israeli foreign ministry official told Agence France-Presse on Friday that Israel met the ambassadors of Britain and France, and Germany’s deputy ambassador to convey a message that the boycott will cause a serious crisis in diplomatic relations.
 
On Sunday, the popular Israel Today newspaper reported that hundreds of legal experts are drafting a document to reply to the EU boycott. The legal response will reportedly state that the so-called Jewish settlements are not illegal and that the term “occupied” does not apply to those territories.
 
A translation of the current version of the appeal reads the EU boycott is “based on misguided and legally flawed assumptions about the status of the Israeli settlements and the validity of the 1967 lines as Israel’s borders.”
 
Continues the document: “The EU’s definition of Judea and Samaria as ‘Palestinian territories’ or ‘occupied territories’ is devoid of any legal or factual merit. The area was never defined as such [under international law] and therefore the EU’s continuous use of this terminology undermines the negotiations for a permanent [peace] deal. … The EU’s perception of the Israeli settlements’ illegality stems from various different interpretations of international law.”
 
Biblical land
 
Judea and Samaria, commonly referred to as the West Bank, is dotted with biblical, historically Jewish cities, including Hebron, the oldest Jewish community in the world, where Jews have lived for more than 2,500 years.
 
Hebron is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, believed to be the resting place of biblical patriarchs and matriarchs. There are accounts of the trials of the city’s Jewish community throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman periods.
 
In 1929, as a result of an Arab pogrom in which 67 Jews were murdered, the entire Jewish community fled the city, with Hebron – including the market – becoming temporarily devoid of Jews until Israel recaptured the land in 1967.
 
The West Bank is also home to Shechem, or Nablus. The book of Genesis says Abraham entered Israel at the West Bank city of Shechem and received God’s promise of land for his offspring.
 
The nearby West Bank town of Beit El – in anciently times called Bethel, meaning “house of God” – is where Scripture says the patriarch Jacob slept on a stone pillow and dreamed of angels ascending and descending a stairway to heaven. In that dream, God spoke directly to Jacob and reaffirmed the promise of land. Earlier, God had promised the land of Israel to Abraham at Beit El. In Exodus, the holy tabernacle rested just north of Beit El in Shiloh, believed to be the first area the ancient Israelites settled after fleeing Egypt.
 
Jewish Golan
 
News accounts routinely billed the Golan as “undisputed Syrian territory” until Israel “captured the region” in 1967. In actuality, the Golan has been out of Damascus’ control for far longer than the 19 years it was within its rule, from 1948 to 1967.
 
Even when Syria shortly held the Golan, some of it was stolen from Jews. Tens of thousands of acres of farmland on the Golan were purchased by Jews as far back as the late 19th century. The Turks of the Ottoman Empire kicked out some Jews around the turn of the century.
 
But some of the Golan was still farmed by Jews until 1947, when Syria first became an independent state. Just before that, the territory was transferred back and forth between France, Britain and even Turkey, before it became a part of the French Mandate of Syria.
 
When the French Mandate ended in 1944, the Golan Heights became part of the newly independent state of Syria, which quickly seized land that was being worked by the Palestine Colonization Association and the Jewish Colonization Association. A year later, in 1948, Syria, along with other Arab countries, used the Golan to attack Israel in a war to destroy the newly formed Jewish state.
 
The Golan, steeped in Jewish history, is connected to the Torah and to the periods of the First and Second Jewish Temples. The Golan Heights was referred to in the Torah as “Bashan”; the word “Golan” apparently derived from the biblical city of “Golan in Bashan.”
 
The book of Joshua relates how the Golan was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh. Later, during the time of the First Temple, King Solomon appointed three ministers in the region, and the area became contested between the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel and the Aramean kingdom based in Damascus.
 
The book of Kings tells how King Ahab of Israel defeated Ben-Hadad I of Damascus near the present-day site of Kibbutz Afik in the southern Golan; and the prophet Elisha foretold that King Jehoash of Israel would defeat Ben-Hadad III of Damascus, also near Kibbutz Afik.
 
The online Jewish Virtual Library has an account of how in the late 6th and 5th centuries B.C., the Golan was settled by Jewish exiles returning from Babylonia, or modern day Iraq. In the mid-2nd century B.C., Judah Maccabee’s grandnephew, the Hasmonean King Alexander Jannai, added the Golan Heights to his kingdom.
 
The Golan hosted some of the most important houses of Torah study in the years following the Second Temple’s destruction and subsequent Jewish exile; some of Judaism’s most revered ancient rabbis are buried in the territory. The remains of some 25 synagogues from the period between the Jewish revolt and the Islamic conquest in 636 have been excavated. The Golan is also dotted with ancient Jewish villages.
 
‘Secret Obama plan’ forfeits Temple Mount
 
The EU boycott came as Secretary of State John Kerry announced that both Israel and PA President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to open negotiations to create a Palestinian state.
 
WND reported yesterday the Obama administration has quietly presented a plan in which the PA and Jordan would receive sovereignty over the Temple Mount while Israel would retain the land below the Western Wall, according to a senior PA negotiator.
 
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.
 
Israel has not agreed to the U.S. plan regarding the Temple Mount, with details still open for discussion, stated the PA negotiator.
 
The negotiator, who is one of the main Palestinian figures leading the Arab side of the talks, further divulged Kerry’s proposed outline for a Palestinian state as presented orally to Israel and the PA.
 
He said Jordan has been invited to play a key role in the discussions surrounding both the Temple Mount and Jerusalem while it will be the PA, with some Jordanian assistance, that would ultimately receive control of some of those areas.
 
WND was first to report in 2007 that Jordan had been quietly purchasing real estate surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem hoping to gain more control over the area accessing the holy site, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.
 
Meanwhile, regarding the rest of Jerusalem, Kerry’s plan is to rehash what is known as the Clinton parameters. That formula, pushed by President Bill Clinton during the Camp David talks in 2000, called for Jewish areas of Jerusalem to remain Israeli while the Palestinians would get sovereignty over neighborhoods that are largely Arab. Most Arab sections are located in eastern Jerusalem.
 
WND previously reported the Palestinians are building illegally in Jewish-owned areas of Jerusalem, resulting in Arab majorities in some neighborhoods.
 
For the strategic Jordan Valley, Obama’s proposal calls for international forces to maintain security control along with unarmed Palestinian police forces, the PA negotiator said. Israel will retain security posts in some strategic areas of the Jordan Valley, according to the leaked plan.
 
When it comes to the West Bank, which borders Jerusalem and is within rocket range of Israel’s main population centers, Israel is expected to evacuate about 90 percent of its Jewish communities currently located in the territory, as outlined in Kerry’s plan.
 
Israel would retain strategic security posts along with the West Bank’s main blocs, Maale Adumin, Ariel and Gush Etzion. In return, Obama is calling for an exchange of territory with the Palestinians in other locations inside Israel, with discussion being open for the Palestinians to possibly receive land in the Israeli Negev in the country’s south.
 
The PA negotiator further said Israel rejected a Palestinian request that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree not to place the final peace plan up for referendum in the Knesset.
 
Indeed, Netanyahu announced that any plan must receive final approval in a national poll.
 
“I am committed to two objectives that must guide the result … if there will be a result. And if there will be a result, it will be put to a national referendum,” he said at the start of the cabinet meeting.
 
“Negotiations with the Palestinians will not be easy, but we are entering them with integrity, honesty and hope,” Netanyahu added.
 
The PA negotiator, meanwhile, said Netanyahu agreed that as a gesture to restart talks, Israel will enact a temporary freeze on all Jewish construction in the West Bank outside the main settlement blocs. According to Israeli sources, such a freeze has largely already been in place for several months now anyway.
 
The negotiator warned that one of the toughest issues centers on control of water, with Kerry already reaching out to Turkey about the prospect of selling water at a cheaper rate to a future Palestinian state.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/07/obama-pushed-boycott-of-jerusalem-biblical-territories/#MDbxHD3j9l6Y3ikE.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 24, 2013, 10:21:15 am
'Secret Obama plan' forfeits Temple Mount to Palestinians
 
Formula for Israel-Arab talks leaked to WND


The Obama administration has quietly presented a plan in which the Palestinian Authority and Jordan will receive sovereignty over the Temple Mount while Israel will retain the land below the Western Wall, according to a senior PA negotiator speaking to WND.
 
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.

The proposed plan is part of the basis for U.S.-brokered talks that are set to resume in Washington next week after Secretary of State John Kerry announced that both Israel and PA President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to open negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state.
 
Israel has not agreed to the U.S. plan over the Temple Mount, with details still open for discussion, stated the PA negotiator.
 
The negotiator, who is one of the main Palestinian figures leading the Arab side of the talks, further divulged Kerry’s proposed outline for a Palestinian state as presented orally to Israel and the PA.
 
He said Jordan has been invited to play a key role in the discussions surrounding both the Temple Mount and Jerusalem while it will be the PA, with some Jordanian assistance, that would ultimately receive control of some of those areas.
 
WND was first to report in 2007 that Jordan had been quietly purchasing real estate surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem hoping to gain more control over the area accessing the holy site, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.
 
Meanwhile, regarding the rest of Jerusalem, Kerry’s plan is to rehash what is known as the Clinton parameters. That formula, pushed by President Bill Clinton during the Camp David talks in 2000, called for Jewish areas of Jerusalem to remain Israeli while the Palestinians would get sovereignty over neighborhoods that are largely Arab. Most Arab sections are located in eastern Jerusalem.
 
WND previously reported the Palestinians are building illegally in Jewish-owned areas of Jerusalem, resulting in Arab majorities in some neighborhoods.
 
For the strategic Jordan Valley, Obama’s proposal calls for international forces to maintain security control along with unarmed Palestinian police forces, the PA negotiator said. Israel will retain security posts in some strategic areas of the Jordan Valley, according to the leaked plan.
 
When it comes to the West Bank, which borders Jerusalem and is within rocket range of Israel’s main population centers, Israel is expected to evacuate about 90 percent of its Jewish communities currently located in the territory, as outlined in Kerry’s plan.
 
Israel would retain strategic security posts along with the West Bank’s main blocs, Maale Adumin, Ariel and Gush Etzion. In return, Obama is calling for an exchange of territory with the Palestinians in other locations inside Israel, with discussion being open for the Palestinians to possibly receive land in the Israeli Negev in the country’s south.
 
The PA negotiator further said Israel rejected a Palestinian request that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree not to place the final peace plan up for referendum in the Knesset.
 
Indeed, Netanyahu announced today any plan must receive final approval in a national poll.
 
“I am committed to two objectives that must guide the result … if there will be a result. And if there will be a result, it will be put to a national referendum,” he said at the start of the cabinet meeting.
 
“Negotiations with the Palestinians will not be easy, but we are entering them with integrity, honesty and hope,” Netanyahu added.
 
The PA negotiator, meanwhile, said Netanyahu agreed that as a gesture to restart talks, Israel will enact a temporary freeze on all Jewish construction in the West Bank outside the main settlement blocs. According to Israeli sources, such a freeze has largely already been in place for several months now anyway.
 
The negotiator warned that one of the toughest issues centers on control of water, with Kerry already reaching out to Turkey about the prospect of selling water at a cheaper rate to a future Palestinian state.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/07/secret-obama-plan-forfeits-temple-mount-to-palestinians/#p0cyB4XvSbrhig8E.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on July 24, 2013, 04:30:24 pm
Quote
The Obama administration has quietly presented a plan in which the Palestinian Authority and Jordan will receive sovereignty over the Temple Mount while Israel will retain the land below the Western Wall, according to a senior PA negotiator speaking to WND.
 

What leak? That's no plan. That's how it is right now! Jordon controls the Temple Mount under the Waqf, and has for years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waqf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waqf)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Islamic_Waqf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Islamic_Waqf)

http://images.jordan.gov.jo/wps/wcm/connect/gov/egov/government+ministries+_+entities/ministry+of+awqaf+islamic+affairs+and+holy+places/general+information/ministry+of+awqaf+islamic+affairs+and+holy+places+general+information (http://images.jordan.gov.jo/wps/wcm/connect/gov/egov/government+ministries+_+entities/ministry+of+awqaf+islamic+affairs+and+holy+places/general+information/ministry+of+awqaf+islamic+affairs+and+holy+places+general+information)

Quote
When the Palestinian National Authority assumed its responsibilities and requested to be entrusted with Awqaf affairs and the religious courts, the government in Jordan agreed to administrative and legal disengagement with religious courts and Islamic Awqaf in the West Bank. By this, the courts came under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian authority according to the laws and provisions in force at the time and before the agreement. Nevertheless, Jordan excluded eastern courts and Awqaf in Jerusalem from the disengagement agreement as the issue of Jerusalem was postponed until the time of the final negotiations. Up to this date, Jordanian laws regarding Islamic Awqaf in the holy city are still applied.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 25, 2013, 05:48:32 am
Thanks! Good catch on this!

WND has some decent news stuff to glean upon, but nonetheless they are playing their part in this false left/right paradigm(where they're playing the role of the "right"), which is why they end up putting out propaganda as well.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 25, 2013, 09:49:07 am
An American General Warns the Israeli Right

Last weekend, Marine Corps General James Mattis, the recently retired leader of U.S. Central Command and a man known inside the White House for his sharp opinions (which is one reason he’s no longer leading Central Command) issued a very sharp opinion about Israel’s future.

Speaking at a security conference in Aspen, Colorado, Mattis warned Israel that time was running out for it to reverse its West Bank settlement project.

“We have got to find a way to make the two-state solution that Democrat and Republican administrations have supported, we’ve got to get there,” he said. “And the chances for it, as the king of Jordan has pointed out, are starting to ebb because of the settlements and where they’re at, are going to make it impossible to maintain the two-state option.”

After blaming the lack of peace squarely on the settlements, he went a step further, and raised the incendiary question of apartheid: “If I’m Jerusalem and I put 500 Jewish settlers out here to the east and there’s 10,000 Arab settlers in here, if we draw the border to include them, either it ceases to be a Jewish state or you say the Arabs don’t get to vote -- apartheid. That didn’t work too well the last time I saw that practiced in a country.”

Mattis has homed in on the precise issue that alienates liberal-minded Americans and Israelis: the West Bank double standard. Although Israel, within its 1967 borders, is a democracy in which Arabs have legal and voting rights, the West Bank is a two-tiered political entity: Jewish settlers in Hebron have the rights of Israeli citizens, but their Arab neighbors -- people who sometimes live mere yards away -- are under military occupation, without the same rights. This is a politically and morally untenable arrangement, and Mattis was right to call it out.

He was wrong to blame the lack of peace solely on Israel -- the Palestinians have rejected one compromise offer after another, and the Gaza Strip, which would make up about half the future Palestinian state, is under the control of Hamas, which seeks Israel’s elimination -- but he isn't wrong to identify the settlements as an enormous impediment to compromise.

Mattis is also conveying conventional Pentagon wisdom, and this is why the settlers, and their advocates in the cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ought to be paying close attention, because they can't forever stand against the opinions of men like Mattis (who, by the way, couldn't be considered “anti-Israel” by any stretch of the imagination).

Mattis went on to make another assertion that Netanyahu’s cabinet ought to heed: “I paid a military security price every day as the commander of Centcom because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel and that moderates all the moderate Arabs who want to be with us, because they can’t come out publicly in support of people who don’t show respect for the Arab Palestinians." He went on to say that John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state who's trying to restart peace talks, "is right on target with what he’s doing. And I just hope the protagonists want peace and a two-state solution as much as he does.”

Arab rulers who complain about U.S. support for Israel to generals like Mattis are playing their American counterparts a bit: It’s very hard to imagine the Saudis and the Emiratis and the Kuwaitis and the Jordanians not taking American help -- or not providing bases to the U.S. -- because they’re upset by settlements. The Arabs uniformly fear and loathe Iran more than they fear and loathe Israel. Still, it's true that American military commanders wouldn’t have to sit through quite so many lectures about Palestinian rights if there was movement on the peace process. It's also true that men like Mattis make their own weather -- that is, whether he’s right or wrong, this is what he believes, and it would be foolish for the Israelis, a dependent power, to ignore the feelings of powerful American generals.

What Israeli army generals know -- and what many of their political leaders don’t seem to recognize -- is that Mattis's views are commonplace in the American defense establishment. The Israeli right can only ignore this reality for so long without doing its country permanent damage.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-25/an-american-general-warns-the-israeli-right-.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 28, 2013, 06:46:19 am
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-cabinet-weigh-prisoner-release-palestinian-talks-181552730.html
Israel to approve prisoner deal in push to revive Palestinian talks
7/27/13

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel was expected on Sunday to approve releasing more than 100 Arab prisoners as a step to renew stalled peace talks with the Palestinians ahead of plans to convene negotiators in Washington later this week.

Ministers will vote on the move at the cabinet's weekly session, as well as proposed legislation to require a public referendum or vote on any peace agreement reached involving a withdrawal from land Israel captured in a 1967 war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to win support even from pro-settler hardliners for the prisoner release, seen as critical to relaunching negotiations stalled since 2010, by sidestepping a thornier issue for his political allies of Palestinian demands to halt settlement expansion.

In a dramatic appeal for public support posted on his Facebook page on Saturday night, Netanyahu urged Israelis to back his "very painful decision" to free prisoners jailed more than 20 years for deadly attacks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had demanded the release of these prisoners jailed from before a 1993 interim peace accord took effect. Israel has jailed thousands more Palestinians since that time, citing security offences.

Netanyahu said Israel must seize what he saw as the opportunity presented by "monumental changes" in the Arab world and give Israel a boost in what he called a "complex global reality" to try to resolve decades of conflict with the Palestinians.

He said the negotiations, which a senior Palestinian official has said may convene in Washington on Tuesday, "will last at least nine months with the aim of examining whether it is possible in this period to achieve an agreement with the Palestinians."

"I did agree to release 104 Palestinians in defined groups after the start of negotiations, and in accordance with the circumstances of its progress," he said, adding that he had rejected other Palestinian demands for a settlement freeze.

"With all the importance I attach to the diplomatic process I wasn't ready to accept the Palestinians' demands for (military) withdrawals and (settlement) freezes as preconditions for entering in negotiations," the Israeli leader wrote.

The U.S.-brokered talks broke down three years ago in a dispute over settlement construction Palestinians say denies them the land needed for a state they seek to establish in territory Israel captured in a 1967 war.

Officials said Netanyahu's plan calls for freeing inmates in at least four stages stretched over a nine-month period, with the first group being released over the next few weeks. Netanyahu said prisoners would be freed only after talks began.

The latest diplomatic push follows months of intense shuttle diplomacy by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who said a week ago the groundwork had been laid for a breakthrough, while setting no specific date for talks to reconvene.

The two sides still differ widely over core elements of a deal to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Abbas had pressed for explicit guarantees that Israel would negotiate a withdrawal based on borders from before the 1967 conflict. Israel has resisted, insisting it would keep several settlement blocs and East Jerusalem, a city it annexed as part of its capital in a move never recognized internationally.

(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by David Evans)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 28, 2013, 04:43:26 pm
Israel OK's prisoner release, step to peace talks
7/28/13
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-oks-prisoner-release-step-peace-talks-191102552.html

JERUSALEM (AP) — A divided Israeli Cabinet agreed Sunday to release 104 long-term Palestinian prisoners convicted of deadly attacks, clearing a hurdle toward resuming Mideast peace talks and giving U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry his first concrete achievement after months of shuttle diplomacy.

The U.S. said preliminary talks would begin Monday. Release of the prisoners is linked to progress in the talks, meaning many could well remain behind bars.

Neither side appeared upbeat, despite the possibility of renewed talks. Each has blamed the other for the lack of success in 20 years of negotiations, and Kerry's success so far has been only to get the parties back to the table.

The prisoner release, approved 13-7 with two abstentions, is a key part of the Kerry-brokered deal.

Next, Israeli and Palestinian teams meet in Washington on Monday, the State Department spokeswoman said, to prepare for six to nine months of negotiations on setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

The State Department said Kerry called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and invited them to send teams to Washington.

State Department spokeswoman Jan Psaki said in a statement that talks would begin Monday evening and continue Tuesday. It said the talks would "serve as an opportunity to develop a procedural work plan for how the parties can proceed with the negotiations in the coming months."

Officials said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Abbas aide Mohammed Shtayyeh would represent the Palestinians, and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and adviser Yitzhak Molcho would attend for Israel.

Netanyahu, seeking to overcome stiff opposition from ultra-nationalists, told his Cabinet that "resuming the political process at this time is important for Israel," noting that any deal would be submitted to a national referendum.

Erekat welcomed the vote on the prisoners as a "step toward peace," one he said is long overdue.

Negotiators made progress in previous rounds, and the outlines of a deal have emerged — a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands captured by Israel in 1967, with border adjustments to enable Israel to annex land with a majority of nearly 600,000 settlers.

Those negotiations broke down before the sides could tackle the most explosive issues, a partition of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, now several million people.

Abbas remains leery of negotiating with Netanyahu, fearing any offer made by the hard-liner would fall far short of Palestinian demands, so he has insisted on a clear framework for negotiations.

Abbas said over the weekend that Kerry assured him the invitation to the negotiators will say border talks are based on the 1967 line — though Netanyahu has not said whether he has dropped his long-standing opposition to that demand.

In Washington, the Israeli and Palestinian teams are supposed to close the remaining gaps on the framework for talks, and they could well falter at that early point.

Israel's release of veteran prisoners could help Abbas persuade a skeptical Palestinian public that it's worthwhile returning to negotiations.

Netanyahu has repeatedly called for a resumption of negotiations that broke down in 2008, but he has not sketched the outlines of a deal he would be willing to strike, except to say he opposes a partition of Jerusalem.

In Sunday's Cabinet meeting, he pushed through the prisoner release despite opposition by two ministers in his Likud Party and by those from a main coalition partner, the pro-settler Jewish Home Party.

Outside the government complex, hundreds protested against a release. Among them were families of Israelis killed in attacks by Palestinian militants. Some held up pictures of their loved ones.

Naftali Bennett, the head of Jewish Home, briefly joined the protesters before attending the Cabinet meeting. "It's a hard day, the decision was made and I hope we won't pay a horrible price for this in the future," he said after the vote.

In the West Bank and Gaza, some relatives of prisoners anxiously awaited word. "Now there is a big relief," said Walid Abu Muhsen, 45, whose brother Jamal has been in prison for the past 22 years for killing an Israeli farmer.

The first disagreements emerged just hours after the Cabinet vote, reflecting the hostility and deep mistrust between the two sides.

Under the deal brokered by Kerry, Israel is supposed to free 104 prisoners who carried out attacks before the first interim peace agreements of the early 1990s.

Palestinian negotiators handed Kerry a list of 104 prisoners, arrested between 1983 and 1994. They said Kerry assured them Israel would release the prisoners in four stages over several months, with each release linked to progress in negotiations.

Among the 104 prisoners on the Palestinian list are two dozen who either have Israeli citizenship or come from Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. In the past, Israeli media have said Israel would not free them.

On Sunday evening, an official in Netanyahu's office said that no Israeli Arabs are among the 104 whose release was authorized by the Cabinet. Asked to explain the discrepancy, he said Israel holds more than 104 "pre-Oslo" prisoners, suggesting the two sides apply different definitions.

Issa Qarakeh, the Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs, responded angrily.

"The agreement with Kerry was that all the pre-Oslo prisoners, including Israeli Arabs and east Jerusalem residents, will be released," he said. "If they (Israelis) exclude any of them, there will be a problem that might hinder the talks."

Israeli analyst Yossi Alpher said that a prisoner release in stages gives Netanyahu additional leverage during negotiations.

"Netanyahu has given himself a carrot that he can hold out to the Palestinians," he said. "Netanyahu can refuse to release the later batches if there's no progress."


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 29, 2013, 08:49:31 am
http://nycdailymail.com/2013/07/27/obama-signs-executive-order-sends-500-million-to-terrorists/
7/27/13
Obama Signs Executive Order, Sends $500 million to Terrorists

Citing “national security interests,” President Obama effectively sidestepped Congress by signing an executive order which enables him to send $500 million to fund Muslim terrorists in the West Bank.

The executive order, addressed to Secretary of State John Kerry, was quietly signed Friday afternoon, as the media’s full attention was focused upon a royal birth.

In the order, President Obama writes, “I hereby certify that it is important to the national security interests of the United States to waive the provisions of section 7040(a) of the Act as carried forward by the CR, in order to provide funds appropriated to carry out chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act, as amended, to the Palestinian Authority.”

The move comes on the heels of a 2012 executive order in which Obama waived a congressional ban on funding the Palestinian Authority and sent the Hamas terror led organization $147 million American taxpayer dollars. He also removed all spending restrictions on that money, restrictions which dictate what the funds can and cannot be used for, ie. humanitarian assistance, education, betterment of society, etc.  Thus enabling the money to be used for military equipment.

Ed Brown, a DC watchdog writes, “When the next Palestinian/Israeli conflict erupts because Hamas led Palestine is lobbing rockets over the fence into Israel —– don’t forget who paid for those rockets: you did, Mr. & Mrs. American taxpayer.”

Brown’s assertion is backed by those made by political commentator Dean Garrison.  Garrison says, “I am not sure why we even have a legislative branch in 2013, because it’s obvious that Obama and company are going to do what they want anyway.”

“Whether this money eventually finds its way into the hands of terrorists, or not, is not entirely the point. Americans are sick of hearing how we need to make cuts, tighten our belts and sacrifice while our government keeps sending money elsewhere.”


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on July 29, 2013, 03:49:46 pm
Quote
“Whether this money eventually finds its way into the hands of terrorists, or not, is not entirely the point. Americans are sick of hearing how we need to make cuts, tighten our belts and sacrifice while our government keeps sending money elsewhere.”

See, even that ends up being a misdirection from the real problem; a president thumbing his nose at law, and send money to foreign interests solely on his decision. Spending money we don't have outside of Congress is a whole separate legal issue.

So in 2 years, he's sent the "Palestinian Authority", $647 million, just by his own executive orders? And he's not in handcuffs why?

Talk about misappropriation of funds!  ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 30, 2013, 07:23:41 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/rocket-strikes-western-negev/
Rocket strikes western Negev

No injuries or damage reported


7/30/13

A Kassam rocket struck the western Negev region Tuesday morning, Army Radio reported. The rocket was launched from the northern Gaza Strip and landed in an open area.

No one was injured and there were no reports of damage.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 01, 2013, 05:35:47 pm
http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/01/19820902-senate-confirms-power-as-next-un-ambassador?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=4
8/1/13

Senate confirms Power as next UN ambassador

By Carrie Dann, NBC News

The Senate has confirmed Samantha Power to be the next ambassador to the United Nations.

The vote was 87-10.

Power, who has served as a foreign policy adviser to President Barack Obama, replaces Susan Rice, now the president’s national security adviser.

She won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for her book “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.”


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 05, 2013, 09:21:37 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/first-26-pre-oslo-prisoners-to-go-free-on-august-13-pa-says/
8/3/13
First 26 pre-Oslo prisoners to go free on August 13, PA says

Livni: Talks to resume in Jerusalem, Palestinians are ‘serious’ about the process


Israel is set to release a fist group of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners on August 13, the Palestinian Authority’s chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told the Palestinians news agency Ma’an on Saturday.

Erekat also confirmed that Israel has agreed to release 104 Palestinian prisoners who have been serving sentences since before the 1993 Oslo Accords in four phases as the new peace talks progress.

Justice Minister and chief negotiator Tzipi Livni (Hatnua) had told Channel 10 Friday that the next round of talks between Israel and the Palestinians would be held in Israel in the second week of August, and that some Palestinian prisoners would be freed by then.

Israel Radio reported Saturday morning that the talks are due to recommence on August 14.

The Israeli government on Sunday established a ministerial committee to handle the prisoner releases. The releases will be individually scrutinized, and leave given for opponents to appeal the releases to the Israeli Supreme Court, which is deemed unlikely to intervene.

Former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), for his part, told Channel 10 on Saturday that “there is no chance” of the new talks achieving an accord, “and anybody with a brain knows it.”

Livni said she believed the Palestinians were serious about the process, and that both sides ought to have a good sense already of “roughly how the talks should end.” She said the sides had agreed on alternating venues for the talks — which resumed in Washington on Monday-Tuesday after a three-year hiatus — as they progress over coming months.

“We and the Palestinians both determined that the first meetings would be held once in Israel and once in the Palestinian Authority … we want to do it directly (and close to home). The next meeting will be in the second week of August in Israel,” she said.

“The release [of the first group of Palestinian prisoners] will take place between now and the second week of August,” she added.

Livni also addressed the 9-month timetable for talks announced last week during the first round of negotiations in the US, telling the channel that the timeline was of less importance.

“All the relevant sides have a vested interest in an agreement. If [the talks] are serious and we’re at the eighth month and we find that we need more time, then of course we will carry on talking. If after a month, we see it’s not serious, then why carry on talking for the next eight?

“It is my impression that the Palestinians are serious — this is a test for them… Anybody who enters the [negotiating] room knows roughly how the talks should end.” said Livni.

Last week, Israel approved the phased release of the 104 Palestinian prisoners in order to facilitate the resumption of peace talks, a move that drew criticism from those on the right of the political spectrum, many of whom see the freeing of convicted murderers and terrorists as a price too high to pay for a return to the talks. Others regard it as a necessary evil, meeting a Palestinian demand to enable the resumption of negotiations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that approving the releases was a deeply painful decision, but one that served the wider interests of the state.

The parties held their first talks in three years in Washington last week, brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry who traveled to the region no fewer than six times in recent months to get the sides to agree to a renewal of talks.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama called Netanyahu and  Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to praise both leaders for their roles in the resumption of talks. He also reportedly urged them to “move fast” and make “speedy progress” toward a permanent accord.

The US has indicated that it intends to remain involved and follow developments very closely. Last week, Kerry announced the appointment of former ambassador Martin Indyk to serve as US envoy for Mideast peace and the top American negotiator for the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 07, 2013, 01:57:16 pm
EU, Israel headed for showdown over settlement rules

Brussels insists it won’t back down on West Bank ban, as Jerusalem considers balking at research cooperation program


Despite heavy criticism from Israel, the European Union will not cancel, modify or delay the implementation of recently published guidelines that block EU funding from Israeli institutions either located or maintaining any links beyond the Green Line, a top EU official said this week.

“The guidelines will take effect as they are. This is how they were published [in the EU’s Official Journal], as a legal act, and that’s how it will be,” Ambassador Andreas Reinicke, the EU’s special representative to the Middle East peace process, told The Times of Israel last week. In certain areas where the guidelines are still unclear, “a closer look” at the details might be have to be taken, he allowed. But their main points will not be changed and will take effect by January 2014 as planned.

The EU’s directive, published last month, mandates a denial of European funding to, and cooperation with, Israeli institutions based or operating over the Green Line, and a requirement that all future agreements between Israel and the EU include a clause in which Israel accepts the position that all territory over the Green Line does not belong to Israel.
 
The exact formulation of this so-called territorial clause has yet to be determined and will likely be the subject of heated discussions between Israeli and European officials.
 
Brussels is also determined to introduce a labeling regime for settlement products by the end of 2013.

rest: http://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-israel-headed-for-showdown-over-settlement-rules/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 12, 2013, 09:15:28 am

Israel approves new housing for settlers days before peace talks


Israel has issued tenders for the construction of nearly 1,200 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, defying US and Palestinian opposition to expansion of Jewish settlements three days before the scheduled start of peace talks.

more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f05fbe0-0280-11e3-a9e2-00144feab7de.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 13, 2013, 08:19:53 am
Netanyahu: EU directives undermine efforts to achieve peace

In a meeting with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu attacked the new EU directives restricting interaction with Israeli entities beyond the pre-1967 lines, saying they "undermine efforts to achieve peace."   

At his residence in Jerusalem, the prime minister clarified: "We both want the same thing: peace. We are committed to peace and work towards achieving it. Unfortunately, the new EU guidelines undermine the efforts to achieve peace."

"These guidelines stand in the way of a solution, which will only be achieved by negotiations between the two sides, and not by a third-party dictation," Netanyahu added.

For his part, Westerwelle said Germany would support the peace process.

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Netanyahu-EU-directives-undermine-efforts-to-achieve-peace-322813


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 12:53:16 pm
‘Camp Jihad’: U.N.-Sponsored Camps Encourage Palestinian Kids to Destroy Israel

Summer at United Nations-funded camps in Gaza and the northern West Bank include playing with parachutes, jumping on trampolines, and racing down inflatable slides.
 
In between those kid-friendly activities, counselors convey belligerent, anti-Semitic lessons to the children who are repeatedly taught to take back “their land” Palestine by means of war, martyrdom and jihad, as seen in a new video.

All this is being sponsored by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) which is funded predominantly by the United States and the European Union, according to a video called “Camp Jihad” released this summer by the Nahum Bedein Center for Near East Policy Research, which documents some of the activities at the camps.
 
“Peace starts here” is the camps’ motto, according to the video excerpts of which were aired on Israel’s Channel 2 Tuesday night.
 
The campers are third- or fourth-generation descendants of Arabs who either fled or were forced out of their homes during the 1948 war when Arab armies attacked Israel after it declared independence. None of them has ever visited their ancestral “homes,” yet their schools and camps promote the notion that they will one day violently uproot “the Jews” whom their teachers compare to wolves.
 
Ahmad Souje, a counselor at the Balata camp near Nablus, told the film crew, “The only alternative to implement the ‘right of return’ is blood for blood, an eye for an eye. In the same way they expelled us, we will expel them.”
 
Shahed Arja, a girl attending the UNRWA camp in Gaza said, “This summer camp teaches us that we have to liberate Palestine.”


VIDEO: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/14/camp-jihad-u-n-sponsored-camps-encourage-palestinian-kids-to-destroy-israel/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2013, 01:22:39 pm
Israeli official: Mideast peace talks between Israel, Palestinians have begun in Jerusalem - @AP

 :D


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on August 14, 2013, 03:33:32 pm
"For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when [there is] no peace." Jeremiah 8:11 (KJB)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 20, 2013, 05:20:58 pm
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/20/20086358-20-years-after-historic-oslo-peace-deal-few-signs-of-hope-for-new-mideast-generation?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=2
8/20/13
20 years after historic Oslo peace deal, few signs of hope for new Mideast generation

TEL AVIV – It was a historic handshake that heralded a moment of genuine hope that the decades of violence in the Middle East might finally come to an end.

The Oslo peace accord – agreed in secret 20 years ago on Tuesday – triggered the White House photo-op a month later between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat as a smiling Bill Clinton patted both men on the back.

The Oslo generation should have lived in a very different world from their parents.

But despite peace talks recently revived with help from Secretary of State John Kerry, there is little sign of optimism for today's 20-somethings, while their parents have seen it all before.

For Nihad Ilian, 50, mother of five daughters and two sons, Gaza has become “a closed cemetery, a big prison” with movement outside restricted by the Israelis.

But in 1993 she was optimistic that her newborn daughter Alaa, now an "ambitious and talented" 20-year-old, would have a “good future.”

“The situation before Oslo was bad and we hoped to have a better life, and that Alaa … will not hear of wars,” Ilian said.

“Following Oslo, we lived for a brief period in stability, expecting Gaza to become like Singapore.”

As the years passed by, hope faded.

“Alaa grew up and nothing changed," Ilian said. “This is the fate of the new generation that came after Oslo. We feel overpowered and subdued. We wish to live like other people.”

Ilian, who lives in in Jabalyah refugee camp in Gaza City, added, “You keep promising your children that this will be the last war … but five years later there is another war. Wars became the routine after Oslo.”

Alaa Ilian, who studied English at Al-Azhar University, has never left Gaza.

“Since I was young, I can remember wars and intifadas,” she said. “Oslo solved the conflict for only a limited period.”

“I’m a girl who wants to study, travel abroad and live my life,” she added. “I have studied but cannot find a job. I feel estranged while living in my homeland … The situation is bad."

Alaa had little hope for the new peace talks.

“Negotiations should be for the good of both sides, but all the rights will go for the stronger side,” she said.

In the Oslo accord, Israeli and Palestinian representatives agreed “it is time to put an end to decades of confrontation and conflict … and strive to live in peaceful coexistence and mutual dignity and security and achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement and historic reconciliation.”

It laid out a plan for Palestinian democracy and a future state based on borders from before the 1967 Six-Day War.

Clinton declared “the peace of the brave is within our reach;” Rabin, Arafat and Shimon Peres, then Israeli’s foreign minister and now president, received Nobel Peace Prizes.

Two years later, Rabin was assassinated by Israeli extremist Yigal Amir; then came the second Palestinian “intifada” uprising in 2000 that shattered Israeli relations with Arafat; the Second Lebanon War in 2006; and a major Israeli military operation prompted by rocket attacks in Gaza in 2008.

Palestinian democracy took a blow in 2007 with the Battle of Gaza between the Fatah and Hamas movements. While Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah retain power in the West Bank, outright control of Gaza was taken by Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 26, 2013, 02:31:26 pm
Palestinians call off peace talks after clash

 A Palestinian official said planned peace talks with the Israelis scheduled for Monday have been called off following a deadly clash in the West ...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/08/26/palestinians-call-off-peace-talks-after-clash/2698763/

Well that was fast


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 26, 2013, 02:39:34 pm
Palestinians call off peace talks after clash

 A Palestinian official said planned peace talks with the Israelis scheduled for Monday have been called off following a deadly clash in the West ...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/08/26/palestinians-call-off-peace-talks-after-clash/2698763/

Well that was fast

Only the AC will pull this off.

Also, compare the Daniel 9:27 verse in the KJV to the NIV...

KJV
Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

NIV
Daniel 9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”

Notice the NIV uses "a", and NOT "the" - if you're reading the wrong version, you might have the misperception that it HAS to be some (recently)existing "peace treaty" some world leader signed(and this is from my experience fellowshipping with larger, mainstream places in the past).


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on August 26, 2013, 03:27:53 pm
They are just mad part of their silly mosque nearly caved in!  ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 26, 2013, 03:39:09 pm
They are just mad part of their silly mosque nearly caved in!  ::)

sign to build the third temple


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 11, 2013, 03:09:27 pm
Obama Pushing Israel to Vacate Jordan Valley


The Obama administration is pressing hard for Israel to give up the strategic Jordan Valley in a deal with the Palestinians, a senior Palestinian negotiator told KleinOnline.
 
The current round of U.S.-brokered talks is attempting to hash out the specifics of a plan for the valley.
 
Obama’s proposal calls for international forces to maintain security control along with unarmed Palestinian police forces, the PA negotiator said. Israel will retain security posts in some strategic areas of the Jordan Valley, according to the U.S. plan.
 
Previous talks incorporated an element of Jordanian authority in the Jordan Valley, but the Kingdom of Jordan is suddenly weary of participating in a future Palestinian state, the negotiator said.
 
The Palestinian negotiator pointed to the insurgency in Syria and changes of leadership in Egypt for Jordanian reluctance over assuming any security control over Palestinian areas.
 
The Jordan Valley cuts through the heart of Israel. It runs from the Tiberias River in the north to the Dead Sea in the center to the city of Aqaba at the south of the country, stretching through the biblical Arabah desert.
 
The negotiator, meanwhile, said Secretary of State John Kerry is urging an all-encompassing final status deal on the Jordan Valley, West Bank and sections of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.
 
Israel, on the other hand, would rather have an interim deal to ensure the Palestinians keep their side of the bargain, according to informed Israeli diplomatic sources.
 
Temple Mount
 
KleinOnline first reported in July the terms of the Obama administration plan in which the Palestinian Authority and Jordan will receive sovereignty over the Temple Mount while Israel will retain the land below the Western Wall, according to a senior PA negotiator. That plan remains in effect as the basis for negotiations.
 
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.
 
Israel has not agreed to the U.S. plan over the Temple Mount, with details still open for discussion, stated the PA negotiator.
 
The negotiator, who is one of the main Palestinian figures leading the Arab side of the talks, further divulged Kerry's proposed outline for a Palestinian state as presented orally to Israel and the PA.
 
He said Jordan has been invited to play a key role in the discussions surrounding both the Temple Mount and Jerusalem while it will be the PA, with some Jordanian assistance, that would ultimately receive control of some of those areas.
 
KleinOnline was first to report in 2007 that Jordan had been quietly purchasing real estate surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem hoping to gain more control over the area accessing the holy site, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.
 
Meanwhile, regarding the rest of Jerusalem, Kerry's plan is to rehash what is known as the Clinton parameters. That formula, pushed by President Bill Clinton during the Camp David talks in 2000, called for Jewish areas of Jerusalem to remain Israeli while the Palestinians would get sovereignty over neighborhoods that are largely Arab. Most Arab sections are located in eastern Jerusalem.
 
KleinOnline previously reported the Palestinians are building illegally in Jewish-owned areas of Jerusalem, resulting in Arab majorities in some neighborhoods.
 
When it comes to the West Bank, which borders Jerusalem and is within rocket range of Israel's main population centers, Israel is expected to evacuate about 90 percent of its Jewish communities currently located in the territory, as outlined in Kerry's plan.
 
Israel would retain strategic security posts along with the West Bank’s main blocs, Maale Adumin, Ariel and Gush Etzion. In return, Obama is calling for an exchange of territory with the Palestinians in other locations inside Israel, with discussion being open for the Palestinians to possibly receive land in the Israeli Negev in the country’s south.
 
The PA negotiator further said Israel rejected a Palestinian request that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree not to place the final peace plan up for referendum in the Knesset.
 
The negotiator warned that one of the toughest issues centers on control of water, with Kerry already reaching out to Turkey about the prospect of selling water at a cheaper rate to a future Palestinian state.


Read more: http://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2013/10/obama-pushing-israel-to-vacate-jordan.html#ixzz2hRiUbma7


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 22, 2013, 04:39:11 pm
Hamas Prime Minister Calls for End to "Peace Process," New Jihad Violence Against Israel

The first and second intifadas featured "Palestinian" jihadis murdering Israeli civilians and then celebrating their murders. The third will bring more of this. The sham "peace process" will only wring more concessions from Israel; it will not stop these bloodthirsty murderers.
 
Hamas Prime Minister Calls for Violence against Israel
 
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dJHDEap4YD4/UmViiaihnXI/AAAAAAAAS_w/p9ifSCWMnH0/s200/a.jpg)

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called for an end to the peace process, urging Arabs and Muslims to prepare for the next intifada against Israel.
 
In a speech last Saturday, October 19, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called for an end to peace negotiations with Israel, warning that "the heroes of the resistance are silently preparing themselves to liberate Palestine."
 
Speaking from the Gaza Strip, Haniyeh called on Arabs and Muslims worldwide to prepare for the "big al-Aqsa Intifada" and warned of the "fire and rage" that Israel will soon endure.
 
Addressing Israel's ongoing peace process with the Palestinians, Haniyeh stressed that Hamas would accept nothing less than the "restoration of all of Jerusalem and the establishment of a Palestinian state on the entirety of Palestinian soil, including the return of the refugees to their homeland."...


Read more: http://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2013/10/hamas-prime-minister-calls-for-end-to.html#ixzz2iUOqISDE


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 30, 2013, 09:30:31 am
Israel announces East Jerusalem building project

Israel on Wednesday announced new construction in East Jerusalem — an area the Palestinians demand for their future state — just hours after it freed a group of Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to set in motion peace talks.

The building is seen as an attempt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make up for the prisoner release, for which he has been sharply criticized at home. The prisoners were jailed for deadly attacks on Israelis.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Lital Apter said on Wednesday that four projects are being promoted, including 1,500 housing units in Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem.

The release of 26 Palestinians after midnight Tuesday was the second of four prisoner releases meant to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks in an effort to reach a final agreement between the two sides.

The Palestinians had long refused to resume peace negotiations with Israel unless it ends construction in territories that Palestinians seek for their state. Israel refused, insisting that settlements and other core issues, including security, should be resolved through negotiations.

The prisoner release was part of an agreement brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, which brought Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table after a five-year hiatus. The talks had been paralyzed since 2008.

Earlier this year, Kerry managed to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to drop the settlement issue as a condition for restarting negotiations. In exchange, Israel agreed to the prisoner release.

In all, 104 Palestinian convicts are to be released in four rounds over the coming months.

The East Jerusalem construction move will likely anger the Palestinians but it was not immediately clear if it would directly impact the talks, which are taking place behind closed doors and away from the public eye, which both sides had agreed to.

Thousands of Palestinians have been held in Israeli prisons since Israel's capture of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, many jailed on charges ranging from throwing rocks to killing civilians in bombings, shootings and other attacks. The Palestinians want those territories for their future state. The prisoners released in the latest batch were all held by Israel for murder.

The fate of the prisoners is a deeply emotional issue in Palestinian society. After decades of fighting Israel, many families have had a member imprisoned and the release of prisoners has been a longstanding demand. Israelis mostly view them as terrorists because of the Palestinians grisly attacks on Israelis including civilians.

Among those freed Wednesday were prisoners jailed for the killings of Israelis, including a reservist and a Nazi death camp survivor, according to a list provided by Israel's prison service. Many of the killings occurred before the beginning of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 1993.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/10/30/israel-palestine-settlements-future-state/3311995/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 31, 2013, 08:23:32 am
Abbas vows there will be no peace agreement unless all prisoners go free

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that there would be no agreement with Israel as long as even one Palestinian remained in Israeli prison. Abbas was speaking during a reception at the Mukata presidential compound in Ramallah for Palestinians released from Israeli prison.   

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Palestinian-Authority-Netanyahus-West-Bank-settlement-construction-announcement-destroys-peace-process-330175


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 04, 2013, 07:51:30 am
US 'Will Force' Israel-PA Deal

The United States intends to try and force a peace agreement on Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), IDF Radio reported Monday. The radio station says the US has informed Israel and the Palestinian Authority that if negotiations between them do not advance, Washington will propose its own solution, that will include a US position on every point that is in contention. In effect, according to the report, this will be an attempt to force the sides to agree on a solution formulated by the US. 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/173582#.Unelw1NUjlc


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 04, 2013, 11:48:33 am
US 'Will Force' Israel-PA Deal

The United States intends to try and force a peace agreement on Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), IDF Radio reported Monday. The radio station says the US has informed Israel and the Palestinian Authority that if negotiations between them do not advance, Washington will propose its own solution, that will include a US position on every point that is in contention. In effect, according to the report, this will be an attempt to force the sides to agree on a solution formulated by the US. 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/173582#.Unelw1NUjlc

I don't recall any President doing this - but then again, this is Obama we're talking about.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 05, 2013, 06:47:13 am
Abbas: Israel's claim it wants Jordan Valley for security is a lie

Israel’s claims that it wants to retain control over the Jordan Valley for security reasons is a lie, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday. He reiterated his refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Abbas’s statements were made during a meeting with Fatah leaders in Ramallah. 

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Abbas-Israels-claim-it-wants-Jordan-Valley-for-security-is-a-lie-330600


Israeli negotiators reportedly at odds over Jerusalem

Israel’s negotiating team in peace talks with the Palestinians is reportedly facing an internal disagreement on the issue of Jerusalem, with chief negotiator MK Tzipi Livni demonstrating a more flexible approach than that of lawyer Yitzhak Molcho, the special envoy appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.   

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-negotiators-reportedly-at-odds-over-jerusalem/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 06, 2013, 05:05:53 pm
http://dcclothesline.com/2013/11/06/obama-plans-force-israel-accept-palestinian-state-jerusalem-capital/
11/6/13
Obama Plans To Force Israel To Accept A Palestinian State With Jerusalem As The Capital

If Israel and the Palestinians do not agree on a “two state solution” by the end of this year, the Obama administration plans to propose its own solution and force it on the two sides in early 2014.  For Obama, the goal is to have this agreement in place in time to influence the November 2014 mid-term elections.  Unfortunately for Israel, the Palestinians have absolutely no incentive to move off of their current demands because Obama has been promising them a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital since very early in his presidency.  So the Palestinians have no motivation to negotiate in good faith since they already know that they are going to get what they want in the end anyway.  Ultimately, Obama plans to force Israel to give up the West Bank, East Jerusalem and control over the Temple Mount in exchange for a “promise of peace” that is not even worth the paper that it will be printed on.

When it comes to Israel, the arrogance that Obama is displaying is absolutely appalling.  For example, Obama made the following statement about Israel earlier this year…

“Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are.”


Oh, but Obama does?

Not only does Obama believe that he knows what is best for Israel, he also plans to force them to do it.

According to IDF Radio, the U.S. government plans to submit “its own solution” and force the two sides to agree to it if negotiations do not produce an agreement by the end of this year…

The United States intends to try and force a peace agreement on Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), IDF Radio reported Monday.

The radio station says the US has informed Israel and the Palestinian Authority that if negotiations between them do not advance, Washington will propose its own solution, that will include a US position on every point that is in contention. In effect, according to the report, this will be an attempt to force the sides to agree on a solution formulated by the US.

It is important to note that IDF radio is actually run by the Israeli military.  This would not have been broadcast if the Israeli government had not approved the story.

And the source for the story is actually the head of the left-wing Meretz party…


MK Zehava Galon (Meretz) was quoted as saying Monday that senior US officials told her the US offer would be presented in January of 2014. PA sources also cited January as the month in which the US intends to propose, or impose, its plan.

The US moves comes after three months of talks between the sides which have reportedly made very little headway.

The US plan reportedly is similar to the Clinton outline, offered by President Bill Clinton in late 2000, which is based on an Israeli retreat to 1949 Armistice lines, and some swaps of territory.

This report by IDF radio was also echoed by a report in the Jerusalem Post…

The head of the left-wing Meretz party, Zahava Gal-On, said Monday that the Obama administration is determined to achieve a major diplomatic breakthrough next year in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, including arrangements for a final status agreement
.

“There will be a new diplomatic program, based on the pre-1967 lines with agreed land swaps,” Gal-On said in a statement after meeting with Palestinian and American officials on Monday morning.

So why should the Palestinians negotiate?

All they have to do is wait until early next year and they are going to get what they want anyway.

Of course U.S. officials are issuing their typical denials.  According to Reuters, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says that the U.S. does not plan to implement this kind of a plan “at this point in time”…

At a news conference in Riyadh on Monday, Kerry said there was no such plan “at this point in time”. He has spoken publicly of possible U.S. bridging proposals if no major progress is made.

But of course Kerry’s statement does not rule out that such a plan will be implemented early next year.  And at this point it seems very clear that the current negotiations are going nowhere fast.  The following is also from the Reuters report mentioned above…

Israeli and Palestinian officials said on Tuesday the three-month-old peace talks pressed on them by Washington are going nowhere, painting a grim picture for a visit this week by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

For a long time, the Palestinians have been relying on the fact that the U.S. government has promised them that they will get a state based on pre-1967 borders.  In fact, according to a Yahoo news article posted in July, a letter from Kerry guaranteeing this was what got the Palestinians back to the negotiating table in the first place…

Israel’s pre-1967 borders will be the basis of renewed peace talks between Palestine and Israel, according to a letter U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gave to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which guaranteed the stipulation
.

After Abbas received the Kerry letter, he agreed to resume peace talks with Israel, two senior Palestinian officials said Saturday.

And the biggest stumbling block in the negotiations is the status of Jerusalem.  The Palestinians are absolutely determined not to agree to any solution that does not give them control over East Jerusalem.  Unfortunately, the Israelis are not nearly as united in their determination not to give it up.  In fact, according to the Times of Israel, there is a tremendous amount of discord inside the Israeli negotiating team over what to do about Jerusalem…

Israel’s negotiating team in peace talks with the Palestinians is reportedly facing an internal disagreement on the issue of Jerusalem, with chief negotiator MK Tzipi Livni demonstrating a more flexible approach than that of lawyer Yitzhak Molcho, the special envoy appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the end, Obama plans to give control over East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to the Palestinians.  The following is from a WND article from earlier this year…

The Obama administration has quietly presented a plan in which the Palestinian Authority and Jordan will receive sovereignty over the Temple Mount while Israel will retain the land below the Western Wall, according to a senior PA negotiator speaking to WND
.

And this is not something that Obama came up with recently.  The truth is that Obama has been planning this since early on in his presidency.  The following is from a WND article all the way back in 2009…

President Obama and his administration told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting last week the U.S. foresees the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, according to a top PA official speaking to WND
.

“The American administration was very friendly to the position of the PA,” said Nimer Hamad, Abbas’ senior political adviser.

“Abu Mazen (Abbas) heard from Obama and his administration in a very categorical way that a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital is in the American national and security interest,” Hamad said.

What Obama is trying to do is crystal clear, and Israel should immediately walk away from the negotiating table.

Ultimately, nothing good is going to come out of these negotiations anyway.  Any “peace guarantee” that Israel receives will only be temporary.

Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash made that abundantly clear during a recent sermon…

At the Friday Ramadan services, which were attended by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and broadcast on Palestinian television, Habbash explained to Muslim worshipers that Palestinian Authority officials “only through the wisdom of the leadership, conscious action, consideration, and walking the right path” are headed toward “achievement, exactly like the Prophet [Mohammad] did in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, even though some opposed it.”

Palestinian Media Watch – an Israeli research institution that translates anti-Israel broadcasts in the Palestinian media – explains that the Hudaybiyyah peace treaty of 628 A.D. refers to “a 10-year truce that Mohammad, Islam’s Prophet, made with the Quraish Tribe of Mecca. However, two years into the truce, Mohammad attacked and conquered Mecca.”

Are you starting to get the picture?

The Palestinians don’t plan to establish a real, lasting peace with Israel.  In fact, according to one survey two-thirds of all Palestinians believe that the eventual goal of the Palestinians must be “to get back all the land for a Palestinian state
.”

There is not going to be any solution to the “Jerusalem issue” any time soon even if a peace agreement is forced on Israel and the Palestinians.  And this is precisely what the Bible said would happen in the last days.  In Zechariah 12:3, we are warned that the city of Jerusalem will one day become a huge stumbling stone for the nations…

“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.“

Is that not exactly what has happened?

The entire world is trying to figure out what to do with Jerusalem.  It truly is a “burdensome stone”.

And the U.S. government should be very careful.  That passage of Scripture also says that “all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces”.

If the United States ends up forcing Israel to divide her land, will the U.S. also find itself divided and “cut in pieces”?

That is a very sobering question.

And it is also interesting to note that all of this is happening just as we are entering the blood red moon tetrad of 2014-2015.

Other blood red moon tetrads throughout history have signaled times of great distress for the Jewish people.

Will it be the same this time around?

http://thetruthwins.com/archives/obama-plans-to-force-israel-to-accept-a-palestinian-state-with-jerusalem-as-the-capital


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on November 07, 2013, 03:50:35 am
Quote
Palestinian Media Watch – an Israeli research institution that translates anti-Israel broadcasts in the Palestinian media – explains that the Hudaybiyyah peace treaty of 628 A.D. refers to “a 10-year truce that Mohammad, Islam’s Prophet, made with the Quraish Tribe of Mecca. However, two years into the truce, Mohammad attacked and conquered Mecca.”

Because he was a liar and never intended to keep any truce. Sound familiar?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 08, 2013, 09:58:45 am
Kerry warns of third intifada, Israel's isolation, if peace talks break down

US Secretary of State John Kerry painted a very bleak picture of what would be the result of a break-down in the current Israeli-Palestinian talks, warning on Thursday of a third intifada and international isolation of Israel Kerry's warnings came in an unusual joint interview with Channel 2's Udi Segal and Maher Shalabi of Palestine TV.   

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Kerry-extends-his-stay-in-Mideast-says-significant-progress-made-in-some-areas-of-peace-talks-330912


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on November 08, 2013, 03:14:26 pm
Quote
warning on Thursday of a third intifada and international isolation of Israel

Sounds like something Hamas or Hezbollah would claim. 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 09, 2013, 01:28:53 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/crisis-brewing-israeli-us-relations-173012571.html
11/9/13
Crisis brewing in Israeli-US relations

JERUSALEM (AP) — A pair of testy public exchanges this week appear to have undone whatever good will was created between the Israeli and U.S. governments during a high-profile visit by President Barack Obama early this year.

Tensions burst into the open during a swing through the region by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. In an interview broadcast on both Israeli and Palestinian TV, Kerry questioned Israel's seriousness about peace with the Palestinians. Hours later Netanyahu fired back, vowing not to cave into concessions to the Palestinians — and also saying he "utterly rejects" an emerging nuclear deal between world powers and Iran.

The rancor signals a tough road ahead for the twin American goals of finding a diplomatic solution for Iran's nuclear program and forging peace between Israel and the Palestinians. And it raises the specter of a return to the uncomfortable relationship that has often characterized dealings between Obama and Netanyahu.

Israeli news reports describe Netanyahu as being in "shock" over the possible Iranian compromise. Netanyahu, who sees Iran as an arch-enemy, has vowed to do anything, including a military strike, to prevent Iran from reaching weapons capability.

"If there were a synoptic map for diplomatic storms, the National Weather Service would be putting out a hurricane warning right now," diplomatic correspondent Chemi Shalev wrote on the website of the newspaper Haaretz. "And given that the turbulence is being caused by an issue long deemed to be critical to Israel's very existence, we may actually be facing a rare Category 5 flare up, a 'superstorm' of U.S.-Israeli relations."

Obama and Netanyahu took office just months apart in 2009, but seemed to share little in common. At joint appearances they appeared uncomfortable and even occasionally sparred. In one famous instance, Netanyahu lectured Obama on the pitfalls of Mideast peacemaking in front of the TV cameras at a White House meeting.

The lack of chemistry seems rooted in vastly different world views. Obama is a proponent of diplomacy and consensus, while Netanyahu believes Israel can trust no one and must protect itself.

Netanyahu also enjoys strong ties with U.S. Republicans. In 2012, he was widely perceived to have backed challenger Mitt Romney.

And there has been constant friction over Netanyahu's insistence on continuing to settle Jews on occupied land even as he negotiates with the Palestinians.

Last March, Obama traveled to Israel for a visit widely seen as an attempt to reboot relations. The two leaders appeared together at a series of events, smiling and sharing jokes. But even then there were signs of trouble. Obama urged an audience of university students to pressure Israeli leaders to change their ways and take bold new steps to reach peace with the Palestinians.

Since then, officials on both sides have stressed the countries are close allies regardless of politics. But the atmosphere gradually soured again as Obama pressed forward with his two major diplomatic initiatives.

Over the summer, Kerry persuaded Israel and the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table for the first time in nearly five years. The sides agreed to talk for nine months, with an April target date for reaching a peace deal.

To get talks going, Palestinians dropped a longstanding demand for an Israeli freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, captured territories that the Palestinians claim for a future state. To get Palestinians back to talks, Israel committed to releasing 104 long-serving Palestinian prisoners. The U.S. also apparently gave vague assurances settlement construction would be restrained.

With negotiations making no visible progress, Israel's release of a second round of Palestinian prisoners two weeks ago — all jailed for killing Israelis — set off an uproar. Netanyahu followed the release by announcing plans to build thousands of settler homes, infuriating the Palestinians, the Americans and also the moderate camp in Israel itself.

In surprisingly blunt comments, Kerry told Israel's Channel 2 TV on Thursday that Israel faced the possibility of international isolation and renewed violence with the Palestinians if peace efforts failed. He also said the continued settlement construction raised questions about Israel's commitment to peace.

"How can you say, 'We're planning to build in the place that will eventually be Palestine?'" Kerry said. "It sends a message that somehow perhaps you're not really serious."

Netanyahu responded the next morning ahead of a meeting with Kerry. "No amount of pressure will make me or the government of Israel compromise on the basic security and national interests of the State of Israel," the visibly agitated premier said.

Netanyahu also slammed the emerging agreement with Iran. "Iran got the deal of the century, and the international community got a bad deal," he said. "This is a very bad deal and Israel utterly rejects it."

He warned that Israel is "not obliged" to honor the agreement and would do "everything it needs to do to defend itself." Following a tense meeting stretching more than two hours, a planned joint appearance with Kerry and Netanyahu to the media was canceled.

While negotiators in Geneva hammered out details Saturday, the discussed deal appeared to include some relief from painful economic sanctions in exchange for limits on Iranian nuclear activity. However, chances of a deal being struck looked slim late Saturday.

Netanyahu has said international pressure should be increased, not eased, until Iran dismantles all suspicious nuclear activities. White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said Saturday the Obama administration was in "full agreement" with Israel — though that didn't seem to be the case.

For now, Netanyahu's options appear limited. Despite longstanding threats to carry out a military attack on Iran if necessary, it would be all but impossible to do so in the current diplomatic environment. On the Palestinian front, Netanyahu holds most of the leverage and is showing little inclination to change.

Nicholas Burns, a former senior State Department official, said that Netanyahu made an error by airing his grievances publicly.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu's public outburst was unfortunate and ill-advised," Burns, who now teaches at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, wrote in an email. "It has gone down very badly in the U.S."


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on November 10, 2013, 04:32:59 am
At every turn now, the US has been opposing Israel, and trying to point the finger at Israel, while supporting the Arab world.

Quote
Obama urged an audience of university students to pressure Israeli leaders to change their ways and take bold new steps to reach peace with the Palestinians.

That's the very kind of thing socialists do, they try to win the minds of youth and then turn the youth against their elders. Regardless, that is not the actions of a supporter of Israel. That's the veiled threat of an enemy.

While Obama may not be a true Muslim, he sure is showing himself as supporting Islam. Of course it may be that he's just being a UN minion, pushing the global UN agenda, which he's required to do if he wants to keep his globalist membership card.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 11, 2013, 04:40:52 pm
John Kerry’s ‘third intifada’

John Kerry is a man who likes to talk, but at times doesn’t seem to appreciate the fact that words have consequences.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, our current secretary of state spent most of his career as a U.S. senator. One of the dirty little secrets of American politics is that most senators don’t do much else. They talk to each other, to the media and to their constituents. They can and do say whatever will get them the attention they crave because very little they say is remembered from one news cycle to another.

Some years ago, a Democratic friend of mine and I were trying to round up Senate support for an amendment to a bill that was working its way through a subcommittee chaired by Mr. Kerry, then the junior senator from Massachusetts. My friend knew Mr. Kerry fairly well and before long, we found ourselves having dinner with him and making the case for the amendment.

Mr. Kerry listened and enthusiastically agreed with us. He offered to put out a statement praising what we wanted to do. He did not, however, offer that this good idea on which we all agreed would be acted upon by his own subcommittee.

As we said our goodbyes, I asked my friend why Mr. Kerry didn’t actually seem anxious to help us. “A statement?” I said. “He has the power to make it happen, and all we get is a statement?” My friend was surprised by my reaction. “In his world, ‘a statement’ is doing something. Don’t you realize by now that all senators like John do is talk?”

A senator can talk without worrying much about precision, but secretaries of state live in a very different world. Everything the secretary says is studied by reporters and analysts for friendly and unfriendly governments for clues as to what the government he represents is doing or expects to do. A secretary of state has to speak clearly and precisely, lest other nations misunderstand him and act on that misunderstanding.

Mr. Kerry’s penchant for loose talk is on constant display these days as he careens around the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, he was asked what he thinks about the controversy in that country about whether women should be allowed to drive. There, women are denied driver’s licenses and even non-Saudi women caught behind the wheel are jailed. When asked, Mr. Kerry quite correctly responded that the controversy was to be solved by the Saudis themselves, but gave the distinct impression that neither he nor his boss really cares a whit about the rights of women in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

That did little real harm, but when Mr. Kerry landed in Israel, the potential consequences of the dangerous imprecision of his words became clear. He appeared on Israeli television to condemn the continued settlement of the West Bank that he and President Obama want turned over to the Palestinians as part of an agreement to establish an independent Palestinian state on Israel’s border. Mr. Kerry threatened the Israeli government and predicted that if the Israelis don’t buckle under, there would be “chaos” and perhaps a “third intifada” that would leave the Jewish state isolated and alone.

His words were meant to pressure the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, but the Palestinians may well have heard them as a sign that the United States will accept a renewal of terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.

What is now known as the second intifada, or uprising, began in 2000 and went on for five long years, during which time civilian men, women and children in Israel were targeted by Palestinian terrorists. Fully 70 percent of the Israelis killed during that five-year period were civilians.

Mr. Kerry will, of course, be shocked if his words lead to such violence, but the words of one in his position have real world consequences. Decades ago, a man who occupied the office he now occupies made an offhand comment during an interview that precipitated a war in Asia that no one wanted and cost tens of thousands of American lives.

It happened in the summer of 1950, when President Truman’s secretary of state, Dean Acheson, suggested that the Korean Peninsula didn’t fall within what he called the United States’ “defense perimeter.” North Korea took this to mean America didn’t much care what happened in Korea and, as a result, communist troops marched south, precipitating a war that no one, including Mr. Acheson, wanted.

Maybe Mr. Kerry will be luckier than Mr. Acheson. Maybe the Palestinians will realize that as a former senator, his statements should be heavily discounted. But if the chaos he predicted and appeared to threaten in that interview comes to pass, history won’t be kind to him or to the Americans who allow it.



Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/10/keene-john-kerrys-third-intifada/#ixzz2kNb9sgMe
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 11, 2013, 04:44:27 pm
Mr. Kerry is also a Skull and Bones alum, nuff said.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 12, 2013, 02:34:12 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-plans-20-000-settler-homes-west-bank-154439976.html
11/12/13
Abbas says talks over unless Israel halts settlement moves

Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas warned Tuesday that he would declare the peace process over unless Israel cancelled tenders for nearly 20,000 new settler homes.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP Abbas had tasked him with passing on his ultimatum to the Arab League and the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.

"If Israel does not go back on its latest construction plans for the settlements, that will spell a formal declaration of the end of the peace process," Erakat quoted Abbas as saying in his warning.

Israel is to build a "record" 20,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, settlement watchdog Peace Now said earlier Tuesday, despite US and Palestinian warnings that such moves threaten peace talks.

The negotiations were already in deep trouble after just three months of meetings in the face of previous Israeli settlement expansion moves.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 17, 2013, 09:44:59 am
The disproportionate targeting of Israel at the UN i

A United Nations interpreter translating the proceedings of the General Assembly on Thursday was caught – not realizing her microphone was still piping her voice into the chamber – expressing her dismay that the world body is so focused on condemning Israel while ignoring every other country in the world.

Following votes at the General Assembly’s Fourth Committee which includes all 193 UN member states, nine resolutions were adopted condemning Israel. Not one resolution was adopted targeting any other country, not even Syria where more than 100,000 have been killed in just two-and-a-half years.

The unnamed interpreter, unaware she was still being heard both by delegates and online via a live webcast, said, “I mean, I think when you have five statements, not five, like a total of ten resolutions on Israel and Palestine, there’s gotta be something, c’est un peu trop, non? [It’s a bit much, no?] I mean I know… There’s other really bad sh** happening, but no one says anything, about the other stuff.”

– Scroll down for video –

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/17/bad-sh-epic-hot-mic-moment-catches-translator-saying-what-some-including-theblaze-have-noticed/

After the translator spoke, the delegate chairing the meeting could be seen trying to suppress his laughter. This as other delegates laughed audibly after hearing the interpreter’s candid opinion about their work, including her use of an expletive.

Once she realized what was happening, the translator said, “apologies” after which the Secretary of the meeting commented, “I understand there was a problem with interpretation?”

The translator could then be heard saying “The interpeter apologizes.”

UN Watch, a non-governmental organization which monitors events at the United Nations, first caught the gaffe and posted a recording of it on YouTube.

The disproportionate targeting of Israel at the UN is a phenomenon about which TheBlaze has reported (for example, here and here).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday played the clip of the interpreter’s candid assessment at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. Should her job be threatened, Netanyahu said she would have a place to work in Israel, Ynet reported.

“I would like to tell this translator that she has a job waiting for her in the State of Israel. There are moments that tear the hypocrisy off the unending attacks against us and this brave translator did so,” he said according to a translation of the text posted by the Prime Minister’s Office website.

According to UN Watch, the nine resolutions that were overwhelmingly adopted Thursday were those:

    “Expressing grave concern” at Palestinian refugees “especially difficult situation.”
    Reaffirming the “right” of Palestinians who left their homes during the 1967 war to return to their former residences.
    Expressing grave concern about the “extremely difficult” conditions of Palestinians including those in Jerusalem.
    Reaffirming that Palestinian refugees are “entitled to their property.”
    A resolution that “deplores” Israel for its alleged practices that “that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people.”
    Demanding Israel accept “Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967.”
    Reaffirming that “Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development.”
    “Expressing grave concern about the continuing systematic violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people by Israel, the occupying Power.”
    “The Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan was null and void and without international legal effect and demanded that Israel, the occupying Power, rescind forthwith its decision,” read another resolution.

It’s noteworthy that the UN chose to condemn Israel over its decision to extend Israeli law to the Golan Heights in light of the activity of Al Qaeda-linked jihadi rebels over the border in Syria.

“That’s right: the UN adopted a resolution today that mentions the word ‘Syria’ no less than 10 times—yet said nothing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s massacre of more than 100,000 of his own people,” wrote Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch.

In an op-ed in the Times of Israel, Neuer pointed out that by next month which marks the end of its annual legislative session, 22 resolutions will have been adopted targeting Israel and only four discussing other countries.

“The hypocrisy, selectivity, and politicization are staggering,” Neuer wrote.

It also follows a pattern. Last year’s legislative session was closed “in a blaze of glory” as former Reagan administration official Elliot Abrams noted with the passing of nine resolutions against Israel in just one day, December 18.

Israel has been singled out by the UN General Assembly more times than any other country for alleged human rights violations.

According to Eye on the UN, another non-governmental group, in more than 50 years, 82% of all UN General Assembly emergency session meetings have been about condemning Israel. The group noted in 2011 that of the UN Human Right’s Council’s resolutions, 47% critical of specific countries condemned Israel.

“I sincerely hope she [the interpreter] won’t get fired. Because the one who should really apologize today is the UN. Founded on noble ideals, the world body is turning the dream of liberal internationalists into a nightmare,” Neuer wrote.

“It is the UN who should apologize for using Israel as a scapegoat, for demonizing and delegitimizing the Jewish state as a meta-criminal to be blamed for all of the world’s ills. And, above all, it is the UN who should apologize for ignoring the cries of the world’s millions of genuine human rights victims—and for mocking them,” Neuer added.

Watch the moment at which the exchange was caught on the hot mic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V7W5tsnd0BE

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/17/bad-sh-epic-hot-mic-moment-catches-translator-saying-what-some-including-theblaze-have-noticed/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 27, 2013, 06:42:37 am
UN Declares 2014 as ‘Year of Solidarity With the Palestinian People’

The United Nations has adopted a resolution naming 2014 as the “Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.”
 
To mark the occasion, the UN said it will work in the coming year to organize special activities along with governments and non-governmental organizations.
 
A rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Cairo, Egypt, May 13, 2011(Photo: AP/Amr Nabil
 
The resolution was passed on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which was held four days early to accommodate Thanksgiving weekend. The day is usually marked at the world body on November 29th, the anniversary of the voting for the “Partition Plan” which in 1947 divided territories held in British Mandatory Palestine between the Jews and Arabs. While the Jews accepted the vote, five Arab states declared war.
 
According to UN Watch, a non-profit that monitors activity at the UN, the “Year of Solidarity” resolution was one of 21 resolutions that singled out Israel during this year’s General Assembly session. In 2012, the UN passed 22 resolutions condemning Israel.
 
This is compared with only four resolutions this year that singled out any other country in the world, which were Syria, Iran, North Korea and Myanmar.
 
“There were will be zero UNGA resolutions on gross and systematic abuses committed by China, Cuba, Egypt, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Zimbabwe, nor on many other major perpetrators of grave violations of human rights,” reported UN Watch.
 
“Broadway may be down the street, but the real theater is here at the United Nations,” said Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor.
 
“The worst human rights abusers receive a fraction of the condemnation that Israel – the only democracy in the Middle East – receives,” Prosor said in a speech on Monday. “These irresponsible actions have irreversible consequences. The states that rubberstamp the anti-Israel resolutions every year, have given the Palestinians a false sense of reality and fed their culture of victimhood.”

Prosor also addressed the irony of the UN condemning Israel for allegedly ill-treating Syrians even though Syrians have massacred more than 100,000 of their own people and Israeli hospitals have been treating Syrian civil war victims.
 
“If that weren’t enough, the GA will soon vote on another resolution calling on Israel to hand over the Golan Heights and its residents to Syria. It is nothing short of absurd for the UN to demand that even more civilians be subject to Assad’s brutality,” Prosor said.
 
Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch wrote, “There are also resolutions recognizing the self-determination of the Palestinians, even though the UN already recognized Palestine as a state; yet there is no resolution on the right to self-determination of the Tibetans, who really could use such a text.”
 
Neuer characterized the Palestinian solidarity year declaration an opportunity for “massive politicization” in 2014 at the UN.
 
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Monday called for Jerusalem to be divided between Israel and a future Palestinian state.
 
“Jerusalem is to emerge from negotiations as the capital of two States, with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all. An agreed solution must be found for millions of Palestinian refugees around the region,” he said.
 
A year ago, the UN General Assembly voted to grant Palestine observer state status.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/27/un-declares-2014-as-year-of-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-people/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 02, 2013, 11:36:09 am
Protests rage over Bedouin resettlement plans in Israel

Bedouin Arabs in Isreal's southern Negev desert protest against bill that would see them moved in to government-recognised villages, with injuries and arrests in clashes


Large protests over a plan to resettle nomadic Bedouin Arabs in Israel's southern Negev desert caused injuries Saturday and led to some arrests as well as condemnation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Protests focused on a bill that would move thousands of Bedouins into government-recognised villages. Opponents charge the plan would confiscate Bedouin land and affect their nomadic way of life, but Israel says the moves are necessary to provide basic services that many Bedouins lack and would benefit their community while preserving their traditions.

Over a thousand people protested in a Negev village in southern Israel Saturday. The demonstration turned violent when some protesters threw rocks and fire bombs at police and burned tires. Police, some on horseback, responded with water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Hundreds more took to the streets at protests held in Jerusalem, Haifa and elsewhere. Police made more than 40 arrests and 15 officers were injured, Rosenfeld said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement condemning the violence. "We will treat offenders to the fullest extent of the law and will not tolerate such disturbances. We have – and will have – no tolerance for those who break the law, Netanyahu said. "Attempts by a loud and violent minority to deny a better future to a large and broad population are grave. We will continue to advance the law for a better future for all residents of the Negev," he said.

rest: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10486571/Protests-rage-over-Bedouin-resettlement-plans-in-Israel.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on December 02, 2013, 03:13:59 pm
Quote
but Israel says the moves are necessary to provide basic services that many Bedouins lack and would benefit their community while preserving their traditions.

Now that is standard **** socialist babble! And an effort by NWO thugs to shuffle the populations around for better control.

You ask the Bedouins and they will likely be confused about those benefits, not realizing they lacked anything, being content living like they have for thousands of years.

Preserve their traditions by putting them into housing? HELLO! THEY ARE BEDOUINS! They don't have houses. ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 04, 2013, 02:02:27 pm
EU mulls steps if Mideast peace fails

Israel and the Palestinian Authority could suffer if peace negotiations fail to yield an agreement, a European Union official warned.
 If peace talks fail, the EU will take action against West Bank settlement products and halt financial assistance to the Palestinians, the Jerusalem Post and Ynetnews.com quoted a senior European official as telling Israeli reporters in Brussels Tuesday.
 
Since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords that were to have paved the way for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, the EU has contributed annually 300 million euros ($407.3 million) to the Palestinian Authority. If the EU decides to halt the funds, it could cause the government to collapse, Haaretz said.
 
"Some people suggested giving the money to other countries like Syria, Mali and other places around the world. ... What is the money for if a Palestinian state is not established?" Haaretz quoted the official as saying.
 
The official noted if Israel and the Palestinians fail to reach a peace agreement within the allotted nine months, "14 out of 28 [countries] support labeling West Bank settlement products," the Post said. This could lead to a widespread boycott of Israeli products manufactured in West Bank settlements.
 
The European official's comments came on the eve of yet another visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to move the peace talks forward.
 
Kerry was to arrive in Israel Wednesday and meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday, Haaretz said.
 
Kerry intends to discuss with Netanyahu a proposed plan for security arrangements in the West Bank following the establishment of a Palestinian state, Haaretz said.
 
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators continue to meet twice a week, but no progress has been reported, with the sides instead hurling accusations, Haaretz said.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/12/04/EU-mulls-steps-if-Mideast-peace-fails/UPI-19291386158675/#ixzz2mXRABnjj


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on December 04, 2013, 02:12:10 pm
Quote
Since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords that were to have paved the way for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, the EU has contributed annually 300 million euros ($407.3 million) to the Palestinian Authority. If the EU decides to halt the funds, it could cause the government to collapse, Haaretz said.

Exactly. The only reason the "Palestinian Authority" even exists is because of funds given to them by other countries, and much of it through the UN, as well as the EU. The PA is literally being propped up by Europe, and Europe's efforts are only serving to split and destabilize the region.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 06, 2013, 05:24:35 am
Palestinians: We Want a Geneva Accord against Israel


The Geneva accord and Washington's failed policies in Egypt and other Muslim countries have taught the Palestinians that it would be better to wait until the U.S. completely loses its influence so that other players such as Russia, China and the EU will step in and impose a solution on Israel.
 
The way the Palestinian Authority sees it, "If it worked with Iran, why shouldn't it work also with Israel?"

The Geneva agreement between Iran and the six big powers appears to have had a negative impact on the current US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
 
The Palestinians see the agreement as an opportunity to achieve their demands through international pressure, and not direct negotiations with Israel. They are also very happy to see growing tensions between the U.S. Administration and the Israeli government over a series of issues, including the Geneva deal.
 
Palestinian spokeswomen Hanan Ashrawi was quick to demand that the U.S. and the rest of the international community treat Israel the same way they treated Iran. She called on the international community to "impose sanctions on Israel and hold it accountable with the same will that led to an end to Iran's nuclear plan."
 
The Palestinian Authority, which has welcomed the accord, is now hoping that the international community will force Israel to comply with all its demands, above all, a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines.
 
As Nabil Abu Rudaineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, explained, "The international efforts that succeeded in Geneva provide an opportunity for reviving the role of the Quartet [US, EU, UN and Russia] in ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

Abu Rudaineh and other PA officials say they are encouraged by the deal with Iran because it would isolate Israel in the international arena and force it to make concessions to the Palestinians.
 
Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the agreement with Iran should serve as a model for forcing Israel to accept international law and resolutions.
 
According to Erekat, the international community should treat Israel the same way it dealt with Iran. "The first step should be to stop dealing with Israel as a state above the law and to find ways to hold it accountable," he added.
 
What the PA is actually saying is that there is no need to continue with "futile" peace talks when there is a chance that the U.S. and other big powers could impose a solution on Israel. The way the PA sees it, "If it worked with Iran, why shouldn't it work also with Israel?"
 
This thinking was reflected in an editorial of the semi-official Palestinian daily, Al-Quds, which wrote: "The time has come for the US and the international community to seriously move and use all available mechanisms to impose a just solution for the Palestinian cause and end half a century of unprecedented Palestinian suffering."
 
Some Palestinians see the Iran agreement as a sign of the "regression" of the U.S. Administration's influence in the Middle East. They believe that now, as the U.S. role in the region has been weakened as a result of the accord, the time has come to pave the way for other powers to intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
 
"With the regression of the American role, there is a need for Russia, China and European permanent members of the UN Security Council to restore the reins from the American hand, which has had a monopoly over the peace process for the past two decades," wrote Palestinian commentator Adel Abdel Rahman, who is affiliated with the Palestinian Authority.
 
Abdel Rahman urged the PA leadership to take advantage of the Geneva accord between the six big powers and Iran to call for an international conference to discuss ways of imposing a solution on Israel.
 
The Palestinians are now convinced that that under President Barack Obama, the U.S. role in the region is continually receding. That is why they do not believe that the U.S.-sponsored peace talks with Israel will produce any results.
 
The Geneva accord and Washington's failed policies in Egypt and other Muslim countries have taught the Palestinians that it would be better to wait until the U.S. completely loses its influence so that other players such as Russia, China and the EU will step in to impose a solution on Israel.


rest: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4070/palestinians-geneva-accord-israel

We are literally whitnessing the rise of the EU as a dominate player, and the fall of the US. This is setting the stage for the Antichrist to start his rise to power. He will come on in Europe just as Obama did inthe US. Just wait, heck just look at Pope Franks rise and sudden stardom...


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 17, 2013, 06:25:02 am
If this is true, this is huge!!!

U.S. plan gives Jerusalem holy sites to Vatican
 
International mandate to control sections of Israel's capital


Secretary of State John Kerry quietly presented a U.S. plan for eastern Jerusalem that calls for an international administrative mandate to control holy sites in the area, according to informed Palestinian and Israeli diplomatic sources.

The exact composition of the international mandate is up for discussion, the sources said, but Kerry’s plan recommended a coalition that includes the Vatican, together with a group of Muslim countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
 
The international arrangement is being proposed as a temporary solution for about two to three years while security arrangements in Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians are finalized, said the sources.
 
Israel, the sources said, was not receptive to the particulars of Kerry’s plan, especially the concept of Turkish participation in Jerusalem. Kerry told the Israelis he would hold talks with the Kingdom of Jordan about its playing a leading role in the proposal in the place of Turkey, the sources added.
 
Kerry was in Jerusalem on Friday as part of an Obama administration effort to reach a deal for a Palestinian state by April, a timeline that is still on track, Kerry told reporters.
 
“We are working on an approach that both guarantees Israel’s security and fully respects Palestinian sovereignty,” Kerry added.
 
According to the Israeli and Palestinian diplomatic sources speaking to WND, Kerry’s trip this time around focused specifically on the particulars of security arrangements for the strategic Jordan Valley following a deal.
 
In October, WND exclusively reported Kerry was strongly urging Israel to give up the Jordan Valley in closed-door talks with the Palestinian Authority.
 
The current round of U.S.-brokered talks is attempting to hash out the details of a plan for the valley.
 
The Jordan Valley cuts through the heart of Israel. It runs from the Tiberias River in the north to the Dead Sea in the center to the city of Aqaba at the south of the country, stretching through the biblical Arabah desert.
 
The U.S. proposal calls for international forces to maintain security control along with unarmed Palestinian police forces, a senior Palestinian Authority negotiator told WND in October. Israel will retain security posts in some strategic areas of the Jordan Valley, according to the U.S. plan.
 
Previous talks incorporated an element of Jordanian authority in the Jordan Valley, but the Kingdom of Jordan is wary of participating in a future Palestinian state, the negotiator said.
 
The Palestinian negotiator pointed to the insurgency in Syria and changes of leadership in Egypt as reasons for Jordanian reluctance to assume any security control over Palestinian areas.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/12/u-s-plan-gives-jerusalem-holy-sites-to-vatican/#LL2WRqhMsabTQixb.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 17, 2013, 06:59:04 am
This is the rise of the Antichrist, the EU is becoming a bigger partner in the peace process of Israel, and the US is losing its status. Soon we will see the rise of 1 person who will become more internationally known who is involved in this.

EU warns Israel not to let peace talks fail

European diplomats warned Israel against new West Bank settlement construction, promising "unprecedented" incentives if peace talks succeed, officials said.
 The foreign ministers of the 28 European Union member states passed a resolution Monday promising Israel and the Palestinians an "unprecedented package" of economic, political and security aid if a peace treaty is achieved, Haaretz reported Tuesday.
 
The European diplomats also guaranteed both sides would be upgraded to "special privilege partnership" the top status for non-member European states, the newspaper said.
 
After the resolution was passed, the EU conveyed a message to Israel's Foreign Ministry, warning Jerusalem not to underestimate the European offer. The European diplomats also expressed concern that Israel would announce a new round of West Bank settlement construction following the release of a third group of Palestinian prisoners later this month.
 
"New announcements of settlement activity after the third round of prisoner releases at the end of the month might be a fatal blow for the peace process," the Israeli paper quoted the European diplomats saying. The diplomats warned such a move could lead to the collapse of peace talks with the Palestinians. If this occurs, Israel will be held responsible, the diplomats said.
 
European diplomats are expected to convey a severe message to Palestinian negotiators when they meet with them Tuesday, Haaretz said.
 
Under the nine-month framework allocated by the United States to Israel and the Palestinians, a time frame in which to reach a peace agreement, Israel agreed to release 104 Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israel before the 1993 Oslo Accords. Israel is scheduled to free the third batch of Palestinian prisoners on Dec. 29.
 
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians resumed July 29.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/12/17/EU-warns-Israel-not-to-let-peace-talks-fail/UPI-43011387280198/#ixzz2njjSlJha


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 19, 2013, 07:09:55 am
It’s About the Settlements, Stupid

Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, the misnamed occupied territories, are not the obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. They are the acid test of peace. To argue that peace is conceivable unless the bulk of the settlements remain in place constitutes stupidity or hypocrisy. Leave aside the issue of whether Jews have the right to live in the historic homeland of the Jewish people.

Ignore the fact that the settlers live overwhelmingly on what was waste land and turned into gardens, vineyards, and industries which have uplifted the lives of Palestinian Arabs more than all the aid that has passed through (or rather stuck to) the fingers of the kleptocrats of the PA. Leave aside also Israel’s requirement for defensible borders: that is a critical issue but not identical to the continued presence of settlements.
 
Accepting the settlements is the sine qua non of any viable peace agreement. It does Israel no good to defend Israel’s right to exist but to condemn the settlers, as does Alan Dershowitz, not to mention the leaders of liberal Jewish denominations.
 
I believe in land for peace. That is a tautology: In territorial disputes the two main variables always are land and peace. But that implies more land for more peace and less land for less peace. The Palestinian Arabs had an opportunity to accept an Israeli state on just 5,500 square miles of land in 1947, and refused to do so. The armistice lines of 1948 left Israel with 8,550 square miles, and the Arab side refused to accept that. In 1967 Israel took an additional 5,628 square miles of land in dispute under international law; Jordan does not claim it, and no legal Arab authority exists to claim it. It is not “illegally occupied.” It has never been adjudicated by a competent authority.
 
To demand the 1948 armistice lines (the so-called 1967 borders) is to refuse any penalty for refusing to make peace in the past. That is the same as refusing any peace at all. Wars end when one side accepts defeat, and abandons the hope of restoring the status quo ante by force of arms. 1947 was a catastrophe (“Nakba”) for the Palestinian Arabs, to be sure, but it was a catastrophe of their own making; until they accept at least some degree of responsibility for the catastrophe, they will not be reconciled to any peace agreement.
 
That is precisely what Palestine’s negotiator Saeb Erekat meant when he eschewed any recognition of Israel as a Jewish nation-state because “I cannot change my narrative.” The “narrative” is that the Jews are an alien intrusion into the Muslim Middle East and eventually must be eliminated by one means or another.
 
The Palestinian Arabs are a people in decline, and the vehemence of their leaders reflects the dimness of their future. It is noteworthy that Secretary of State John Kerry continues to talk of a “demographic time bomb” threatening Israel, even though the data show that the Jewish population between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is increasing faster than the Arab population, as former Israeli diplomat Yoram Ettinger observes.
 
That’s based on undisputed data; in fact, Palestinian population data are inflated by an enormous margin, as a 2006 study by the Begin-Sadat Center at Bar-Ilan University demonstrated:
 
[The Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics] projected that the number of births in the Territories would total almost 908,000 for the seven-year period from 1997 to 2003. Yet, the actual number of births documented by the PA Ministry of Health for the same period was significantly lower at 699,000, or 238,000 fewer births than had been forecast by the PCBS. … The size of the discrepancy accelerated over time. Whereas the PCBS predicted there would be over 143,000 births in 2003, the PA Ministry of Health reported only 102,000 births, which pointed to a PCBS forecast 40% beyond actual results. 

The hold of traditional Muslim society on young Palestinian Arabs, especially young women, is deteriorating: as they gain access to secondary and tertiary education, young Arabs have fewer children and more careers. And the most effective agency for the emancipation of young Arab women is the settler movement. Ariel University across the so-called Green Line is full of young Muslim women in headscarves studying computer science, and the leaders of the Ariel community–Haredi Jews–work with local Arab leaders to recruit talented students.
 
There is a parallel to what I called the “peace of the aging” in Ireland. The Irish got older. The drunken IRA killers I met in Belfast in 1970 as a student journalist had no intention of making peace. They were having too much fun at war. By 1996, when former Sen. George Mitchell presided over the Good Friday Agreement that formally ended the low-intensity civil war in Northern Ireland, those who were left had families and mortgages.

(http://i2.wp.com/balfourpost.com/bpost/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/chart060611a.gif?resize=300%2C256)

By 2040 the Palestinian Arab population will have far fewer young people and far more middle-aged people

(http://i0.wp.com/balfourpost.com/bpost/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/chart060611c.gif?resize=300%2C215)

The Irish no longer care. They are neither Catholic nor nationalistic. The IRA thugs of 1970 came from four-child families. Today the Irish have fewer than two children on average. Let the matter simmer for another twenty years, and the Palestinian Arabs will look more like the Irish of 1996 than the Irish of 1970. At that point, the “narrative” will change, because no one will care about the old “narrative.”
 
In the meantime the Israeli settlers have built a garden and a workshop where before there were bare rocks, and thriving communities that are integral parts of Israeli society. It takes longer to get crosstown in Manhattan in traffic than it does to drive from the center of Tel Aviv to Ariel, the largest town in Samaria. This is yet another accomplishment of Jewish ingenuity and industriousness, and it is (or should be) an inspiring example to all who hope for a better life for the peoples of the Middle East. We will know that the Palestinians want peace when they admire rather than abhor this effort.
 
The utopian delusions of the Obama administration, the hypocrisy of the world, and the betrayal–yes, I think that is the right word–of Israeli interests by the liberal American Jewish denominations have put Israel in a painful situation. The threat of economic sanctions from Europe or reduced American military support if Israel refuses to swallow the poisoned bait are not a trivial threat.
 
As Caroline Glick writes:

With Kerry poised to shove his lethal parameters down our throats, parameters that will require Israel to irrevocably accept terms of peace that will destroy the country, it is obvious that Netanyahu needs to adopt a longer-term strategy. Our goal cannot be limited to waiting out Obama. Our goal must be to extricate Israel from the two-state trap.

 
Yes, Israel will pay a huge price for jumping ship. For 20 years, non-leftist Israeli leaders have been trying to go along to get along with the Left, and the Americans and their ever-escalating demands. But Kerry’s obsessive harping, and his insistence on pushing forward with his disastrous framework deal forces our hand.
 Either we pay a huge price now, or accept our destruction within five to 15 years.
 
Ms. Glick is Israeli, and has a right to urge a particular course of action for her country. I am American, and direct my comments instead to my liberal Jewish co-religionists: Your support for the Obama administration and your betrayal of Jews on our front line in Judea and Samaria is a wicked and disgraceful thing.
 
We must summon all of our strength to prevent this administration from punishing Israel for refusing to commit suicide.
 
As a religious Jew, I believe that Jews are obligated to settle our historic homeland, but I also believe that the preservation of Jewish life takes precedence.
 
If it were possible to achieve a durable and robust peace by abandoning the settlements I would support it. But that is a delusion: we will make ourselves immeasurably less secure by abandoning the settlements than by holding fast to them.

http://balfourpost.com/its-about-the-settlements-stupid/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 19, 2013, 07:17:31 am
this story makes you laugh as its so true...

‘The Floodgates of Bullcrap’: Palestinians Blame Israel for Flooding Gaza…by Opening Dams that Don’t Really Exist

Palestinian media and officials are facing ridicule in the Israeli press for blaming the Israeli government for flooding the Gaza Strip by opening dams. But there’s one problem: Israel says those alleged dams don’t exist.
 
“Even the weather is fair game in Hamas’s war of words against Israel,” wrote the Times of Israel, while the blog Israelly Cool had this headline: “Palestinians and Supporters Open the Floodgates of Bullcrap.”
 
  • f course no crisis in Gaza can go to waste without blaming it on Israel,” Israelly Cool wrote.

The claim of Israel intentionally flooding Gaza has made headlines in the pro-Palestinian media over the past week in which a freak winter storm hit the Middle East with a deluge of rain and snow, including a once-in-a-century snowfall in neighboring Egypt.

The pro-Palestinian publication Middle East Monitor wrote on December 16th, “Israel has opened the Wadi Sofa Dam east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, flooding dozens of houses and leaving hundreds of people homeless.”
 
That claim appears to have originated with an announcement on Friday by the Hamas government’s Disaster Response Committee, saying that Israel had opened dams just east of Gaza, “flooding numerous residential areas in nearby villages within the coastal territory,” reported Ma’an, an independent Palestinian news agency.
 
Mayor of Rafah Issa Nashar echoed the claim, saying on Sunday, “Israel has indeed opened the dam which led to drowning the neighboring areas with accumulated rain water up to 1 meter deep.”
 
But Israeli officials contend no dams exist in the area. Uri Schor, a spokesman for Israel’s Water Authority, told the Times of Israel, “The allegation of [Israel] opening dams and flooding the Gaza Strip is baseless and false.”

Schor said that water reservoirs have overflowed across the entire area which caused flooding. Not only did Israel not cause the flooding, Israel sent aid to the Palestinians.
 
“Israel responded to a special appeal conveyed through the UN, transferring four high-power pumps to the Gaza Strip intended to help residents remove water from flooded areas,” he said.
 
Indeed the huge rainfall did cause extensive flooding in Gaza, as described thus in the Times of Israel:
 

The Gaza Strip was one of the areas most affected by the storm Alexa. Torrential rain caused widespread flooding, forcing some 40,000 residents to evacuate their homes as rescuers used rowboats to assist stranded civilians. UNRWA, a UN agency tasked with assisting Palestinian refugees, described parts of northern Gaza Strip as a disaster zone.
 
Rainfall of 260 millimeters (10.23 inches) was documented in the Gaza area between December 11 and 13, comprising a staggering 60 percent of the annual average for the region.
 
Another Palestinian official, Civil Defense spokesman Muhammad Al-Maidana, accused Israel of opening sewage canals near Gaza, “exacerbating the crisis and raising the water level, causing homes to be submerged.”
 
The Times of Israel found another report on the Palestinian website Al-Majd that even claimed  Israel had opened the dams in an effort to expose Hamas smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza.
 
“For Gaza to drown is an old Zionist dream,” the site wrote.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/12/19/the-floodgates-of-bullcrap-palestinians-blame-israel-for-flooding-gaza-by-opening-dams-that-dont-really-exist/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on December 19, 2013, 03:21:43 pm
 :D Yeah, sometimes it's SO silly, you have to laugh.

While for centuries, rulers would duped their public through various means, but commonly through their chosen religious sects and cults, because the ignorant public didn't know any better, and feared that they might "anger the gods", they would bow to the religious leaders, who would feed the public the main government line. Well, it seems the Palestinian leadership is still trying to dupe the public with lies, and the fanatical ignorant public just eats it up.

But then I wonder how long they will manage to pull it off due to the growing use of smart phones. I'd imagine somebody checked out what dam they were talking about and found no dam on Google Earth.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 20, 2013, 05:46:28 am
Israel and the Myth of Occupation
By Salomon Benzimra

The political right wing in Israel has finally recovered its voice.  In an open letter to PM Netanyahu, published in Haaretz (Hebrew Edition) on September 20, 2013, a group of 19 Knesset members urged Netanyahu to uphold the sovereign rights on the whole Land of Israel.  With the looming failure of the ongoing round of "peace negotiations," most right-wing politicians, academics, and media pundits are more than ever convinced of the sheer disaster that the Oslo peace process has produced.  And they are openly advocating a new course of action.

But the right-wing camp run the risk of been divided -- and their message discredited -- if they choose to play the game of their political opponents from the left, who incessantly demand that they produce a detailed plan on how to fully solve the "Palestinian question."

Probably unaware of this trap, many capable right-wing thinkers are sketching out a variety of peace plans based on their own knowledge and expertise.  Each one of these plans may have its merits.  But all of them will be virulently attacked by the traditional left-wing pundits and politicians, who have been symbiotically tied to the ill-fated concepts of "land for peace" and "two-state solution" for the past twenty years.  Old habits die hard and often blur rational thought.

The Israeli right wing should avoid falling into the same defeatist trap.  The right-wing camp should remember that the main reason for the failure of the Oslo process was the reckless attempt to cover all the areas of concern from its inception.  The so-called Declaration of Principles (Oslo I, 1993) was long on minutiae (procedures for Palestinian elections, size and capability of their police force, Israeli withdrawal schedules, transfer of powers, economic development, social programmes, etc.) and short on principles, to the extent that the very compatibility of the objectives pursued by the two parties was never broached, let alone ascertained.  The Interim Agreement (Oslo II, 1995) further obscured the essentials in an intricate web of details.

In 1948, George Orwell observed: "At any given moment, there is a sort of all-prevailing orthodoxy, a general tacit agreement not to discuss some large and uncomfortable fact."  Today, the all-prevailing orthodoxy rests on the false notion of "occupied Palestinian territories."

The Israeli right wing should challenge the "myth of occupation" and stay away from elaborating detailed peace plans at this stage.  Sadly, the myth of occupation was given birth by the Levi Eshkol government in the wake of the Six-Day War, in breach of Israel's Basic Law.  It was later amplified and propagated by the PLO and their Marxist enablers in the early 1970s with innumerable U.N. General Assembly resolutions, culminating in UNGA Resolution 3236.  Today, the myth of occupation is the cornerstone of the Palestinian narrative, and every anti-Zionist group in the world strives to keep this myth alive.

How to demolish the myth of occupation?  This Orwellian "all-prevailing orthodoxy" should be confronted by recognizing -- once again -- the historical connection of the Jewish people to Palestine and the necessity of reconstituting the Jewish state in the whole region west of the Jordan River, as it was initially established under international law at the San Remo Conference in 1920 and spelled out in the Mandate for Palestine.  These acquired rights of the Jewish people have never been abrogated; they are preserved to this day in Article 80 of the U.N. Charter and in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and they are confirmed in the Levy Report, still pending official approval by the Israeli government.

The importance of demolishing this myth cannot be overstated.  Once the "uncomfortable facts" pertaining to recent history and the provisions of international law are restored, Judea and Samaria will inevitably be once again recognized as Jewish land.  The "prevailing orthodoxy" will not survive the shock.


The Palestinian Arabs will be hard-pressed to justify their untenable rejection of Israel as a Jewish State.
The acknowledgement of Jewish sovereignty over Judea and Samaria will, for the first time, make any further Israeli concession meaningful, rather than being viewed by the Palestinian Arabs as an obligation from an occupying power.
The legality of the "settlements" will cease to be questioned.
The baseless European "guidelines" to selectively boycott Jewish settlements will be fatally punctured, and nothing will be more exhilarating than to observe the EU's arrogance crumble.

To the question that will predictably be asked -- "But what is the actual solution to the Palestinian question?" -- we should respond with confident modesty: at this stage, we don't know, but surely the solution cannot be based on historical and legal falsehoods.  So let us first restore the basic facts pertaining to history and law, and observe the tremors created by this unexpected surge of truth among the myth-peddlers and in the turbulent Arab world.  When all the pieces fall in their place, then and only then we will be able to propose a cogent plan for the betterment of all the populations concerned on the basis of a new and meaningful Declaration of Principles.

Not defining a detailed peace plan denotes no lack of courage or vision.  It is simply a question of giving precedence to factual evidence and justice over "peace at any cost."  The left conceived and supported the successive peace plans -- Oslo, Roadmap, Geneva Initiative, Annapolis, etc.  They strove to implement them and witnessed the bloody trail these plans left behind, and the damaging of Israel's image worldwide.  Now, not to feel alone in their failure, they demand that the right follow their same insane ideas and produce a competing peace plan while, of course, ignoring the fundamental territorial rights of the Jewish people.

Surely this tack should be rejected, as it is not only premature and futile, but counterproductive to a lasting peace in the region.


http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2013/12/israel_and_the_myth_of_occupation.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 27, 2013, 10:08:58 am
'Framework peace deal could be reached by end of month'

Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reports that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are on verge of breakthrough • Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby: Not a single Israeli soldier can remain in the territory of a future Palestinian state.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations are on the verge of a breakthrough and an American-drafted framework agreement could be signed by the end of the month, the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Sunday.

The report cited Arab League officials who said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas presented them with the details of the U.S. plan at an emergency meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers that was held in Cairo this weekend at the request of the Palestinians.

Arab diplomats quoted in the report said that Abbas expressed disappointment in the American plan, which he claimed favored Israeli security interests over other core issues that must be resolved in a final status agreement.

"The Americans are determined to present an agreement by the end of December and have already chosen a location for the signing ceremony for the framework agreement," Abbas reportedly told Arab diplomats.

Palestinian officials in Ramallah confirmed the report and said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to present the final outline for the framework agreement during his upcoming visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories at the end of the week.

Meanwhile, the Arab League rejected on Saturday a reported U.S. proposal that would allow for a continued Israeli military presence on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state.

Palestinian officials have said Kerry's proposal that was made earlier this month included letting Israel maintain control of a Palestinian state's border with Jordan for at least 10 years to address Israel's concerns about a potential influx of terrorists and weapons.

At the Arab League meeting in Cairo on Saturday, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said that not a single Israeli soldier could remain in the territory of a Palestinian state.

An Arab League report on the issue called Kerry's proposal "dangerous to the Palestinians," saying it "achieved Israeli security expansionist demands, and guaranteed [Israel's] continued control of [the Jordan Valley] on the security pretext." The report also characterized the proposal as "an American retreat."

Aides to Abbas have criticized the proposal. One aide, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the negotiations, told Reuters on Saturday that the Palestinians are trying to shorten the time span of any Israeli withdrawal.

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=14199&r=1


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 27, 2013, 10:23:16 am
Likud pushing bill to annex Jordan Valley

If legislature becomes law, PM would be unable to accept US offer to place Jordan Valley, border crossing under Palestinian control.

Likud ministers and lawmakers are trying to limit Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s freedom in peace talks, with MK Miri Regev submitting a bill on Thursday to annex the Jordan Valley.

If Regev’s bill becomes law, Netanyahu would be unable to accept the American offer to put the Jordan Valley and border crossings into Jordan under Palestinian control, with IDF soldiers posted at the border and the US providing additional security.

According to Regev’s office, all Likud ministers other than Netanyahu support the bill and it has enough votes to be authorized by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation.

However, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is leading negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, is the chairwoman of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation. She is likely to try to block the bill, either by not bringing it to a vote or submitting an appeal if it is approved.

Still, Likud ministers could push the legislation forward and demand that it be brought to a general ministerial vote.

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Likud-pushing-bill-to-annex-Jordan-Valley-336285


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 01, 2014, 06:31:42 am
Cameron, Merkel headed to Israel next month
Diplomatic official denies report British and German leaders’ visits are tied to peace talks


British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will both visit Israel next month, Foreign Ministry officials said Wednesday.

The leaders will make the trips within days of each other in mid-February, though they won’t won’t overlap.

While the trips will come amid peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, an Israeli diplomatic official denied an Israeli TV report that the purpose of the visits was to push along peace talks.

The official told the Times of Israel that while the leaders will likely comment on the peace process, it will not be the focus of the visits.

The visit will be the first to Israel for Cameron since he was elected prime minister in 2010.

Cameron told Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein in early December that he would visit Israel sometime in 2014. He also said he would “happily” deliver a speech to the Knesset.

The two spoke at the Nelson Mandela memorial in Johannesburg.

For Merkel, the trip will be made with a number of Cabinet ministers in order to reciprocate a visit made by Netanyahu last year, in the framework of the “government to government” program.

Diplomatic offices in both countries, closed for the New Years holiday, were unavailable for comment.

News of the visits came as US Secretary of State John Kerry was expected in Israel Thursday for his 10th visit to the region as part of ongoing peace talks.

Kerry is expected to present the sides with a US-drafted framework agreement that will set the outlines for a permanent deal, allowing Jerusalem and Ramallah to keep negotiating beyond an April deadline.

Merkel last visited Israel in January 2011. Her newly installed foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is expected to make a trip to the region next week.

Berlin in particular, because of its history in the Holocaust, has been vocal about its commitment to Israel’s security, recently selling Jerusalem a series of advanced submarines at a subsidized price.

“We’ll never be neutral and … Israel can be sure of our support when it comes to ensuring its security,” Merkel told a Jewish magazine in Germany in August. “That’s why I also said that Germany’s support for Israel’s security is part of our national ethos, our raison d’être.”

Britain and Germany have both been critical of Israel’s settlement policies and have pushed for the sides to reach an agreement based on a two-state solution, though much of their involvement in the peace process has been outsourced to the European Union, which is a member of the Quartet for Mideast Peace.

The two countries were also recently party to an agreement between Iran and the P5+1 which calls for eased sanctions of Tehran in exchange for curbs on nuclear activity and more robust oversight. Israel has been critical of the deal, which has yet to be implemented.

On Tuesday, German newspaper Der Speigel reported that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani may visit Munich for a security conference at the end of January.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/cameron-merkel-said-to-be-headed-to-israel-in-peace-push/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 03, 2014, 06:43:18 am
US Deal Will Trade Off ‘Jewish’ Israel for 1967 Lines — Report

John Kerry will offer Israeli and Palestinian negotiators a political trade-off: Israeli recognition of the 1967 lines as a basis for the future Palestinian state, in return for Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, Palestinian sources told the Saudi daily Al-Watan on Sunday.   According to the sources, the mutual recognition will constitute the core of a framework agreement to be signed by the end of January, and negotiated in greater detail during the following months. “The coming weeks will be difficult for the Palestinian and Israeli sides, since they will need to make tough decisions,” a source  a source told Al-Watan...Kerry is to visit the region...   
MORE: http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-deal-will-trade-off-jewish-israel-for-1967-lines-report/




Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on January 03, 2014, 02:29:01 pm
Quote
in return for Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, Palestinian sources told the Saudi daily Al-Watan on Sunday.

For starters, it's suspect that a "Palestinian source" tells a Saudi news outlet. But the real issue is how they refer to Israel as "the state of the Jewish people". Israel is not Jewish! The state of Israel is secular, that happens to have some citizens that are Jewish, just like their are secular Arabs among "Palestinians".


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 08, 2014, 01:12:22 pm
http://debka.com/article/23579/
Netanyahu plans a national referendum on US peace framework to extend negotiations for another year

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 7, 2014, 9:57 PM (IDT)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is planning to conduct the first popular referendum in Israel’s history to ratify the amended peace framework proposal which US Secretary of State John Kerry is drafting for presentation in the coming weeks, debkafile reveals.

The prime minister has been quoted as saying that he needs the referendum to push back “domestic pressures from the right”, but in any case he believes it will be politically advantageous. He has confided to his closest circle that for the first time that he is in favor of the Kerry proposals and, although they don’t see eye to eye on many of the issues, he thinks the gaps between them can be bridged.

 Netanyahu is counting on the the framework accord gaining an overwhelming popular majority in referendum. Although it is not yet a final-status agreement, the document will lay out principles for solutions of the core issues at dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.

 After Netanyahu and Abu Mazen affirm this paper, it will be possible to extend the negotiating time frame for a final accord by at least another year and so get past the original nine-month deadline which expires at the end of April.

Our sources add that the prime minister regards the Obama administration’s acceptance of Israel as the Jewish national state to be an historic achievement of unparalleled importance. He believes he can find common ground with Secretary Kerry on Jerusalem as well. He was encouraged to learn that Kerry is working on a formula that avoids citing E. Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, only as a goal for their national aspirations.

Intense exchanges are gong back and forth on the security arrangements for the Jordan Valley which runs along Israel’s eastern border, and the number and area of the Jewish settlements remaining under Israeli sovereignty. 

A number of settlements outside the main blocs are due for removal, despite reports to the contrary, but the argument among the Americans, Israelis and Palestinians is over a timetable for their staged evacuation which is counted in years.
 US Ambassador Dan Shapiro precisely defined the current state of the negotiating process when he said in an interview to Kol Israel Radio Tuesday, Jan. 7, that the proposed US framework in which new elements have been introduced is not designed to generate an interim accord but “a final agreement on all the issues at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.”

Further exclusive details on the new elements and their import will appear in the coming issue of DEBKA Weekly out next Friday. If you are not already a subscriber, click here to sign on.

Netanyahu does not expect the right-of-center Jewish Home to actually quit the government coalition over the US initiative, even though its leader, the Economy Minister Naftali Bennet, declared Tuesday that his party would not stay in a government that withdraws to the pre-1967 borders or repartitions Jerusalem.

Circles close to the prime minister said that he hopes Kerry won’t have a sudden change of heart and go back on his plans and their points of agreement, because then the huge effort invested in the current peace process will turn to dust.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 13, 2014, 04:16:45 pm
Abbas: Without East Jerusalem there will be no peace with Israel
 
 Published yesterday (updated) 12/01/2014 11:54
 http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=664411
 
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas told a
delegation on Saturday that without East Jerusalem as the capital of the
future Palestinian state, there will be "no peace between us and Israel."
 
Speaking to a popular delegation from Jerusalem Saturday in his office in
Ramallah, Abbas highlighted that the Arab Follow-up Committee would
reiterate this stance during a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry
on Sunday.
 
"He will be told that occupied East Jerusalem is the capital of the state of
Palestine, and without this there will be no peace between us and Israel."
 
The current round of negotiations has been limited to nine months after
which "we are free to do whatever we want," he said, highlighting that, "the
time frame is limited and not open, and our unanimous position isn't
secret."
 
He added that he heard that they (the Israelis) had refused to mention
Jerusalem in any talks or negotiations.
 
"Let them say whatever they say. Unless it is mentioned clearly and marked
in big fonts that it is the capital of the state of Palestine, there will be
no peace with them and I want them to hear this."
 
"Our language is understandable. We have been hearing lots of talks about
the capital here and there. The (Palestinian) capital is Jerusalem and its
surroundings in Jerusalem which were occupied in 1967."
 
Jerusalem doesn't mean Abu Dis, but Abu Dis is part of Jerusalem, he added,
referring to a neighborhood of Jerusalem cut off by the separation wall from
the rest of the city.
 
Abbas highlighted that he is adhering to a stance that has long been
official policy.
 
"We have a right even though we are weak in the world. We will continue to
demand our rights and we will realize them."
 
Abbas added that the whole world had started to "know and understand our
grievances and pains" and that European countries have started to support
the Palestinian cause by boycotting products from Israeli settlements.
Countries in North America, Latin America and Africa are doing the same, he
added.
 
The Palestinian president denied Israeli claims that an agreement had been
reached between the two sides to allow Israel to build more settlements when
a group of Palestinian prisoners is released from Israeli jails.
 
"The Israelis link between prisoners and settlements. When a group is
released, they build settlement units and claim this has been agreed on."
 
"These are lies as there is definitely no relation between releasing
prisoners and settlements. Settlements are illegal from the beginning to the
end."
 
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under
the auspices of the United States after nearly three years of impasse.
 
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of housing
units in illegal settlements since peace talks began.
 
The Palestinian negotiating team resigned in protest against continued
Israeli settlement construction in mid-November, dealing a major blow to
negotiations between Israel and the PLO that had already been stalled.
 
Negotiator Mohammed Shtayyeh told AFP at the time that they resigned in
response to "increasing settlement building (by Israel) and the absence of
any hope of achieving results," following Netanyahu's announcement that
Israel would build 20,000 new settlement homes in the West Bank.
 
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West
Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli
military since 1967.
 
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=62844



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 13, 2014, 04:28:38 pm
The Vatican has been coveting East Jerusalem too for quite a while now.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 14, 2014, 06:25:46 am
How Can Israel Negotiate Peace With People That Are Absolutely Obsessed With Exterminating It?

The Obama administration would have us believe that there will be “lasting peace” in the Middle East if Israel will just agree to a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders.  Once there is a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as the capital, Obama insists that the threat of war will be over.  But is that actually true?  Of course not.  As you will see below, the people that Israel is “negotiating” with are taught from a very early age to hate the Jewish people and that every Muslim is called by Allah to work toward the total elimination of the nation of Israel.  If a temporary “peace agreement” will allow them to partially reach that goal, then that is acceptable.  In Islam, there is a long history of using temporary treaties to advance the cause of jihad that goes all the way back to Muhammed himself.  And there is a doctrine in Islam known as “Tawriya” that allows a Muslim to lie to others as long as he is able “to articulate his deceit in a way that is true to him“.  As far as Hamas, Hezbollah and the leadership of the Palestinian Authority are concerned, their ultimate goal has never changed.  In fact, a senior Palestinian Authority official recently stated during a Syrian television program that a treaty with Israel will just be one step toward destroying Israel in stages…
 
In response to concern expressed by the interviewer that any US-imposed deal would be “deficient”, insofar as it would “only” require Israel to cede Judea and Samaria, a smiling Zaki urges calm.
 
“You can relax. We find ourselves united for the first time. Even the most extreme among us, Hamas, or the fighting forces, want a state within the ’67 borders [sic]. Afterward, we [will] have something to say, because the inspiring idea cannot be achieved all at once. [Rather] in stages,” he responded.
 
You can watch video of those comments being made right here…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1Qmr3_IrVE&feature=player_embedded

One of the parties that Israel must come to agreement with for any “peace treaty” to work is Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.  The founding document of Hamas is exceedingly clear about what the purpose of that organization is.  The following are just a few quotes from the Hamas Charter…
 
-”Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
 
-”The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [Holy Possession] consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment Day. No one can renounce it or any part, or abandon it or any part of it.”
 
-”The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews [and kill them]; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: Oh Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!”
 
Is Hamas going to change their Charter before they agree to a treaty with Israel?
 
Of course not, because the ultimate goals of Hamas have not changed.
 
When Ariel Sharon recently died, the true feelings of the Palestinian people came out once again just like they did during the aftermath of 9/11.  According to one recent news report, even Palestinian children were greatly celebrating the death of Sharon…
 
“Palestinian children hold weapons, celebrate, and chant slogans against Israel after hearing of the death of Ariel Sharon, the hard-charging Israeli general and prime minister.”
 
Of course this should be no surprise to those of us that are aware of how those children are educated.  They are taught to hate Jewish people from birth, and their school textbooks are full of anti-Jewish propaganda.  For example, according to the Daily Mail one textbook for 9th grade Palestinian students actually contains the following statement…
 
“The hour (of judgment) will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. There is a Jew behind me come and kill him.”
 
And of course there are many more quotes like that in Palestinian textbooks.  The following is an excerpt from a report entitled “From Nationalist Battle to Religious Conflict: New 12th Grade Palestinian Textbooks Present a World Without Israel“…
 
The teachings repeatedly reject Israel’s right to exist, present the conflict as a religious battle for Islam, teach Israel’s founding as imperialism, and actively portray a picture of the Middle East, both verbally and visually, in which Israel does not exist at all. The following description of Israel’s founding represents the dominant dogma about Israel in Palestinian schoolbooks: Defining Israel’s founding as a “catastrophe unprecedented in history,” “a theft perpetrated by “Zionist gangs,” together with numerous other hateful descriptions of Israel as “colonial imperialist” and “racist”, compounded by the presentation of the conflict as a religious war, leaves no latitude for students to have positive or even neutral attitudes towards Israel. This negative imagery and religious packaging are compounded by hateful presentations of Israeli policy. The young students are imbued with a Palestinian identity as “victims” just by virtue of Israel’s existence. The well-meaning student is left with no logical justification or religious option to accept Israel as a neighbor or to seek coexistence. Given the total rejection of Israel’s right to exist, on nationalistic and religious grounds, Palestinian terror against Israel since Israel’s founding in 1948 is defined as: “resistance … acts of most glorious heroism.” PA educators teach that fighting Israel is not merely a territorial conflict, but also a religious battle for Islam. The schoolbooks define the conflict with Israel as “Ribat for Allah” – “one of the actions related to Jihad for Allah, and it means: Being found in areas where there is a struggle between Muslims and their enemies”.
 
In much of the Islamic world, Islam is not just a religion.  It is a political, economic, social and religious system which is all-encompassing.
 
And for Palestinians, being anti-Israel is at the very core of that system.  Just check out what kindergarten children at one particular Palestinian school are being taught…
 
Children attending a kindergarten in Gaza that is run by Islamic Jihad celebrated their graduation by dressing up in army attire, waving toy rifles and chanting anti-Israel slogans.
 
“It is our obligation to educate the children to love the resistance, Palestine and Jerusalem, so they will recognize the importance of Palestine and who its enemy is,” the kindergarten’s director said.
 
The children were dressed up in uniforms of Jihad’s armed-wing, the al-Quds Brigades, and each of them received a toy rifle. Some of them held up photos of Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shaqaqi.
 
You can see some extremely disturbing photographs of this kindergarten graduation event right here.
 
The truth is that you are never going to have lasting peace until both sides truly want peace.
 
And it should be abundantly clear that the Palestinians do not want peace.  Just check out some of the results from one survey in which Palestinians were asked about their beliefs about Israel and the peace process…
 
-60 percent were in favor of direct negotiations with Israel that would result in a “two state” solution.
 
-Approximately two-thirds of the respondents agreed that “over time, Palestinians must work to get back all the land for a Palestinian state.”
 
-Only 23 percent of the respondents believed that  “Israel has a permanent right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people.”
 
-58 percent of those surveyed preferred “armed struggle” over “engagement with Israel.”
 
-Just 12 percent of the respondents said that official maps, documents and school textbooks should show the name “Israel”.
 
So you can see, most Palestinians are actually in favor of a “two state solution”.
 
But an even larger percentage of Palestinians believe that the ultimate goal must be to take all of the land for themselves, and an absolutely overwhelming percentage of Palestinians are against recognizing Israel’s right to exist.
 
How in the world can you ever have “lasting peace” in that type of an environment?
 
This type of thinking is regularly demonstrated in other areas of the Middle East as well.  For instance, a top Iranian official recently stated that a nuclear bomb “is necessary to put down Israel”…
 
Iranian lawmaker, cleric, and Majilis (council) member Mohammed Nabavian declared Monday that Iran does need a nuclear bomb – to destroy Israel.
 
Iran would be able to build a nuclear bomb in “two weeks” if it gets “access to 270 kilograms of 20 percent [enriched uranium], 10 tons of 5 percent, and 20 thousand centrifuges,” Nabavian stated, according to Iranian media reports. “We are not looking for a nuclear bomb, but having a nuclear bomb is necessary to put down Israel.”
 
And if you want to see something incredibly chilling, watch the video that I have posted below.  It is of a massive public rally for Muhammed Mursi when he was running for president of Egypt.  Most Americans never get to see videos like this one.  The obsession that these jihadists have for exterminating the state of Israel is very apparent in this video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI3wG3loKlA&feature=player_embedded

Right now, Israel is the most hated nation on the entire planet.  Hundreds of millions of Muslims are absolutely convinced that the nation of Israel will eventually be eradicated.
 
When Israel signs a treaty that exchanges land for peace, it will be hailed as a great diplomatic achievement in the western world.
 
But the truth is that all that it will really do is set the stage for the next great war in the Middle East.
 
Sadly, most of those living in the western world do not understand this.  They simply do not understand that the ultimate goal of jihad is to bring the entire planet into submission.  Muslims are taught this from a very early age.  They want “world peace”, but their definition of world peace is when everyone in the world will finally be brought into the House of Islam.
 
In Islam, Dar al-Islam is the “House of Peace”.  Dar al-Harb is the “House of War”.  To Muslims, you are either in one house or the other.  And once everyone has been brought into Dar al-Islam, then there will finally be “peace”.
 
And yes, “everyone” includes you too.
 
So if you are wishing for “peace” in the Middle East, perhaps you need to carefully define what you are talking about.
 
Yes, a “major treaty” will probably be agreed to in the Middle East later this year.
 
But it will solve absolutely nothing.  Instead, it will just create even more problems.

http://thetruthwins.com/archives/how-can-israel-negotiate-peace-with-people-that-are-absolutely-obsessed-with-exterminating-them


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 14, 2014, 10:32:31 am
Israeli minister brands John Kerry 'messianic'; US calls remark 'offensive'

TEL AVIV, Israel -- The state department shot back Tuesday after Israel's defense minister branded Secretary of State John Kerry "messianic" just days before he is due to visit the country.

"The remarks of the Defense Minister if accurate are offensive and inappropriate especially given all that the United States is doing to support Israel's security needs," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Moshe Yaalon, Israel's defense minister, was quoted by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper on Tuesday as saying that the only thing that could "save" Israel was for Kerry to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and "leave us alone."

"Secretary of State John Kerry came here very determined and operates based upon an unfathomable obsession and a messianic feeling," Yaalon was quoted as saying. "Throughout the recent months, there is no negotiation between us and the Palestinians, but rather, between us and the Americans. The only thing that can 'save' us is that John Kerry will get a Nobel Peace Prize and leave us alone."

The state department's stinging response added that questioning Kerry's motives and distorting his proposals were "not something we would expect from the Defense Minister of a close ally."

The United States is seeking to broker an agreement on a "two-state solution" in which Israel would exist peacefully alongside a new Palestinian state. Kerry wants the sides to agree to a framework for an interim accord ahead of a deal in April, which would launch another year of talks aimed at a full-blown peace treaty.

A framework would touch on all the main issues, including security, the future of Jerusalem and the fate of refugees.

The Palestinians see the Jewish settlements as an obstacle to achieving a viable state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Most countries consider Israel's settlements there illegal.

Yaalon also told Yediot Aharonot that the latest U.S. peace plan for the region was "not worth the paper it was written on" because it contained "neither security nor peace." 

"I live and breathe the conflict with the Palestinians," he said. "I know what they think, what they want and what they really mean."

Kerry is expected to return to Israel within days as part of his peace push.

Intelligence and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel Army Radio that he agreed with the contents of Yaalon's interview, but added that despite disagreements there was no need to resort to personal insults. 

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/14/22298718-israeli-minister-brands-john-kerry-messianic-us-calls-remark-offensive?lite?ocid=twitter


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 16, 2014, 11:04:29 am
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Report-Netanyahu-in-Jordan-for-talks-with-King-Abdullah-338385
Netanyahu visits Jordan for talks with King Abdullah

By HERB KEINON/REUTERS

01/16/2014 11:57

Leaders discuss peace talks; Army Radio reports PM told Kerry Israel intends on keeping Beit El settlement bloc in peace deal.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held an unannounced meeting in Amman with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Thursday.

The meeting focused on the current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

In a statement released  upon Netanyahu's return to Israel, he stressed the important role played by Jordan, under King Abdullah's leadership, in the efforts to bring about an agreement. He also emphasized that Israel places a premium on security arrangements, including Jordan's interests, in any future agreement that will take into consideration the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel, signed 20 years ago.

Additionally, the two leaders discussed an array of economic cooperation between both countries in a number of fields as well as other regional matters.

Netanyahu has on a number of occasions paid unannounced visits to Jordan to meet with Abdullah since becoming prime minister again in 2009.

The newest diplomatic mission comes amid an Army Radio report Thursday that Netanyahu is insisting on keeping the Beit El settlement bloc as a part of ongoing peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

Army Radio quoted a source familiar with the negotiations as saying Netanyahu, in his talks with Kerry, cited a biblical connection to the Beit El area, noting its depiction in the Book of Genesis as the place where Jacob dreamt about a ladder to heaven.

Netanyahu's spokesman declined to comment on the report .

That would leave 13 percent of the West Bank in Israeli hands, according to Army Radio. There was no immediate comment from  Abbas.

Netanyahu has also offered to buy some of the settlement land from the Palestinians, according to the report, but they rejected such a deal.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 17, 2014, 07:12:02 am
Israel PM slams EU 'hypocrisy' on settlements

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the European Union Thursday for calling in ambassadors over plans for some 1,800 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu's angry remarks come hot on the heels of a public spat between his defence minister and US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is energetically pushing Israel and the Palestinians toward a framework for a peace agreement.   

http://news.yahoo.com/israel-pm-slams-eu-39-hypocrisy-39-settlements-191621937.html


Report: Netanyahu Supports Liberman Land Swap Plan

Binyamin Netanyahu supports Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman's land swap plan, according to a Maariv report Friday. The swap, which Israel reportedly offered the US in talks in December, refers to the area known as the Triangle in east-central Israel. The area includes the cities of Tayibe and Tira, in which about 300,000 Arabs live.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/176416#.Utkmb_tUjlc


Defense minister rises as U.S.-Israel relations plunge

Moshe Ya’alon spoke insultingly off the record about Secretary of State John Kerry, and Prime Minister Netanyahu was in no hurry to come to the aid of his defense minister. 

http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/.premium-1.569080   


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 17, 2014, 07:15:42 am
13,000 teens complete Hamas training camps to emulate ‘suicide martyrs’

The Hamas government in Gaza celebrated the graduation on Monday of paramilitary camps geared at training high-school children “to follow in the footsteps of the suicide martyrs.” The camps, titled “the pioneers of liberation,” are run by Hamas’s ministries of education and interior. Some 13,000 students in grades 10-12 participated in the one-week training camps this year... 

http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-paramilitary-camps-prepare-teens-for-martyrdom/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 19, 2014, 11:04:33 am
Hamas: Israel To Disappear From World

Israel will be gone in eight years, according to one Hamas official. Fathi Hamad, Hamas's Interior Minister, claimed in a speech honoring the anniversary of Operation Cast Lead that "Palestine" would replace the Jewish State by 2022. Hamad noted in his speech that the Palestinian Arabs, according to Islamic prophecies, will enter the Al Aqsa Mosque "in jubilation and victory like they entered it the first time". He said that Israel has failed in previous wars waged against the Palestinians, while the Palestinians are progressing nationally towards the stage where they are capable of conquering Jerusalem. After the "liberation" of Al-Aqsa Mosque, said Hamad, the "Hittin" system will prevail. That statement refers to he means by which Saladin conquered the Land of Israel against the Crusaders, in particular during the Battle of Hittin/Hattin...

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/176244#.UtqWARDnaUn


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 26, 2014, 02:54:49 pm
US Threatens Israel At World Economic Forum: Says Accept Negotiated End-Times Peace Deal Or Cease To Be A Democratic Jewish State

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that if Israeli-Palestinian negotiations fail, Israel's future as a democratic Jewish state is at stake. "If talks fail, for Israel, the demographic dynamic will make it impossible to preserve its future as a democratic Jewish state," Kerry said during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Kerry said that today's status quo cannot last forever, and that a failure to make peace will lead to a deteriorating security environment and growing isolation that can put economic prosperity at risk. Kerry added: "We don’t want an interim agreement – but … a final status agreement where...

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.570411


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on January 27, 2014, 02:53:28 am
Quote
If talks fail, for Israel, the demographic dynamic will make it impossible to preserve its future as a democratic Jewish state...will lead to a deteriorating security environment and growing isolation that can put economic prosperity at risk...

Yep, that sounds like a threat to me.

(keeping in mind that Kerry is married to an "old money" globalist, Teresa Heinz. But the Kerry family has some major wealth too through the Forbes/Winthrop family)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry)

Quote
John Forbes Kerry was born on December 11, 1943 in Aurora, Colorado, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital to Foreign Service Officer/attorney Richard John Kerry (1915–2000) and World War II nurse Rosemary Isabel Forbes (1913–2002) of the Forbes family and Dudley–Winthrop family. Rosemary was born in Paris, France, to American parents. Kerry has two sisters, Diana (born in 1947) and Margaret (aka Peggy; born in 1941), and a brother, Cameron (born in 1950). Cameron Kerry is the General Counsel of the US Department of Commerce.[1] His father was a member of the Army Air Corps at the time.[2]...

...One of Kerry's maternal great-great-grandfathers was Robert Charles Winthrop, the 22nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony John Winthrop is a direct Kerry forebear.[56] Kerry is also a descendant of other prominent American colonial ancestors, including Thomas Cornell (settler) and Joris/George Woolsey.[57] He is also a descendant of Thomas Dudley through his maternal grandmother Margaret Winthrop.

Kerry was raised as a Roman Catholic by his Catholic father and Episcopalian mother.[58] As a child, Kerry served as an altar boy. Although the extended family enjoyed a great fortune, Kerry's parents themselves were upper-middle class; a wealthy great aunt paid for Kerry to attend elite schools in Europe and New England. Kerry spent his summers at the Forbes family estate in Brittany, and there, he enjoyed a more opulent lifestyle than he had previously known in Massachusetts.[citation needed]

It was discovered in 2003 by Felix Gundacker, a genealogist[59] working with The Boston Globe, that Kerry's paternal grandparents, who had been born Jewish, as "Fritz Kohn" and "Ida Lowe", in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, changed their names to "Frederick and Ida Kerry" from "Kohn" in 1900 and converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism in 1901[60][61] or 1902.[62] Fritz' elder brother Otto had earlier, in 1887[61] or 1896,[59] also embraced Catholicism. The "Kerry" name, widely misinterpreted as indicative of Irish heritage, was reputedly selected arbitrarily: "According to family legend, Fritz and another family member opened an atlas at random and dropped a pencil on a map. It fell on County Kerry in Ireland, and thus a name was chosen."[60][62] Leaving their hometown Mödling, a suburb of Vienna where they had lived since 1896, Fred and Ida, together with their son Eric, emigrated to the United States in 1905, living at first in Chicago and eventually moving to Brookline, Massachusetts, by 1915...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Forbes_Kerry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Forbes_Kerry)

Quote
Rosemary was also the mother of another son, Cameron, who is General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and was formerly a Boston lawyer, an adjunct law professor at Suffolk Law School and a convert to Judaism; and two daughters, Diana and Margaret Peggy

So John's brother is a convert to Judaism, eh? Bet that makes things a bit testy these days in the Kerry household.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 27, 2014, 10:28:53 am
Ultimately, the wealthy "elite" seem to be closely connected to each other. Even worse, the modern-day "churches" think yoking up with them is some good idea.

James 2:1  My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
Jas 2:2  For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
Jas 2:3  And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
Jas 2:4  Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
Jas 2:5  Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Jas 2:6  But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
Jas 2:7  Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 27, 2014, 03:34:36 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-settlement-stand-draws-fire-sides-152752102.html
Netanyahu settlement stand draws fire from all sides
1/27/14

Jerusalem (AFP) - Comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum make it clear he is against the establishment of a Palestinian state, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat has said.

"Anyone who says they want the settlers to remain is actually saying they don't want the establishment of a Palestinian state," Erakat said in remarks published Monday in Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam.

Erakat was reacting to comments by Netanyahu at last week's WEF gathering in Davos, where the premier insisted Israel would not evacuate Jewish settlements built on occupied land the Palestinians want for their future state.

Netanyahu has publicly supported the two-state solution during US-sponsored talks which envisage the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a final peace agreement.

But at Davos, the premier told Israeli journalists at a briefing, "I have said before and I say again; I do not intend to dismantle any settlement, I don't intend to uproot any Israeli."


His comments were broadcast on public radio.

Israel's settlements, which are illegal under international law, are a key sticking point that is preventing peace talks from making any visible progress.

Some Israeli media said that Netanyahu was speaking in response to a question specifically about the Jordan Valley, the part of the occupied West Bank bordering Jordan.

Israel insists on maintaining a long-term military presence in the Jordan Valley as a buffer against attacks on the Jewish state, while the Palestinians want an international security force deployed there for their own security
.

But angry Israeli hardliners on Monday linked Netanyahu's Davos comments to a report by an international news agency that the premier is floating the idea of existing settlements being leased from the Palestinians in a future Palestinian state.

"We do not leave settlers behind enemy lines," deputy defence minister Danny Danon, a hawkish member of Netanyahu's own Likud party, told army radio.

"It's an idea of leaving Jews, abandoning Jews to the control of the Palestinians," deputy foreign minister Zeev Elkin, also of Likud, told the station.

"It's a red line, contrary to the beliefs of the national camp, the beliefs of the Likud," he said.

Settler leader Dani Danon told AFP that the concept of settlements no longer being under Israeli sovereignty was a "political, security and Zionist aberration."

Veteran political analyst Shimon Shiffer said that the news agency report, which Netanyahu's office neither confirms nor denies, was a deliberate attempt to draw a hostile response from the Palestinians, painting them as rejecting peace.

"Netanyahu... is trying to push the settlers into a corner and challenge the Palestinian side, knowing that the latter will reply with a resounding negative," he wrote in the top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper.

Maariv's Shalom Yerushalmi suggested that the premier was playing for time.

"The settlements will certainly be removed, but the prime minister will not be the one to remove them," he wrote.

"This will be a gradual process in any case, and by the time we reach the removal of the settlements Netanyahu will no longer be there
."


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 29, 2014, 11:01:58 am
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/The-Kerry-Plan-Palestinian-capital-in-east-J-lem-recognition-of-Jewish-state-339704
Bennett: Jews in ‘Palestine’ would be killed

Despite rebuke from PM’s office, senior minister rails against proposal to leave Israelis under PA rule, floats annexation plan

1/28/14

Palestinians would kill Jewish Israelis left under their rule, Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday, continuing a campaign against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ostensible willingness to leave Israeli settlers under Palestinian rule under a future peace agreement. Bennett also outlined his own plan for the West Bank — which he has largely been mum about since joining Netanyahu’s government — under which Israel would annex most of the territories.

Do you know why? Why Jews cannot live under Palestinian rule? Do you know why? Why Palestinians can’t rule over Jews?” Bennett said in an address at the Institute for National Security Studies Conference, reiterating a point he’d made on Facebook earlier in the day. “Because they will kill them. And do you know how I know this? Because it has already happened.” 

Bennett went on to recount in gory detail some of the events of the 1929 massacre in Hebron, in which 67 Jews were killed during Arab riots, and of the year 2000 lynching in Ramallah of two off-duty IDF soldiers who had sought refuge in a Palestinian police station.

He warned ominously that, “Our forefathers and our descendants will not forgive an Israeli leader who gives up our country and divides our capital,” and spoke out against giving up any of the settlements in a peace agreement, before going on to present the central aspects of his own proposal, under which Israel would annex most of the West Bank.

“We would extend our sovereignty over the Jewish parts of [West Bank], where 400,000 Israelis live and just 70,000 Palestinians,” said Bennett, who heads the Orthodox-nationalist Jewish Home party. “We would offer the Palestinians [in those areas] citizenship. I am not afraid of this because we are not Palestinian slaughterers. This will not harm our demographics in the rest of [Israel].”

Israel should not care if the world did not officially recognize that annexed territory, he went on; the world didn’t recognize israeli sovereignty at the Western Wall, he noted. I the end, what the world respects is power, and “if we are strong the world will respect us; if we are weak, then we’ve seen what happens,” he said, referring to the situation near the Gaza border, where Israeli towns take frequent rocket fire after 2005′s unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.

Bennett also cited figures to bolster a claim that demographics were working in Israel’s favor, and argued that to cite the demographic challenge was a fallacious excuse for giving up the settlements as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians. As of today, he said, the Jewish population is growing faster than the Palestinian population – 3.04 children per Jewish family compared to 2.91 per Palestinian family. He did not cite the source of those statistics. “The demographic clock is working in Israel’s favor,” he said. “[But] the establishment of a Palestinian state will flood Israel with refugees,” he said, presumably creating an actual demographic challenge.

An official in the Prime Minister’s Office, elaborating on a statement Netanyahu made in Switzerland Friday, told The Times of Israel on Sunday that the prime minister does not intend to uproot Jewish settlements anywhere in the West Bank as part of a permanent peace deal with the Palestinians, and wants to allow settlers the choice of remaining under Palestinian rule.

The comment elicited a flurry of criticism from right-wing politicians, including Bennett and many members of the prime minister’s own Likud party.

In his INSS speech, Bennett urged that the idea of settlers-in-Palestine be dropped. Bennett had similarly issued a call on Sunday night to Netanyahu to abandon the idea, and said the prime minister’s position suggested “ethical insanity.”

“Never,” Bennett posted on his Facebook page. “We did not return to the land of Israel after 2,000 years of longing in order to live under the government of [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas. Whoever advocates for the idea of Jewish life in Israel under Palestinian rule is undermining our ability to sit in Tel Aviv.”

An unnamed PMO official told Israel Radio on Monday that Likud MKs who spoke out against Netanyahu’s proposal were welcome to relinquish their posts. Another official took Bennett to task for behaving in a “nationally irresponsible” manner for the sake of making headlines, and hindering the prime minister’s effort “to reveal the true face of the Palestinian Authority” as an unwilling peace partner.

The proposal was roundly dismissed by the Palestinian Authority, prompting a sharp condemnation from the PMO.

“Nothing shows the Palestinian Authority’s unwillingness to reach an accord with Israel more than their extreme and reckless reaction to an unofficial report,” Netanyahu’s office said late Sunday. “An accord will only be reached when the Palestinians recognize the Jewish state and when the essential interests to the security of Israeli citizens are guaranteed.”

In the wake of that exchange, Israel’s chief negotiator, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, implied that, rather than pursue a peace agreement in earnest, some Israeli officials have been baiting the Palestinians so as to elicit responses that could be construed as rejectionist.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 29, 2014, 11:06:57 am
The 'Kerry Plan': Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem, recognition of Jewish state

By JPOST.COM STAFF

01/29/2014 10:13

Thomas Friedman reveals "Kerry Plan," says Israel to compensate Palestinians for settlements kept, deal could cause Netanyahu to lose coalition.

The "Kerry Plan" is likely to be unveiled soon, Thomas Friedman of The New York Times wrote on Tuesday in a column titled "Why Kerry is Scary."

 The “Kerry Plan,” writes Friedman, is expected to "call for an end to the conflict and all claims, following a phased Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank (based on the 1967 lines)."

 Friedman also said that there will be "unprecedented security arrangements in the strategic Jordan Valley."

 According to Friedman, some settlements will remain under Israeli control and Israel will "compensate" Palestinians for the land.

 The plan will set east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. It will also demand that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

The plan, Friedman continues, will not include any right of return for Palestinian refugees into Israel.

 Friedman also claims that if Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is to agree to the terms of the "Kerry Plan," his coalition will collapse and Netanyahu will face many challenges.

Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Kerry said during a speech that the US remained committed to the Israeli Palestinian peace process but that at end of the day it is up to the Israelis and the Palestinians to reach an agreement on how to end the conflict.

The US Secretary of State met with Netanyahu at the conference in a closed-door meeting.
 
 Kerry said in his speech that if the peace talks fail, the Palestinians risk losing their last chance for an independent state. He said for Israel, failure would mean that demographics would not allow Israel to remain a democratic and Jewish state.

Kerry stressed that the continuation of the status quo between the Israelis and Palestinians was not possible and that failure of the talks would empower extremists. 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 30, 2014, 07:36:17 am
Knesset member implies Kerry guided by anti-Semitism
Moti Yogev says top US diplomat has ‘anti-Israel foundations,’ pressure on Israel has undertones of Jew-hatred


A Jewish Home party MK insinuated on Thursday morning that US Secretary of State John Kerry was at least partially motivated by anti-Semitism in his efforts to forge a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.

“The prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) is maneuvering under the obsessive and unprofessional pressures that might also bear an undertone of anti-Semitism on Kerry’s part,” MK Moti Yogev told Israel Radio.

“He has an anti-Israel foundation in that he does not come to compromise, but instead comes with unequivocal answers about shrinking the Land of Israel and establishing a Palestinian state,” Yogev added. “The members of my faction also think that he is not a fair broker and he is not fit to mediate here because his positions are predetermined.”

Yogev also lambasted Netanyahu in the interview, saying that “there is no circus performer like the prime minister in his maneuverings.”

Earlier in January, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon was quoted as making scathing statements about Kerry’s involvement in the peace negotiations, calling him “obsessive” and “messianic,” and describing his West Bank security proposals as worthless. The comments elicited outrage from Washington that led to an apology from the defense minister.

Yogev’s comments on Thursday came amid a public spat between Netanyahu and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett, revolving around Bennett’s reaction to a statement by an official close to Netanyahu – first reported by The Times of Israel – to the effect that the prime minister was insisting that West Bank settlers be given the choice to remain in their homes under Palestinian rule.

Read more: Knesset member implies Kerry guided by anti-Semitism | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-home-mk-implies-kerry-guided-by-anti-semitism/#ixzz2rtA23WoT


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 02, 2014, 05:53:57 pm
John Kerry Faces New Criticism in Israel After Invoking Boycott Threats to Jewish State

Secretary of State John Kerry is facing new criticism in Israel for invoking threatened boycotts of Israel as a key reason the Israeli government should agree to a framework peace agreement with the Palestinians. One government minister called Kerry’s statement “offensive.”

At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Kerry said, “[Y]ou see for Israel there’s an increasing de-legitimization campaign that has been building up. People are very sensitive to it. There are talk of boycotts and other kinds of things. Are we all going to be better with all of that?”

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz on Sunday morning said Israel cannot be pressured to negotiate with “a gun against its head” and that Kerry’s remarks were “offensive and unacceptable.”

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett of the right-wing Jewish Home party had a message for “all of the advice givers.”

“Never has a nation abandoned their land because of economic threats. We are no different,” Bennett wrote on Facebook in response to Kerry’s comments. “Only security will ensure economic stability. Not a terrorist state next to Ben Gurion Airport.”

“We expect our friends around the world to stand beside us, against anti-Semitic boycott efforts targeting Israel, and not for them to be their amplifier,” Bennett added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed in on the boycott threats, primarily from Europe, during his weekly cabinet meeting, though he did not directly criticize Kerry.

According to a transcript of his remarks posted on the prime minister’s website, Netanyahu called attempts to boycott Israel “immoral and unjust.”

“They will not achieve their goal,” Netanyahu said. “First, they cause the Palestinians to adhere to their intransigent positions and thus push peace further away. Second, no pressure will cause me to concede the vital interests of the State of Israel, especially the security of Israel’s citizens.”

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki released a statement on Sunday in response to the Israeli criticism, insisting that Kerry does not support an economic boycott of Israel.

“Secretary Kerry has a proud record of over three decades of steadfast support for Israel’s security and well-being, including staunch opposition to boycotts,” she said. “Just last year while briefing Foreign Ministers at an EU conference in Vilnius on peacemaking efforts, he urged them to refrain from these measures.”

“Secretary Kerry has always expected opposition and difficult moments in the process, but he also expects all parties to accurately portray his record and statements,” Psaki added.

At the conference, Kerry also said of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, “…today’s status quo absolutely, to a certainty, I promise you 100 percent, cannot be maintained. It’s not sustainable. It’s illusionary. There’s a momentary prosperity, there’s a momentary peace.”

While members of Likud and other right-wing parties reacted bitterly to Kerry’s remarks, the secretary of state received support from left-wing Israeli lawmakers. Member of Knesset Nachman Shai of the  Labor party said, “Israel is facing an economic tsunami …. The boycotts against us have crossed the point of no return. This nightmare is coming true as we speak and this dense government refuses to see it.”

Zehava Gal-On who heads the left-wing party Meretz warned that Israel “might soon find itself isolated and ostracized, like Cuba and South Africa.”

The latest criticism of the secretary of state follows Israeli Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon earlier this month  being quoted by an Israeli newspaper calling Kerry “obsessed” and “messianic” in his quest to secure a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

Kerry appeared to address that as well on Saturday. “I don’t think we’re being quixotic and un – I’m a little surprised by some of the articles that tend to write about an obsession or a fanatical effort to try to achieve this, et cetera,” Kerry said according to a State Department transcript.  “We’re just working hard. We’re working hard because the consequences of failure are unacceptable.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/02/john-kerry-faces-new-criticism-in-israel-after-invoking-boycott-threats-to-jewish-state/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 05, 2014, 06:52:49 am
seems others are hoping on Kerry's message

EU: Israel will Face ‘Increasing Isolation’ if Talks Fail

EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen threatened Israel Monday over the outcome of peace talks. “There is a risk that you will face increasing isolation [if talks fail],” Faaborg- Andersen said, in a statement to Channel 2.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/177055#.UvBtQPldXUU


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 05, 2014, 10:25:32 am
Quote
seems others are hoping on Kerry's message

They don't call America the 'great satan' for nothing.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 06, 2014, 05:17:11 am
Rabbis to Kerry: Cease mediation or face divine retribution

Rabbis calling themselves Committee to Save the Land and People of Israel write secretary of state warning that his actions were 'a declaration of war against the Creator and Ruler of the universe.'




A group of rabbis warned U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to cease his pursuit of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians or face divine retribution in a letter sent by them Sunday.

The group, calling itself "The Committee to Save the Land and People of Israel," wrote that Kerry's "incessant efforts to expropriate integral parts of our Holy Land and hand them over to Abbas’s terrorist gang, amount to a declaration of war against the Creator and Ruler of the universe!"

The group claimed that the plan, by placing them in the line of missile fire, would imperil six million Jews, adding in brackets "remember that number from somewhere?"

The letter went on to warn that if Kerry went through with his plans he would win himself "everlasting disgrace in Jewish history for bringing calamity upon the Jewish people," joining the likes of Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II and Roman emperor Titus.

The rabbis warned Kerry that like these monarchs and Haman, the villain of the Book of Esther, he will suffer divine retribution for his affront to God's chosen people. The letter ends with a quote from Isaiah 9:5 "Conspire a plan and it will be frustrated; talk the talk and it will not be fulfilled, for God is with us."

The signatories of the letter, emeritus head of Haifa Rabbinic Court Gedalya Axelrod, Temple Institute chairman Yisrael Ariel, Migdal Haemek rabbi Ben Tziyon Grossman, Institute for Complete Code of Maimonides dean Shalom Dov Wolpo and Yeshiva of Kiryat Shmuel dean Yigal Pizam, claim they represent other rabbis who are also members of the Committee to Save the Land and People of Israel and "hundreds of other Rabbis in Israel and around the world."

http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/.premium-1.572521?v=87631FF23C0D7E328C4D3F8ED0B43A73


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 06, 2014, 09:19:33 am
Kerry to Israeli critics: I’ve been ‘attacked before by people using real bullets’

 :o This moron needs to go

John Kerry invoked his Vietnam War service to push back against an Israeli cabinet member who criticized his recent comments on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

During a security conference in Munich last weekend, Kerry suggested that if his Israeli-Palestinian peace effort fails, there could be serious consequences for Israel.

“For Israel there is an increasing delegitimizing campaign that has been building up,” Kerry said, without condemning the effort. “People are very sensitive to it. There are talks of boycotts and other kinds of things.”

In response, Israel’s economy minister Naftali Bennett harshly criticized Kerry’s failure to speak out against the delegitimization campaign at the conference.

“We expect our friends around the world to stand beside us, against anti-Semitic boycott efforts targeting Israel, and not for them to be their trumpet,” he said in a statement.

CNN’s Jake Tapper presented Kerry with an opportunity to respond to Bennett and other Israeli critics during an interview Wednesday.

“My comments need to be properly represented, not distorted. I did not do anything except cite what other people are talking about as a problem,” Kerry said. ”But I also have always opposed boycotts. I have 100 percent voting record in support of Israel for 29 years in the United States Senate. Unfortunately, there are some people in Israel and in Palestine and in the Arab World and around the world that don’t support the peace process.”

“Israel needs to understand we will always stand by its security needs,” he continued. “But no one should distort what we’re doing or saying because they’re opposed to the peace process or don’t like two states or whatever. And, you know, words — I have to tell you, my friend, I’ve been, quote, attacked before by people using real bullets, not words, and I am not going to be intimidated. I am not going to stand down with respect to President Obama’s commitment to trying to find peace in the Middle East.”

Kerry famously served in the Vietnam War. As for Bennett, he served in Israel’s elite special forces unit, Sayeret Matkal.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/05/kerry-to-israeli-critics-ive-been-attacked-before-by-people-using-real-bullets/#ixzz2sYVkV26V


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on February 06, 2014, 01:19:29 pm
Quote
“For Israel there is an increasing delegitimizing campaign that has been building up,” Kerry said, without condemning the effort. “People are very sensitive to it. There are talks of boycotts and other kinds of things.”

That reads as a not so subtle threat.

Quote
During a security conference in Munich last weekend, Kerry suggested that if his Israeli-Palestinian peace effort fails, there could be serious consequences for Israel.

And that is not just a threat, but consider where he made it! Munich, Germany. Two events should come to mind for the older people; WW2 and the Munich Olympics.

Seems to me this guy is no friend of Israel.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on February 06, 2014, 04:06:41 pm
Didn't see this in previous articles about his comments from Germany...WOW!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/06/israeli-widow-blasts-insensitive-kerry-claim-no-israeli-murders/?intcmp=latestnews (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/06/israeli-widow-blasts-insensitive-kerry-claim-no-israeli-murders/?intcmp=latestnews)

Quote
Israeli widow blasts ‘insensitive’ Kerry claim of no murders

By Adam Kredo
Published February 06, 2014
Washington Free Beacon


Israeli victims of terrorism lashed out at Secretary of State John Kerry for his "insensitivity" after he inaccurately claimed "not one Israeli was killed by a Palestinian from the West Bank" in a recent speech.

During a controversial speech over the weekend in Germany, Kerry threatened Israel with economic boycotts and claimed that the Jewish state is enjoying a respite from Palestinian terrorism.

"There's a momentary prosperity, there's a momentary peace," Kerry said. "Last year, not one Israeli was killed by a Palestinian from the West Bank."

However, this is untrue. At least five Israelis were murdered by West Bank Palestinians in 2013.

Evyatar Borovsky is one of those victims. He was stabbed to death 10 months ago while hitchhiking in the West Bank. He left behind his wife, Tsofia, and five children.

"It's a feeling of carelessness and neglecting actual Israeli needs," Tsofia Borovsky told the Free Beacon on Tuesday when asked about Kerry's remarks.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 06, 2014, 04:11:07 pm
Quote
"There's a momentary prosperity, there's a momentary peace," Kerry said. "Last year, not one Israeli was killed by a Palestinian from the West Bank."

However, this is untrue. At least five Israelis were murdered by West Bank Palestinians in 2013.


At least 5? Would think it would be even more than that!

But yeah...WOW! I doubt this was a "mistake" on his part(for whatever excuse he chooses to come up with, that is).


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 10, 2014, 06:33:05 am
New York Times Says Third Intifada To Delegitimize Israel Is Now Underway

Israel is facing a third intifada, influential New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman says. "Being here, it’s obvious that a Third Intifada is underway. It’s the one that Israel always feared most — not an intifada with stones or suicide bombers, but one propelled by nonviolent resistance and economic boycott." Friedman contends that the leaders of this uprising are not even Palestinians, saying that this intifada is led "by the European Union in Brussels and other opponents of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank across the globe. Regardless of origin, though, it’s becoming a real source of leverage for the Palestinians in their negotiations with Israel." The Times columnist points out that US Secretary of State John Kerry already made this threat when he recently warned that a campaign to boycott and delegitimize Israel will gain momentum if peace talks fail.

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/NYTs-Thomas-Friedman-Third-intifada-is-already-underway-340402


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 10, 2014, 11:42:37 am
Quote
but one propelled by nonviolent resistance and economic boycott

Yes, the same thing they've been doing to churches in America since the 50's - threatening to take their bowl of pottage away(and then end up bribing them with more bowls of pottage) - which is why 99% of churches in America has been so corrupt.

We'll see how this turns out, but wouldn't surprise me that this could be an effective scheme to get Israel to compromise, and ultimately usher in the Daniel 9:27 prophecy.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 11, 2014, 05:56:17 am
‘Kerry fails to get Obama backing to confront Israel on peace terms’

John Kerry sought but failed to get backing from President Barack Obama to confront Israel over its objections to his peace proposals, and therefore his bid to try impose terms for peace on Israel and the Palestinians has “pretty much collapsed,” an Israeli TV report claimed on Sunday night.   

http://www.timesofisrael.com/kerry-fails-to-get-obama-backing-to-confront-israel-on-peace-terms/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 11, 2014, 11:58:26 am
http://debka.com/article/23668/
Netanyahu accepts Kerry’s “framework” in principle, seeks publication delayed to Knesset recess

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 11, 2014, 9:23 AM (IST)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has informed the White House in Washington and US Secretary of State John Kerry of his acceptance in principle of the US framework document - subject to the reservations he has raised with US Special Envoy Martin Indyk, debkafile’s exclusive Washington sources report.

This step was followed by news that the prime minister would call on President Barack Obama in the first week of March during his next visit to Washington.

It was also the background to Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer’s defense of the US Secretary in an interview published in TIME Magazine Tuesday, Feb. 11.

Kerry’s comment about boycott and international isolation hanging over Israel if his peace mission failed was denounced in Jerusalem as attempted intimidation. However, Dermer let him off the hook by saying: “I think he was making a descriptive statement. I don’t think he was doing it in order to pressure Israel.”

By overstating the ambassador’s role as “Bibi’s brain,” TIME was hinting that Dermer’s comment represented the prime minister’s current thinking on the incident.

In the exchanges leading up to the Obama-Netanyahu meeting, the prime minister’s office and Israel embassy have asked the White House and State Department to delay publication of the Kerry document to mid-April during the Knesset’s Passover recess. This will help Netanyahu to stay clear of the rowdy debates and heated special sessions he expects to erupt over his acceptance of the paper.

The Secretary of State may therefore add a few weeks to the three-way negotiating time table and release his framework accord at the end of April or early May.

A high-ranking US official told debkafile: “We all know that the die is cast in Jerusalem and that Netanyahu has accepted Kerry’s guidelines. They are now working on the reservations he needs to submit for his government coalition to survive the expected storm of protest and resistance and for the talks with the Palestinians to carry on.

Netanyahu will also try presenting the Kerry paper to the public as an American proposal which is not binding either on Israel or the Palestinians, except for the attached reservations.

US officials au fait with such processes predict that those reservations will eventually find their way to the dustbin. In 2004, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appended 16 reservations to President George W. Bush’s letter defining the American position on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

In that letter, Bush omitted recognition of the “right of return” for the 1948 Palestinian refugees, and tangentially acknowledged Israel’s right to establish large settlement blocs in the West Bank in consideration of demographic changes.

The Bush letter did not refer to the 1967 borders, but instead determined that future negotiations should be based on the 1949 Armistice Lines.

Sharon’s reservations had dropped by the wayside by the time Congress came to approve the Bush letter in its original form.

Informed sources in Washington forecast a similar fate for the Kerry framework document
.

For now, the US Secretary has made his own request of Netanyahu and the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas: He asks them to draw out the negotiations on his framework after its release over two years – that is up until late 2016 when the Obama administration ends. Abbas is against any prolongation of the process. He has so far agreed to an extension of no more than a year.
 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 12, 2014, 06:54:41 am
EU Parliament President: 'No EU Boycott Against Israel'

Comments made as he received Hebrew University honorary doctorate for his leadership, dedication to human rights, and efforts to deepen EU relations with Israel and its universities   

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=63167


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 16, 2014, 02:40:57 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-to-meet-jordans-king-in-california-desert%e2%80%8e/

Obama to meet Jordan’s king in California desert‎

Discussion to focus on Syrian civil war and Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, ahead of Netanyahu visit


By AFP February 14, 2014, 6:54 am

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will launch a new round of Middle East diplomacy Friday in a plush oasis in the arid California desert, hosting a Valentine’s Day summit with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Obama and the king will swap the piles of snow in Washington for the Sunnylands retreat at the Annenberg estate in Palm Springs, to discuss issues including the pitiful torrent of refugees pouring into Jordan from Syria. 

The meeting will be the first of a trio of meetings between Obama and key Middle East leaders in the coming weeks.

On March 3, the US president will sit down at the White House for his latest encounter with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made no secret of his skepticism over an interim deal that Washington and other world powers reached with Iran on its nuclear program.

Then at the end of March, he will travel to Saudi Arabia, for what is likely to be a sharp personal reminder that Saudi King Abdullah shares Netanyahu’s doubts about Obama’s strategy of testing the sincerity of an Iranian diplomatic opening.

Obama and his royal guest will sit down in California just two days after the US president admitted that Syria was “crumbling,” while his Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described the civil war-splintered country as an “apocalyptic disaster.”

Jordan has borne the brunt of much of the humanitarian overflow — nearly 600,000 Syrian refugees have now crossed its borders, straining its infrastructure and finances.

Obama has all but admitted that his policy is failing in the expressed US aim of sparking a political transition in Syria leading to the exit of President Bashar al-Assad.

But he frequently notes that the United States is the largest aid donor to Syrian refugees. Washington has so far donated $1.7 billion to the cause, according to the US Agency for International Development.

But there are no signs that the Obama administration believes that a new US policy — or a change in its reluctance to either to do more to arm opposition rebels or to commit direct US military resources — would bring an end to the crisis any closer.

more



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on February 17, 2014, 01:49:50 am
Quote
But there are no signs that the Obama administration believes that a new US policy...

Oh, I suspect he'll have a brand new policy once he's met with King Abdullah.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 19, 2014, 04:46:57 pm
Obama's 'big breakthrough' coming by end of year
Leaked: Official declaration of Palestinian state


TEL AVIV – The Palestinian Authority received a pledge from the U.S. that by the end of 2014, the Obama administration will issue an official written declaration presenting general highlights of a future Palestinian state, a senior Palestinian negotiator told WND.

The negotiator further said the goal is to have the general framework for a deal ironed out by April.

The current framework for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement being brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry calls for the phased implementation of more Palestinian sovereignty within three to five years, the negotiator said.

As part of the written declaration, the U.S. is set to officially recognize Palestinian rights in eastern sections of Jerusalem, without defining the exact territories that would be eventually handed to the PA.

The U.S. will declare on paper that the Jordan Valley territory is “occupied” by Israel and that Palestinians have rights there, the negotiator said.

Kerry is currently discussing a proposal in which Israel would lease some of the Jordan Valley from the PA so some Israeli communities in the area can stay, said the negotiator.

The written framework will also declare the West Bank “occupied,” according to the negotiator.

Besides a declaration on paper, Kerry continues to broker specifics of a final-status deal, the negotiator said.

WND previously reported that Kerry is asking for the international community to administer the holy sites in the eastern section of Jerusalem, while details are still being discussed about whether Palestinians will have some symbolic presence in the area.

WND in December was first to report Kerry’s plan calling for an international administrative mandate to control holy sites in eastern Jerusalem.

The exact composition of the international mandate is up for discussion, but Kerry’s plan recommended a coalition that includes the Vatican and a group of Muslim countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

The international arrangement is being proposed as a temporary solution for about two to three years while security arrangements in Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians are finalized, said Israeli and Palestinian diplomatic sources.

http://www.wnd.com/2014/02/obamas-big-breakthrough-coming-by-end-of-year/print/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on February 20, 2014, 02:28:17 am
Quote
The exact composition of the international mandate is up for discussion, but Kerry’s plan recommended a coalition that includes the Vatican and a group of Muslim countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

John Kerry is a Catholic, and is saying the RCC needs to be included. Okay, he's obviously biased towards his cult.

So where does the Muslim countries play into this? More and more it looks like Obama has the Muslim contingent covered, even though he attends a "church". (wink wink!)

More and more, to me anyway, this gets more obvious and blatant. Regardless of the players, Israel isn't going to win this deal however it plays out in detail.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 25, 2014, 04:39:01 pm
Merkel: Two-state solution is essential to Israel's security

Upon arriving on official visit to Israel, German chancellor says Germany has been working with Israel 'shoulder to shoudler', will discuss regional peace initiative, Iran's nuclear program with Prime Minister Netanyahu.   

http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-4492099,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 04, 2014, 06:04:47 am
Obama gets lecture on peace talks from Netanyahu in White House meeting

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with US President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on Monday, pushing back against pressure from the White House to swiftly cut a deal with the Palestinians as the president warned time was running out for peace. “Israel has been doing its part, and I regret to say that the Palestinians haven’t,” Netanyahu said to Obama, in front of the press. “The people of Israel know that it’s the case.”   

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/WATCH-LIVE-Netanyahu-and-Obama-meet-at-the-White-House-344144


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 04, 2014, 10:00:58 am
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says at AIPAC conference that Palestinians must be prepared to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to stop 'denying history' - @Reuters

yes that history part is kind of hard to get over...


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 04, 2014, 12:24:09 pm
Quote
yes that history part is kind of hard to get over...

Yeah, its kind of hard to ignore the historical fact that Islam didn't exist prior to the early 600's AD, and the people Israel are historically documented as a people in Judea, specifically in Jerusalem during the time of Nero of Rome, whom the world openly admits persecuted Christians.

Historically, you can't have Christians without Jews existing first, and it's a documented FACT that Christians existed in the 1st century AD, some 500 years BEFORE Islam was ever invented.

Sorry, historically, Islam has ZERO claim to any part of Israel. That is a historical fact.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 05, 2014, 03:19:19 pm
Israeli naval raid nabs rocket shipment

Israeli naval forces on Wednesday seized a ship laden with rockets allegedly bound for militants in the Gaza Strip, and officials accused Iran of orchestrating the delivery in an elaborate 5,000-mile (8,000-kilometer) journey that included covert stops across the region.

The Syrian-made M-302 rockets would have put Israel's biggest cities well within range of Gaza, where militants already possess thousands of less powerful rockets. During eight days of fighting in 2012, armed groups fired 1,500 rockets into Israel, including several that reached the outskirts of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The naval raid, which took place in the Red Sea hundreds of miles from Israel, came as Iran showed off powerful new ballistic missiles equipped with multiple warheads. The arms bust drew renewed Israeli calls for world powers to toughen their stand in negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program.

"Iran has been exposed for what it is. It smiles in the Geneva talks about its own nuclear ambitions, gives soothing words, and as they're doing that, they're shipping these deadly weapons to the world's worst terrorists," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in California during a U.S. visit. "Such a regime must not be able to have the capacity to make nuclear weapons."

Israel believes that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies. Israel says a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a threat to the existence of the Jewish state, citing Iranian calls for Israel's destruction, its development of long-range missiles and its support for hostile militant groups.

Netanyahu has been an outspoken critic of the efforts by six world powers to negotiate a deal with Iran that would substantially scale back its nuclear program in exchange for ending international sanctions. He says a current, interim deal gives Iran too much relief while getting little in return, and fears a final agreement would leave Iran with the capability to make a bomb.

Since the global powers reached their interim deal with Iran last November, Netanyahu's warnings about Iran have been largely ignored by world leaders.

Iran's announcement Wednesday that it now has missiles with multiple warheads, greatly boosting their destructive power, only heightened Israeli concerns. The semiofficial Fars news agency said the new Qiam missile was specifically built to target U.S. bases in the region. Iran already possesses missiles capable of striking Israel and parts of Europe.

Israeli officials said that Wednesday's naval raid took place in international waters about 100 miles (160 kilometers) off the coast of Sudan, and came after months of painstaking intelligence work.

They said the rockets had been flown from Syria to Iran months ago, then shipped from Iran's Bandar Abbas port to Umm Qasr, Iraq, before being loaded onto the KLOS C civilian ship destined for Sudan. From there, Israeli officials said they were to be smuggled overland through Egypt to Gaza - a route that has been used in the past.

"We have been following this shipment for a long time through impressive intelligence work," Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, told reporters. He did not elaborate, but Israel is believed to use satellites and on-the-ground spies to collect information on its enemies.

Rear Adm. Yaron Levy, the navy's chief of operations, said the long distance from Israel, about 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) away, and the presence of foreign navies and merchant ships, complicated the mission and made it difficult to protect secrecy. He said Israel deployed a "strong naval force" but halted the Panamanian-flagged ship without incident.

"We got on the ship with the captain's permission. We found what we found, and you know the rest of the story," he said.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said the circuitous route, stretching nearly 5,200 miles, or 8,300 kilometers, was meant to conceal the shipment.

"It was an Iranian attempt to bring weapons to the Gaza Strip without leaving Iranian fingerprints," he said. "Apparently they tried to conduct a secret operation that we managed to thwart."

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. had been in close coordination with Israel throughout the mission.

"Even as we continue our efforts to resolve our concerns over Iran's nuclear program through diplomacy, we will continue to stand up to Iran's support for destabilizing activities in the region, in coordination with our partners and allies," she said.

The ship was far out at sea Wednesday and was being brought to Israel. It was expected to arrive in the Israeli port of Eilat in the coming days. Video released by the military showed Israeli soldiers on the ship inspecting the rockets, shipped in large crates. The video also showed beige bags containing cement with the words "Made in I.R. Iran," in English, written on them.

Military officials gave no evidence to support their claim the rockets were headed to Gaza, though militant groups in the past have used Sudan as a transit point for arms shipments. The smuggling tunnels along Gaza's southern border with Egypt traditionally used for weapons have been all but shuttered by Egypt's new military government, making it unclear how militant groups would have been able to get the rockets into Gaza.

Officials would say only that the claim was based on firm intelligence assessments. The Islamic militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, as well as smaller groups like Islamic Jihad and al-Qaida-inspired Salafist groups, all possess significant rocket arsenals.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, close to the country's elite Revolutionary Guard force, called Israel's claims "mere lies." Salah Bardawil, a Hamas spokesman, said the group "knew nothing" about the Israeli claims and said they were part of "the occupation's systematic campaign" against Gaza. Islamic Jihad, which has close ties with Iran and appeared to be the most likely target of the shipment, did not immediately comment.

Israel believes militants have had a tough time restocking their arsenals since the 2012 fighting. But officials said the M-302s would have upgraded the capabilities of Gaza militants, thanks to their longer range and heavier payload.

The M-302s have distances of 60 to 120 miles (100 to 200 kilometers) and can carry warheads of 220 to 385 pounds (100 to 175 kilograms). The higher end versions would nearly double the range, and carry a payload nearly 10 times as powerful, as the current arsenal in Gaza.

"It's not a precise rocket, but that doesn't matter when it explodes in a densely populated area," said Uzi Rubin, a former head of Israel's missile defense program. "An apartment building wouldn't hold up to a direct hit from a 150-kilogram warhead."

Israel has moved to intercept weapons shipments in the past, carrying out similar raids in 2011 and 2009. More recently, it has carried out a series of airstrikes in Syria to halt advanced weapons from being transferred to the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Last week, an Israeli airstrike hit a Hezbollah arms shipment in Lebanon for the first time since 2006.

Israel is also suspected of carrying out airstrikes in Sudan on arms shipments believed to be bound for Gaza. Israel has never confirmed carrying out the strikes.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_IRAN?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-03-05-15-12-34


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 06, 2014, 03:49:21 pm
Israel, PA Get Copies of Kerry’s Proposal
Israel, PA leaders reportedly receive controversial Kerry proposal for creation of PA state.


Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders have received copies of United States Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposed diplomatic agreement, the PA’s Al-Quds newspaper reports.

Copies of the proposal have reportedly been given to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and to chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat.

The report has not yet been confirmed by officials on either side.

The Kerry proposal has been the subject of speculation over the past several weeks. Journalist Thomas Friedman reported in January that Kerry’s deal includes a PA capital city in eastern Jerusalem and would create a PA state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza with borders based on the 1949 armistice line.

The deal would require the PA to recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people, and to give up the demand for the “right of return” to Israel of descendants of Arabs who fled the country during the War of Independence in 1948.

Friedman’s report contradicted an earlier report from Xinhua which said Kerry had proposed the “return” of 80,000 Arabs to Israel.

There has been concern in Israel that Kerry plans to “attack” Netanyahu with heavy pressure, and coerce him into accepting terms that will be bad for Israel’s security, including a withdrawal from the Jordan Valley. Likud MKs have warned that if Netanyahu were to give in to Kerry, it would mean the end of his party – and new national elections.

U.S. President Barack Obama has reportedly promised Netanyahu that his administration will expect concessions from the PA, as well.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/178188#.UxjtE4WCVpI


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 10, 2014, 05:28:45 am
U.S. Says There's No Need for Palestinians to Recognize Israel

The United States believes there is no need for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to recognize Israel as a Jewish state as part of a peace agreement, State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Saturday. Psaki, who spoke to the PA-based Arabic-language Al-Quds newspaper, said, “The American position is clear, Israel is a Jewish state. However, we do not see a need that both sides recognize this position as part of the final agreement.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Controls/SendFriend.ashx?print=1&type=0&item=178252


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 14, 2014, 05:56:26 am
'Israel, Prepare For Armageddon And Forget US Help'
EMPact America founder warns of Iran nuclear threat, says under Obama US has turned into an 'enemy of Israel.'


Henry Schwartz, a prominent entrepreneur and EMPact America  founder, spoke with Arutz Sheva following his organization's National Security Action Summit last week. The purpose of the conference was to save America from a "dire" situation, revealed Schwartz.

US President Barack Obama has given Iran permission to build a nuclear weapon through a "bogus deal," charged Schwartz, warning the Iranians "will come back to Israel, G-d forbid, they will come back to America."

"Giving Israel bunker busters and (fuel) tankers, and a lot more so that they can go ahead and do America's job is the very minimum that America should do," appraised the conservative leader.

Schwartz warned that the Obama administration is "effectively an enemy" of Israel, opining that if Israeli acted to take out Iran's nuclear program, "Obama would probably be a detriment to Israel," and "feed intelligence" to Iran about Israeli activities.

Israel must find new alliances and not rely on the US, warned Schwartz, saying "America is not going to be here to take care of Israel; it can't take care of itself."

Turning to the Israeli public and leaders, Schwartz warned the Jewish state must "prepare for armageddon," given the clearly expressed Iranian intentions to destroy Israel coupled with the Islamic regime's nuclear program.

A new Cold War

On other fronts, Schwartz warned "the Cold War is not over, it's restarted," pointing to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

Schwartz criticized US President Barack Obama's hesitancy, warning that as a result Russia was likely to move on other Baltic states and eastern European countries.

To stop the Russian aggression, Schwartz recommended that the US make a deal to export liquefied natural gas to Ukraine and break the country's Russian dependence, in addition to military rearrangements in the region to send a clear message that invasions will not be tolerated.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/178417#.UyLgDIWCVpJ


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 14, 2014, 06:00:44 am
   The Obama Peace Plan Includes Permanently Dividing The City Of Jerusalem


Barack Obama’s “two state” peace plan would not just permanently divide the land of Israel.  It would also permanently divide the city of Jerusalem.  It is anticipated that the “Kerry Plan”, which is expected to be revealed to the public soon, will call for a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem without specifying the exact borders.  According to some media reports, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has approached Palestinian leadership with the idea of locating the Palestinian capital in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina.  Of course the details of any peace agreement will change as negotiations progress, but one thing is becoming increasingly clear – the Palestinians will never accept an undivided Jerusalem and the U.S. government is going to pressure Israel to hand part of the holy city over to them.  But if Israel gives in and accepts a “peace plan” that includes the permanent division of Jerusalem, it will end up being absolutely disastrous for Israel, for the Palestinians and for the United States.

In (Read More...) http://thetruthwins.com/archives/the-obama-peace-plan-includes-permanently-dividing-the-city-of-jerusalem


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 14, 2014, 06:02:20 am
Kerry: Netanyahu wrong to insist Palestinians recognize Israel as Jewish state

Secretary of State John Kerry told members of Congress on Thursday that international law already declares Israel a Jewish state, and called Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu's insistence on a public declaration of Israel's Jewish character from the Palestinians "a mistake" in the diplomatic process.   

rest: http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Kerry-says-Netanyahu-wrong-to-insist-Palestinians-recognize-Israel-as-Jewish-state-345341


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 14, 2014, 12:07:59 pm
Talk about hypocrisy!

This whole deal is about the rights of "Palestinians" to be recognized as a state, and Kerry says it would be a mistake for Israel to require the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a state?

Israel must recognize "Palestine", but Palestine won't recognize Israel equally as a state? What kind of diplomacy is that? It makes no sense on any level.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 15, 2014, 07:50:59 am
Gaza Strip's sole power station stops generating electricity, causing blackouts throughout the territory after running out of fuel - @Reuters

woops


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 15, 2014, 12:39:39 pm
Gaza Strip's sole power station stops generating electricity, causing blackouts throughout the territory after running out of fuel - @Reuters

woops

So it's the "Zionists"'s fault? ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on March 16, 2014, 03:12:46 am
Maybe they should try solar!  ;D


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 17, 2014, 05:15:28 am
Israeli Ministers Criticize Kerry over ‘Jewish State’ Remarks

John Kerry drew criticism over the weekend from Israeli government ministers after the secretary of state made comments last week suggesting Israel’s insistence that the Palestinians officially recognize their country as a Jewish state is a mistake.

“I think it’s a mistake for some people to be, you know, raising it again and again as the critical decider of their attitude towards the possibility of a state and peace, and we’ve obviously made that clear,” Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday in an apparent critique of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for whom the recognition is a key issue in negotiations.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin of Netanyahu’s Likud party told Israel Radio on Sunday that Kerry’s remarks fit a trend over the past two decades in which western nations pressure Israel and not the Palestinians, no matter which side they agree with.

Elkin added that Israel had to now stand up for its principles and end the “sad tradition.”

Communications Minister Gilad Erdan called the timing of Kerry’s remarks before President Barack Obama’s meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas this coming week unfortunate.

“It is unfortunate that ahead of the Abbas-Obama meeting, Kerry makes a mistake and once again pressures the wrong side,” Erdan said.

“The Secretary of State should ask Abbas why he refuses to recognize the Jewish state. It is obvious that reason is that the Palestinians want to bring up more demands in the future, even if an agreement is signed, and are not interested in ending the conflict,” he added.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon also took issue with Kerry’s assessment that Israel was mistaken in insisting its Jewish character be recognized.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 News that aired on Saturday, Ya’alon said that the refusal of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to recognize Israel as a Jewish state would make a final status peace deal impossible.

Netanyahu has insisted that the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as the Jewish state before any peace deal can be signed, but Abbas has said he would refuse to do so. Palestinian officials have attributed that refusal to an unwillingness by the Palestinians to give up any future potential benefits to the those who fled the area during the 1948 and 1967 wars and their descendants.

Even opposition Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog said the Palestinians will ultimately have to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

During an account of his testimony described in the Times of Israel, Kerry said that the “Jewish state” issue has already been addressed by several UN resolutions and that the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat “confirmed that he agreed it would be a Jewish state.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/03/16/israeli-ministers-criticize-kerry-over-jewish-state-remarks/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 02, 2014, 11:30:00 am
Power: US Opposes Palestinian Moves To Statehood


WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power told a House panel on Wednesday that the U.S. opposes all unilateral actions that the Palestinians take to statehood. She says there are no shortcuts to statehood, and that any unilateral actions could be "tremendously destructive" to the peace process.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had promised at one point to suspend Palestinian membership applications to United Nations agencies and international conventions. Israel, in turn, pledged to release 104 long-held Palestinian prisoners during the talks, which were to last until late April. But in a surprise move Tuesday, Abbas signed letters of accession to 15 international conventions, saying this was a response to Israel's failure to release the last of four groups of prisoners by the end of March.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=298336324


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 03, 2014, 07:46:16 am
Minister Calls to Cancel Oslo Accords
Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel declares Israel's right to 'break the rules' after PA runs to UN.


Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) launched sharp criticism at the Palestinian Authority (PA) Wednesday evening, after news surfaced that Ramallah had turned to the UN to apply for legitimacy and recognition, in breach of the conditions of peace talks.

"The Palestinians applying to the UN breaks all the rules," Ariel wrote on a Facebook post, "and we have to respond in kind - by canceling the Oslo Accords, which have only brought terror and murder."

"The Palestinians have proven once again that there is no reason to give them false gifts, and release terrorists and murderers for a process whose conclusion is well known in advance," he continued.

Ariel continued by emphasizing that the US is "obligated" to release Jonathan Pollard this year - whether in the framework of negotiations or not.

"The US must release Pollard in honor of the holiday of freedom - Passover - and show humanitarianism regarding his [medical] condition. He paid his dues and it's time to release him, and no longer hold him hostage."

Ongoing controversy over the talks stems around the fourth batch of terrorist releases, as MKs point out that the previous releases have done nothing to further talks, and that several of the released terrorists have contributed to the increase in terror attacks over the past year.

PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat stated last month that Abbas was staying in talks solely for the sake of the terrorist releases, prompting Israeli officials to reconsider completing the deal - which has always been contingent on real progress in the talks.

In response, Israel told PA officials over the weekend that the deal was postponed, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the release would "topple the government" due to public and political backlash.

In the meantime, the White House also offered to release US captive Jonathan Pollard in exchange for releasing more terrorists, enacting a construction freeze, and keeping talks going, but there is no word yet on whether the proposal was accepted. Several politicians and religious figures have already expressed deep reservations over the deal.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/179196#.Uz1XIlehFyI


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 03, 2014, 10:52:48 am
Israel says it is canceling 4th release of Palestinian prisoners over Palestinian UN push - @AP


probably should have never released any of them


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Kilika on April 04, 2014, 03:35:38 am
It's a Jewish law thing I think. They been swapping prisoners for ages. Seems I remember something in the Old Testament about it.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 09, 2014, 03:57:26 am
Kerry focuses blame on Israel for collapse of talks
Gee imagine that...

Secretary of state highlights both sides’ ‘unhelpful moves’ but indicates crisis began with failure to release prisoners

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that both Israelis and Palestinians were responsible for the current crisis in peace talks, but appeared to allocate the lion’s share of the blame to Jerusalem.

At the same time, he expressed hope that the two sides would continue to negotiate, but also warned that there was a “limit” to how much effort the US government could invest in the process if the two parties weren’t serious about negotiating a pact.

“Both sides wound out in a position of unhelpful moves,” Kerry said at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, delineating what he said led to the current impasse.

“The prisoners were not released by Israel on the day they were supposed to be released and then another day passed and another day, and then 700 units were approved in Jerusalem and then poof — that was sort of the moment,” Kerry said.

The secretary of state was referring to the planned fourth release of Palestinian security prisoners, which was originally slated for March 29. Israel did not proceed with the release on time, with Jerusalem saying that it was delayed because the Palestinian Authority had demanded that Israeli Arabs be among those freed and was unwilling to commit to extend peace talks beyond their April 29 deadline.

On April 1, the Israel Lands Authority reissued a call for tenders for 708 homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, which is located beyond the 1967 lines and was annexed by Israel.

Later that same day, PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed 15 letters of accession to multilateral treaties and conventions, in what Israel said was a clear breach of Ramallah’s commitment not to take unilateral steps to advance their statehood bid so long as the talks were ongoing.

“The treaties were unhelpful, and we made that crystal clear to the Palestinians,” Kerry said at the Senate hearing.

He also said that Palestinians recognition of Israel as a Jewish state should be part of a final peace agreement, but added that the step would likely only be achieved at the very end of the process and not at the outset. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in recent months elevated the demand for such Palestinian recognition to that of a core issue.

Despite his evident frustration, Kerry said it was still possible for the two sides to find a way to extend the talks and return to “substantive discussion.”

Senator John McCain told Kerry that “talks, even though you might drag them out for a bit, are finished,” but the secretary of state replied by saying that the peace process should not be declared dead as long as the two sides declare their willingness to continue negotiating.

At the same time, Kerry said, “there are limits to the amount of time the president and myself can put into this, considering the other challenges around the world, especially if the parties can’t commit to being there in a serious way.”

Afterward, the State Department attempted to dispel the impression that Israel had been singled out for harsher criticism in Kerry’s comments.

“As he has been throughout this impasse, today Secretary Kerry was again crystal clear that both sides have taken unhelpful steps and at no point has he engaged in a blame game,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

“Today he even singled out by name Prime Minister Netanyahu for having made courageous decisions to bring the process this far. Now it is up to the parties and their leaders to determine whether we maintain a productive path,” she added.

Kerry was set to meet US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office later Tuesday to discuss the fate of the peace talks.

Senior officials have rejected the idea that Obama intends to pull the plug on the peace effort, and say he deeply appreciates his top diplomat’s efforts.

But equally, Obama may need to be convinced that Kerry’s intense focus on the initiative is merited given its apparently slim chance of success and deepening global crises crying out for US attention elsewhere.

“The issue now is whether the parties can demonstrate that they are willing to make the difficult decisions necessary to move the process forward,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

“The parties understand what the choices are and they understand that these are not decisions that the United States or any other country can make. The parties themselves have to make them.”

On Wednesday, Kerry will meet with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman in Washington.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/kerry-focuses-blame-for-impasse-in-talks-on-israel/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 10, 2014, 04:01:32 am
Israel's Netanyahu orders ministers to halt ties with Palestinians

Relations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders continued a downward spiral Wednesday with a new Israeli directive to its ministers to halt cooperation with their Palestinian counterparts.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered government ministries to stop high-level communications with corresponding Palestinians, halting assorted economic and civilian cooperation efforts.

Netanyahu’s directive was an Israeli response to the “Palestinian abrogation of their commitments and violation of understandings,” said an Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity. The official declined to say whether the government was planning to impose further sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.

The recent disruption of the peace talks erupted after Israel delayed the planned release of a group of Palestinian prisoners in an attempt to secure a Palestinian commitment to continue the talks past April.

In response, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted to the United Nations requests to join 15 international conventions, after which Israel canceled the prisoner release altogether, sending the talks into deep crisis.

Despite the disruptions in negotiations, Israeli and Palestinian officials have  continued to work cooperatively to some degree on issues related to the environment, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure. Contacts at ministerial and top officials levels are now suspended, permitting only lower field-level cooperation, Israeli media reported.

Security coordination is exempt from the directive and will continue as usual. Also exempt is Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, head of Israel’s negotiation team that has met several times in recent days with the Palestinian and U.S. delegates seek an end to the crisis.

The directive came several hours after U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry addressed the crisis in the talks during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

While noting both sides had taken “unhelpful” positions, Kerry suggested the delayed prisoner release followed by the announcement of a controversial housing plan tipped the talks over the edge. “And then … 700 settlement units were announced in Jerusalem and, poof, that was sort of the moment,” Kerry summarized.

So far, Netanyahu’s office has not responded publicly to Kerry’s comments, regarded as blaming Israel for the breakdown of the talks, but hawkish members of Netanyahu’s government rejected the notion. “Israel will never apologize for building in Jerusalem,” said Economy Minister Naftali Bennet.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog called Wednesday’s directive an “unnecessary move” that would undermine Israeli interests and the business sector. Commenting to Israeli media, Herzog said “frustration and helplessness are no policy.”

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-israeli-palestinian-crisis-20140409,0,6455919.story#axzz2yPGMeweb


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 10, 2014, 08:00:39 am
Notice in Daniel 9:27 - it says THE covenant(meaning the AC will confirm THE covenant), wheras in the NIV and those other perversions, it says A covenant.

Pt being that if you're an end times watching Christian, and reading some perversion, you'll be looking for the wrong thing - no, I don't think this 7 year treaty with Israel will be anything Obama/Kerry(or any other man like Tony Blair) will put out.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 11, 2014, 08:13:17 am
Swiss, UN accept Palestinian requests to join international treaties

PA joins Geneva Conventions, as well as 13 other UN agencies; Palestinian UN ambassador says ready with more applications.


Twenty-five years after making their first bid for membership, the Palestinians can join the Geneva Conventions governing the rules of war and military occupations, the Swiss government said Friday.

Both the United Nations and the Swiss government have accepted the Palestinian Authority's requests to join 14 international treaties and conventions.

Israel had opposed the move, arguing that there is no universally recognized Palestinian state and that it would complicate peace talks.

The Palestinian Authority signed letters of accession to several international treaties after Israel failed to carry out a planned prisoner release that had a March deadline.

Switzerland's Foreign Ministry, as the depositary of the Geneva Conventions, said Friday that "the state of Palestine" acceded to the conventions effective April 2.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called said Friday that the accession was a "historic day for the Palestinian people."

The Geneva Conventions and their additional Protocols are the fundamental texts of humanitarian law.

Palestinians are attached in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians, which defines the duties of "occupying" power. This Convention, which was introduced on August 12, 1949, is often cited by the Palestinian Authority because of its applicability to the Palestinian territories as "occupied territories," as well as Jewish colonization.

Among the obligations of an occupying power, specified in Article 49 of the Convention, is the prohibition of forced transfers and deportations of populations or individuals, as well as the destruction of movable or immovable property, unless it is made "absolutely necessary by military operations."

One aspect of the Geneva Conventions that has raised particular concern in Israel is the prohibition on colonizing occupied land. Israel says this should not apply to the West Bank and Gaza because the two territories exist in sovereignty limbo - no longer claimed by Jordan and Egypt, who ruled them before 1967, while the Palestinians have never had a state.

Israel has also argued that east Jerusalem should not be considered occupied because it has extended citizenship rights to its Arab residents, although only several thousand of the city's quarter million Arab residents have taken advantage of this. The international community has not recognized Israel's annexation.

The Palestine Liberation Organization first asked to join the Geneva Conventions on June 21, 1989. At the time, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said it was not in a position to decide on the bid "due to the uncertainty within the international community as to the existence or non-existence of a State of Palestine."

On Thursday, the United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accepted Palestinian applications to join 13 other conventions, saying they were "in due and proper form."

Among these international treaties are the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention against Torture and one against corruption.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that Ban informed all 193 UN member states of his acceptance.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, said Tuesday that Palestine will officially become a state party to 13 of the 15 conventions on May 2 - and is ready with more applications to join UN agencies, conventions and treaties depending on Israel's actions.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4509339,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 11, 2014, 08:15:44 am
Israel impose tax sanction against Palestinian Authority

Israel has imposed sanctions against the Palestinian Authority (PA) in retaliation for its signing up to join international treaties, officials say.

They say taxes collected on behalf of the PA will be frozen, with limited access to bank deposits in Israel.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the move as "Israeli hijacking" and "theft".

It is the latest in a series of steps by both sides which have strained US-led peace-making efforts.

Israel says the move by the PA to join the treaties breached a commitment made before talks resumed last July after a three-year hiatus.
'Narrowing gaps'

Israeli officials are quoted as saying that debt payments would be deducted from tax transfers routinely received by the PA.

Israel collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinians, and transfers about $100m (80m euros) per month, accounting for two-thirds of the authority's budget.

It is not yet clear how much money will be withheld or for how long.

Israel has also said it would suspend its participation in a gas exploration off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

Mr Erekat told AFP news agency it was "theft of the Palestinian people's money" and a "violation of international law and norms by Israel".

It follows Israel's decision on Wednesday to limit its contacts with Palestinian officials in reaction to PA President Mahmoud Abbas's application last week to join 15 international treaties and conventions

Meanwhile, US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed a new round of talks between Israeli, Palestinian and US officials had taken place on Thursday.

She said the gaps were narrowing, but played down reports of a deal in the making.

Negotiations between Israeli and Palestinians have faltered in recent weeks, with each side accusing the other of violating commitments.

The Palestinians were angry when Israel did not sanction the release of a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners, as agreed in principle under the terms on which they returned to peace talks last year.

Palestinian officials say Mr Abbas' move to join the treaties and conventions was a response to Israel's failure to release the prisoners.

Israel stressed that it had made any prisoner release conditional on progress being made in the negotiations and on the Palestinians abiding by a commitment not to take unilateral steps which could be seen as furthering statehood - an issue both sides agreed to settle in peace talks.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry said recent actions by both Israel and the Palestinians, including an Israeli decision to approve 700 new settlements in East Jerusalem, had complicated efforts to advance the peace process.

Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war and formally annexed the area in 1980 - a move not recognised internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

Settlements built there and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26982166


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 18, 2014, 11:56:17 am
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/179721#.U1EOBVVdVCw
Palestinian Authority Flags Replace Israeli Flags in Tel Aviv

PA flags flown for hours at Yafo (Jaffa) Port, just south of Tel Aviv. Police reportedly have not hurried to take down the flags.

4/18/14

Israeli flags were replaced by Palestinian Authority (PA) flags on Friday morning at the Yafo (Jaffa) Port, located at the southern end of Tel Aviv.

Walla! reported the flags had been waving at the site for several hours, and that despite a number of requests to Tel Aviv police, officers or Municipality workers had not rushed to take them down.

The flags were put up after Israeli flags at the site were removed; the whereabouts of those flags and the perpetrators of the switch remain unknown.

Yafo is home to large numbers of Arab citizens of Israel; in 2011 over 1,000 local Arabs, mostly residents of the Israeli city, protested Israel's existence on "Nakba (catastrophe) Day."

The placement of the flags implies with it a claim of PA rule over the region, which is clearly not over the 1949 Armistice lines being used as a basis of peace talks in opposition to the original intent of the ceasefire lines.

This latest demonstration of support for the PA comes amid an outcry about the scheduled performance of Mohammed Assaf of Gaza, who won the "Arab Idol" singing contest last June, in the Israeli-Arab city of Nazareth on April 27.

The Zionist group Im Tirtzu reports Assaf appeared on a TV show last August, where "he sang the words 'my land of Palestine,' turned to Tzfat and Tiberias, sent blessings to the sea of Akko and Haifa, and sang 'don't forget Nazareth and tell Beit She'an of the return of its people.'" All noted towns are Israeli and not over the Armistice lines.

Capture the flag

There have been numerous cases of PA flags being flown over Israeli cities, including in the center of Haifa, and at the Dan Panorama Hotel (formerly the Hyatt) in Jerusalem last November for a "secret" PA event being held there.

A PA flag was even flown at the Knesset to welcome several PA representatives last August, in a move that raised many eyebrows.

In PA controlled areas the game of flags has been taken one step further: Arab residents of Beit Umar, located half an hour south of Jerusalem in Judea, placed a Nazi flag over a major thoroughfare where Jews pass in their vehicles last October, the second such incident in five months
.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 21, 2014, 08:26:38 am
Palestinian Terrorism: Funded by the EU?

In his ploy to avoid negotiations with Israel that might actually force him to make such minimal concessions as “ending the conflict” with Israel, and recognizing Israel as the “state of the Jewish people,” Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority (PA), can count on the European Union (EU) to support him. That support has been both financial and political. Financially, the EU has written a virtual “blank check” for the Palestinians to use with no accountability. Politically, the EU has deemed the Palestinians as “underdogs,” deserving uncritical support. In both cases, EU support for the PA has done little to advance a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Whether it is misplaced guilt, or fear of Arab terrorism, the EU continues to sink unaccounted billions of European taxpayer euros into the corrupt administration of Mahmoud Abbas. According to the United Kingdom’s Sunday Times, the Palestinian Authority squandered nearly 1.95 billion euros ($2.64 billion) in European aid through corruption and mismanagement between 2008 and 2012.

The Sunday Times reported that billions of euros in European aid to the Palestinians may have been misspent, squandered or lost to corruption, according to a damning report by the European Court of Auditors, the Luxembourg-based watchdog. EU investigators who visited sites in Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank noted “significant shortcomings” in the management of funds sent to Gaza and the West Bank. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU. The auditors, according to the Sunday Times, complained about lack of measures to mitigate “high level” risks, such as “corruption, or of funds not being used for their intended purposes.”

Since the creation of the PA in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords, signed on the White House lawn in September, 1993, the EU has become the largest donor to the PA. As such, it has a responsibility to its taxpayers, who in recent years have suffered the debilitating effects of the global recession, austerity, and chronic high unemployment. The EU also has a moral responsibility to insure that its funds are not diverted to support terror, and human rights violations. The ostensible reason for the EU’s assistance to the PA is to help advance a lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

Michael Theurer, chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control, writing in the Wall Street Journal (April 9, 2014) revealed in the findings of the European Court of Auditors last December that “since 2007, a considerable number of PA civil servants in Gaza have received their salaries partly funded through EU aid – even though they were not going to work due to the political situation in Gaza.” Theurer questioned how this contributes to peace building. He also asked how the EU can preserve its credibility back home when it pays salaries to people who don’t work, while millions of European citizens are unemployed?

The Court of Auditors also found that the EU paid “insufficient attention to the fungibility of the funds provided to the PA. There is reason to believe, the report noted, that EU financial assistance has allowed the PA to use its own general budget to support terrorist or criminal activities.” In addition, the PA allocates a significant portion of its budget to paying salaries to Palestinians convicted of terrorism. These salaries are five times higher than the average salary in the West Bank. Convicted terrorists also receive large grants from the PA.

An investigation by the EU anti-fraud commission into PA funding of terrorist activities, conducted in 2005, allegedly found no conclusive evidence of armed attacks financed by the European Commission’s contributions to the budget. These allegations could not be dismissed, however, given the fact that the internal and external audit capacity of the PA is largely underdeveloped.

The removal of Salam Fayyad as Finance Minister and Prime Minister has essentially ended the PA’s opportunity for transparency and the fight against corruption and mismanagement.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that in 2012, the PA payments to convicted terrorists in Israeli prisons, and to the families of deceased terrorists, including suicide bombers, accounted for more than 16% of the annual foreign donations and grants to the budget of the PA. Israel considers PA payments to Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons and their families to be “funding terrorism.” In 2012, the PA Ministry of Prisoner Affairs transferred $75.5 million to terrorists imprisoned by Israel and their families, out of a total budget of $3.1 billion, according to Israeli government figures. In February, 2014, the Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs announced an allocation of 30 million euros to current and former terrorist prisoners and their families.

Responding to the EU’s calls that its funds not go to convicted terrorists, PA Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Karake said on PA-TV, (November 4, 2013) “The Europeans want their money that comes to us to remain clean – not to go to families of those they claim to be terrorists. They (the Europeans) need to renounce this occupation mentality. These prisoners are heroes, fedayyeen (self-sacrificing fighters) who fought so that they could live in dignity. We appreciate the people of the revolution and are proud of them.” Calling the murderers of unarmed civilian men, women, and children heroes is a perversion of reality that even the Europeans cannot accept.

The Europeans prefer to ignore the possibility that their funding, however indirect, supports Palestinian terror against Jews, and hate education that is rivaled only by Nazi Germany. States like Israel and organizations such as Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) have time and again shown how EU funding has facilitated hate literature and hate teaching in Palestinian schools. EU money has also been used to fund anti-Semitism in the Palestinian media.  In the PA broadcasts, Jews have been described as apes, rats and crows. TV discussions that negate the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, and characterize Israelis as bloodthirsty colonialists are not only hateful, they are inimical to peacemaking and amity between Arabs, Jews, Palestinians and Israelis. 

Michael Theurer asked how the EU can ensure that its financial assistance to the PA will help advance peace and stability in the region, while promoting freedom, democracy and the rule of law. And, he ponders how the EU can guarantee that its funds won’t be used to reward terrorism. Theurer responded at least partially to some of his questions by asserting that at the plenary of the European Parliament in early April, 2014, a resolution was passed calling for greater transparency in EU aid to the PA.

It is easy to conclude however, that hitherto, the EU’s unrestrained financial support to the PA has done little to promote freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, and has above all been inimical to peace between the Palestinians and Israel.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/joseph-puder/eu-unrestrained-support-of-the-pa-is-inimical-to-peace/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 22, 2014, 04:09:44 pm
Terrorists take up arms as Kerry blames Israel
'Both sides wound out in a position of unhelpful moves'


In a sign of growing anti-Israel militancy, terrorists disarmed as part of an amnesty agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel have taken up weapons in violation of the amnesty deal.

The information comes after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry largely blamed Israel for the collapse in Mideast talks he was attempting to broker here.

Israel is considering rescinding the amnesty deal extended to members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the so-called military wing of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah organization.

According to informed Middle Eastern security officials, Israel has extensive information showing scores of Al Aqsa members have been brandishing weapons in public, with some plotting attacks.

The Brigades, declared by the U.S. State Department as an official terrorist group, is responsible for suicide bombings, shootings and other terrorist attacks.

The amnesty agreement was forged in 2007 purportedly as an Israeli gesture to Abbas and to bolster Fatah against its Hamas rivals in the West Bank.

Israel issued documents for the 178 Fatah fugitives to sign, pledging their resignation from any so-called paramilitary organizations. The wanted militants – who comprise much of the senior Brigades leadership – also were required to turn in their weapons, spend a week in a PA holding area and restrict their movements to the area in which they reside for three months.

After that, the Brigades members would be allowed to move freely throughout the West Bank on condition they do not retake arms.

Kerry has been leading an effort to solidify a so-called peace deal in the region.

Last week, Kerry fingered both Israelis and Palestinians for the failure to what is being seen as a collapse in the talks, but he placed much of the blame on Israel.

Kerry claimed Israel’s refusal to release Palestinian prisoners, including convicted terrorists, as part of a gesture to Abbas, was behind the failure of the talks, ignoring Abbas’ refusal to recognize the Jewish state’s existence or his drive to seek United Nations recognition despite a pledge not to do so.

Kerry also did not mention the rampant anti-Israel incitement in official PA media and other institutions.

“Both sides wound out in a position of unhelpful moves,” Kerry told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations when asked about the collapse of the talks.

“The prisoners were not released by Israel on the day they were supposed to be released and then another day passed and another day, and then 700 units were approved in Jerusalem and then poof – that was sort of the moment,” Kerry said.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/04/terrorists-take-up-arms-as-kerry-blames-israel/#VtVLdB4AQ3PIlP74.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 23, 2014, 09:46:12 pm
Israel and U.S. condemn Palestinian unity deal

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah agreed Wednesday to form a unity government and hold new elections — a potentially historic step toward mending the rift that has split their people between two sets of rulers for seven years.

Following the announcement of the deal, hundreds of people took to the streets in Gaza to celebrate. Crowds hoisted Palestinian flags and posters.

"I hope it will be real this time," said Asma Radwan, a 33-year-old schoolteacher who came with her two young sons. "I came to say 'thank you' to the leaders. But don't disappoint us like the past. Seven years of division is enough."

It remained unclear how the plan would succeed where past attempts have repeatedly failed. It also added new complications to U.S. efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Both the U.S. and Israel condemned the agreement.

In an initial response, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned meeting for Wednesday evening between Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators.

Israel and the West consider Hamas a terrorist group. Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, has killed hundreds of Israelis in bombings and shootings over the past two decades.

Abbas "needs to choose between peace with Israel and an agreement with Hamas, a murderous terror organization that calls for the destruction of Israel," Netanyahu said.

Hamas seized Gaza from Abbas' forces in 2007, leaving him with only parts of the West Bank. Both sides have become entrenched in their territories, setting up separate governments and their own security forces.

The division has been a major obstacle to Abbas' goal of establishing an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, with east Jerusalem as the capital. Israel captured all three areas in 1967. The split is also seen by many everyday Palestinians as a tragic mistake.

Abbas, meanwhile, could face international isolation and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid if he joins forces with Hamas. International donors withheld aid during a short-lived Palestinian unity government elected in 2006 and 2007, before the Hamas takeover, due to concerns that the money would be diverted to Hamas.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. was "disappointed and troubled" by the Palestinians' announcement.

"It is hard to see how Israel can be expected to negotiate with a government that does not believe in its right to exist," Psaki said, referring to Hamas.

 Abbas' decision also risks triggering a tough Israeli response. Hardline Israeli leaders quickly condemned the unity deal, and several called for Netanyahu to halt the peace efforts.

Israel's Channel 10 TV said Netanyahu would meet with his Security Cabinet on Thursday to discuss a response. It also said that future meetings between peace negotiators were in doubt.

"The Palestinian Authority has become the biggest terror body in the world," said Naftali Bennett, head of the hardline Jewish Home Party. "Israel needs to be clear," he added. "No talks with murderers."

Adding to the tensions, an Israeli airstrike hit the northern Gaza Strip, missing its target but wounding at least three bystanders, Palestinian officials said.

Medical official Ashraf al-Kidreh says the airstrike targeted two men riding a motorcycle, but that the missile missed its target and wounded a 50-year-old man and two daughters.

The Israeli military confirmed the failed airstrike, saying "a hit was not identified."

Gaza terrorists fired a barrage of rockets at southern Israel soon afterward, the Israeli military said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Associated Press writers Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

- See more at: http://www.onenewsnow.com/ap/world/israel-and-us-condemn-palestinian-unity-deal#.U1h5l1ePNpw


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 25, 2014, 12:16:45 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/179872#.U1oyoVVdVCw
Abbas-Hamas Deal 'a Tragic Game Changer'

Key Netanyahu confidant and advisor Dore Gold says reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah proves the PA has rejected a negotiated solution.

4/24/14

Dore Gold, who has been described as one of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's closest foreign policy advisors, called the reconciliation between Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) “a game changer” in a CNN interview Wednesday.

Gold, who served in the past as advisor to Netanyahu and Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, and currently heads the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, has reportedly recently returned to serve as a part-time advisor to the Prime Minister.

Hamas, he said, “is recognized by the world as an international terrorist organization; by the European Union, by the United States, by Canada and many others. And [PA head] Mahmoud Abbas has been working very hard with Secretary of State John Kerry, as our Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has worked hard, and all of a sudden, it seems that in the last month, Abbas just simply does not want a negotiated solution.

“He said 'no' to President Obama. He said 'no' to even discussing with Israel in the future the possibility of them recognizing Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people – we're asked to recognize a Palestinian state – and now he turns to hug Hamas. He wants a deal with Hamas and doesn't want peace, and that's a tragic development.”

While the PA can “hire some suits” to talk about making peace, Hamas is “in the back room” controlling things, he explained.

Asked if the peace process is dead, Gold said it is still possible to revive the process, but only if Abbas pulls back from the deal with Hamas. "He cannot embrace Hamas and say that he's for peace with Israel. It's a contradiction in terms."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m754d7J6XV0


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 25, 2014, 03:27:22 pm
Peace talks over, Israelis and Palestinians push on as solo acts

For now, unilateral moves – like the Israeli annexation of West Bank settlements and Palestinian applications for international recognition – are the only options.


aHHH, and here John was so sure he could solve everything.

With nine months of negotiations in the rear-view mirror, Israelis and Palestinians are now left with unilateral options. 

In Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu will likely face calls for dramatic moves such as the annexation of West Bank settlements, while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be pushed to renew international bids for statehood recognition.

They have both warned of their willingness to abandon talks entirely, but despite the bravado, analysts expect the two leaders to move cautiously as they test the new political environment after the collapse of US-brokered peace talks.

"The unilateralism will build up slowly," said Nathan Thrall, an Middle East analyst for the International Crisis Group. "None of that will be the end of the world."

Much will be determined by the outcome of Fatah and Hamas's reconciliation deal announced earlier this week, which prompted Israel to suspend negotiations. The two rivals plan to form a unity government, but that will require lengthy negotiations over issues like the cabinet makeup, elections, and the future of the Palestinian Authority's security cooperation with Israel.

The Palestinians recently submitted applications to join 15 international treaties and conventions and indicated they are prepared to apply to more, stirring fears in Israel of rising international sympathy for the Palestinian cause. Mr. Thrall says there are hundreds to choose from.

Israelis' primary fear is that the Palestinians will join the International Criminal Court (ICC) and seek to bring war crimes cases against Israel, but Mr. Abbas is expected to postpone that effort to avoid friction with Washington. By law the US is required to defund United Nations agencies that admit the Palestinians as a member state without a peace deal.

Meanwhile, Israel has twice announced that it would reduce the transfer of some $100 million in tax revenue owed to the Palestinian Authority. This will be put to the test at the end of this month when Israel is due to make the next transfer. Although some Israeli government factions are eager to punish the Palestinians severely, others realize that withholding funds risks the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and chaos in the West Bank.

Mr. Netanyahu is facing calls for an altogether different kind of unilateral action from the center-left: withdrawal from several West Bank settlements. His pro-settler coalition partners will likely block this. Hardliners like Economic Minister Naftali Bennett have called on Israel to annex settlements in retaliation for Hamas and Fatah's reconciliation. In this case, Netanyahu is blocked by the threat of increased isolation.

Gershon Baskin, a peace activist and political analyst, says Netanyahu is not bold enough for peace or annexation.

"I don’t think that Netanyahu has the ability to make any kind of important unilateral steps," he says. "There’s such a heavy cloud over the politics. Everyone is walking around in the dark, and no one knows what will happen."

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0425/Peace-talks-over-Israelis-and-Palestinians-push-on-as-solo-acts


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 06, 2014, 08:54:03 am
US officials: Even if Israel doesn’t like it, Palestinians will get state
Members of Kerry’s team slam Netanyahu, empathize with Abbas, warn Palestine will rise ‘whether through violence or via int’l organizations’


American officials directly involved in the failed Israeli-Palestinian peace process over the last nine months gave a leading Israeli columnist a withering assessment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the negotiations, indicated that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has completely given up on the prospect of a negotiated solution, and warned Israel that the Palestinians will achieve statehood come what may — either via international organizations or through violence.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to Nahum Barnea, a prominent columnist from Israel’s best-selling daily Yedioth Aharonoth, the officials highlighted Netanyahu’s ongoing settlement construction as the issue “largely to blame” for the failure of Secretary of State John Kerry’s July 2013-April 2014 effort to broker a permanent peace accord.

They made plain that US President Barack Obama had been prepared to release spy-for-Israel Jonathan Pollard to salvage the talks. And they warned that “the world will not keep tolerating the Israeli occupation.”

Barnea, who described his conversations with the American officials as “the closest thing to an official American version of what happened” in the talks, said the secretary is now deciding whether to wait a few months and try to renew the negotiating effort or to publicize the US’s suggested principles of an agreement.

Detailing how the US sought to solve disputes over the core issues of a two-state solution, Barnea wrote on Friday that, “Using advanced software, the Americans drew a border outline in the West Bank that gives Israel sovereignty over some 80 percent of the settlers that live there today. The remaining 20 percent were meant to evacuate. In Jerusalem, the proposed border is based on Bill Clinton’s plan — Jewish neighborhoods to Israel, Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinians.”

He quoted the Americans saying that while the Israeli government made no response to the American plan, and also failed to draw its own border outline, Abbas agreed to the US-suggested border outline.

The Americans said they had intended to begin the nine-month negotiating period with an Israeli announcement of a settlement freeze. But this proved impossible, an American official was quoted saying, “because of the current makeup of the Israeli government, so we gave up… We didn’t realize [that] continuing construction allowed ministers in [Netanyahu's] government to very effectively sabotage the success of the talks. There are a lot of reasons for the peace effort’s failure, but people in Israel shouldn’t ignore the bitter truth: the primary sabotage came from the settlements. The Palestinians don’t believe that Israel really intends to let them found a state when, at the same time, it is building settlements on the territory meant for that state. We’re talking about the announcement of 14,000 housing units, no less. Only now, after talks blew up, did we learn that this is also about expropriating land on a large scale. That does not reconcile with the agreement.

“At this point, it’s very hard to see how the negotiations could be renewed, let alone lead to an agreement,” the Americans continued. “Towards the end, Abbas demanded a three-month freeze on settlement construction. His working assumption was that if an accord is reached, Israel could build along the new border as it pleases. But the Israelis said no.”

The Americans told Barnea that, in contrast to the hitherto unclear reports of whether the US was prepared to release American-Israeli spy Pollard to salvage the talks from collapse in recent weeks, Obama was willing “to prepare for Jonathan Pollard’s release. Such a move wouldn’t have helped his popularity in the American security system… There was a massive effort on our part to pull the wagon out of the deep quicksand it was stuck in. But the reality here hit us hard. Neither side had a sense of urgency. Kerry was the only one who felt a sense of urgency, and that was not enough.”

One bitter American official told Barnea, “I guess we need another intifada to create the circumstances that would allow progress.”

A third intifada, the Americans made clear, “would be a tragedy. The Jewish people are supposed to be smart; it is true that they’re also considered a stubborn nation. You’re supposed to know how to read the map: In the 21st century, the world will not keep tolerating the Israeli occupation. The occupation threatens Israel’s status in the world and threatens Israel as a Jewish state.”

Pressed by Barnea on perceived international hypocrisy over Israel’s presence in the West Bank, when the world “closes its eyes to China’s takeover of Tibet, it stutters at what Russia’s doing to Ukraine,” the Americans were quoted as responding: ”Israel is not China. It was founded by a UN resolution. Its prosperity depends on the way it is viewed by the international community.”

The American officials described to Barnea what they called Abbas’s loss of trust in the talks and in Netanyahu, and how his skepticism hardened as settlement-building continued, and as Israel demanded complete security control over the territories. From Abbas’s point of view, the Americans told Barnea, the sense was “that nothing was going to change on the security front. Israel was not willing to agree to time frames; its control of the West Bank would continue forever. Abbas reached the conclusion that there was nothing for him in such an agreement. He’s 79 years old. He has reached the last chapter of his life. He’s tired. He was willing to give the process one final chance, but found, according to him, that he has no partner on the Israeli side. His legacy won’t include a peace agreement with Israel.

“In February, Abbas arrived at a Paris hotel for a meeting with Kerry. He had a lingering serious cold. ‘I’m under a lot of pressure,’ he complained. ‘I’m sick of this.’ He rejected all of Kerry’s ideas. A month later, in March, he was invited to the White House. Obama presented the American-formulated principles verbally — not in writing. Abbas refused.”

Abbas, the officials told Barnea, had made concessions — in accepting that “Palestine” would be demilitarized; in agreeing to the US border outline that would see 80% of settlers coming under Israeli sovereignty, and in agreeing for Israel to retain control of sensitive security areas such as the Jordan Valley for five years.

“He also agreed that the Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem would remain under Israeli sovereignty, and agreed that the return of Palestinians to Israel would depend on Israeli willingness,” the Americans said. “‘Israel won’t be flooded with refugees,’ he promised.”

In a rare attribution of some blame to Abbas, the Americans said they “couldn’t understand why it bothered him so much” to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. But here too, ultimately, the Americans were empathetic to Abbas: “The Palestinians came to the conclusion that Israel was pulling a nasty trick on them. They suspected there was an effort to get from them approval of the Zionist narrative.”

The final straw for Abbas was the late March announcement by Uri Ariel’s Housing and Construction Ministry of building tenders for more than 700 housing units in Jerusalem’s Gilo neighborhood. At that point, the Americans told Barnea, Abbas “lost interest. He turned to the reconciliation talks with Hamas and to the question of who would inherit his mantle.”

The Americans warned that, with the talks over, Israel might be facing “quite a problem. As of now, nothing is stopping the Palestinians from turning to the international community. The Palestinians are tired of the status quo. They will get their state in the end — whether through violence or by turning to international organizations.”

They also warned that if, as announced, Israel seeks “to impose economic sanctions on the Palestinians, it could boomerang. The West Bank economy will collapse, and then Abbas will say ‘I don’t want this anymore. Take this from me.’ There’s great potential for deterioration here, which could end with the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority. Israeli soldiers will have to administer the lives of 2.5 million Palestinians, to their mothers’ chagrin. The donating countries will stop paying up, and the bill of $3 billion a year will have to be paid by your Finance Ministry.”

Some of the warnings delivered by the Americans reflected a similar tone to that expressed by Obama in an interview he gave shortly before his last meeting with Netanyahu at the White House in March.

Israel can expect to face international isolation and possible sanctions from countries and companies across the world if Netanyahu fails to endorse a framework agreement with the Palestinians, Obama cautioned in an interview with Bloomberg at the time. If Netanyahu “does not believe that a peace deal with the Palestinians is the right thing to do for Israel, then he needs to articulate an alternative approach,” Obama said then. “There comes a point where you can’t manage this anymore, and then you start having to make very difficult choices,” he said.

The president went on to condemn Israel’s settlement activities in the West Bank, and said that though his allegiance to the Jewish state was permanent, building settlements across the Green Line was counterproductive and would make it extremely difficult for the US to defend Israel from painful repercussions in the international community. “If you see no peace deal and continued aggressive settlement construction — and we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we’ve seen in a very long time — if Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach, then our ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited,” Obama warned.

Read more: US officials: Even if Israel doesn't like it, Palestinians will get state | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-officials-even-if-israel-doesnt-like-it-palestinians-will-get-state/#ixzz30wYr0yLz





Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 23, 2014, 07:07:19 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/180928#.U3_VpfldVh6
Vatican Says Pope Will Demand 'Sovereign Palestine'
Vatican's Secretary of State says pope during visit will talk about 'Palestinian right to sovereign, independent homeland.'

5/22/14

(http://www.israelnationalnews.com/static/Resizer.ashx/news/468/282/505708.jpg)
Vatican Sec'y of State Pietro Parolin

The Vatican's Secretary of State made a dramatic revelation ahead of Pope Francis's visit to Israel next Sunday and Monday, declaring that the pope will talk about the "Palestinian people's right to have a homeland, sovereign and independent."

Cardinal Pietro Parolin holds a role in the Vatican City State, located in the Italian capital of Rome, equivalent to that of a prime minister. Speaking to Vatican television on Thursday, he said "we know that the pope is going to a particularly suffering land," reports AFP.

"I really hope that the fruit will be to help politicians and all people of good will take courageous decisions on the path to peace," Parolin stated.

When asked what the pope particularly intends to talk about during the visit, Parolin revealed he would talk about "on the one hand, Israel's right to exist in peace and security within internationally recognized boundaries."

On the other side, the pope would talk about "the Palestinian people's right to have a homeland, sovereign and independent, the right to move around freely, the right to live in dignity," according to Parolin.

In fact, the Vatican recognized the "State of Palestine" in 2012 amid the United Nations (UN) vote to confer "Palestine" non-member observer state status, a status until then only held by the Vatican.

Despite the pope's insistence that his visit is "religious not political," his decision to begin his trip from Jordan directly by helicopter with a stop in Palestinian Authority (PA) controlled Bethlehem has been greeted by Arab sources as a move to "recognize Palestine" and help "end the occupation."

Rabbi Sergio Bergman, a member of the Argentinian parliament and close friend of Pope Francis, reported in February that the pope intends to define himself as the "Che Guevera of the Palestinians" and support their "struggle and rights" during his visit.

It has been noted that the pope has been remarkably tight-lipped over the violent persecution of Christians in Bethlehem, instead choosing to condemn alleged Jewish "price tag" vandalism.

"Holy Father" asked to pressure Israel to let priests enter without IDF permission

On Thursday it was announced that 650 Christians from Gaza would be allowed to leave the Islamist-ruled enclave to travel to Judea and Samaria for the pope's visit.

However, 20 priests from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which presides over Arab Catholic communities in Judea and Samaria, wrote the pope a letter on Thursday, complaining that they had not been allowed to enter Jerusalem without IDF permission.

"According to the State of Israel, the illegal occupier, we do not have the right to travel to Jerusalem without permission from the Israeli army," the Arab priests said in the letter.

In the letter, the priests claimed the Vatican had given them passes to enter Jerusalem which Israel hasn't stamped with visas. The IDF monitors passage over the 1949 Armistice lines.

"Jerusalem is becoming increasingly closed off to Christians from the West Bank," the letter added, calling for the pope to pressure Israel to submit on controlling passage on its own borders.

The letter concluded "can the Holy Father be in the Holy Land without saying anything about the reality of injustice against an entire people held prisoner on its own land?"

Controversy, both religious and political

Another point of contention about the pope's visit is the status of the David's Tomb Compound in Jerusalem. While numerous government officials - including Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi - have denied control of the holy site will be transferred to the Vatican, reports have revealed a plan to indirectly transfer the site.

Rabbi Avraham Goldstein, the Rosh Yeshiva (dean) of the Diaspora Yeshiva located in the Compound, revealed what he said were much more underhand plans than a straightforward hand-over.

"According to the information we have...the state will be allowing the Church to conduct Mass on the upper floor; then according to Jewish law (halakha) Jews will not be able to pray downstairs (either), since on the upper floor there will be idol worship," the rabbi said.

Jewish law forbids benefiting from anything - including a structure or shelter - used for idol-worship. Catholic effigies and other rituals fall under the Jewish legal definition of idol worship, meaning that the establishment of a permanent Catholic place of prayer in the Compound would effectively prevent Jews from conducting their own services in the entire building.

A Catholic official confirmed the Vatican's intentions to put those very plans into effect, telling the Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday that the Vatican wants "to hold two hours of [Christian] prayer every day in the early morning before visitors start to visit it."


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 28, 2014, 07:49:45 am
Netanyahu tells Knesset: Jerusalem was reunited, and will never be divided

In a special Knesset session honoring Jerusalem Day, the premier marveled at the development and growth of Jerusalem, noting that the city's metropolitan area is home to a population of one million people.

Jerusalem will remain united forever, Prime Minister Binyamin said Wednesday, specifically referring to east Jerusalem neighborhoods that were targets of international criticism in his speech to the Knesset Wednesday.

Speaking at the special plenum meeting in honor of Jerusalem Day, Netanyahu mentioned newer parts of the city, like Ramot, Har Homa and Gilo, as well as sites of historic significance like the Old City and Mount of Olives.

The prime minister recalled growing up in a much smaller Jerusalem.

"It was a capital under fire without a way out and with a narrow horizon, and in one day, it all changed. The walls fell and we flowed in a human wave to the Western Wall," he recounted.

Netanyahu said his government works to take care of both "upper Jerusalem" and "lower Jerusalem," the expressions for its spiritual and physical manifestations.

"Torah will certainly come out of Zion," the prime minister said, paraphrasing Isaiah, "and there are many yeshivas, but hi-tech also comes out [of Jerusalem] in Har Hotzvim.

"Jerusalem was united 47 years ago and will never be divided again," Netanyahu concluded.

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein kept politics out of his speech focusing on the euphoria and pride Jews around the world felt after the Six Day War.

"Jews stood tall. They were proud to be Jewish, to go to synagogue, to walk around with a kippah, to speak Hebrew and dream about aliyah," he said. "A prince was born named 'Jerusalem of Gold.'" Edelstein said Jerusalem belongs to every Jew, near or far, believer or non-believer, left or right.

"There is no deeper consensus than Jerusalem," he added.

http://www.jpost.com/National-News/WATCH-Netanyahu-addresses-Knesset-in-special-Jerusalem-Day-speech-354608


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 01, 2014, 12:24:49 am
http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-unity-government-formed-monday-171952133.html
Palestinian unity government to be formed Monday
5/31/14

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The formation of a Palestinian unity government backed by rivals Hamas and Fatah will be announced Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday, adding that Israel already warned him it would take punitive steps against the new alliance.

The formation of the government would be the most significant step yet toward ending a crippling seven-year-old Palestinian political split. However, it is also bound to increase friction between Abbas and Israel's hard-line government.

Abbas said Saturday that he would respond to any Israeli punitive measures, such as withholding the monthly transfer of some $100 million in taxes and customs Israel collects on behalf of his Palestinian Authority. The funds are vital to keeping the self-rule government afloat.

The long-running Hamas-Fatah rivalry escalated in 2007 when the Islamic militant group Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from the internationally backed Abbas in 2007. Hamas, which has carried out scores of bombing, shooting and rocket attacks against Israeli targets, is considered a terror group by Israel and the West.

After the April collapse of a U.S.-mediated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the Palestinian rivals revived reconciliation efforts. Negotiators met repeatedly to agree on a government of technocrats backed by both sides that is to prepare for general elections in 2015. In recent days, there were last-minute disagreements, but Abbas' announcement suggests the issues have been resolved.

"The announcement of the government will be on Monday," he said during a meeting with several dozen pro-Palestinian activists from France. "The Israelis informed us today that they are going to boycott us immediately after we form the government."

"They are going to withhold our money," he said, referring to the monthly transfers. "This is our money, not aid from Israel, and we will not stay silent. They want to punish us because we have an agreement with Hamas, which is part of our people."

Abbas, the leader of Fatah, reiterated that the unity government would follow his pragmatic program.

"We say (the government) is going to recognize Israel, denounce violence and recognize the international agreements," he said, echoing the international community's conditions for dealing with Hamas. "This is a technocrat government. It has nothing to do with Fatah, Hamas or any factions."

A senior Israeli government official said the formation of a unity government "is a great leap backward," but declined to say whether Israel would take punitive action. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with journalists.

Abbas said that "we are going to react to any Israeli action."

He did not elaborate. However, Abbas and his aides have said in the past that they might step up efforts to gain further international recognition of a state of Palestine. The United Nations General Assembly recognized such a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — lands Israel captured in 1967 — as a non-member observer in 2012.

Palestinian officials have said a state of Palestine is eligible for membership in 63 international organizations, treaties and conventions. Last month, Abbas signed membership requests for 15 conventions, and his aides have said the Palestinians planned to sign up for more in several stages.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 03, 2014, 05:19:07 am
U.S. Says It Will Work With, Fund Palestinian Government; Israel Upset

The United States said on Monday it plans to work with and fund the new Palestinian unity government formed after an agreement by the Fatah and Hamas factions, and Israel immediately voiced its disappointment with the U.S. decision.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a unity government on Monday in a reconciliation deal with Hamas Islamists, who advocate Israel's destruction.

The United States views Hamas as a "terrorist" organization and the U.S. Congress has imposed restrictions on U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority, which typically runs at $500 million a year, in the event of a unity government.

Senior U.S. lawmakers said on Monday Washington should suspend aid to the new unity government until it is sure of the Islamist group's commitment to pursuing peace with Israel.

In its first comment since the Palestinian government was sworn in, however, the State Department stressed that it regarded the new Cabinet as made up of technocrats and that it was willing to do business with it.

"At this point, it appears that President Abbas has formed an interim technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with Hamas," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily press briefing.

"Based on what we know now we intend to work with this government but will be watching closely to ensure that it upholds principles that President Abbas reiterated today," she said, referring to Abbas' commitment to honor past peace deals and the principles underlying the peace process with Israel.

In Jerusalem, an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in a statement to reporters: "We are deeply disappointed by the State Department regarding working with the Palestinian unity government."

The statement said Washington could advance peacemaking by urging Abbas "to end his pact with Hamas and return to peace talks with Israel."

EVALUATING NEW GOVERNMENT'S POLICIES

Asked if her comments meant that U.S. aid would keep flowing to the Palestinian Authority, Psaki replied: "It does, but we will continue to evaluate the composition and policies of the new government and calibrate our approach accordingly."

By law, U.S. aid to the Palestinians may not benefit Hamas "or any entity effectively controlled by Hamas, any power-sharing government of which Hamas is a member, or that results from an agreement with Hamas and over which Hamas exercises undue influence."

Annual U.S. aid to the Palestinians has run at about $500 million in recent years, although it fell to roughly $440 million in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2013, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

Senior U.S. lawmakers said on Monday Washington should suspend aid while assessing the new unity government.

"Funding for the Palestinians is off-the-table until it is clear that the unity government is committed to peace and security," said Republican U.S. Representative Kay Granger of Texas, chairwoman of the House of Representatives State and Foreign Operations subcommittee. "Hamas, not just members of the new government, must acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence, and adhere to previous international agreements," she said in a statement.

http://www.newsweek.com/us-says-it-will-work-fund-palestinian-government-israel-upset-253211


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 05, 2014, 12:32:04 pm
Obama/Kerry failing at this was all by design!

http://www.voanews.com/content/pope-francis-gets-involved-in-middle-east-peace-process/1929934.html
Pope Francis Gets Involved In Middle East Peace Process
6/5/14

WASHINGTON — Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are expected to meet at the Vatican Sunday for what is being called an “intense prayer session” with Pope Francis.
 
The unexpected invitation was extended during the pope's recent visit to the Middle East, where Francis engaged in the kind of photo opportunities that popes usually avoid. He stopped at the barrier erected around the Palestinian territories and at an Israeli memorial for victims of terrorism.
 
On the plane home, Pope Francis told reporters he is not getting involved in the stalled peace process.
 
Nonetheless, said Daniel Petri at the Catholic University of America in Washington, the invitation is a bold move.
 
“If something happens, it’s tremendous. Pope Francis is the miracle worker of the Middle East,” he said.
 
The pope is already seen as a maker of miracles by many of his followers. His prayer vigil for peace in Syria on Sept. 7, 2013 was followed by an agreement a week later that prevented U.S. air strikes over the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons.

 
Christopher Hale of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good has argued in Time magazine that the pope’s accomplishments in the Middle East have shown him to be “the world’s best politician.
 
But Petri, a PhD candidate, argued in a rebuttal that there have been tens of thousands of fatalities in the Syrian conflict, as well as new allegations of chemical attacks, since the pope’s prayer.
 
“To claim it a success, I think, is wrong, morally and intellectually,” he said, adding that the symbolism of the pope’s actions is what’s important.
 
Sunday’s prayer meeting will follow a morning Pentecost service in St. Peter’s Square. It’s far from clear that anything concrete can be offered by the two political leaders. Peres is nearing the end of his term as Israeli president, and Abbas recently swore in a unity government including Hamas, which advocates the destruction of Israel.
 
Short of a miracle, the main thing the Vatican prayer session can be counted on to produce is an image of a peace effort, with the pope at the center.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 12, 2014, 07:13:06 am
Israel chooses hard-liner Reuven Rivlin as president

Israel’s parliament on Tuesday chose Reuven Rivlin, a veteran nationalist politician and supporter of the Jewish settlement movement, as the country’s next president, putting a man opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state into the ceremonial but influential post.   

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/israel-chooses-hardliner-reuven-rivlin-as-president/article6103451.ece?homepage=true

Meet Ruby Rivlin, Israel’s New Strong, Nationalistic President And Student Of ZIONIST PROPHET ZE'EV JABOTINSKY

On Tuesday afternoon, Israel elected a nationalist President — Likud Party Knesset Member Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin who defines himself in two ways: A man of Jerusalem and a student of Zionist prophet Ze’ev Jabotinsky. He is devoted to strengthening the entire land of Israel, including the settlements of Judea and Samaria and an opponent of the creation of a Palestinian Arab state. Fitting with his long-standing history as a proud, tough Jew, Rivlin accepted the position as the 10th President of Israel and placed a skullcap on his head and recited a prayer from the Torah [...] When President Obama visited Jerusalem and spoke at the Convention Center rather than the Knesset, Rivlin said: “President Obama decided not to visit the Knesset, a decision which is in bad taste….The Knesset is a symbol of Israeli sovereignty, and with all due respect to the president, it cannot be ignored.”

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/ronn-torossian/meet-ruby-rivlin-israels-new-strong-nationalistic-president/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 15, 2014, 04:40:55 am
Netanyahu says Hamas operatives behind kidnapping
IDF arrests 80 Palestinians in sweeping West Bank raid; IDF begins limited enlistment of reservists.


Israeli security forces continued to search for three teenage yeshiva students who went missing while hitchhiking in the West Bank on Thursday. On Saturday, a closure was imposed on the Hebron region and three border crossings into Gaza were shut. Some 80 Palestinians, including senior Hamas operatives, were arrested overnight in an extensive operation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that a "terror organization" was behind the kidnapping of Eyal Yifrah, 19, from Elad, Gil-Ad Shaer, 16, from Talmon and Naftali Frenkel, from Nof Ayalon. Netanyahu asserted that he holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the teens' fate. 

12:19 IDF begins limited enlistment of reservists  :o

12:00 P.M. IDF sends extra forces to West Bank, and deploys observation balloon over West Bank

11:10 A.M. Two Iron Dome batteries are deployed in the central Israeli cities of Ashdod and Rehovot.

11:44 A.M. Two known Hamas operatives from the Hebron area have been missing since Thursday, Palestinian sources report. According to the sources, the IDF and Shin Bet arrived at the two suspects' homes, and arrested their wives when the two couldn't be found.

11:08 A.M. The police only informed the IDF and Shin Bet of the kidnapping five hours after receiving notice, a senior police source says.

10:54 A.M. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says at a government meeting that Hamas is behind the kidnapping of the three teens.

"Today I can say what I refrained from saying yesterday ahead of the wave of arrests that captured Hamas operatives in Judea and Samaria," he said. "Hamas men carried out the kidnapping. This is the same Hamas with which Abbas entered a unity government. This has grave consequences.

"At this point our focus is on returning the abductees home," he added.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.598771?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 21, 2014, 06:14:55 pm
12 Shocking Proofs That Disaster Strikes America When It Mistreats Israel


For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. Obadiah 1:15

1. The Madrid Peace Conference

1991 31 October

President George H. Bush promoted the Madrid Peace Conference, where he attempted to divide the land of Israel in exchange for “peace” with the Palestinians.

1991 31 October – The Next Day – The Perfect Storm

A very rare huge storm starting in the north Atlantic, moving east to west (wrong direction for storms to move – although in the Bible, the Holy Spirit and history move east to west). This storm was so unusual and contrary to “mother nature” it was immortalized by the book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and later a popular movie. Amazon says of the book  The Perfect Storm, “Meteorologists called the storm that hit North America’s eastern seaboard in October 1991 a “perfect storm” because of the rare combination of factors that created it. For everyone else, it was perfect hell. In The Perfect Storm, author Sebastian Junger conjures for the reader the meteorological conditions that created the “storm of the century” and the impact the storm had on many of the people caught in it.” Coincidence?
when-america-mistreats-israel-it-brings-disaster-judgment

Interestingly, one of the first places The Perfect Storm hit was Kennebunkport, Maine. Waves over 30 foot demolished the home of guess who – President George H. Bush, the instigator of the Oslo Accord.

2. The Madrid Peace Conference Part II

1992 23 August

The Madrid Conference was not successful the first time around, so a year later President Bush tried it again. Evidently, God’s opinion of a “land for peace” deal had not changed in the preceding 12 months, and disaster struck again…on the very same day.

1992 23 August – Same Day – Hurricane Andrew visits Florida

Hurricane Andrew smashes and crashes into Florida. Andrew causes over $30 billion in damage while destroying over 180,000 homes. At that time, Andrew was the worst natural disaster ever to hit America.

3. The Oslo Peace Accord

1993 13 September

President George H. Bush promoted and proudly signed the infamous Oslo Accord. The Oslo Accord was labeled a “Land for Peace” accord that demanded Israel award their land to the Palestinian murderers and terrorists in exchange for peace. The perverse Oslo proposition was simple: give us your land and we’ll stop killing you.

1993 31 October – The Next Day – Hurricane Emily On the very day that the Oslo Peace Accord was agreed upon, Hurricane Emily slammed into the Outer Banks with winds up to 115 miles per hour.

4. Talks To Give Up Golan Heights

1994 16 January

President Bill Clinton meets with terrorist and Israel hater Syria’s President Hafez el-Assad in Geneva. They talk about a peace agreement with Israel that includes Israel giving up the Golan Heights.

1994 17 January – less than 24 hours – 6.9 Earthquake rocks California

In less than 24 hours, a powerful 6.9 earthquake rocks Southern California. This mysterious quake, centered in Northridge, is the second most destructive natural disaster to hit the United States, behind Hurricane Andrew.

5. Political Disaster: Impeachment

1998 21 January

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Clinton at the White House and is coldly received. Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright refuse to have lunch with him.

1998 21 January – the same day – Monica Lewinsky scandal erupts

After Clinton’s rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, later the very same day, the Monica Lewinsky scandal breaks out, destroying the Clinton presidency and resulting in his impeachment.

6. Land For Peace

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright finishes the final details of an agreement which requires Israel to surrender 13 percent of Yesha (Judah and Samaria). President Bill Clinton meets with Yasser Arafat and Netanyahu at the White House to finalize another Israel “land for peace” hoodwink. Later, Arafat addresses the United Nations and declares an independent Palestinian state by May 1999.

1998 28 September – Same Day – Hurricane George hits Gulf Coast

Hurricane George blasts the Gulf Coast with 110 mph winds and gusts up to 175 mph. The hurricane hit the coast and stalled until the agreement was finalized and Arafat addressed the UN. Then it hit and caused $1 billion in damage. At the exact time that Arafat departs the U.S., the storm begins to dissipate.

7. Land For Peace

1998 15 October

Arafat and Netanyahu meet at the Wye River Plantation in Maryland. The talks are scheduled to last five days with the focus on Israel giving up 13 percent of Yesha. The talks are extended and conclude on October 23.

1998 17 October – Two days later – Tornadoes hit Texas

On October 17, heavy storms and tornadoes hit southern Texas. The San Antonio area is deluged with rain. The rain and flooding in Texas continue until October 22 and then subside. The floods ravage 25 percent of Texas and leave over one billion dollars in damage. On October 21, Clinton declares this section of Texas a major disaster area.

8. Negotiations To Give Away Jerusalem

1998 30 November

Arafat arrives in Washington again to meet with President Clinton to raise money for a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital. A total of 42 other nations were represented in Washington. All the nations agreed to give Arafat $3 billion in aid. Clinton promised $400 million, and the European nations $1.7 billion.

1998 30 November – Same Day – Financial Disaster

The Dow Jones average drops 216 points, and on December 1, the European Market had its third worst day in history. Hundreds of billions of market capitalization were wiped out in the U.S. and Europe.

9. Land For Peace

1998 12 December

President Clinton arrives in the Palestinian-controlled section of Israel to discuss another “land for peace” fiasco.

1998 12 December – Same Day – Clinton impeached

The U.S. House of Representatives vote four articles of impeachment against President Clinton.

10. Negotiations To Give Away Jerusalem

1999 3 May

Yasser Arafat schedules a press conference to announce a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital.

1999 3 May – Same Day – Powerful Storms in Oklahoma and Kansas

The most powerful tornado storm system ever to hit the United States whips through Oklahoma and Kansas. The winds are clocked at 316 mph, the fastest wind speed ever recorded. Arafat postpones his announcement to December 1999 at the request of buddy President Clinton. In his letter to Arafat, Clinton praises and encourages Arafat for his “aspirations for his own land.”

11. The Roadmap To Peace

2001 8 June

President George W. Bush sends Secretary Tenet to Jerusalem to promote his “Roadmap to Peace,” the continuation of the failed Oslo Accord.

2001 8 June – Same Day – Tropical Storm Allison hits Texas

Tropical storm Allison hits Texas the home state of President George W. Bush. Allison causes over $7 billion in damage and closes George Bush Airport for two days. Allison continues for five long days. When Tenet leaves Jerusalem, Allison settles down.

Epilogue: America Pressures Israel To Give Up The Gaza Strip

Gush Katif was paradise. And it was destroyed by those who took it over. Israel completed the evacuation of the Gaza Strip and gave it to the Palestinians. The Gaza Strip evacuation came directly from President Bush’s “Roadmap to Peace.” Hurricane Katrina formed on the same, exact day that the last settlers were evacuated

2005 23 August – the Same Day – Tropical Storm Katrina appears

August 23, a small insignificant tropical storm slowly appeared in the Atlantic below the Bahamas named Katrina. From her beginning meteorologists stated the U.S. had nothing to fear. Katrina packed little punch, plus the computer forecasts kept Katrina calmly corralled in the Atlantic. Defying the computer models, Katrina turned south-east, scraped the south tip of Florida and then with the vengeance of a runaway freight train Katrina took an unexpected turn into the warm Gulf Coast. Meteorologists tracking Katrina’s unusual path labeled Katrina one of history’s most bizarre hurricanes.

2005 29 August – Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans

Katrina raced directly toward New Orleans, harnessing deadly strength every moment. Literally recording wind strength “off the scale” On Monday, August 29, the nation watched in horror as deadly Katrina slammed and slaughtered the fragile Gulf Coast. Destructive Katrina left beautiful homes as piles of worthless rubbish. Deadly Katrina tossed bodies like litter along the highway. When Katrina ended her deadly mission America suffered the worst disaster in her storied history. As I saw the thousands of homes destroyed, my mind kept going back to those U.S. ordered bulldozers destroying the Jewish homes in the Gaza Strip. As I saw the thousands and thousands of United States citizens being evacuated from their land, my mind could not keep from remembering the Jewish people crying and literally begging to stay in their land. America found no mercy for the Jewish people.

The God of Israel is neither slumbering nor sleeping, America should remember that.

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=22211


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 09, 2014, 04:59:16 am
ROCKET ATTACKS ON TEL AVIV
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Iron-Dome-intercepts-second-rocket-over-greater-Tel-Aviv-361994

Rocket Hits Jerusalem...
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-pounds-dozens-of-gaza-targets-in-major-counteroffensive/

REPORT: Half of Country's Population - in Bomb Shelters...
http://www.truthrevolt.org/israel-revolt/4-million-israelis-half-countrys-population-bomb-shelters

Siren sounds...
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.603677

VIDEO: Arabs Celebrate...
http://www.truthrevolt.org/israel-revolt/arabs-celebrate-missile-strikes-israeli-civilians-video

UPDATE: Israel calls up 40,000 troops as tensions mount...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israel-army-authorized-mobilize-40000-troops-24464046

Launches military campaign against Gaza...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10953391/Israel-orders-preparations-for-invasion-of-Gaza.html

Foils seaborne attack...
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-foils-seaborne-attack-gaza-strip-172025292.html


Title: Israeli Air Force Strikes 80 Gaza Terror Targets In Under 30 Minutes
Post by: Christian40 on July 10, 2014, 05:38:25 am
Israeli Air Force Strikes 80 Gaza Terror Targets In Under 30 Minutes

"Over 500 targets have been hit since start of Operation Protective Edge; IDF targets infrastructure sites used by Hamas’s senior commanders; army strikes infrastructure used by organizer of failed beach raid

The Israel Air Force struck over 80 targets in the Gaza Strip in under 30 minutes on Wednesday evening, the IDF Spokesperson said. Over 550 targets have been hit since the start of the Operation Protective Edge against Hamas rocket fire this week, the IDF said.

In recent air strikes, the IAF targeted dozens of Hamas infrastructure sites used by the organization’s senior commanders. The strikes targeted infrastructure used by Ahmed Andur, a senior Hamas member in northern Gaza, who is responsible for rocket fire on southern Israel in recent months, as well as the failed attempt by Hamas naval commandos to land on Zikim beach and murder Israelis."

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=23300


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 10, 2014, 06:31:38 am
Netanyahu Vows Gaza Offensive to Intensify...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-09/israel-aims-to-crush-hamas-military-as-cities-under-fire.html

Cuts water supply to Hamas leaders' homes...
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182706

UPDATE: Rockets intercepted over Tel Aviv...
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/IAF-targets-106-Gazan-terror-sites-overnight-362017

Launched at nuclear reactor...
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Rocket-alert-sirens-sound-in-Zichron-Yaakov-120-km-north-of-Gaza-362087

Iron Dome racks up 90% success rate -- so far...
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.604039

HAMAS: 'All Israelis Now Legitimate Targets'...
http://www.truthrevolt.org/israel-revolt/hamas-spokesman-all-israelis-have-now-become-legitimate-targets

Unveils bigger, better arsenal...
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0709/Hamas-unveils-bigger-better-rocket-arsenal-against-Israel

VIDEO: Israeli naval vessel intercepts commandos who stormed beach...
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/WATCH-Israeli-naval-vessel-helps-intercept-Hamas-commandos-who-stormed-beach-362079


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 10, 2014, 05:00:21 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israels-iron-dome-changes-face-battle-192534747.html
Israel's 'Iron Dome' changes the face of battle
7/10/14

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's "Iron Dome" defense system has emerged as a game-changer in the current round of violence with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, shooting down dozens of incoming rockets and being credited with preventing numerous civilian casualties.

By shooting down more than 90 percent of its targets, the system is ensuring Israel's decisive technological edge that has helped it operate virtually unhindered in Gaza.

At the same time, it's also providing a much-needed sense of security on the home front.

Gaza militants have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, some more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) deep, covering an area of about 5 million. But beyond some jitters and discomfort, they haven't hurt Israelis much, causing no casualties and very little damage.

"The Iron Dome system and its impressive success thus far have had a strategic impact on managing the campaign. It gives us wide options," said Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon. "Having said that, we cannot become complacent."

Israel has deployed seven batteries across the country that — coupled with a high-tech warning system — have given it its best defensive capabilities ever.

Iron Dome quickly recognizes the trajectory of incoming rockets and whether they are headed for major population centers. Those are shot down, while others are allowed to fall in empty fields to spare the hefty cost of firing the sophisticated interceptors. Local reports say each launching costs about $20,000.

So far, Hamas and other Gaza militants have fired more than 420 rockets toward Israel in three days of fighting. The military says it has shot down 90 of those, including several over Tel Aviv and central Israel.

On Thursday afternoon, the system was deployed for the first time in Jerusalem. Two puffs of smoke could be seen in the sky — apparently after intercepting two incoming rockets.

Lt. Col. Levi Itach, head of the military's early warning branch, said several high-tech measures along with a disciplined public that has vigilantly followed instruction have allowed Israel to keep its casualties from rockets to a minimum.

He said the systems had improved significantly in the two years since the last major exchange of airstrikes and rocket fire between Israel and Hamas, in which six Israelis were killed and several were injured by Gaza rocket fire in that weeklong battle.

The system is still far from foolproof. On Thursday, rockets struck a home in the southern city of Beersheba and a car in Ashdod — incidents that easily could have resulted in casualties.

Itach said no system could provide 100 percent protection.

"If we keep up what we are doing, there is a good chance that we will be able to lower the ratio to one death for every 10,000 rockets fired," he said.

Yossi Kuperwasser, a retired military general and current director general of Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs, said that Gaza's Hamas rulers and other militants have acquired longer, more powerful weapons in the past two years, but Israel had not been idle either. He said improvements to Iron Dome have allowed it to hold off on a ground operation while the home front was protected.

"It gives us much more room to maneuver. ... Now we have the ability to hold our breath for some time," he said. "And I'm sure that Hamas is feeling frustrated with this situation because after launching hundreds of rockets, they haven't managed to get Israeli casualties."

Newspapers have already crowned the U.S.-funded system as the star of the campaign. The front page of Yediot Ahronot carried the headline "Golden Dome," with a huge spread of the system in action. The paper's top military columnist, Alex Fishman, wrote that the Iron Dome has "changed the face of the battle."

"If not for the Iron Dome system, the entire military would have already been stuck in the Gaza Strip. It is already possible to reflect on the main lesson of Operation Protective Edge: we must not stop investing in the Iron Dome system," he wrote.

Iron Dome is just the first of a planned three-part defense system that Israel hopes will be operational by the end of the year.

It has successfully tested "Magic Wand," designed to intercept projectiles with ranges between 70 kilometers (45 miles) and 300 kilometers (180 miles), and is aimed primarily at countering the large arsenal of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon and those of President Bashar Assad's government in Syria.

Together with the Arrow system for longer-range threats from Iran, the three components will complete what Israel calls its "multilayer missile defense."

The next generation of the Arrow, now in the development stage, is set to be deployed in 2016. Called Arrow 3, it is designed to intercept missiles at very high altitudes, before they are on their downward path toward their target. Together, the two Arrow systems would provide two chances to strike down incoming missiles.

Just this week, President Barack Obama cited the systems as proof of the U.S. commitment to Israel's security.

"Across the board, our unprecedented security cooperation is making Israel safer and American investments in Israel's cutting-edge defense systems like the Arrow interceptor system and Iron Dome are saving lives," he wrote.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 11, 2014, 10:41:22 am
Lebanese rockets hit Israel as Palestinian deaths in conflict exceed 100

Rockets fired by militants in Gaza reached deeper into Israel Friday, and a strike from Lebanon hit the northern part of the country, leading Israeli officials to suspect Lebanese fighters may be joining the four-day conflict.

The Lebanese military said three rockets were fired toward Israel around 6 a.m. and the Israelis retaliated by firing about 25 artillery shells on the area. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner confirmed that the Israeli military had responded to the new attack with force.

Lebanese troops and United Nations peacekeepers later began searching the area, and the military said it was trying to find out who was behind the attack. 

In Gaza, an Israeli airstrike Friday hit the home of a well-known Islamic Jihad leader. Gaza health officials said strikes overnight killed a total of eight people, raising the death toll to at least 98, including dozens of civilians. A later strike pushed the tally over 100 to go along with some 670 wounded, officials said.

Rocket fire continued in earnest from Gaza toward various locations in southern and central Israel, including towards Israel’s international airport.

In the southern Gaza city of Rafah, residents sifted through the remains of a four-story building that was struck and scattered for cover as another airstrike landed nearby.

The commercial center of Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion airport also heard warning sirens Friday but these rockets were intercepted and there was no disturbance to Israel's air traffic. Hamas says it intends to fire rockets at the airport and warned foreign airlines to stop flying to Israel.

Gaza rocket fire also struck a gas station and set it on fire Friday in southern Israel.  The explosion in Ashdod sent plumes of smoke high into the air. Israeli health officials said the blast wounded three people, including one in serious condition.

The blast—which left a trail of charred vehicles in its wake—could  be the most serious in the four days of fighting that has yet to kill anyone on the Israeli side.

Lerner said Israel has suspected that Lebanese militants may try to join the fray as Israel exchanges fire with Islamic Hamas militants in Gaza. However, he said it was still unclear whether Friday's attack was "symbolic or something more substantial."

Southern Lebanon is a stronghold of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which has battled Israel numerous times. However, recent fire from Lebanon has been blamed on radical Palestinian factions in the area and Hezbollah has not been involved in the ongoing offensive. It has largely refrained from engaging Israel since a monthlong war in 2006 when it fired thousands of rockets into Israel and was pummeled by Israeli airstrikes in response.

The Jerusalem Post cited senior Israeli officials who also claimed the rocket was not fired by Hezbollah, but by a small radical organization in Lebanon.

Gaza militants already have fired more than 550 rockets against Israel in the four-day offensive. Israel's "Iron Dome" defense system has intercepted most of those aimed at major cities but some have slipped through.

Frequent air raid sirens sounded across Israel on Friday, including for the first time in the northern city of Haifa. Israel has shot down at least 110 incoming rockets thus far.

Israel launched the Gaza offensive to stop incessant rocket fire against it. The Jerusalem Post, citing a senior Israeli security source reports that the Israeli Defense Forces has so far struck 1,100 targets belonging to Hamas and other groups in the Gaza Strip since the start of the operation launched Monday to end rocket attacks from Gaza , and 210 targets over the past 24 hours.

Lerner said the military was doing its utmost to prevent civilian casualties, calling inhabitants ahead of time to warn of an imminent attack. He said Israeli forces also fire "non-explosive munitions" at roofs as a warning and looks for people to leave before destroying a structure.

Lerner blamed Hamas for the death of innocent bystanders by firing from heavily populated areas.

Israel's military "uses its weapons to defend its civilians. Hamas uses its civilians to defend its weapons," he said.

With Hamas on its heels, Israeli leaders were still mulling whether to launch a ground assault in Gaza to deliver what they hope could be a decisive blow. Such a move, though, would likely involve a rise in Palestinian civilian casualties and put Israeli troops at risk as well.

Israel has mobilized more than 30,000 reservists to supplement the potential ground operation.

Amos Yadlin, a retired general and former head of military intelligence, said Israel already re-established a deterrent factor against Hamas and should offer a cease-fire and aim to wrap up its campaign in the coming days.

"If the Israeli offer is turned down, Israel will refill its stock of legitimacy in such a way that will enable a significant expansion of the objectives and scale of the operation," he wrote in a column published Friday in the Yediot Ahronot daily newspaper. "Hamas has taken severe blows since the start of the round of violence and has failed in almost every step it took. ... However, one rocket that hits an Israeli population center will be enough to change the picture completely."

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07/11/lebanese-rockets-hit-israel-as-hostilities-escalate/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Christian40 on July 12, 2014, 03:32:01 am
Netanyahu Calls Out Team Obama And Says Israel Will Never Give Up The West Bank

"Citing John Kerry by name, PM says he knows best about keeping Israel safe, and won’t allow West Bank to become ‘another 20 Gazas’

For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Isaiah 62:1

On the fourth day of Operation Protective Edge, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a strong and sternly open rebuke to John Kerry, Barack Obama, and any one else who would seek to pressure Israel to relinquish control over the West Bank.

“At present we have a problem with the territory called Gaza,” the prime minister said. But he noted that the West Bank is 20 times the size of Gaza, and vowed that he was not prepared “to create another 20 Gazas” in the West Bank.

“I think the Israeli people understand now what I always say: that there cannot be a situation, under any agreement, in which we relinquish security control of the territory west of the River Jordan” — a reference to the Jordan Valley and the West Bank — as Kerry had urged during a US-led peace effort that collapsed in April.

Citing by name both Kerry and the US security adviser Gen. John Allen, who was charged by the secretary of state to draw up security proposals that the US argued could enable Israel to withdraw from most of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, Netanyahu said passionately, “I told John Kerry and General Allen, the Americans’ expert: We live here, I live here, I know what we need to ensure the security of Israel’s people.”

“Adjacent territory has huge importance,” Netanyahu said, and could be used by terrorists to dig tunnels and to fire rockets. The closer terrorists can get to Israel’s borders, he said, the more rockets they fire — as the current conflict was proving."

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=23347



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 12, 2014, 09:48:35 am
Thankfully, this is getting alot of MSM coverage now(ie-CNN did alot of reporting on this yesterday).


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 12, 2014, 01:50:40 pm
Hamas Just Attempted To Create A Horrific Nuclear Disaster In The Heart Of Israel

After the horrors of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, how insane do you have to be to fire missiles directly at a major nuclear facility?  No matter what side you are on in the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, everyone should be able to agree that it is utter madness for Hamas to fire rockets at the Dimona nuclear installation in the Negev.  The intent, of course, was to destroy the Dimona facility and create a horrific nuclear disaster in the heart of Israel.  Fortunately, the area is heavily protected by the Iron Dome missile defense system and none of the rockets did any damage.  And it is questionable how much damage to the facility that Hamas missiles could actually do.  But that is not the point.  What matters is that Hamas is trying to do it.  With each passing year, Hamas rockets are becoming more advanced, more accurate and more powerful.  And when Hamas fires some of their best rockets at a major nuclear facility, they are committing an act of all-out war.  If Hamas continues to do this, it could spark a major regional war in which countless numbers of people could die.  Is that what they want?

There has been a lot of criticism of Israel in the mainstream media in recent days, but much of it is quite hypocritical.  Just imagine what would happen in the U.S. if another country fired just one missile at New York City or at one of our nuclear reactors.  If that happened, "glass parking lot" would suddenly be on the lips of tens of millions of Americans all over the country, and the U.S. military would rapidly be preparing for an absolutely devastating response.

Well, it isn't just one missile that has been fired at Israel.

In recent days, dozens of rockets were fired at Israel before there was any response from the Israeli military at all.

And more than 225 rockets have been fired at Israel since Operation Protective Edge started on Monday night.

At one point, an average of about one rocket was being fired into Israel every ten minutes.

And many of these rockets are being shot directly at Israeli population centers with the intention of killing civilians.  It is a miracle that we have not seen many casualties so far.

But where Hamas has really stepped over the line is by firing at the Dimona nuclear facility.  The fact that Hamas is attempting to create a nuclear holocaust is essentially an act of genocide.  The following is how the Jerusalem Post described the attack...

    Three rockets were launched at Dimona in southern Israel on Wednesday afternoon. The Iron Dome intercepted one rocket before it could land, while two other rockets landed in open areas.

    Dimona is the location of Israel's nuclear reactor. There was no indication that rockets damaged any part of the reactor.

    Hamas claimed responsibility for the rockets, stating that it had been attempting to hit the nuclear reactor.

    Militants from Hamas's Qassam Brigades said they had launched long-range M-75 rockets towards Dimona.

And as Breitbart has pointed out, what Hamas has just done is actually an act of nuclear terrorism as defined by the United Nations...

    Article 2 (1) of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism states:

    1. Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that person unlawfully and intentionally...(b)...uses or damages a nuclear facility in a manner which releases or risks the release of radioactive material: (i) With the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury; or (ii) With the intent to cause substantial damage to property or to the environment; or (iii) With the intent to compel a natural or legal person, an international organization or a State to do or refrain from doing an act.

Let us hope that future Hamas missile strikes will not do any damage to Dimona either.

In the end, it is questionable how much of a threat Hamas rockets actually are to an extremely well defended facility such as Dimona, but let us not completely underestimate their capabilities either.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, Hamas rockets are stronger and more accurate than ever and are now even capable of hitting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem...

    Hamas has emerged from a 19-month cease-fire stronger, savvier, and more effective at hitting Israel where it will hurt the most.

    Hamas's arsenal, estimated at 10,000 rockets, is only marginally bigger than it was heading into its last conflict with Israel, in November 2012. But its mid-range rockets are much more accurate, and it has acquired long-range missiles that reach beyond Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, putting as many as 5 million of Israel’s 8 million citizens at risk.

If Hamas wants Israel to stop attacking, they need to stop lobbing missiles into Israel.

If Hamas keeps launching rockets, it could spark a major regional war.  Just consider what Shimon Peres is saying about the conflict...

    “We didn’t start the war today, they started it already several days ago,” he told CNN. “We asked them to stop it... We waited one day, two days, three days and they continued, and they spread their fire on more areas in Israel.”

    He also said that a ground offensive on Gaza “may happen quite soon”. Referring to rockets being fired from Gaza, he added: “If they will stop for example tonight, there won’t be any ground entrance - but if they will continue, sooner or later this will be the response.”

And there are news reports today that Israel has already warned 100,000 Gaza residents living in cities near the border with Israel to leave their homes.

That means that a ground invasion could be imminent.

Let us pray for peace because every human life is extremely valuable.

Every Israeli life is extremely valuable, and every Palestinian life is extremely valuable.

Nobody should want to see a major war between the Israelis and the Palestinians, because if one does happen it will be extremely bloody.

The Middle East is a powder keg that could erupt at any moment.

A single wrong move could bring about a nightmarish conflict that results in countless deaths.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/hamas-just-attempted-to-create-a-horrific-nuclear-disaster-in-the-heart-of-israel


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 12, 2014, 04:09:26 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-orders-residents-northern-gaza-leave-194240942.html
Israel orders residents of northern Gaza to leave
7/12/14

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it is ordering Palestinians living in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate the area "for their own safety."

In a statement Saturday, the military said it would send messages to residents overnight to leave the area.

Brig. Gen. Motti Almoz, the chief military spokesman, said Israel planned to hit the area with heavy force in the next 24 hours as it steps up an offensive against Gaza militants.

Officials say the area has been used to fire rockets at Tel Aviv.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 13, 2014, 09:53:30 am
Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza calls on the strip's residents to ignore Israeli warnings, calls them psychological warfare - @haaretzcom


Explosions heard over Tel Aviv, as sirens sound in central and northern Israel - @IDFSpokesperson


1h
Update: Iron Dome intercepted 2 rockets over the Tel Aviv, Israel, metropolitan area - @IDFSpokesperson


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 13, 2014, 09:56:34 am
Israel calls for north Gaza evacuation after raid


JERUSALEM (July 13, 2014) — Israel briefly deployed ground troops inside the Gaza Strip for the first time early Sunday as its military warned northern Gaza residents to evacuate their homes, part of a widening offensive that's killed more than 160 Palestinians.

Neither Israel nor Palestinian militants show signs of agreeing to a cease-fire, despite calls by the United Nations Security Council and others to end the increasingly bloody six-day offensive. With Israel massing tanks and soldiers at Gaza's borders, some fear that could signal a wider ground offensive that would cause heavy casualties.

"We don't know when the operation will end," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu told a Cabinet meeting Sunday. "It might take a long time."

As the ultimatum drew near, hundreds fled Beit Lahiya, one of the communities the Israeli announcement affected. Some raced by in pickup trucks, waving white flags.

"They are sending warning messages," resident Mohammad Abu Halemah said. "Once we received the message, we felt scared to stay in our homes. We want to leave."

Ignoring international appeals for a cease-fire, Israel widened its range of Gaza bombing targets Saturday to include civilian institutions with suspected Hamas ties. One strike hit a center for the disabled, killing two patients and wounding four people. In a second attack, an Israeli warplane flattened the home of Gaza police chief Taysir al-Batsh and damaged a nearby mosque as evening prayers ended, killing at least 18 people, 17 of whom were al-Batsh family members. Fifty were wounded, including al-Batsh himself.

On Sunday, Palestinians with foreign passports began leaving Gaza through the Erez border crossing. Israel, which is cooperating in the evacuation, says 800 Palestinians living in Gaza have passports from countries including Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.

U.S. citizen Ahmed Mohana said he had mixed feelings about leaving friends and family behind in the troubled Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers on a mobile artillery unit fire a shell towards Gaza at a position on the Israel-Gaza border, July 12.

"It is very hard, it is very tough," he said. "We are leaving our family, our relatives and brothers and sisters in this horrible situation —we have to do what we have to do."

Israel has launched more than 1,300 air strikes since the offensive began, military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said Sunday. Palestinian militants have launched more than 800 rockets at Israel, including 130 in the last 24 hours, the Israeli military said Sunday. Several Israelis have been wounded, but there have been no fatalities.

Israel has said it's acting in self-defense against rockets that have disrupted life across much of the country. It also accuses Hamas of using Gaza's civilians as human shields by firing rockets from there.

Critics say Israel's heavy bombardment of one of the most densely populated territories in the world is itself the main factor putting civilians at risk.

The offensive marks the heaviest fighting since a similar eight-day campaign in November 2012 to stop Gaza rocket fire. The outbreak of violence follows the kidnappings and killings of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager in an apparent revenge attack, and wide-ranging Israeli moves against Hamas militants and infrastructure in the West Bank.

Foreign diplomats also continued their efforts to end the bloodshed. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will fly to Israel for talks Monday and Tuesday with both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Meanwhile, the Arab League will meet Monday to discuss the offensive.

- See more at: http://www.onenewsnow.com/ap/world/israel-calls-for-north-gaza-evacuation-after-raid#.U8KeGLFgF8E


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 13, 2014, 10:01:11 am
http://news.yahoo.com/dwight-howard-tweets-quickly-deletes-freepalestine-234400693.html
Houston Rockets' Dwight Howard Tweets and Quickly Deletes #FreePalestine
7/13/14

Dwight Howard, the star center on the Houston Rockets, the only NBA team with an Israeli player, briefly waded into the digital discourse on the ongoing battle between Israel and Hamas. He then very quickly jumped out.

The offending (depending on your take) tweet came late on Saturday afternoon, reportedly in response to a fan plea on Twitter. 

(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/p3xh5dj9FzWMW0h5WB0Hpg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/theatlanticwire/Dwight_Howard_Tweets_and_Quickly-d0b467a581efb95d39c441cdf7750af0)

Some fifteen minutes after it went up to his five million followers, it was gone. He quickly clarified: 

Dwight Howard        ✔ @DwightHoward
Follow

previous tweet was a mistake. I have never commented on international politics and never will.
3:11 PM - 12 Jul 2014

Dwight Howard        ✔ @DwightHoward
Follow

I apologize if I offended anyone with my previous tweet, it was a mistake!
3:15 PM - 12 Jul 2014

Less equivocal about Middle Eastern politics is Omri Casspi, Howard's teammate on the Rockets, who is the first Israeli player ever to be drafted or to play in the NBA. Following the kidnapping and murders of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, one of the instigating events in the ongoing crisis, Casspi lent his support to the public awareness/social media campaign to bring the kidnapped teenagers back. In recent days, he has been active on the topic on Twitter, including this tweet, which came a short while after Howard's.

Omri Casspi        ✔ @Casspi18
Follow

600 missiles been fired from GAZA by Hamas in the last 4 days. NUMBERS DONT LIE. STOP LYING.
4:31 PM - 12 Jul 2014



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 15, 2014, 10:23:03 am
http://news.yahoo.com/egyptian-truce-plan-unravels-fighting-131459401.html
Egyptian truce plan unravels after new fighting
7/15/14

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Egyptian truce proposal for the conflict in Gaza quickly unraveled Tuesday, after the Islamic militant Hamas rejected the plan, Gaza militants fired scores of rockets at Israel and Israel responded with more than a dozen air strikes.

The speedy resumption of violence, less than a day after Egypt presented its cease-fire plan, illustrated that it will be harder this time than in the past to negotiate an end to Israel-Hamas fighting.

A key difference to a previous truce in 2012 is that Hamas does not trust the current rulers of Egypt who deposed a Hamas-friendly government in Cairo a year ago.


Israel had agreed to the Egyptian plan, proposed late Monday. Under it, a 12-hour period of de-escalation was to begin at mid-morning Tuesday. Once both sides agree to halt hostilities, they would negotiate the terms of a longer-term truce.

Gaza militants responded by firing dozens of rockets after the proposed start of the de-escalation, some of them reaching deep into Israel, though not causing injuries. Israel, which had warned it would strike Gaza harder than before if Hamas did not halt hostilities, held its fire for several hours, but resumed air strikes by mid-afternoon Tuesday.

After the renewed rocket fire from Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon "directed the military to act with intensity against terror targets in Gaza," said an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the decision with the media.

Since the outbreak of cross-border fighting on July 8, more than 190 Palestinians have been killed in hundreds of Israeli air strikes and millions of Israelis have been exposed to rocket fire. The current round of violence was the third in just over five years. The previous one, in 2012, eventually ended with the help of Egypt, at the time seen as a trusted broker by Hamas.

But Hamas distrusts Egypt's current rulers, who have tightened the border blockade on Gaza, including curtailing travel in and out of the territory. An easing of the blockade of the coastal strip is key to the survival of Hamas.

Hamas officials on Tuesday rejected the Egyptian plan as is, noting they weren't consulted by Cairo. Some portrayed the truce offer as an ultimatum presented to Hamas by Israel and Egypt.

The officials, including Osama Hamdan, a senior aide to top Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, said the Egyptian plan offered no tangible achievements, particularly on easing a border blockade of the coastal strip, which has been enforced by Israel and Egypt for the past seven years.

Hamdan said the movement needs detailed assurances that Gaza's borders will be opened, particularly the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the territory's main gate to the world.

Hamas also wants to be recognized by Egypt as a partner in any truce efforts. "We did not receive any official draft of this Egyptian proposal," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official in Gaza. He said the Egyptian plan, as is, is "not acceptable."

Hamas officials are weary of promises by Egypt and Israel to ease the border blockade. Such promises were also part of a truce in 2012, but were not fully implemented as the strip remained under blockade.

Before the outbreak of the latest round of fighting, the militant group found itself in a serious financial crisis because the Egyptian closure had prevented cash and goods from coming into the strip through hundreds of smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.

In response to the Egyptian truce plan, Gaza militants fired some 50 rockets at Israel on Tuesday,

The Israeli military said several rockets reached deep into Israel, including near the northern port city of Haifa. Sirens also went off in the towns of Hadera and Zichron Yaakov, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Gaza.

The military wing of Hamas, which has been responsible for most of the hundreds of rockets launched at Israel in the past week, said the Egyptian plan "wasn't worth the ink it was written with."

As fighting resumed, the Israeli military faced difficult choices. It has warned in the past that it might launch a ground of offensive in Gaza and has amassed thousands of troops on Gaza's border.

However, entering Gaza would likely drive up casualties on both sides. In the past, Israel has shied away from ground operations for fear of getting entangled in the densely populated territory of 1.7 million.

In Vienna, Secretary of State John Kerry blasted Hamas for firing rockets after the proposed cease-fire was to have taken effect.

"I cannot condemn strongly enough the actions of Hamas," Kerry told reporters. In contrast, he praised Egypt's intervention and Israel's acceptance of the deal.

Kerry said the U.S. would continue pushing for a cease-fire is because of the potential for the violence escalating even further.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 16, 2014, 01:05:07 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/hamas-made-israel-truce-offer-only-refuse-152657455.html
Hamas Made Israel a 'Truce Offer' That It Can Only Refuse
7/16/14

Following Hamas' rejection of a ceasefire proposal by Egypt, the group may have announced its own terms for a 10-year truce, replete with conditions that Israel will never be willing to meet.

Early reports are signaling that Hamas, along with the Gaza terrorist group Islamic Jihad, are proposing a cessation of hostilities in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners who were initially released in the prisoner exchange that freed kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011. A number of the men were rearrested during Israel's operation to find the men who abducted and killed three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank last month.

The Times of Israel reports some of the other demands:

    [Hamas also] demands that all crossings to the Gaza Strip be opened, and that the Rafah crossing to Egypt be secured by UN forces. It calls for an airport to be established in the Strip, that fishing areas be expanded, and that Israeli aircraft alter their flight routes such that none fly over the coastal enclave.


The Israeli site Arutz Sheva adds:

    There is no official confirmation of the offer and it is being greeted with skepticism, as more of a trial balloon than an actual offer.


It seems fair to say that few of these demands will be taken seriously by Israel. Let's have a look at them.

Context

As we noted yesterday, Hamas dismissed Egypt's ceasefire proposal out of hand, reportedly in objection to having been left out of the negotiations. The more likely reason though is that the Egyptian proposal contained no incentives that would allow the terrorist group to declare some kind of public relations victory for its battle with Israel.

RELATED: Egyptian Court Condemns Tahrir Square Sexual Assaults With Seven Life Sentences

Release of Palestinian prisoners

So long as the killers of the three teenage Israelis are on the loose, it seems highly unlikely that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be politically able or personally willing to make this concession.

But this does broach an interesting possibility. Were Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to find and/or turn in the men responsible, it would change all the political calculations here. Don't count on it.

UN observers at border crossings

The United Nations doesn't have a sterling reputation when it comes to enforcing conditions of a ceasefire. Following the end of Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah (which has many parallels to the Gaza conflicts of the past few years), the set up a force called UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon), which was meant to enforce the ceasefire and keep Hezbollah from rearming. According to Israel and some press reports, Hezbollah's stockpiling of rockets from Iran resumed almost immediately

RELATED: Israel Vows to Increase Intensity of Attacks

Hoping to move things along, France is reportedly proposing that EU observers man the border crossings between Israel and Gaza. Does the EU have more credibility than the UN? Probably.

Easing the blockade of Gaza

The other demands set forth by Hamas and Islamic Jihad speak to Israel's much-maligned blockade of Gaza, which is meant to keep the terrorist groups from rearming. The blockade also makes the importing of material goods for building a Palestinian economy extremely difficult.

Previous ceasefires have included provisions that would limit the scope of Israel's blockade, however, given the number of rockets fired into Israel from Gaza (particularly in the direction of population centers like Tel Aviv) as well as the number of rockets reportedly destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, the easing of the blockade against Gaza seems like a nonstarter...for now.

With enough international pressure (which doesn't seem to be coming quite as forcefully as it has in conflicts past), this may change.

RELATED: Rihanna Ignites Another Israel-Palestine Pseudo-Controversy

What's next?

On Tuesday, the Israeli cabinet approved the (Hamas-rejected) Egyptian ceasefire and held back on striking Gaza for six hours. One Israeli was reportedly killed as Hamas continued firing rockets. Following the end of the Israeli pause, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to strike with even greater intensity. On the domestic front, he is facing pressure from some politicians on the right to order a ground invasion of Gaza.

With the 2009 conflict between Israel and Hamas in mind, the international community is working hard to make sure what would be a destructive and deadly ground invasion stays in the hypothetical. (Egypt is said to be mediating another truce.)

Meanwhile, until a palatable proposal emerges or an external factor forces the hand of one of the sides, the violence will continue. In the ninth of fighting, the Palestinian death toll passed 200 and rockets continue to rain down on Israeli cities.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 17, 2014, 12:16:16 pm
http://news.msn.com/world/gaza-rocket-hits-israel-as-humanitarian-lull-ends
Gaza rocket hits Israel as humanitarian lull ends

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian militants fired a rocket at Israel Thursday just as a five-hour U.N. humanitarian cease-fire expired, the Israeli military said.

Gaza residents had crowded banks, vegetable markets and shops as they took advantage of the first respite from 10 days of fierce fighting.

The military says the rocket struck the city of Ashkelon at precisely 3 p.m. (1200 GMT, 8 a.m. EDT) as the pause in military activity ended.

No injuries were reported. Gaza militants also fired three mortar shells toward Israel after the truce took effect at 10 a.m. Israel has not responded yet to either incident though it vowed to strike hard if fire continued.

Gaza City, a virtual ghost town for the past 10 days, returned to apparent normalcy within minutes of the start of the truce. Streets were jammed, motorists honked horns and Hamas police directed traffic at busy intersections.

Crowds of hundreds formed outside banks, with people jostling and shouting to get to ATM machines. In an outdoor market, shoppers filled plastic bags with fruit, vegetables and freshly slaughtered chickens.

The rush to restock signaled that Gaza residents don't expect a quick end to the fighting. Egypt renewed cease-fire efforts after its initial attempt collapsed earlier in the week, but the demands of Israel and Hamas remain far apart.

"'The situation is likely to get worse because there is no clear way out of it," said Moussa Amran, 43, a money changer in central Gaza City.

Israel accepted Egypt's initial call earlier this week to halt all hostilities, but Hamas rejected the idea because it does not want to return to the situation before the outbreak of fighting. An intensified Egyptian border blockade of Gaza over the past year, combined with long-running Israeli restrictions on access, had severely weakened the Islamic militant group.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri insisted in an interview with The Associated Press that the cease-fire deal was still alive and expressed frustration that "Palestinian factions" -- a clear reference to Hamas -- had not agreed to it.

Hamas' agreement is crucial to any such truce, but its demand that the blockade be eased significantly is likely to be rejected by Israel and Egypt because it would strengthen the group's hold on Gaza, where it seized power in 2007.

Thursday's temporary truce, brokered by the United Nations, came after Israel carried out nearly 2,000 air strikes on Gaza over 10 days and Hamas fired more than 1,300 rockets into Israel, reaching the country's economic and cultural heartland. The cross-border fighting has so far killed more than 230 Palestinians and an Israeli, according to officials.

Fighting continued early Thursday in the lead-up to the cease-fire, with the military saying it foiled an attack by 13 militants who sneaked into Israel through a tunnel from Gaza. Israeli aircraft struck the fighters at the mouth of the tunnel some 250 meters (820 feet) inside Israel, near a kibbutz.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the military believed at least one militant was killed in the strike and that the remaining fighters appeared to have returned to Gaza through the tunnel.

Footage released by the military showed a number of individuals creeping slowly toward what appeared to be a hole in the ground. A separate shot showed an explosion from an airstrike on the tunnel entrance.

Lerner said the militants were armed with "extensive weapons," including rocket-propelled grenades.

Hamas' military wing said all its fighters returned safely even though the group was targeted by Israeli warplanes.

It was the second time militants attempted to sneak into Israel in this round of fighting. Last week, four fighters were killed when they infiltrated Israel from the sea.

The military also said 15 rockets were fired at Israel Thursday morning, including toward areas in the center, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) from the Gaza Strip.

In fighting early Thursday, Israeli aircraft struck 37 targets, including the homes of senior Hamas leaders Fathi Hamad and Khalil al-Haya, the military said.

Three people were killed by a tank shell that hit a house in the southern town of Rafah, the Hamas-run police and Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra said.

The Gaza Interior Ministry had earlier said that 30 houses were struck in the Israeli raids. Four people were killed and a 75-year-old woman died of wounds suffered the day before, the ministry said.

A senior Hamas official said the group's deputy leader, Moussa Abu Marzouk, met with Egyptian officials Wednesday night to present Hamas' demands, which were also delivered to Jordan and the U.N. The official said Hamas wants countries other than Egypt to be involved in forging an agreement to end the fighting, a sign of the militant group's mistrust of Cairo.

Egypt, the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, has often served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas. But Hamas does not trust Egypt's current rulers, who deposed a Hamas-friendly government in Cairo last year.

Egypt's new leaders have since launched a sweeping crackdown on Hamas, shutting down a network of smuggling tunnels along the border that were the Islamic militant group's key economic lifeline — and weapons supply route.

The official spoke of condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the diplomatic steps with the media.

Also Thursday, a Jerusalem court indicted a 29-year-old and two 16-year-olds in the death of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, whose charred body was found after he was reported kidnapped. According to the indictment, the suspects went out for a "man hunt" that ended when they "cruelly" killed Abu Khdeir.

The indictment said the suspects carried out the crime in revenge for the deaths of three Israeli teens last month and that they killed Abu Khdeir "solely because he was an Arab." The suspects are also accused of attempting to kidnap a seven-year-old Arab boy a day earlier.

The indictment said Abu Khdeir was strangled, beaten and burned to death while he was unconscious.

The death led to days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and police in east Jerusalem and elicited widespread international condemnation.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 17, 2014, 03:04:55 pm
Breaking CNN - Israel Launches Ground Invasion Against Gaza


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 17, 2014, 04:16:32 pm
IDF starts Gaza ground offensive

LAST UPDATED: 07/17/2014 22:46

Netanyahu's office says purpose of mission is to destroy terror tunnels and seriously harm the infrastructure of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza.

After days of waiting and deliberation, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday night directed the IDF to send ground troops into Gaza to strike the terror tunnels into Israel.

A statement put out by the Prime Minister's Office said that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon Netanyahu directed the IDF to prepare to expand the ground operation.

The statement said that the security cabinet approved the operation after Israel agreed to the Egyptian cease-fire proposal on Tuesday, which Hamas rejected. In addition, the statement said, Hamas even fired rockets during the Thursday's five-hour humanitarian cease-fire.

“In light of Hamas' continuous criminal aggression, and the dangerous infiltration into Israeli territory, Israel is obligated to act in defense of its citizens,” the statement said.

The statement said that Operation Protective Edge, now in its 10th day, will continue until its goals are reached: restoring quiet for an extended period of time,and delivering a significant blow to Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in Gaza.

Prior to the commencement of the ground invasion, the IDF launched a massive wave of combined air and artillery strikes on Thursday night.

The ground invasion comes hours after a Hamas assault squad of thirteen highly armed terrorists attempted to carry out a massacre of civilians at Kibbutz Sufa, near the border, before being blocked by the IDF.

Infantry, Armored Corps, Engineering Corps, artillery, and intelligence units are taking over various areas in Gaza, and are all working with one another and the air force. They are operating in northern, central, and southern Gaza, where Hamas has dug an extensive terrorist tunnel network.

The IDF's Southern Command is overseeing the ground offensive.

The units involved have undergone intensive training recently ahead of their missions, Brig.-Gen. Moti Almoz, IDF spokesman, said on Thursday night.

"The operation has reached its ground phase," Almoz said. "Large numbers of forces began a focused effort to destroy tunnels in Gaza.

We are in a new stage," he stated. At the same time, the air force is continuing with air strikes against Hamas and Islamic Jihad around Gaza.

The Ground Forces are currently engaging terrorist infrastructure, and the operation "will be expanded as needed," Almoz said. "They're moving now in various areas of Gaza. We will continue to attack in every location we think needs to be struck," he warned.

The IDF is currently calling up more reserves, Almoz added.

Palestinian sources said strikes occurred up and down the Strip, adding that one strike targeted a motorcycle apparently carrying members of a rocket launching cell on their way to an attack on Israel.

At around 10:00 p.m. rocket sirens sounded in the Tel Aviv area, and in the Shfela. Iron Dome made a number of interceptions in the Tel Aviv area.

Hamas bombarded Israel on Thursday with rockets after the end of the humanitarian truce, firing over 100 projectiles after 3 p.m. Eighty one rockets landed in open areas, two fell inside villages, damaging two homes, and 20 were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.

Also on Thursday, a drone from Gaza was detected in Israeli airspace, over the Ashkelon area. The IAF fired a patriot surface-to-air missile at the aircraft, shooting it down. It was the second Hamas drone to be shot down in recent days.

The IDF on Thursday warned citizens of Gaza to evacuate their homes and make their way from less populated areas to the Strip's major cities.

Close to 100,000 leaflets containing the message were dropped over the territory and hundreds of thousands of citizens from all over Gaza received recorded phone messages warning them to vacate villages.

Air raid sirens sounded throughout southern and central areas during the day. Ashkelon and Ashdod were targeted by Hamas repeatedly in the evening, and were successfully defended by Iron Dome.

Iron Dome intercepted two rockets over central Israel and the Sharon district in the evening, and one over the city of Ashdod. Several rockets landed in open areas.

The Gaza-border region of Eshkol came under continuous rocket barrages. Some ten rockets in open areas, and one damaged a home.

Between 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., Hamas fired 40 rockets at Israel, and Iron Dome shot three down Two rockets were fired at Beersheba, with one falling in an open area and a second intercepted over the Negev city.

Within a minute of the ceasefire ending, rockets were fired from Gaza at the Ashkelon industrial area and Hof Ashkelon region. Most fell in open areas.

The humanitarian ceasefire was violated when Hamas fired 3 projectiles at the Eshkol region. The rockets exploded in open areas.

On Thursday morning, one rocket was intercepted over the greater Tel Aviv and Sharon district, and one rocket fell in an open area. In Beersheba, Iron Dome intercepted an incoming Gazan rocket.

http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/IDF-intensifies-Gaza-attacks-with-artillery-fire-air-strikes-363289


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 17, 2014, 05:11:42 pm
Netanyahu/Israel wanted this as a last resort(at best). We'll see how this goes...


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 18, 2014, 07:28:29 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/pope-francis-phones-peres-abbas-call-gaza-ceasefire-140152686.html
Pope Francis phones Peres, Abbas to call for Gaza ceasefire
7/18/14

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Friday phoned Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, the Vatican said.

Francis "reminded the presidents" about the need "to bring an end to hostilities, making efforts to promote a truce, peace and reconciliation in the hearts of those involved", read a statement from the Vatican.

"The Holy Father Francis personally telephoned President Shimon Peres and President Mahmoud Abbas to share his very serious concerns regarding the current situation," it said.

The Vatican said Francis considered Abbas and Peres to be "men of peace and seekers of peace" and told them the conflict was "giving rise to a serious humanitarian emergency".

Abbas and Peres attended an unprecedented joint prayer for peace with Francis in the Vatican Gardens last month, which followed the pope's visit to the Middle East in May.

Francis on Sunday had called for "concrete gestures to build peace" and referred to his June 8 prayer with Abbas and Peres.

"Some people might think that such a meeting was in vain. But this is not the case because prayer helps us not to be conquered by evil," he said then.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 23, 2014, 07:15:02 am
FLIGHT DIVERTED AFTER ROCKET LANDS NEAR TLV
FAA CLOSES ROUTE TO ISRAEL

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/07/22/delta-cancels-all-israel-flights-over-missile-fear/

Flight bans could be Hamas' biggest success in latest clash...
http://washingtonexaminer.com/u.s.-flight-ban-could-be-hamas-biggest-success-in-latest-clash-with-israel/article/2551124

Israel transport minister: 'They have given prize to terror'...
http://www.nationaljournal.com/defense/faa-suspends-all-u-s-flights-to-israel-for-24-hours-20140722

Netanyahu urges Kerry to restore...
http://www.timesofisrael.com/ceasefire-efforts-gather-pace-as-idf-death-toll-reaches-25/

European safety agency to recommend airlines avoid Tel Aviv...
http://news.yahoo.com/lufthansa-suspends-flights-tel-aviv-36-hours-174306594.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 23, 2014, 07:20:12 am
For second time, rockets found at UN school in Gaza
‘How many more schools will have to be abused by Hamas missile squads before the international community will intervene?’ Foreign Ministry fumes


For the second time in less than a week, rockets have been found in a school in Gaza operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the body said.

“Today, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip,” the organization said in a statement issued Tuesday. “As soon as the rockets were discovered, UNRWA staff were withdrawn from the premises, and so we are unable to confirm the precise number of rockets. The school is situated between two other UNRWA schools that currently each accommodate 1,500 internally displaced persons.”

As it did the last time around when missiles were found in a school it operates, UNRWA said it “strongly and unequivocally condemns the group or groups responsible for this flagrant violation of the inviolability of its premises under international law.”

UNRWA, the UN agency charged with overseeing humanitarian efforts in Gaza, said it immediately “informed the relevant parties and is pursuing all possible measures for the removal of the objects in order to preserve the safety and security of the school.” The organization again pledged to launch a “comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident.”

Israeli officials reacted furiously to the discovery. “How many more schools will have to be abused by Hamas missile squads before the international community will intervene,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor told The Times of Israel. “How many times can it turn its head the other way and pretend that it just doesn’t see?”

Last Wednesday, UNRWA found some 20 rockets in a school under its auspices, also during a standard inspection. A spokesperson for UNRWA said the organization gave the rockets to “local authorities,” which answer to the Hamas-backed unity government led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “According to longstanding UN practice in UN humanitarian operations worldwide, incidents involving unexploded ordnance that could endanger beneficiaries and staff are referred to the local authorities,” UNRWA’s director of advocacy and strategic communications, Christopher Gunness, told The Times of Israel Sunday.

In Jerusalem, such assertions are rejected, even ridiculed, with officials charging that the weaponry was returned to Hamas. “The rockets were passed on to the government authorities in Gaza, which is Hamas. In other words, UNRWA handed to Hamas rockets that could well be shot at Israel,” a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel.

Another senior official pointed out that UNRWA has a history of letting Hamas use its facilities for its terrorist activities. “Time and again, over the years, UNRWA has been abused by gunmen from different terrorist factions who are using UN facilities to stockpile weapons, to fire rockets from, to steal UNRWA humanitarian equipment and to cause damage and fire in UNRWA’s hangars,” a senior Foreign Ministry official told The Times of Israel.

“Against all evidence, UNRWA refuses to acknowledge reality and pathetically attempts to ingratiate itself with Hamas, pretending that nothing serious has happened,” the senior official said. “This is a classic case of beaten-wife syndrome, which we have been witnessing for years from UNRWA. The people of Gaza, and indeed taxpayers from countries who contribute to UNRWA’s budget — including Israel — deserve better.”

Read more: For second time, rockets found at UN school in Gaza | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/for-second-time-rockets-found-at-un-school-in-gaza/#ixzz38IGM415k



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 24, 2014, 04:28:53 am
Kerry meets with Netanyahu amid Israeli anger over ban on U.S. flights

The United States on Wednesday put the most direct pressure yet on its ally Israel to cut short its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, but Secretary of State John F. Kerry did not get a deal from Israel or the Palestinians to stop the bloodshed.

Despite a swirl of shuttle diplomacy, the war looked far from over Wednesday. Israeli leaders told their soldiers to prepare for an escalation inside the Gaza Strip, while the leader of Hamas vowed that his Islamist militant movement would not sign a permanent cease-fire until Israel ends its blockade of the coastal enclave.

Ordinary Israelis were upset with the United States and accused the Americans of cowardice after the Federal Aviation Administration, nervous that Hamas rockets have landed near Israel’s main airport, extended a ban on U.S. commercial flights to Tel Aviv. The decision was bad news for a small, image-conscious country such as Israel whose economy relies on international trade and tourism.

The FAA lifted the ban at 11:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

Kerry met in Israel with on Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was angry about the FAA action and suspicious that it was an attempt by the Obama administration to squeeze Israel to end its Gaza campaign.

But there were signs the fighting will get worse before it ends. While visiting troops preparing to enter the Gaza Strip, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon signaled that Israel will broaden its air and ground offensive beyond finding and destroying Hamas rockets and tunnels.

“We are preparing the next stages of the fighting after dealing with the tunnels, and you need to be ready for any mission,” Yaalon told the soldiers. “You need to be ready for more important steps in Gaza, and the units that are now on standby need to prepare to go in.”

The top Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, said his Islamist militant group, which controls the Gaza Strip but is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, will not sign any lasting cease-fire until Israel lifts its blockade of goods and frees Hamas prisoners.

“From Day One people told us, agree to a cease-fire and then negotiate on your demands,” Meshaal said at a news conference in Qatar, where Hamas maintains offices. “We reject this, and we reject it again tonight.”

But Meshaal did signal that a temporary “humanitarian truce” could still be possible.

U.S. officials are barred from direct meetings or negotiations with the militants.

Two senior State Department officials, who described Kerry’s discussions on the condition of anonymity, said the goal now is something that stops the fighting and opens the door for additional negotiations. Kerry returned to Cairo on Wednesday night.

rest: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/kerry-in-israel-to-push-for-cease-fire/2014/07/23/4d902146-123b-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9_story.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 25, 2014, 06:32:31 am
Israel On Alert After Deadly West Bank Clashes
Thousands of Israeli security forces are deployed in and around Jerusalem, as the violence seeps beyond the conflict in Gaza.


video: http://news.sky.com/story/1307077/israel-on-alert-after-deadly-west-bank-clashes

Israeli security forces have been put on heightened alert after two Palestinians were killed during a massive protest in the West Bank.

The victims were among an estimated 10,000 people who clashed violently with soldiers and border police at a checkpoint in Qalandiya, between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

The protest came hours after 15 people were killed and more than 200 injured when a UN-run school in the city of Beit Hanoun, Gaza, was hit by an Israeli artillery shell.

Israel said today it had deployed thousands of security forces were deployed in and around Jerusalem to "deal with any disturbances".

 The move came as Palestinians said Israeli aircraft struck 30 homes in Gaza early this morning, killing a senior militant.

Sky's David Bowden in Ashkelon, near Israel's border with Gaza, said: "After Friday prayers who knows what might happen. We are coming to the end of Ramadan. All of this is boiling up now."

Israel's security cabinet is meeting later to decide whether to expand its operation or consider a US-drafted proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.

At least 90 people were injured in Thursday night's checkpoint clashes in the West Bank, with reports live fire was being used.

 An Israeli army spokeswoman told the AFP news agency soldiers used "riot disposal means" to control the protest.

She said: "There are thousands of rioters there. They are rolling burning tyres and throwing Molotov cocktails and fireworks at soldiers and border police."

The school that was hit in Beit Hanoun was being used as a shelter by hundreds of Palestinians who fled their homes two weeks ago because of airstrikes.

It is the fourth time a UN facility has been hit during the recent conflict.

 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "I was shocked and appalled by what has happened in Beit Hanoun. It is totally unacceptable."

Chris Gunness, a spokesman for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said a window to allow civilians to leave the area was never granted.

He added: "The consequences of that appear to be tragic."

But the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), posting on its official Twitter feed, said the Red Cross had received its message to evacuate civilians from the school, but Hamas had prevented people evacuating the area.

The IDF added: "Several rockets launched from Gaza toward Israel fell short and hit Beit Hanoun."

 Israel's military said it had acted "against a terrorist target located in a populated area" and promised a probe into what happened.

"I accept it could have been Israeli fire" that landed on the UN school in Gaza, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said.

Last week, the UNRWA slammed militants after it discovered around 20 rockets were being kept in one of its schools.

More than 800 Palestinians have been killed in 17 days of fighting in Gaza, according to health officials. More than 140,000 people have fled the conflict.

Some 32 Israeli soldiers have also been killed, and three civilians have died in Israel from rocket fire.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 25, 2014, 03:13:18 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-rejects-kerry-gaza-ceasefire-proposal-israeli-tv-175452326.html
Israel rejects Kerry Gaza ceasefire proposal: Israeli TV
7/25/14

Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Israel on Friday rejected a Gaza ceasefire proposal presented by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli public television said.

"The security cabinet has unanimously rejected the ceasefire proposal of Kerry, as it stands," Channel 1 said, adding ministers would keep discussing it.

Kerry met UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Egypt's foreign minister on Friday as pressure mounted for a ceasefire to end an 18-day conflict that has killed more than 800 Palestinians and 37 people on the Israeli side, 34 of them soldiers.

Israeli media reported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government demanded the army be allowed to continue destroying tunnels used by the Palestinian group Hamas to carry out attacks inside Israel.

Kerry's proposal reportedly involved an initial truce to be followed by negotiations on a final deal by delegations from all the parties.

Hamas, the main power in Gaza, previously rejected an initial ceasefire proposal, demanding a full settlement before it stopped shooting, but international mediation efforts have gathered pace in the past few days.

Kerry, who spent another night in Cairo reaching out by telephone to regional officials, met Ban and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri for around half an hour.

He later went into a one-on-one meeting with Ban, who has also been shuttling around the region.

Kerry had said he would speak to reporters late on Friday.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 27, 2014, 02:30:26 pm
'Freedom Flotilla II' set to sail for Gaza from Turkey

Ankara gives flotilla green light and protection of Turkish Navy according to organizer, IHH, the same group behind the 2010 ,Mavi Marmara, flotilla.

Amid Israel's Operation Protective Edge to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza, a "Freedom Flotilla" was being organized in Turkey to bring humanitarian aid to the Hamas controlled Palestinian coastal enclave.

The flotilla being organized, called the "Freedom Flotilla II," is the successor of the Mavi Marmara flotilla that sought to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip in May 2010.

The new flotilla is being organized by the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief" (Insani Yardim Vakfi), otherwise known as the IHH, the same organization behind the Mavi Marmara ship, which Israel Navy commandos boarded, killing nine aboard who attacked them.

Israel and the US have both labelled the IHH a terrorist organization.

IHH chairman Bulent Yildrim told local Turkish media last week that the activists will set sail as they had received permission from the authorities in Ankara and that the Turkish Navy will provide protection. 

Diplomatic officials said Jerusalem was following the reports carefully, but stressed that it was not clear whether the flotilla would ultimately set sail.

So far there has only been a declaration of intent, with no firm date set, one official said.

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Freedom-Flotilla-II-set-to-sail-for-Gaza-from-Turkey-369065


Title: Christians In Ireland Stage Jewish Support Rally At Israeli Embassy
Post by: Christian40 on July 29, 2014, 05:04:55 am
And I will bless them that bless thee…

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. Romans 10:1

"Christian bible believers in Ireland this weekend staged a rally outside the Israeli Embassy in Dublin to show their support for the Jewish people and for the right of the nation of Israel, whose capital is Jerusalem, to defend themselves from rocket attacks.

Ireland’s ambassador to Israel Boaz Modai told Bro. Eliasen and his group that he was very grateful to receive the support of Ireland’s Christian population, seen above upper-left hand of photo.

If you are a Christian, then Israel and the Jewish people should have your full support. Not a “blank check” to do whatever they like, as some slanderously accuse us of doing, but standing with them knowing that Israel is still God’s holy land, and the Jews are still His chosen people. Certainly any sovereign nation has the right to defend themselves!"

Good job to Bro. Eliasen and his awesome crew of born-again Israel supporters. Keep up the good work, and keep looking for “that blessed hope“!

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=23738


Title: Netanyahu Tells Hamas To Buckle Up Because What Is Coming Will Be Worse
Post by: Christian40 on July 29, 2014, 05:09:23 am
“What is coming will be worse,” the Israeli military said in phone messages targeting Gaza militants.

For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. Psalm 69:35

"Israel’s prime minister warned Monday that the country faced a prolonged campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as the military urged residents in parts of the embattled territory to evacuate ahead of what appeared to be a broadening of the three-week war.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:4

The international community so far has been unable to bring about a cease-fire that would end the fighting, which has already killed at least 1,050 Palestinians, 52 Israeli soldiers and three civilians on the Israeli side.

But with attacks mounting from both sides Monday, and Israel and Hamas far apart on terms for a truce, a cease-fire appeared elusive.

“We need to be ready for a prolonged campaign,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, standing beside his defense minister and chief of staff. “We will continue to act aggressively and responsibly until the mission is completed to protect our citizens, soldiers and children.”

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri struck a defiant tone in response to Netanyahu’s warnings. “His threats do not scare Hamas or the Palestinian people and the occupation will pay the price for the massacres against civilians and children,” he said.

Israel said it sent text messages and phoned residents of northern Gaza — including Shijaiyah, the site of one of the war’s bloodiest battles last week — urging them to flee their homes and move toward Gaza City."

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=23777


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 31, 2014, 05:34:04 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/us-un-announce-deal-gaza-cease-fire-213411794--politics.html
US, UN announce deal on Gaza cease-fire
7/31/14

NEW DELHI (AP) — The United States and United Nations are announcing that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a humanitarian cease-fire to start Friday morning for 72 hours.

In a joint statement, the U.S. and U.N. said they had gotten assurances that all parties to the conflict had agreed to an unconditional cease-fire during which there would be negotiations on a more durable truce.

The statement was released in New Delhi, where Secretary of State John Kerry is now meeting with Indian officials.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 01, 2014, 11:55:31 am
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/joe-scarborough-israel-gaza-109577.html

7/31/14
Joe Scarborough: Israel's actions 'asinine'

Joe Scarborough on Thursday had harsh words for Israel’s actions in Gaza, saying the country was engaging in “indiscriminate” killing.

“This is asinine,” said the MSNBC host and former Republican congressman. “This continued killing of women and children in a way that appears to be indiscriminate is asinine.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/joe-scarborough-israel-gaza-109577.html#ixzz394dWOaxh


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 01, 2014, 07:18:45 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/latin-america-comes-force-against-israel-201551167.html
Latin America comes out in force against Israel
8/1/14

Montevideo (AFP) - Latin America's leaders are among the most vehement in condemning Israel's Gaza offensive -- labelling the Jewish state "terrorist", recalling ambassadors, and offering near-unanimous, unwavering support to Palestinians.

"I can't remember another similar situation where (all the countries in the region) have reacted practically as a bloc," said political scientist Reginaldo Nasser, a professor at the Pontifical University in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

One of the most symbolic recent developments came from Bolivian President Evo Morales -- one of the leaders of Latin America's far left -- who put Israel on its list of "Terrorist States" and eliminated a visa waiver program for Israeli citizens.

More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed and 8,000 injured, two-thirds of them civilians, in Gaza in 24 days of fighting between Hamas and Israel. The conflict has also cost the lives of 61 Israeli soldiers, as well as two civilians and a Thai farm worker killed by rocket fire.

More than 245 of the dead Palestinians were children, UNICEF has said.

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff this week called the Israeli military operation a "massacre."

Tensions between the two countries had already escalated a week earlier, when Brazil recalled its envoy from Tel Aviv, a move that prompted Israel's foreign ministry spokesman to call the Latin American powerhouse a "diplomatic dwarf".

Rousseff's condemnation did not go as far as some of her peers. Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro denounced "a war of extermination that has lasted nearly a century" against the Palestinian people. A lawmaker from his party used the term "genocide" -- a term rejected by Rousseff.

Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and El Salvador have also recalled their ambassadors for consultations, while Costa Rica and Argentina, which have the largest Jewish populations in the region, called the Israeli ambassador for meetings at their foreign ministries.

The region has universally condemned the violence from Israeli military operations, urged a ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations between the two sides.

On Thursday, Uruguay President Jose Mujica asked for "an immediate withdrawal" of Israeli troops from Gaza and suggested it may also recall its envoy in Tel Aviv.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor expressed "deep disappointment" over the recalls, saying they constituted "encouragement for Hamas, a group recognized as a terror organization by many countries around the world."

Other politically leftist Latin American countries had years earlier broken diplomatic relations with Israel, including Nicaragua in 2010, Venezuela and Bolivia in 2009, after a previous military campaign in Gaza, and Cuba, in 1973, after the Yom Kippur War.

The only somewhat dissonant voice has come from Colombia, where the center-right President Juan Manuel Santos has rejected calls to recall his diplomatic representative in Tel Aviv.

- Following the people -

Political scientist Nasser, himself surprised by the nearly unanimous condemnation of Israel, suggested several reasons.

"In the first place, a country today making a declaration against Israel is no longer considered outside international norms," he said.

There is also a link to anti-American sentiments, Nasser said, as a result of Israel's especially close diplomatic relationship to the United States.


But official moves have also reflected public anger at the war, said political scientist Ithai Bras, of the Autonomous University of Mexico.

In recent weeks, several protests across the region, from Mexico to southern Chile, have seen thousands of Latin Americans take to the streets in support of Palestinians.

These pro-Palestinian protests have been larger in Europe and Latin America than in Arab countries, Nasser noted, suggesting the issue speaks to concerns over asymmetrical relations.

Bras said the protests are "an identification with pain, a sentiment of solidarity with what is happening in Latin America," where feelings of oppression are widespread.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 07, 2014, 10:45:11 pm
Gaza rockets hit Israel as ceasefire expiry nears: army
http://news.yahoo.com/gaza-rockets-hit-israel-ceasefire-expiry-nears-army-014955188.html
8/7/14

Jerusalem (AFP) - Rockets fired from the Gaza Strip crashed into Israel Friday, the army said, less than four hours from the scheduled expiry of a three-day truce.

"Just now, two rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel. No injuries reported," the army said in a text message to journalists ahead of the 0500 GMT deadline for the truce to be renewed or end.

"Terrorists have violated the cease-fire," it added on its official Twitter site.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 14, 2014, 10:42:52 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/184037#.U-x_r8VdUdU
Obama Reportedly Blocks Israel Missile Shipment
US administration officials stop missile transfer, order all future transfers to be scrutinized in sign of further cooling ties.

8/14/14

A new report reveals that US President Barack Obama's administration stopped a shipment of missiles to Israel late last month and tightened weapons shipment procedures to Israel, as tensions between the two nations grow amid Operation Protective Edge.

The report in the Wall Street Journal, released Wednesday night, cites US officials in Obama's administration, who say they discovered Israel had requested a large number of Hellfire missiles directly through military-to-military channels. An initial batch of the missiles was about to be shipped, according to sources in Israel and the US Congress.

At that point, the Pentagon stepped in and put the transfer on hold. Further, top White House officials instructed various US military agencies to consult with the US State Department before approving any additional requests from Israel.

A senior Obama administration official was quoted in the report as saying the transfer shouldn't have been a routine "check-the-box approval," given Israel's defensive operation in Gaza against Hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the US.

The decision to clamp down on future transfers was the equivalent of "the United States saying 'the buck stops here. Wait a second…It's not OK anymore,'" said the official.

A Israeli defense official confirmed the reports to Walla! on Thursday, saying "the US delayed a shipment of Hellfire missiles to the Israeli airforce." He added "apparently it was (done) on the background of national tension" with Israel.

Obama has been at odds with Israel over the defensive operation in Gaza, making various attempts to press Israel into accepting a truce with the adamant terrorist organization of Hamas. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly responded to the pressure by telling the administration "not to ever second guess me again," after Hamas committed one of its many ceasefire violations.

Currently a new five-day ceasefire has come into effect as of Wednesday at midnight, with Obama calling Netanyahu shortly ahead of when it came into effect to push for a "sustainable" ceasefire.

According to US officials cited in the Wall Street Journal report, the Wednesday night phone call between Obama and Netanyahu was "particularly combative."

"Discovering" military-to-military arms transfers

The report noted that on July 20, ahead of the Hellfire missile cancellation, the IDF asked the US military for various munitions such as 120-mm mortar shells and 40-mm illuminating rounds, without the knowledge of Obama's administration.

Three days later the request was approved by the military, without Obama or US Secretary of State John Kerry being approached for approval, given that their approval was not required for such a transfer.

A US defense official added that the standard review process in such requests was properly followed.

The transfer without Obama's unnecessary approval was followed by a similar incident ahead of the Hellfire cancellation, which occurred the same day as the July 30 IDF strike on terrorists adjacent to a UN school, which the US slammed as "disgraceful."

In response, the IDF confirmed it targeted Islamic Jihad terrorists in the vicinity of the school. Previously the IDF provided video evidence that Hamas fires rockets from inside schools; further, UNRWA schools have been used in at least three cases to store Hamas rockets, after which UNRWA repeatedly returned the rockets to Hamas.

On the same day as the UN school strike, US reports said the 120-mm and 40-mm rounds had been released by the US army to the IDF, with one Obama administration official saying "we were blindsided."

A US defense official responded, saying "there was no intent to blindside anyone. The process for this transfer was followed precisely along the lines that it should have."

Demonstrating the tense ties between Obama's administration and Israel, a senior official of the administration told the Wall Street Journal "we have many, many friends around the world. The United States is their (Israel's) strongest friend."

"The notion that they are playing the United States, or that they're manipulating us publicly, completely miscalculates their place in the world," added the official.

The US decision to tighten down on arms transfers to Israel comes as the UK is threatening similar actions. On Tuesday, the British government threatened to suspend 12 arms export licenses to Israel if fighting resumed in Gaza.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 14, 2014, 10:37:27 am
UK MPs’ ‘Yes’ to Palestine – no earthquake, but certainly a tremor
Now that the Parliament of the former mandatory power has endorsed Palestinian statehood, it may become harder for Israel to stave off similar moves elsewhere


British MPs’ overwhelming 274-12 vote to urge their government to recognize a Palestinian state is no diplomatic earthquake. But it is certainly a tremor — and it could expand into a major fault that makes it increasingly difficult for Israel to argue against such unilateral moves.

Read more: UK MPs' 'Yes' to Palestine – no earthquake, but certainly a tremor | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/uk-mps-yes-to-palestine-no-earthquake-but-certainly-a-tremor/#ixzz3G8NUbl7O



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 19, 2014, 08:03:34 am
Seeking the annihilation of a UN member: Initiators and accomplices

Seeking the annihilation of a UN member: Initiators and accomplices

The announcement by Sweden’s new prime minister that his government plans to extend recognition to a “Palestinian” state raises major questions in both international and United Nations law.

Israelis are frequently asked: “Why is Israel opposed to recognizing a Palestinian state? Detach yourselves from the Palestinians like the French detached themselves from Algeria and the two states will live in peace with each other as was originally envisaged under the 1947 Partition Resolution.”

In response, the Israelis ask two questions, one of which answers the other: 1. Why have the Palestinians waited for 65 years to seek the establishment of an independent state? 2. In the Algerian struggle for independence, were the Algerians proclaiming that they were bent on occupying and destroying France? For over sixty years the leaders of the Arab population of Mandatory Palestine rejected every suggestion that they proclaim an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel as envisaged under the 1947 General Assembly Partition Resolution. Instead, the Palestinian Arab leaders committed themselves to destroying the Jewish state and invited neighboring Arab states to join them in the act of annihilation.

Years before Israel came into control of the remaining territory of the Mandate, the PLO, a terrorist organization, was created in 1964 with the goal of wiping Israel off the map. Hamas, of course, still proclaims this aim openly. What, then, has prompted Abu Mazen (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas), to undertake what the Palestinians have adamantly spurned for over six decades? Clearly, Abu Mazen has simply shifted gears and has adopted a different strategy to achieve the goal that he shares with Hamas. His diplomatic route represents war by other means. It is a two-step strategy, modeled after the UN two-step approach to South West Africa/South Africa, by which the initial assault on South Africa’s colonial rule in South West Africa (Namibia) was followed by a delegitimation of the apartheid regime within South Africa itself.

Analogously, and even after the formal repeal of the obscene “Zionism is racism” General Assembly resolution, the campaign within the UN to delegitimate Israel’s existence persisted, with an emphasis first on Israel’s “colonial” rule in the areas outside the pre-1967 armistice lines, followed by attempts to deny Israel’s right to exist at all.

By stamping Israel as an apartheid state akin to South Africa, Israel could be prevented from successfully defending itself. Its responses to repeated armed attacks against its civilian populations could then more readily be deemed “aggression” rather than self-defense; all its use of force would be automatically labeled “war crimes;” and it could be boycotted, denied the right to obtain arms, or even to export the goods wherewith to pay for its existence.

All international institutions would be enlisted to stamp Israel as an illegal entity.

Operating in this context, the Palestinian Authority succeeded in getting the General Assembly to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality of the defensive wall that Israel was constructing. The Court was requested to add its seal of approval to the Assembly’s preset conclusions, and the Court willingly obliged.

In its opinion, the Court asserted, inter alia, that Israel could not invoke the right of self-defense, as enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter, against Palestinian suicide bombings, since the provision only applies to defense against attacks from another state and not from a non-state entity. Unsurprisingly, the permanent members of the Security Council never endorsed such a proposition.

To confirm that Abu Mazen has no intention of erecting a Palestinian state committed to living in peace with Israel, the following facts ought to be taken into account: 1. Abu Mazen refuses to acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state, since that would be to recognize Israel’s rights in the Land of Israel. He is prepared to recognize the presence of two states in Mandatory Palestine, both labeled Palestinian, but not a Jewish and Palestinian state. So long as he refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, his intentions are blatantly directed to replacing that state with some other entity.

2. He continues to deny that Israel has any historical attachment to Jerusalem. The Western Wall of Solomon’s temple, he asserts, is a figment of imagination.

3. He published an Op-Ed article in The New York Times stating candidly that his purpose in proclaiming a Palestinian state is “lawfare.” He said: “Palestine’s admission to the United Nations would pave the way for the internationalization of the conflict as a legal matter, not only as a political one. It would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights treaty bodies and the International Criminal Court.”

4. He continues to insist that all “seven million Palestinian refugees” will enjoy the right of “return.”

This is a euphemism for a program to annihilate the Jewish state with one fell swoop.

5. He continues to complain that the Palestinians have suffered “under occupation for 63 years” – something that confirms that he is not content with a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but that the very existence of Israel represents “occupation” of Palestinian land. It lies at the root of Abu Mazen’s strategy.

6. Abu Mazen’s lack of integrity is reflected in his failure to retract the Holocaust-denying thesis he presented in the doctoral dissertation that he completed at Moscow University. He has never apologized to the Jewish people for such a gross distortion of the historical record.

7. Abu Mazen has concluded an agreement with Hamas for the establishment of a “united” Palestinian entity. Hamas openly espouses the destruction of Israel in its Charter, and Abu Mazen has not repudiated their right to adhere to it.

8. If any further evidence was required, it was dramatically revealed when Abu Mazen, in his recent address to the General Assembly, charged Israel with aggression against Hamas, even though it was clear to him and the entire world that Israel had only acted in self-defense after its citizens had been targeted by hundreds of rockets. If his aim was peace, he should have been addressing aggression by Hamas and not addressing the United Nations.

In sum, the Palestinian bid for recognition as a state is part of a process of bringing about the replacement of Israel with a Palestinian state extending from the coast to the Jordan River. This scheme manifestly violates United Nations law and international law. The United Nations, as its Charter proclaims in Article 2 (1), “is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.” Under Article 2(4) all its members are pledged to refrain from the threat of force “against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”

A scheme to replace Israel with a Palestinian state from the coast to the Jordan is a clear violation of the Charter. It may even smack of genocide. Any country extending recognition to a Palestinian state before a peace settlement has been attained between the parties clearly acknowledging the right of Israel to continue to exist as a sovereign independent state, violates the principles of the UN Charter and supports a genocidal scheme for the destruction of a member state. It acts as an accomplice to international aggression.


http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Seeking-the-annihilation-of-a-UN-member-Initiators-and-accomplices-379140


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 20, 2014, 12:22:40 pm
http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Foreign-Relations/Middle-East/2-Arab-Israeli-conflict.php

Arab – Israeli Conflict: New Zealand Position

Since the beginning of the Arab – Israeli conflict, New Zealand has sought to approach the issue even-handedly, seeking a solution that provided for a Jewish/Israeli and a Palestinian state on the land of the former British mandate of Palestine. This policy has its origins in our commitment to the 1947 United Nations (UN) partition resolution on Palestine (Jewish state, Arab state, and internationalisation of Jerusalem) and the 1967 UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution on the need for a just settlement and Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territories.

The policy has been underpinned through contributions to the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) since 1954 and to the Sinai Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) since 1982. We have also core funded the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).

New Zealand continues to advocate for a balanced and constructive resolution of interests, based on the need for a lasting two-state settlement in accordance with UNSC resolutions and subsequent agreements between the two parties. We have sought in our statements in the United Nations to draw attention to the rights and responsibilities of both sides. In particular, while constantly advocating the need for a peaceful two-state settlement, New Zealand has expressed strong opposition to ongoing acts of violent resistance against Israel, while underlining Israel’s own responsibility to act lawfully and with restraint.

New Zealand is prepared to speak out against actions by any party that are likely to have contravened international law. These include rocket attacks by Hamas and/or other Palestinian militant groups against Israel.  Equally, we have spoken out against actions by Israel, including the blockade of the Gaza Strip, and expansion of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

This carefully balanced position is consistent with New Zealand’s international reputation for fair-mindedness. It reflects the value we, as a small country, place on the international rule of law.

Positions New Zealand takes on resolutions within the United Nations reflect this even-handed, balanced and constructive approach.  We acknowledge that, ultimately, a lasting two-state settlement is something that will have to be negotiated between the two principle parties.  But the UN and its members have a role to play in promoting dialogue to encourage that negotiated settlement.   There is also an important role to play by the UN development and humanitarian agencies in addressing the severe humanitarian hardships, and growing health-related problems, among the Palestinian people, especially women and children.

New Zealand therefore supports UN resolutions that advance the two-state solution, uphold international law, including human rights and humanitarian law, or call for humanitarian assistance.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 20, 2014, 12:26:38 pm
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25425/Default.aspx
Can Israel Still Count on America at UN Security Council?
Sunday, October 19, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been loudly threatening to unilaterally petition the international community to recognize the State of Palestine and force an Israeli withdrawal, and upcoming changes on the UN Security Council might afford him the best opportunity in decades to do so.

Abbas wants the United Nations to officially recognize Palestinian sovereignty and independence outside the framework of a bilateral peace agreement with Israel, which looks to be increasingly out of reach.

He also wants the UN Security Council, the only UN body able to pass legally-binding decisions, to set a firm date for an Israeli withdrawal from all of Judea, Samaria and the eastern half of Jerusalem.

Until now, getting the Security Council to make such far-reaching moves has been virtually impossible. Of the five permanent council members, only Russia and China could be counted upon to support the Palestinian motion, and only to embarrass the Americans, who could traditionally be counted upon to veto any such proposal.

But now, Israeli analysts aren’t so sure Washington would have the Jewish state’s back.

In January, the Security Council will be joined by five new non-permanent members - New Zealand, Spain, Angola, Malaysia and Venezuela. Of those, Malaysia and Venezuela would almost certainly support the Palestinian motion, and news over the weekend was that Spain had been successfully lobbied to do the same if and when the time comes.

New Zealand and Angola remained undecided on the issue, but neither nation has a track record of diplomat support for Israel vis-a-vis its conflict with the Arabs.


Usually, none of that would matter, because either the US, Britain or France - the other three permanent council members along with Russia and China - would simply veto any motion that posed a threat to Israel or regional stability.

But Britain’s parliament last week held a non-binding vote in which is supported recognition of a State of Palestine, and if mid-term congressional elections go badly for the Democrats in America, there is growing speculation that the Obama White House might seek some retribution against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by withholding the US veto on the Security Council.

That would leave only Paris to thwart the Palestinian scheme, which Israel could by no means count on considering France’s burgeoning and increasingly violent Muslim minority.

Even if this somewhat extreme scenario weren’t to play out, it is widely believed in Israel that the Obama Administration wouldn’t hesitate to use the threat of such a narrative to diplomatically strong-arm Jerusalem back to the negotiating table on Arab terms.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 21, 2014, 08:47:39 pm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4582208,00.html
Another diplomatic problem for Israel: Qatar eyeing UN chief position
The Emir of Qatar pushing nomination of former Qatari prime minister for UN secretary general. If Hamas' biggest benefactor has its way, it could use the important position to further turn the world against Israel.


Published:    10.20.14

Israel might be facing another diplomatic problem soon as Qatar, a harsh critic of Israel and one of Hamas' main sources of funding, is eyeing the role of UN Secretary General, according to a report Sunday in the Telegraph.
 
Sources in the Persian Gulf told the paper that the young new Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid al-Thani, is trying to promote the nomination of Qatar's former prime minister, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, for the role of UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who is ending his term in 2016.
 
According to the paper, the Emir of Qatar offered Hamad bin Jassim, who served as prime minister under the previous Emir of Qatar and resigned last year, to support his campaign for the United Nation's Secretary General as a form of "political compensation."
 
The Telegraph noted that Qatar played a central role in the 2006 election of the then-foreign minister of South Korea, Ban Ki-moon.
 
Qatar may be a small nation of less than 2 million residents, most of them not even citizens, but its vast oil and gas stocks and its exaggerated wealth give it great political and economic influence all over the world. This is how, for example, it was chosen - against all expectations - to host the 2022 World Cup games (according to reports, Qatar did so using bribery) as well as hosting many other conferences and large-scale international events, which add to its prestige.
 
If Qatar has its way again and the UN Secretary General is a Qatari appointment, Israel's status in the world could suffer further.
 
Qatar, which Israel accuses of funding Hamas and other terror organizations, is a harsh critic of Israel, even though the two countries have had various degrees of economic ties over the years.
 
Comments made by the UN Secretary General receive broad coverage throughout the world and if a Qatari is elected to this position, it would be easier for Doha to smear Israel.
 
The UN's member states are those who elect the Secretary General and Qatar has already proven it could influence those pulling the strings using diplomatic and economic pressure.
 
Even so, an election of the Qatari sheikh at this moment in time could draw criticism not just from Israel, but from other countries amid reports and suspicions Qatar is aiding other terror organizations in addition to Hamas. Qatar has extensive ties, among others, with the Nusra Front (an al-Qaeda-linked group operating in Syria), and other Islamist factions fighting to topple Bashar Assad's regime.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani is considered one of the strongest political figures in Qatar. He served as foreign minister of Qatar since 1992 and from 2007, as both prime minister and foreign minister until 2013. In addition to his political influence, he also gained economic influence when he served as the head of the Qatar Investment Authority that invests billions of dollars worldwide on behalf of the Qatari regime. He also held several senior positions in banks and other important Qatari institutions.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 22, 2014, 11:23:59 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYMviMHH0nc


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 29, 2014, 10:09:35 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/un-holds-emergency-meeting-israel-tensions-200415654.html
UN holds emergency meeting on Israel tensions
10/29/14

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. official warned in an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Wednesday that Israel's plans for further settlements in east Jerusalem threaten the viability of the future Palestinian state. Close ally the United States also warned against Israel's plans.

The council met at the request of member Jordan on behalf of the Palestinians, who are insisting upon a halt to such settlement efforts.

Tensions have been revived between Arabs and Jews over Israel's plans to build about 1,000 housing units in east Jerusalem, the part of the city the Palestinians demand for their future state.

U.N. political chief Jeffrey Feltman said the settlements, if pursued, would raise "grave doubts" about Israel's plans for a durable peace solution with the Palestinians, especially as wounds from the latest conflict in Gaza continue to heal. He warned that the latest developments move the situation "ever closer to a one-state reality."

Israel's ambassador, Ron Prosor, said his country is doing everything possible to minimize tensions. The Palestinian ambassador, Riyad Mansour, said Israel isn't listening and called the situation "explosive."

Feltman suggested that the Security Council take action on the issue, and pushed both sides to remedy tensions through negotiations. The latest push for talks, led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, failed.

The meeting gave council members a chance to vent about the complicated tensions and point out that such settlements are a breach of international law, but little action had been expected to come from the meeting. The U.S. is a permanent council member with the power to veto any resolutions that target Israel.

The U.S. called Israel's latest settlements plans "deeply concerning," saying any settlement activity "will already escalate tensions at a time they are already tense enough." The U.S. alternate representative for special political affairs, David Pressman, urged both sides to refrain from "provocative actions."

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the new settlement plans, saying there was a wide consensus in Israel to continue building throughout the east Jerusalem, just as every Israeli government has done since Israel captured the city in 1967.

East Jerusalem is home to the city's most sensitive Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites. Israel says the whole city will forever be its capital, citing historical, religious and security reasons.

"Jerusalem had a Jewish character long before most cities in the world had any character," Prosor told the council.

The international community, including the United States, does not recognize Israel's annexation of the eastern sector of Jerusalem.

Palestinian protesters have been clashing regularly with Israeli security forces in east Jerusalem for months, and the U.N. says the 50-day war over the summer killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians. Violence has risen in recent days at a key Jerusalem holy site, the Dome of the Rock, which is revered by both Jews and Muslims.

Israel's image is under pressure as some countries lose patience with its actions. British lawmakers this month voted in favor of recognizing Palestine as a state, a symbolic move. And Sweden's new prime minister has said his government will recognize a Palestinian state.

The Palestinians, trying to build on such sentiments, have been trying to line up support in the Security Council for a resolution that would set November 2016 as the deadline for Israeli troops to withdraw from all Palestinian territories.

Feltman mentioned the resolution in his speech, and France and Argentina urged the council to take some kind of action instead of standing by.

"Mr. Feltman and the secretary-general are feeling the situation is so critical that the Security Council has to do something," Mansour told reporters, saying Israel has no reason to change its course unless it sees there could be consequences.

But diplomats warn that finding agreement on what they call a balanced resolution is difficult.

Asked by reporters about Feltman's call for Security Council action, Prosor told reporters: "Any attempt to force things from the outside will never succeed."


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 04, 2014, 04:59:45 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=27928
ISLAMIC STATE CALLS FOR THE INVASION OF JERUSALEM
NTEB News Desk | November 4, 2014 | 16 Comments

THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS ISIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL

“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.” Luke 21:20

The allied rocket strike attacks on ISIS in Syria and Iraq have certainly slowed down their forward momentum, but has not even come close to stopping them. The Russian Times today reports that the Islamic State has seized it’s second oil field in Syria in a week:

Islamic State militants claim to have gained control of the Jahar gas field in central Homs province from the Syrian army. The militants posted pictures on social media boasting of the capture, which they now consider part of their ‘Caliphate.’ The photos depict an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) flag raised over the field as well as captured Syrian tanks and weapons, says SITE, a jihadist web monitoring service. IS says they have captured two tanks, seven four-wheel drive cars, and several machine guns after clashes with regime forces. Last Thursday, the insurgents took control of the Sha’ar gas field, where they killed at least 30 pro-government soldiers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The mere fact that ISIS is still about to do that after a month of allied bombing shows you how ineffective the strikes truly are. But this battle that has been raging for months now is about one thing and one thing only – Israel. Today the Islamic State made the announcement that revealed their true intentions.

CAIRO, NOVEMBER 3 – The Islamic State (ISIS) has issued a statement saying that an Islamic Caliphate will be established in the Sinai, calling it the ”first step towards the invasion of Jerusalem”. The statement threatens Egyptian security forces, which were suffered an attack on October 24. ISIS urged jihadists in the region to ”destroy police checkpoints and stations, launch RPGs at their gatherings and show the world that the Rule of God must be imposed”.

As the prophets have declared, Jerusalem is the end game in this spiritual battle. Everything that is happening right now will reach it’s true fulfillment in the battle of Armageddon during the time of Jacob’s trouble.

“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:7

For now, the Islamic State seems to be on a preordained unstoppable path that began with the formation of a caliphate in Iraq and ends in an attack on Jerusalem. Just how much they will be able to accomplish only God knows. But they are giving it their best shot which so far has been surprisingly effective.  These are the days written of by the prophets, the actors have taken the stage as we watch the play unfold. Birth pangs, prophecy, and the blessed hope.

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 05, 2014, 04:48:00 pm
Israel 'on brink of third intifada' after new car attack
A second car attack in Jerusalem, coupled with further confrontations at the Al Aqsa mosque, have increased fears of a third intifada


 Israel was feared to be descending into a third intifada on Wednesday night after a police officer was killed and 14 people injured in a car attack, the second such incident in two weeks coming amid continued rioting in Jerusalem's holiest places.

A Palestinian member of the militant group Hamas rammed a truck into a crowded light rail station, backed out and then continued to drive, hitting several cars and injuring passengers and pedestrians on the street.

He got out of the car and attacked a group of civilians and police officers on the side of the road with a metal bar before he was shot and killed.

A Hamas statement claimed responsibility and praised the "glorious operation" of the attacker, named as Ibrahim al-Akri, 38, from the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem.

He had "retaliated for the blood of his people and the sacredness of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem," a statement said.

rest: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11211675/Israel-on-brink-of-third-intifada-after-new-car-attack.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 05, 2014, 04:49:01 pm
Jordan recalls envoy from Israel over 'unprecedented escalation in Jerusalem'
   
Official state media says the envoy is being returned home due to Israeli policies on Temple Mount.
 
The Jordanian government has instructed its ambassador in Tel Aviv to return home due to what Amman says is "unprecedented Israeli escalation in Jerusalem."

The move comes just hours after a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem rammed his vehicle into two light rail stations in the capital, killing a Border Police officer and injuring over a dozen others.

Earlier on Wednesday, police temporarily sealed off the Temple Mount to worshipers after clashes erupted with Palestinian stone-throwers who barricaded themselves with stockpiles of stones and firecrackers in Al-Aksa Mosque.

Jordan will also lodge a formal complaint with the UN Security Council over Israeli actions in Jerusalem and its holy sites, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Jordanian prime minister had instructed Jordan's delegation at the United Nations to "lodge an official complaint to the Security Council", Mohammad Al-Momani, government spokesman, told Reuters by telephone.

Jordan has in recent weeks been vocal in its concern over rising tensions in Jerusalem, particularly over what Arabs perceive to be threats to the status quo.

Last week, King Abdullah promised that Jordan would safeguard holy Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem, as a former senior official warned that aggressive Israeli actions will lead to a third intifada.

Jordan will “continue to confront, through all available means, Israeli unilateral policies and measures in Jerusalem and preserve its Muslim and Christian holy sites, until peace is restored to the land of peace,” said King Abdullah in a speech, Jordan News Agency – Petra reported.

“The Palestinian cause remains our principal cause and is a higher national interest,” said Abdullah.

The Jordanian monarch also vowed his country would continue “to mobilize international support to rebuild Gaza, following the vile Israeli aggression, which killed thousands of our brethren.”

The king linked preventing further “aggression” to a two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative.

He spoke in response to a surge of violence between Jewish and Arab residents of Jerusalem, in the wake of the attempted assassination on Wednesday night of rightwing activist Yehudah Glick.

In response to the violence, Israel closed the Temple Mount to all Muslim worshipers on Thursday, something it has not done in years.

Only Muslim women and male worshipers over 50 were admitted on Friday when it reopened. By Saturday all Muslims could access the site, and on Sunday Jewish and Christian visitors, who had been banned from the area for three days, were allowed to return.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the site would remain open to Muslim worshipers and that there were no plans to close it.

http://www.jpost.com/landedpages/printarticle.aspx?id=380853


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 06, 2014, 08:30:34 am
Jordan tells U.N. ready to stop further Israeli raids on holy site

 Jordan complained to the United Nations Security Council about a raid by Israeli security forces on Wednesday on a sacred compound in Jerusalem housing the Al Aqsa mosque and said it would "take lawful steps and measures" to stop further attacks.

How? Sounds like war is brewing...  :o

Tensions over the compound, the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest place in Judaism, have fueled daily clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians in Jerusalem in recent weeks.

In a letter to the Security Council, Jordan called on the 15-member body to hold Israel accountable for the raid, which it said had sparked fires that damaged ceiling mosaics and carpet in the Haram al-Sharif compound, also known as Temple Mount.

Australian Ambassador Gary Quinlan, president of the council this month, told reporters that he also received letters from the Israeli and Palestinian missions about the recent violence.

Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel in protest at an increase in Israeli "violations."

"This is without prejudice to any further lawful steps and measures that Jordan will be taking to stop Israeli attacks against the Haram al-Sharif," Jordan's U.N. Ambassador Dina Kawar wrote in the letter to the council that was obtained by Reuters.

"Such counter measures and steps will be notified to the Security Council as appropriate," said Kawar. Jordan is a member of the council for 2014-15.

Kawar called on the Security Council to consider steps that could be taken to stop further violations by Israel that "if allowed to proceed will lead to another crisis threatening international peace and security in the Middle East."

Jordan's King Abdullah is custodian of the compound, a role recognized in a 1994 peace treaty with Israel. The compound, which also houses the Dome of the Rock, is run by Jordanian government employees. Jews are not allowed to pray there.

Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammad rose to heaven from the 7th-century Dome of the Rock. Jews revere the hilltop in Jerusalem's walled Old City as Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest place, where two Biblical temples once stood.

http://news.yahoo.com/jordan-tells-u-n-ready-stop-further-israeli-223052424.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 07, 2014, 08:37:46 am
Chief Rabbi: Jewish prayer on Temple Mount is crime punishable by death

Shalom Aharon Baadani, the teen who died Friday after sustaining critical wounds in a terror attack at the Jerusalem light rail this week, was laid to rest at the city's Givat Shaul cemetery.

Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef spoke at the boy's funeral and centered his talk on the wave of violence that has swept through the capital.

He lashed out at Jews who go up to the Temple Mount, suggesting they played a role in the recent surge in violence, which has raised concerns of a possible third Palestinian intifada, or uprising. "We must stop this," he said, directing his comments at Jewish worshipers who insist on praying at the contested site, despite the controversies it stirs. "Only then will the bloodshed end."

The prominent rabbi went so far as to liken Jewish prayer atop the mountaintop that is holy to both Muslims and Jews, to a sever crime "punishable by death."

The passing of 17-year-old Baadani marks the second death in Wednesday's terror attack that left a Border Police officer dead and over a dozen people injured after a car slammed into pedestrians waiting at a light rail stop.

Three Israelis were severely injured in the incident and one was remains in serious condition, Hadassah University Medical Center said after announcing Baadani's death.

The man who carried out the attack, a 38-year-old Shuafat resident, was shot and killed by security forces, after he crashed his and went on to attack bystanders with a metal crowbar.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Chief-Rabbi-Jewish-prayer-on-Temple-Mount-is-crime-punishable-by-death-381106

Sorry their Chief Rabbi, but you can pray anywhere... But you should be praying to Jesus

Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Mat 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Mat 23:39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.


your house is left unto you desolate. That means your temple mount is worthless... Just saying


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 07, 2014, 11:45:06 am
Heavy security at contested Jerusalem shrine

Notice how the liberal media is portraying the Temple Mount as just a shrine or minor little place. The Temple Mount is the Holiest place on Earth...

Israel's prime minister blamed "militant Islamic incitement" for growing tensions in Jerusalem, especially at a contested holy site that was ringed Friday by hundreds of Israeli riot police as about 15,000 Muslims performed weekly prayers there.
Related Stories

    Israel tries to soothe tensions over Jerusalem Associated Press
    Jerusalem on edge in row over contested shrine Associated Press
    Netanyahu urges lawmakers' restraint over Jerusalem's Aqsa mosque Reuters
    Israeli far-right lawmaker visits flashpoint holy site AFP
    Clashes in West Bank as flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque reopens AFP

The prayers ended peacefully, though clashes erupted again later in the day between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli troops in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem, at the main Israeli checkpoint on the outskirts of the city and at several locations in the West Bank.

Tensions have been rising in recent weeks over the Jerusalem shrine, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, and to Jews as the Temple Mount.

They spiked on Wednesday during a confrontation between police and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is contained within the site.

The complex, the third holiest site in Islam, houses both Al-Aqsa and the gold-topped Dome of the Rock. Jews also revere it as the location of their biblical temples and consider it the most sacred location in their faith.

Since Israel captured the sacred plateau, along with the rest of east Jerusalem, from Jordan in 1967, Jewish worshippers have been allowed to visit — but not pray — at the site. The area is run by Muslim authorities under Jordanian custody.

rest: https://news.yahoo.com/heavy-security-muslims-pray-tense-jerusalem-102722956.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 07, 2014, 12:25:53 pm
Quote
Notice how the liberal media is portraying the Temple Mount as just a shrine or minor little place. The Temple Mount is the Holiest place on Earth...

Aren't shrines "worship" temples for freemasons and other occult groups?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 07, 2014, 12:38:09 pm
Aren't shrines "worship" temples for freemasons and other occult groups?

lots of shrines, they are usually small places of worship. They are trying to make the temple mount into just a little place of no concern.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 08, 2014, 12:28:59 pm
Jerusalem should be capital of two states: top EU diplomat

The European Union's top diplomat Federica Mogherini said on Saturday that Jerusalem "should be the capital of two states", as tensions gripped the holy city hit by Israeli-Palestinian violence.

"I think Jerusalem can be and should be the capital of two states," Mogherini told reporters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, touching on a sensitive issue that has blocked peace efforts for decades.

Her appeal, at a joint news conference with Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah, came hours after the killing of an Arab-Israeli by police fanned tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

The shooting in northern Israel came after another night of clashes in east Jerusalem between youths hurling stones and firecrackers at police, who retaliated with rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas.

The violence has spiked as Israel has pushed ahead with its policy to build Jewish settlements on lands the Palestinians want for a future state and against the background of efforts by Jewish extremists to secure rights to pray at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque.

"Jerusalem is not just a beautiful city, the challenge is to show that Jerusalem can be shared in peace and respect," said Mogherini.

"The message is not for the people who live here, the message is to the rest of the world," she said.

"It is not a Palestinian-Israeli situation, it is a global issue."

On Friday, Mogherini met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who dismissed her criticism of Israeli settlement building in annexed east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

"Jerusalem is our capital and as such is not a settlement," he insisted.

http://news.yahoo.com/eu-foreign-chief-gaza-calls-palestinian-state-110846580.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 15, 2014, 06:42:50 am
British Parliament Votes to Recognize 'Palestine'

The British parliament on Monday night officially voted in favor of recognizing the “state of Palestine”. The non-binding resolution was passed by 274 in favor to 12 votes against, to "recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel" as part of a "contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution".   

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186132#.VGa_YJvTkic


French Jews: Recognition of 'Palestine' will Fuel Anti-Semitism

CRIF, the umbrella group representing France’s Jewish community, warned on Friday that the French government’s upcoming vote on recognizing “Palestine” may fuel anti-Semitism. 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/187467#.VGa6vpvTkic


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 18, 2014, 09:30:36 am
Four killed in attack on Jerusalem synagogue

    Palestinians armed with cleavers and gun attack synagogue
    Three victims were US-Israeli citizens, one a UK-Israeli citizen
    Netanyahu vows to ‘respond with a heavy hand’
    Hamas praises attack as response to ‘Israeli crimes’

Jerusalem synagogue attack – live updates
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/18/deadly-attack-in-jerusalem-synagogue


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 23, 2014, 02:55:28 pm
Israel May Be Willing To Cede Parts Of East Jerusalem To The Palestinians

Israel’s deputy foreign minister intimated Friday that Israel would be prepared to cede sovereignty over Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, which it annexed after capturing the area from Jordan in the 1967 war, as part of a permanent accord with the Palestinians. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/israel-willing-to-cede-parts-of-east-jerusalem-2014-11


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 23, 2014, 06:55:49 pm
Israel May Be Willing To Cede Parts Of East Jerusalem To The Palestinians

Israel’s deputy foreign minister intimated Friday that Israel would be prepared to cede sovereignty over Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, which it annexed after capturing the area from Jordan in the 1967 war, as part of a permanent accord with the Palestinians. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/israel-willing-to-cede-parts-of-east-jerusalem-2014-11

It's not just America, but the EU is playing their role in terms of pressuring Israel.

Yes - it's very important to have the pre-trib doctrine understood and down pat - you saw what happened to Nazi Germany when "churches" there bought into replacement theology. And now you're seeing it here(ie-it's not just the lukewarm, Laodicean 501c3 corporate "church" - even KJB-only ministries/churches are buying into it too now).

It's not just the lost world that's turning against Israel.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 27, 2014, 11:27:38 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-holds-bitter-debate-over-whether-to-recognize-palestine/
EU holds bitter debate over whether to recognize Palestine
One lawmaker brands Israel ‘a state of child killers and land robbers,’ while another likens a Palestinian state to Islamic State terror group


11/27/14

STRASBOURG, France — New EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini called on Israel and the Palestinians Wednesday to resume direct peace talks, as the European Parliament debated whether to recognize a Palestinian state.

“The sense of urgency is getting higher and higher in the absence of a political context,” Mogherini told lawmakers at the start of what she said was a “timely” debate. “There has to be a direct dialogue.”

The former Italian foreign minister, who has taken over as diplomatic chief of the 28-nation European Union, said the bloc was ready to “play a role” in moving the peace process forward. She also reiterated her support for a two-state solution to resolve the crisis.

The debate came as a growing number of European leaders and lawmakers are calling for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

In Wednesday’s debate, European Parliament members appeared sharply divided on what policy to endorse. One lawmaker branded Israel “a state of child killers and land robbers,” while another likened a Palestinian state to the Islamic State terrorist group.

A vote, originally expected Thursday, was put off until December.

Recognition of a country is a decision for national governments. But Mogherini told the lawmakers that the bloc needs to forge “a united and strong message” to influence events.

The ultimate goal, Mogherini said, is creation of an independent Palestinian state and securing Israel’s right to live in “security, safety and peace.” She said one cannot happen without the other.

On Oct. 30, Sweden’s government became the first Western European nation in the EU to recognize Palestinian statehood. Since then, lawmakers in Britain, Spain and Ireland have approved non-binding motions urging recognition. French legislators are scheduled to debate a similar measure on Friday.

The trend in favor of recognition has aroused both alarm and approval in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday warned that it would encourage the Palestinians to “harden their positions” and make peace harder to achieve.

Other Israelis said the Europeans’ actions, and the snowball effect they might have, could force their country back to the negotiating table with the Palestinians for substantive talks.

“Without European pressure, nothing here will budge,” said Alon Liel, a former director of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Germany, Israel’s closest European ally and the EU’s most powerful member, is a leading opponent of recognizing Palestinian statehood before Israel does. To do so, German officials say, would do more harm than good.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday it was better to focus on getting Israel-Palestinian talks going again, although “that appears very difficult in the current conditions.” She added that “we also believe that unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state won’t move us forward.”

The British Parliament’s motion in favor of recognition was adopted 274-12 with support from both major parties, though Prime Minister David Cameron and other government leaders abstained. Lawmakers said they hoped the vote would help kick-start the peace process.

Jeremy Corbyn, a Labour member of Parliament who helped introduce the recognition measure, said there had been a “sea change in opinion” in Europe caused by the Israeli military campaign in Gaza this summer.

“It was so brutal and so televised,” said Corbyn. “I think Netanyahu has spectacularly badly handled relations with most other governments and certainly with the UN.”

Without debate, Ireland’s upper legislative chamber adopted its resolution after Sen. Averil Power of the center-right Fianna Fail party called for a clear sign of support for the Palestinian people “in the aftermath of Israel’s latest assault on Gaza.”

Mogherini, who took office Nov. 1, has said she hopes there will be a Palestinian state within five years. Her first trip as the EU’s top diplomat was to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

The European Union, Israel’s top trading partner and the No. 1 donor to the Palestinian Authority, can be the “first political player” in the region as well, she told the European Parliament.

Rosa Balfour, director for the Europe in the World program at the European Policy Center, a Brussels-based think tank, said Mogherini, a former Italian foreign minister, appears to have made a personal commitment to trying to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

“Both she and the EU see that conflict as being at the heart of European foreign policy,” said Balfour.

Brokered by the US, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks restarted in July 2013 but collapsed in April, with tensions and violence mounting again dramatically in recent weeks.

There has been international alarm over a spate of deadly terror attacks carried out by Palestinians inside Israel along with rioting in East Jerusalem and the deadlock over peace talks that are fueling fear of another flareup after the Israel-Hamas war earlier this year.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2014, 07:34:57 am
Push for Palestinian statehood grows in Europe as France begins debate
As France’s National Assembly began debating a non-binding vote on recognizing a state of Palestine Friday, lawmakers joined three other democratic chambers and one European leader who have done the same in less than six weeks.   

http://news.yahoo.com/push-palestinian-statehood-grows-europe-france-begins-debate-123149136.html


Jordanians Protest Against 'Dangerous' Jewish State Law

Hundreds of Jordanians joined a rally organized by the Muslim Brotherhood to denounce Israeli plans to enshrine in law the country's status as the national Jewish homeland. An estimated 1,500 protesters set off from the Husseini mosque in downtown Amman holding up signs saying "Al-Aqsa is in danger", according to AFP. 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188010#.VHlNF_nF_IY


Netanyahu: We Can't Continue Governing Like This
“One cannot govern under the present situation”, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his associates in recent days, according to a report Friday on Channel 2 News. Netanyahu, according to the report, has been holding talks with his aides in light of the ongoing tensions in the coalition. These conversations have highlighted Netanyahu’s frustration over the situation and particularly his mistrust of Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who heads the Yesh Atid party.   

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188012#.VHlMzvnF_IY


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2014, 10:33:15 am
Arab League foreign ministers agree to formally present draft resolution to the UN Security Council that will set timeframe for creation of Palestinian state - @Reuters


 (Reuters) - Arab League foreign ministers endorsed on Saturday a draft resolution setting a timeframe for the creation of a Palestinian state and said they would formally present it to the United Nations Security Council for a vote within days.

The ministers said in a statement after their meeting that a follow-up committee including Jordan, an Arab member of the Security Council, would begin to seek international backing for the resolution. Arab League chief Nabil al-Araby said Jordan would present the draft to the Security Council within days.

A proposed resolution on a Palestinian state is unlikely to gain the support of veto-wielding council member the United States, a key ally of Israel. It is not clear whether Washington would engage in formal negotiations on such a document.

Speaking at the opening of the session in Cairo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel had left his people no option but to turn directly to the international community.

"The current situation in the Palestinian territories cannot continue," he said. "There is no longer a partner for us in Israel and there is nothing for us but to internationalise the issue."
 
 
 

Jordan circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to members early last month that calls for an end to Israeli occupation by November 2016. Some diplomats have described the Palestinian-drafted text as "unbalanced".

France, Britain and Germany are also drafting their own resolution, diplomats said, which would set out parameters for trying to end the conflict. They have not yet circulated a text to the 15-council members.

Abbas warned in his speech that his government could limit contacts with Israel and suspend security coordination if the resolution failed to pass at the Security Council, and that Israel would bear responsibility for the consequences.

Abbas has previously described security coordination with Israel as necessary and even "sacred".

Palestinians seek statehood in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and blockaded Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as their capital - lands captured by Israel in a 1967 war.

Israel accepts the idea of a "two-state solution" of an independent and democratic Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, but has not accepted the 1967 borders as the basis for final negotiations, citing security and other concerns.

The latest round of efforts to forge a two-state solution collapsed in April and relations between the two sides have worsened since a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip this summer.

France said on Friday it would recognize a Palestinian state if a final international effort to overcome the impasse between Israelis and Palestinians failed.

French parliamentarians will hold a symbolic vote with no immediate policy impact on Dec. 2 on whether the French government should recognize Palestine as a state, after similar moves in Sweden, Britain, Ireland and Spain.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/29/us-mideast-palestinians-arabs-statement-idUSKCN0JD0G620141129


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 02, 2014, 06:34:18 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-security-council-to-consider-palestine-resolution/
UN Security Council to consider ‘Palestine’ resolution
Palestinian envoy to world body says draft demanding Israeli pullout to ’67 lines to be presented by mid-month

12/2/14

A draft resolution demanding an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines by 2016, as part of a wider agreement to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, will be presented to the UN Security Council by the middle of the month, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said Monday.

Palestinian representative Riyad Mansour said the text, being shepherded by France, is expected to lay out a timeframe for negotiations on a final peace deal and possibly a second deadline for Palestinian statehood.

“The French are moving more and more, trying to bring all the European colleagues together, and I think that eventually they will succeed,” Mansour told AFP.

The French-led European initiative is expected to be discussed in Brussels on Tuesday when US Secretary of State John Kerry holds talks with European ministers during a NATO meeting.

The position of the United States, which has repeatedly vetoed UN resolutions seen as pressuring Israel, will be crucial in deciding if the latest push at the United Nations stands a chance.

The Palestinians, backed by the Arab League, circulated a draft resolution at the end of September that called for an Israeli pullout November 2016.

The text however ran into opposition from the United States and other members of the council, opening the way for the Europeans to try to present an alternative draft.

**Hegelian Dialectic is at work here - United States is NOT pro-Israel!

Mansour said he expected a new draft to be submitted to the council “soon, possibly in the middle of the month,” with a vote to quickly follow.

The new resolution would pave the way for an international conference to launch what is widely seen as a final bid for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, with the involvement of all key international players.

There has been growing international alarm over the spate terror attacks in Jerusalem and other areas and the stalled peace talks on settling Israel’s borders and the fate of Palestinian statehood.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned of a possible new flareup in violence after the devastating 50-day war in Gaza over the summer.

UN diplomats argue that the world can ill afford more violence in the Middle East at a time when Islamic extremists are waging war in Iraq and Syria.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 03, 2014, 07:12:51 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/french-parliament-votes-to-recognize-palestinian-state/
French parliament votes to recognize Palestinian state
Israel laments symbolic vote, which sees lawmakers urge government to recognize Palestine, with 339 in favor and 151 against


12/2/14

French lawmakers voted on Tuesday in favor of recognizing Palestine as a state, following similar moves in Britain and Spain as European countries try to restart the stalled Middle East peace process.

The highly symbolic vote in the lower house National Assembly is not binding on French government policy but sparked criticism from Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned it would be a “grave mistake.”

“Israel believes the vote in the National Assembly, which supports recognition of the state of Palestine, will only distance the chances of reaching an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians,” said the spokesperson of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Emmanuel Nahshon.

“Such decisions will only make the Palestinian positions more extreme and sends the wrong message to the leaders and peoples of this region,” he said. A solution to the conflict will only be found through direct negotiations between the two parties and not through unilateral actions, Nahshon added.

MPs voted 339 to 151 in favor of the motion, which invites Paris to recognize the state of Palestine “as an instrument to gain a definitive resolution of the conflict.”

“France today chose the wrong partner and I fear repercussions in relations with Israel, the only democracy in the region,” said Meyer Habib, a center-right lawmaker who also holds Israeli citizenship and is close to Netanyahu. “While radical jihad killed citizens of France and other parts of the free world, legitimization is given to the establishment of a state run my corrupt people and terrorists,” he said in a statement published minutes after the vote.

Palestinians are seeking to achieve statehood in Gaza and the Israeli-held West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital. With little progress on reaching a settlement, they have been lobbying foreign powers for international recognition.

During a debate on the issue Friday, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius stressed that Paris would recognize Palestine if diplomatic efforts failed again and urged a resolution to the Middle East conflict within two years.

France is spearheading a drive at the United Nations to unfreeze the moribund peace process, and the Palestinian envoy to the UN said earlier Tuesday a draft resolution could be submitted to the Security Council by mid-December.

Riyad Mansour told AFP the text was set to lay out a time-frame for negotiations on a final peace deal and possibly a deadline for Palestinian statehood.

It would also pave the way for a last-ditch international conference that France has offered to host.

This European initiative was expected to be discussed in Brussels when US Secretary of State John Kerry holds talks with European ministers during a NATO meeting.

“If these efforts fail. If this last attempt at a negotiated settlement does not work, then France will have to do its duty and recognize the state of Palestine without delay and we are ready to do that,” Fabius told MPs on Friday.

‘Momentum will grow’
The French vote came hot on the heels of near unanimous votes in favor of recognizing Palestine in the British and Spanish parliaments, as Europeans seek alternative ways to push forward efforts toward peace.

Sweden’s government went even further, officially recognizing Palestine as a state in a controversial move that prompted Israel to recall its ambassador.

At a pan-European level, the European Parliament is expected to hold a vote later this month on recognizing Palestine and EU foreign policy supremo Federica Mogherini is also pushing for the creation of a Palestine state.

“Governments and parliaments are taking action. That momentum will grow,” said United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon last month.

However, lawmakers in Paris were more divided on the issue than their British and Spanish counterparts, reflecting the sensitivity of the debate in France, which is home to Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities.

Senior UMP lawmaker Christian Jacob told MPs ahead of the vote: “Who are we kidding? We are kidding the French people if we think that the parliament will have any influence at all” on the peace process.

France was the scene of several pro-Palestinian demonstrations during this summer’s 50-day offensive by the Israeli army in Gaza that killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas figures, and dozens of Israelis.

Some of these turned violent with looters in July destroying Jewish businesses and shouting anti-Israel obscenities in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles — sometimes known as “Little Jerusalem” for its large community of Sephardic Jews.

The Jewish Agency for Israel said in September that more Jews had left France for Israel than from any other country in 2014, blaming a “climate of anti-Semitism.”

The Palestinian Authority estimates that 135 countries have now recognized Palestine as a state, although that number is disputed and several recognitions by EU member states date back to the Soviet era.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 05, 2014, 03:02:29 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188266#.VIIrTzKvW4N
Belgian Lawmakers Planning to Recognize 'Palestine'

Belgian legislators are working on a resolution to recognize a Palestinian state, following suit with several other European countries.

12/5/14

Belgium is jumping on the “recognition of Palestine” bandwagon, according to The Associated Press (AP).

The news agency reported that Belgian legislators are working on a resolution to recognize a Palestinian state but the government says any timing to proceed will depend on European Union action.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said on Wednesday he first will push for a new EU initiative to bring Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) back to the negotiating table to reinvigorate the peace process.

Belgian legislators are completing work on a text and it was still unclear when the resolution would be tabled, said an official from a leading coalition party, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process was continuing.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 07, 2014, 01:06:33 pm
US Secretary of State John Kerry reiterates view that a negotiated 2-state solution is only answer to Israeli-Palestinian conflict in speech to Saban Forum - @Jerusalem_Post

https://twitter.com/Jerusalem_Post


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 13, 2014, 05:13:11 am
Kerry says he's trying to diffuse tensions over possible UN resolutions

 ::) liar...

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday the United States was seeking to defuse tensions over proposed UN resolutions to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during talks in Europe next week.

Kerry will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Rome on Monday and senior European officials to discuss possible resolutions, which would require a vote in the UN Security Council where the United States holds a veto.

"We're trying to figure out a way to help defuse the tensions and reduce the potential for more conflict and we're exploring various possibilities to that end," Kerry told reporters in Bogota when asked whether there is a resolution the US could support.

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Kerry-says-hes-trying-to-diffuse-tensions-over-possible-UN-resolutions-384502


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 13, 2014, 07:13:17 pm
Look how the Vatican and EU are playing a bigger role in this now.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 14, 2014, 08:13:43 am
Is a ‘Diplomatic Offensive’ Brewing to Force Israel Back to 1967 Borders?

Israel’s prime minister says his country may face a “diplomatic offensive” against it that could fuel radical Islam in the Middle East.

Sunday’s comments come a day before Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Europe where he will meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and urge international leaders to oppose U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding Israel’s borders and its treatment of Palestinians.

“Now we also face the possibility of a diplomatic offensive, an attempt to compel us by means of U.N. decisions to withdraw to the 1967 lines within two years. This will lead Islamic extremists to the outskirts of Tel Aviv and the heart of Jerusalem,” he said.

Kerry hopes the talks will avert the possibility of a U.N. Security Council clash over proposed resolutions dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.​

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/12/14/is-a-diplomatic-offensive-brewing-to-force-israel-back-to-1967-borders/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 15, 2014, 07:03:57 am
Meretz chief Gal-On calls on Netanyahu to back Palestinian statehood bid at UN

Meretz Party head Zahava Gal-On called on Israel to support the Palestinian initiative at the Security Council.

"Bilateral negotiations should be held between two equal governments," Gal-On said.

For the last five years, she said, "Netanyahu has initiated destructive diplomatic policies that have isolated Israel."

If this continues, she warned, Israel will lose its ability to determine its final borders.


http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Meretz-chief-Gal-On-calls-on-Netanyahu-to-back-Palestinian-statehood-bid-at-UN-384686


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 17, 2014, 06:56:05 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-seek-arab-backing-un-resolution-225403263.html;_ylt=A0SO8ydbGpJUxBoAd2BXNyoA
Palestinians seek Arab backing for UN resolution
12/17/14

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The Palestinians on Wednesday sought Arab backing for a draft UN resolution that would set a two-year deadline for reaching a final settlement with Israel and pave the way to statehood.

"We have to see with the Palestinians whether they would want to go with the text as is and risk whatever comes, or we can discuss and try to get something consensual," said Ambassador Dina Kawar.

Jordan's role is key as the representative of the Arab Group at the 15-member council.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said the draft would be submitted to the Security Council after the Palestinians agreed with France on a merged text.

An Arab-backed draft of the text had previously set a deadline of November 2016 for Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories, but France has pushed for a softer resolution.

The new text would set a two-year deadline for wrapping up negotiations on a final agreement paving the way to a new Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the shared capital.

No firm deadline on an ending the Israeli occupation would be included but the resolution would call for a phased withdrawal of Israeli security forces over an agreed period.

In Washington, the State Department declined to say whether the United States would use its veto power.

"There are a range of options for proposals that could be formally submitted. That hasn't happened yet, so it depends on what the details are on what we'll do," said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

"We don't have any problem with them filing some resolution, providing it's done in the spirit of working with people to see how we could proceed forward in a thoughtful way that solves the problem, doesn't make it worse," US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters.

A US veto also risks angering key Arab allies, including partners in the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria and Iraq.

The Palestinians pushed for action at the United Nations as the European parliament overwhelmingly backed recognition of a Palestinian state, the latest assembly in Europe to adopt a motion to that end.

"The draft that will be presented today (Wednesday) is the French draft based on Palestinian observations and decisions," Malki told AFP, adding that a vote could take place 24 hours later.

UN diplomats however cautioned that action may not be imminent. Jordan was due to meet with Britain, France and the United States later before deciding on whether to submit the Palestinian text.

The Palestinians began circulating a draft at the end of September, after president Mahmud Abbas told the UN General Assembly that it was time to fast-track Palestinian statehood.

The text as it stood had no chance of approval.

The US administration opposes moves to bind negotiators' hands through a UN resolution -- particularly any attempt to set a deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank.

But the threat of the draft seems to have been enough to jolt the international community into action.

France stepped into the fray last month and, with Britain and Germany, began discussing options for a separate resolution.

Keen to head off a diplomatic crisis, Kerry held a flurry of meetings this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian negotiators and European ministers.

Kerry suggested a UN resolution could play into the hands of Israeli hardliners as the country heads toward elections in March.

- Palestinians 'not going to evaporate' -

The latest round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, shepherded by Kerry, collapsed in April amid mutual recriminations.

This summer's 50-day war in Gaza followed, and tensions have boiled over in the West Bank and east Jerusalem with a series of deadly "lone wolf" attacks on Israelis and frequent clashes between security forces and stone-throwing Palestinians.

The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, warned this week that the international community could not simply ignore the Palestinian question.

"The Palestinian question is not going to evaporate," he said.

Mansour warned of more confrontation on the ground and said the Palestinians were ready to take action at the General Assembly and at the International Criminal Court.

Frustration with the stalled peace process has also grown in Europe, where lawmakers in Britain, France and Spain have all called in recent weeks for the recognition of a Palestinian state.

An EU court on Wednesday ordered the removal of Hamas from its terror blacklist, drawing an angry response from Netanyahu.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 18, 2014, 08:09:37 am
Palestinians set deadline for Israeli occupation

Israel suffered back-to-back diplomatic setbacks in Europe on Wednesday, while the Palestinians at the United Nations set a deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from lands captured nearly 50 years ago by the end of 2017.

In Geneva, the international community delivered a stinging rebuke to Israel's settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, saying the practice violates Israel's responsibilities as an occupying power.

The declaration adopted by the conference of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which governs the rules of war and military occupation, emphasized a prohibition on colonizing occupied land and insisted that international humanitarian law be obeyed in areas affected by the conflict between Israel and Palestinians. It called for "all serious violations" to be investigated and those responsible for breaches to be brought to justice.

"This is a signal and we can hope that words count," said Swiss ambassador Paul Fivat, who chaired the one-day meeting. The U.S. and Israel did not take part.

Israel's U.N. Mission blasted the gathering, saying: "It confers legitimacy on terrorist organizations and dictatorial regimes wherever they are, while condemning a democratic country fighting terrorism in accordance with international law."

In Luxembourg, meanwhile, a European Union court ordered the Palestinian group Hamas removed from the EU terrorist list for procedural reasons but said the 28-nation bloc can maintain asset freezes against Hamas members for now.

The Islamic militant group, which calls for the destruction of Israel, hailed the decision, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed outrage.

"It seems that too many in Europe, on whose soil 6 million Jews were slaughtered, have learned nothing," Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would continue to defend itself "against the forces of terror and tyranny and hypocrisy."

The EU court ruled that the terrorist listing of Hamas was based on press and Internet reports and not on "acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities."

The EU, which has two months to appeal, was considering its next step.

In New York, an Arab-backed draft resolution on ending Israel's occupation of lands captured in 1967 was submitted Wednesday evening to the U.N. Security Council for a possible vote, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said.

However, Mansour said the Arab-backed resolution does not close the door on further negotiations on the issue, including with the United States, "if they are ready and willing." The U.S., as a permanent council member, often has vetoed measures targeting Israel in the past.

And Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki earlier said the actual vote might be put off, suggesting a compromise is in the works to avoid a clash in the council.

The draft, sponsored by Jordan on behalf of the Palestinians, sets the end of 2017 as a deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from war-won lands the Palestinians are seeking for a state. The deadline has been pushed back from that of November 2016 in the earlier draft.

Israel fiercely opposes any suggestions that the Security Council can set a framework for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which broke down again in the spring after the two sides couldn't agree on the ground rules.

The resolution also welcomes the idea of holding an international conference to launch negotiations on reaching a peace agreement.

The United States was scrambling Wednesday to avert a showdown at the Security Council. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was talking to European and Arab foreign ministers about a potential meeting this weekend in the Mideast, possibly with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the Obama administration is studying the EU's court decision but the U.S. continues to consider Hamas as a terrorist organization.

The U.S. hasn't said how it would respond to the Jordanian resolution, but Kerry took a hard line in meetings this week in Europe against any effort that could interfere with Israel's elections in mid-March.

"We want to find the most constructive way of doing something that therefore will not have unintended consequences, but also can stem the violence," Kerry told reporters in London on Tuesday. He said the situation marks "a particularly sensitive moment" given rising tensions between Israel and Palestinians.

Israel did one win diplomatic engagement in Europe on Wednesday, this one at the European Parliament. The lawmakers meeting in Strasbourg, France, stopped short of pushing for an outright recognition of a Palestinian state, urging renewed peace talks instead.

Legislators voted 498-88 in favor of a compromise resolution supporting "in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood" — but as part of a two-state solution with Israel. The resolution supports two states on the basis of 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the capital of both.

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-submit-draft-un-vote-095411147.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 20, 2014, 07:00:55 am
A UN Timetable for Israel’s Destruction

The Obama administration is shamelessly outsourcing the United States’ historic leadership in facilitating negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel of a workable, secure two-state solution to the United Nations and European governments. In putting its trust in these two centers of anti-Israel sentiment, the Obama administration refuses to say categorically that it would veto a UN Security Council resolution setting some sort of deadline for the creation of a Palestinian state and Israeli withdrawal to the pre-June 1967 lines.

In the words of an unnamed senior U.S. State Department official quoted by Reuters, “These things are all very much in flux, it’s not as if we’re being asked to take a position on any particular Security Council resolution right now. It would be premature for us to discuss documents that are of uncertain status right now.”

Any Security Council resolution the Obama administration would agree to, which imposes pressure only on Israel to make more unilateral concessions for an illusionary “peace,” will serve to legitimize a United Nations timetable for Israel’s surrender to forces that wish to destroy it. The Gaza debacle following Israel’s decision to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza in 2005 and give the Palestinians a chance to build a prototype Palestinian state illustrates the danger Israel would face from being pressured into more withdrawals at this time.

The Palestinian Authority leadership is pressing for action on just such a Security Council resolution as early as this Wednesday, according to a Palestine Liberation Organization official and Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour. The Palestinian resolution, to be sponsored by Jordan (a non-permanent member of the Security Council), would reportedly set a two year deadline for complete Israeli withdrawal from all “occupied” territories, although Jordan’s UN ambassador told reporters it was news to her that any action to vote on the resolution would be taken as soon as the Palestinians are demanding. There is some speculation amongst UN insiders that a vote on a Palestinian resolution could be put off until early in the new year. The Security Council makeup will then be even more inclined towards the Palestinian position, because Malaysia will be replacing South Korea as a non-permanent member of the Security Council.

The Palestinians are finding a very receptive audience in Europe for their use of the United Nations to sidestep direct negotiations with Israel. As the tide of anti-Semitism is rising to the surface and spreading once again throughout Europe, a number of European countries’ parliaments have adopted non-binding resolutions calling upon their respective governments to recognize a Palestinian state. Sweden went further with official recognition of a state of Palestine. France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is taking the lead in crafting a European version of a Palestinian state resolution. The idea reportedly would be to set out an expectation for a final peace agreement to achieve a two-state solution within two years. During the two year interval, the United Nations might accord full UN membership rights to an officially recognized Palestinian state. The text is still a subject of consultations in European capitals, according to the United Kingdom’s UN Ambassador Lyall Grant.

The Obama administration, which would like nothing better than to see its nemesis Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defeated in the upcoming March 2015 Israeli elections, is calibrating a position that appears intended to send a pointed message to the Israeli electorate. This message is not to count on the administration standing steadfastly with Israel on sensitive security concerns if Prime Minister Netanyahu is re-elected. The Obama administration is willing to consider a “compromise” Security Council resolution to pressure Israel into resuming negotiations against a backdrop of a framework withdrawal timetable, so that the administration can say it did all it can to avoid an immediate two year deadline and thereby not have to use its veto power to “protect” Israel.

Thus, Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting early this week with European foreign ministers, Arab League officials, and Israeli and Palestinian officials to “hear from and engage with other stakeholders…and to the best of our ability work toward a common path forward,” according to a senior State Department official.

Israeli civilians under relentless attack by Palestinian jihadists are the main “stakeholders” whom the United States should be worried about. If there is to be a “common path forward” to peace, it requires Palestinian negotiating partners who are willing to publicly give up their claim to a right of return of millions of so-called Palestinian refugees to pre-June 1967 Israeli cities and towns, and who recognize Israel’s right to self-determination as a Jewish state that can co-exist securely side by side with a peaceful Palestinian state. There has been no such partner to engage in genuine negotiations for more than six decades. There remains no such partner today, nor is there likely to be one in the foreseeable future.

Hamas has made clear its intention time again, by word and deed, to destroy the state of Israel and kill as many Jews as possible. Following, for example, are excerpts from an interview with Hamas MP and cleric Yunis Al-Astal, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on May 11, 2011 (courtesy of MEMRI):

    The [Jews] are brought in droves to Palestine so that the Palestinians – and the Islamic nation behind them – will have the honor of annihilating the evil of this gang…All the predators, all the birds of prey, all the dangerous reptiles and insects, and all the lethal bacteria are far less dangerous than the Jews…When Palestine is liberated and its people return to it, and the entire region, with the grace of Allah, will have turned into the United States of Islam, the land of Palestine will become the capital of the Islamic Caliphate, and all these countries will turn into states within the Caliphate.

Hamas’s barrage of rocket attacks launched from Gaza against Israeli civilians since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 attests to its deadly intentions. Just last Sunday, Hamas marked its 27th anniversary by parading 2,000 of its armed fighters and truck-mounted rockets. A senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said: ‘This illusion called Israel will be removed.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has thrown in his lot with Hamas in forming a so-called “unity reconciliation” government and has himself incited sectarian violence in and around Jerusalem with incendiary rhetoric.  But even Abbas has expressed frustration with what he called Hamas’s continued “shadow government… running the territory” in Gaza on its own.

In the real world, which is alien to the United Nations, the Arab world, European governments and the Obama administration, simply saying something is so doesn’t make it so. Diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state does not change the reality on the ground. Nor does a pie-in-the-sky declaration of a “unity” or “reconciliation” Palestinian government that exists only on paper. For example, in delivering his regular briefing to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, admitted to Security Council members on December 15th the lack of a functioning Palestinian reconciliation unity government to replace Hamas’s governance in Gaza. He said that delivery of thousands of tons of construction materials into Gaza is being permitted by Israel under the temporary Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism agreed upon by Israel, the so-called Palestinian Government of National Consensus and the UN, even though the “Government of National Consensus in Gaza has still not taken up its rightful governance and security function” that is a critical part of the arrangement.

The Palestinians’ own internal power struggle between Hamas, which governs Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority, which currently dominates the West Bank, means that there is no real unified state government apparatus. Hamas won’t give up its military control in Gaza and is seeking to expand its influence in the West Bank at the Palestinian Authority’s expense. There can be no real foundation for a workable Palestinian state under international law when there is no single governing authority in a position to effectively exert sovereign control over all of a putative Palestinian state’s territory and people. Nor can there be a real state under international law that does not have the capacity to ensure compliance with any bilateral or international agreements such a state may enter into in the future.

No matter what kind of “common path” Secretary of State Kerry thinks he can achieve with the Palestinians and their Arab and European supporters on a Security Council timetable resolution, Israel must reject the path of forced withdrawal that could lead to its own destruction. As Prime Minister Netanyahu said during the regular Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday, a UN Security Council-imposed deadline for Israeli withdrawal to the pre-June 1967 lines would bring “Islamic extremists to the suburbs of Tel Aviv and to the heart of Jerusalem. We will not allow this. We will rebuff this forcefully and responsibly. Let there be no doubt, this will be rejected.”

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/joseph-klein/a-un-timetable-for-israels-destruction-1/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 20, 2014, 08:07:44 am
UN asks Israel to pay Lebanon $850m over oil spill

The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution asking Israel to pay Lebanon more than $850m (£544m) for a major oil spill during Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah. The UN has asked Israel to compensate Lebanon before but this is the first time a figure has been given. The assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour by 170 votes to six, but its resolutions are not legally binding.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30559670


 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 31, 2014, 04:33:45 am
The Prime Minister Of Turkey Is Now Having Talks About Invading Jerusalem, In A Major World War

A major talk was organized in Konya the birth place of Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu and in his presence before a jubilant crowd shouting in Nazi style Davutoğlu can be seen elated at the statements spoken by the leader of Hamas, Khalid Mashal. The fiery speech hailed Turkey headed by Erdogan and Davutoğlu as the representative and head of the entire Muslim world and praised him for the soon invasion of Jerusalem in the coming world war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vCi6zWeEL6c

In the speech, which was not aired in major media (Shoebat.com was able to obtain the footage thanks to Willi Adelberger) and after the crowd calmed down their Nazi style chants, Mashal reminded that “Jerusalem is the first center of direction for Muslims. It was Konya that in 1980 when Jerusalem was threatened rose up for Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque”. Looking towards the near future Mashal declared:

    As Turkey for centuries was the main defender of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, likewise with you are the center of the Muslim Umma (Muslim nation) which will carry on the mission of liberating Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque.

At the 6:10 mark of the video Khalid Mashal declared:

    know this, that strong Turkey is the strength of Palestine and of Jerusalem.

At around the 7:14 mark he exclaimed:

    Turkey is the strength that represents all Muslim nations.

The crowed at that point paused and in unison with an elated should cried out “Allahu Akbar”

There is a picture of Davutoglu in front of the crowd; he can be seen right next to a young boy:

(http://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ahmet-copy.jpg)

Ahmet Davutoglu, Erdogan’s right hand man, is seen instantly clapping in jubilation at such affirmations the moment Khalid Mashal spoke of conquering Jerusalem with the crowds waiving flags that stem from the Turkish favorite colors in which the Ottomans prided themselves with the “fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow” (Revelation 9:17) which are also the colors of the flags the neo-Ottomans like to carry. In every time one can see Davutoğlu, he is smiling in joy.

Mashal complemented the AKP Islamic party of Turkey of their accomplishments in what he termed “lightening speed to have accomplished what they accomplished for the advancement of the Muslim world”. “Allah is with us and is with you for victory” Mashal reminded of war against Israel. He ended his speech reminding that he will invite Erdogan and Davutoğlu into the Temple Mount: “We were welcomed in Istanbul and now in Konya and tomorrow we will welcome you into the platform of Al-Aqsa (Temple Mount) in the next conferences, by the will of Allah”.

It is obvious what this signifies: the Turkish government wants to invade Jerusalem in a holy war, or jihad. World War III will then be over Jerusalem, which indicates one glorious coming event: the Crusades will be revived, and the Final Crusade is will occur.

What is very sad, though, is that the Muslim world still has the spirit of jihad, and we in the West are still stuck in the mindset of the Enlightenment, in which the idea of Holy War or a Crusade is mocked and seen as lunacy, and where secular wars are praised over religious wars.

We must revive the spirit of Holy War, for no secular war will fully extinguish the enemies of Christianity. With secular wars there is an invasion, battles, and then compromise. In religious war there is no compromise, only obliteration of evil for the cause of the good.

http://shoebat.com/2014/12/29/prime-minister-turkey-now-talks-invading-jerusalem-major-world-war/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 01, 2015, 06:26:42 am
UN rejects Palestinian resolution
A draft resolution calling for Israel's withdrawal from Palestinian territory and establishment of a Palestinian state is rejected by the U.N. Security Council.   

http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/12/31/un-rejects-palestinian-resolution?videoId=357014961


Palestinians sign up to join International Criminal Court
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has signed papers to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). He signed the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding treaty, at a Ramallah meeting. Membership could see the Palestinians pursue Israel on war crimes charges, and the move was quickly condemned by Israel's prime minister.   

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30645462


U.S. says it is deeply troubled by Palestinian move  ::)
WASHINGTON - The United States said on Wednesday the move by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to sign on to 20 international agreements, including the International Criminal Court, was of deep concern and unhelpful to peace efforts in the region.   

http://news.yahoo.com/u-says-deeply-troubled-palestinian-move-200636990.html


Israeli PM Netanyahu wins internal elections in Likud party
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to lead his right-wing Likud party, according to initial results of the party's internal elections held Wednesday. Knesset (parliament) member Danny Danon, who served as the party's central committee chairman, and was the only one who challenged Netanyahu's leadership and ran opposite him, conceded his loss on Wednesday night.   

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2015-01/01/c_127351442.htm


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 04, 2015, 05:30:52 am
What's at Stake for Israel's Future this Year?



Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is seeking recognition at the International Criminal Court so the Palestinians can forge ahead with war crimes charges against Israeli military and political leaders.

The move comes after a Palestinian resolution sponsored by Jordan failed this week by one vote in the U.N. Security Council.

The resolution would have forced a three-year timetable for Israel's military to withdraw its forces to the pre-1967 borders and establish a Palestinian state, in effect causing Israel to give up all the territory it won in the Six Day War.

With the ramped up pressure on Israel, what does the future look like for the Jewish nation? CBN's John Waage, who just returned from Jerusalem, explains what's at stake for Israel and the Palestinians.

"We want to complain. There's aggression against us, against our land. The Security Council disappointed us,"  Abbas said.

The bid to join the International Criminal Court is a major shift for the Palestinians, and may invite retaliation from Israel and the United States.

In recent months, the Palestinian leadership has followed through on threats to declare a state unilaterally, as opposed to crafting a negotiated settlement directly with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel may take "retaliatory steps" for Abbas' actions. Those could include prosecution of Hamas leaders on war crimes charges.

In a statement, he vowed to protect Israel's military from prosecution, calling Israel's army "the most moral in the world."

He said the Palestinian Authority is "the one who needs to fear the International Criminal Court" because of its interactions with Hamas.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said the U.S. was "deeply troubled" by the "escalatory step" taken by the Palestinians.

He called it "counter-productive" and added that it "does nothing to further the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a sovereign and independent state."

Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court, but judges there have the authority to serve arrest warrants, which can make travel difficult for Israeli officials.

The timing of Abbas' actions may be an attempt to influence the Israeli elections, which will be held March 17.

But the Palestinian diplomatic hardball actually helped cap off a good week for Netanyahu, who handily won his Likud party primary Wednesday.

The prime minister's opponents on the left want to renew negotiations with Abbas, but the belligerent Palestinian actions seem to be reinforcing the security stance of Israeli hawks.


http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2015/January/Whats-at-Stake-for-Israels-Future-this-Year/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 04, 2015, 06:19:58 am
Israel withholds funds, weighs lawsuits against Palestinians...
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-mulls-war-crimes-lawsuits-against-top-palestinians-112805469.html

Tensions mount...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/world/middleeast/tensions-mount-as-israel-freezes-revenue-meant-for-palestinians.html

Upgraded 'Iron Dome' allows hundreds of drones to work together...
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Upgrading-Israels-Iron-Dome-with-swarmware-386571


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 16, 2015, 07:54:04 pm
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-eu-russia-meet-mideast-late-january-28249488
US, UN, EU and Russia to Meet on Mideast in Late January
UNITED NATIONS — Jan 15, 2015, 2:56 PM ET

Key Mideast mediators — the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia — will meet this month to discuss the way toward Israeli-Palestinian peace as tensions escalate in the decades-old conflict.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power made the announcement during the U.N. Security Council's monthly Mideast debate, calling the status quo "unsustainable." She urged both sides "to exercise maximum restraint and avoid steps that threaten to push Israeli-Palestinian relations into a cycle of further escalation."

The meeting of envoys from the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators will be Jan. 26 in Brussels, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

It follows the council's recent rejection of a Palestinian-backed resolution demanding an end to Israeli occupation within three years and the Palestinians' subsequent decision to join the International Criminal Court. Relations also remain fraught following last summer's 50-day Gaza war between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and the earlier failure of U.S.-brokered peace talks.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the Security Council that the Quartet, at ministerial level, "should be promptly reinvigorated."

Chile's Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz, the current council president, said "a lot more" international engagement is needed including the Quartet, the Arab League and others.

The Palestinians have made clear that they oppose further direct negotiations with Israel mediated by the U.S., saying 20 years of such talks have not produced results.

"We are willing to negotiate, but now in a different way, through an international conference or a collective process," Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told a group of reporters last week.

The perilous state of Israeli-Palestinian relations was evident at Thursday's meeting.

Assistant Secretary-General Jens Anders Toyberg-Frandzen said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "is alarmed that the parties are now engaged in a downward spiral of actions."

"Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis have taken the challenging steps, or made the bold decisions, required to begin the process of reversing the ever-widening trust deficit between the two sides," he said. "Instead, we have witnessed developments which may unfortunately further reduce the likelihood of talks resuming in the future."


Toyberg-Frandzen called on Israel to immediately transfer the estimated $127 million in tax revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority for December. Israel froze the funds in response to actions that will make Palestine a member of the ICC on April 1. As a member of the court, the Palestinians will have standing to pursue war crimes charges against Israel.

The Palestinians and Israelis say they remain committed to peace and accuse each other of blocking the road to a two-state solution.

Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador, warned that the situation is "becoming more fragile and volatile by the day while a peaceful solution remains elusive due to lack of political will and the intransigence of Israel." In Jerusalem, which has seen clashes over access to holy sites, "tensions are raging as Israeli violations and crimes push the situation to a precipice," he warned.

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of remaining "committed to the three no's. He will not negotiate, he will not recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people and he will not make peace." He accused the Palestinian Authority of committing "every form of diplomatic treachery" last year by abandoning peace talks, forming a government with Hamas, honoring "convicted terrorists" and breaking its word by signing up to join dozens of treaties and conventions including the ICC.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 21, 2015, 09:11:04 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-police-palestinian-stabs-passengers-tel-aviv-bus-061109728.html
11 wounded by Palestinian in Israeli bus attack in Tel Aviv
1/21/15

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A knife-wielding Palestinian stabbed 11 morning commuters on and near a bus Wednesday, striking in the heart of Tel Aviv and reigniting fears of continued violence ahead of Israeli elections in March.

The attack was the latest in a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis over recent months, which has been largely reserved to Jerusalem but also has spilled over to the West Bank and Tel Aviv.

Tuesday's stabbing took place near a busy intersection during morning rush hour. Police identified the attacker as Hamza Mohammed Matrouk, 23, from the West Bank town of Tulkarem. Police said Matrouk confessed to the attack, saying this summer's Gaza war, tensions surrounding a Jerusalem site holy to Jews and Muslims and extremist Islamic videos promising him an "arrival to heaven" fueled the violence.

Gaza's ruling Hamas praised the attack, calling it "brave and heroic," but did not claim responsibility. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Palestinian incitement for the ongoing bloodshed.

Police and witnesses said Matrouk was riding on the bus when he began stabbing passengers and the driver. He fled the bus but was chased down and shot by prison service officers nearby. They shot Matrouk in the leg and arrested him.

The bus driver, Herzl Biton, was stabbed in the upper body and liver and underwent surgery, his niece Cheli Shushan said. Witnesses said Biton used pepper spray to deter the attacker and slammed on the brakes to jar him. After being stabbed, Biton flung open the doors to allow passengers to flee.

At the scene of the attack, a Jewish head covering lay beside headphones on the floor of the bus, with blood splattered nearby.

Video aired by Israeli television station Channel 10 showed Matrouk running down the street and stabbing a woman in the back as he tried to escape.

The violence comes weeks ahead of March 17 elections, in which Netanyahu, a security hawk, is facing a challenge from a joint list headed by Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, who support negotiations with the Palestinians. The continued violence could sway votes in Netanyahu's favor.

The attack sparked heated rhetoric ahead of the polls, with Herzog blaming Netanyahu for a "strong lack of personal security" among Israelis.

"The reality is very clear. There is no sense of personal security. Not in Tel Aviv, not in Jerusalem which is divided by concrete barricades and not (in the communities) near Gaza. This is a real problem and the citizens of Israel will need to make a decision," he told Israel Radio.

The stabbing appeared to be the latest in a series of "lone-wolf" Palestinian attacks that have plagued Israel in recent months, killing about a dozen people, including five people killed with guns and meat cleavers in a bloody assault on a Jerusalem synagogue. Police have said the attacks are almost impossible to prevent.

In Jerusalem, the violence came after months of tensions between Jews and Palestinians in east Jerusalem — the section of the city the Palestinians demand as their future capital. The area saw a wave of violence last summer, capped by a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.

Much of the recent unrest has stemmed from tensions surrounding a key holy site in Jerusalem's Old City. It is the holiest site for Jews, who call it the Temple Mount because of the revered Jewish Temples that stood there in biblical times. Muslims refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary, and it is their third holiest site, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, condemned the violence but said it came as a result of the Israeli occupation.

"You cannot have a violent military occupation with full impunity and then expect all its victims to be calm and quiet," she said.

Netanyahu has blamed the attacks on incitement by the Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian leaders.

"The terrorist attack in Tel Aviv is the direct result of the poisonous incitement being disseminated by the Palestinian Authority against the Jews and their state," he said. "This same terrorism is trying to attack us in Paris, Brussels and everywhere."


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 22, 2015, 06:16:09 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-won-t-meet-with-netanyahu-during-controversial-u-s--visit-173809042.html
Obama won't meet with Netanyahu during controversial U.S. visit
White House says it's too close to Israel's elections

1/22/15

President Barack Obama will not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the latter's controversial March 3 visit to Washington, the White House announced Thursday, saying a meeting could be perceived as an attempt by the administration to influence Israel's March 17 elections.
"The president will not be meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu because of the proximity to the Israeli election, which is just two weeks after his planned address to the U.S. Congress," National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a emailed statement.

“As a matter of long-standing practice and principle, we do not see heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their elections, so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election in a foreign country," she said.

Netanyahu's visit has further strained already difficult relations between the Israeli leader and Obama. Republican House Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress for the express purpose of challenging the president's approach to Islamist extremism and negotiations with Iran over that country's nuclear program. The White House, which found out about the visit from Boehner's office, accused Israel of breaching diplomatic protocol under which foreign leaders advise host leaders of pending visits.

Netanyahu has made no secret of his opposition to ongoing talks with Iran, saying that Tehran cannot be trusted to abandon its ability to build a nuclear weapon that could directly threaten Israel. His visit will come as the White House tries to tamp down a move in Congress to pass legislation that envisions new economic sanctions on Iran if no satisfactory comprehensive nuclear deal can be reached.

"The president has been clear about his opposition to Congress passing new legislation on Iran that could undermine our negotiations and divide the international community," said Meehan. "The president has had many conversations with the Prime Minister on this matter, and I am sure they will continue to be in contact on this and other important matters.”


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 22, 2015, 07:04:58 pm
There's a good chance Netenyahu might not win re-election...

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Livni-tells-JPost-shes-willing-to-negotiate-dividing-Jerusalem-388579
'Abbas was once a terrorist, but he isn't now,' Livni tells JPost
1/22/15

Dividing Jerusalem is negotiable, Hatnua leader Tzipi Livni said in the inaugural episode of The Jerusalem Post's Election Arena, an online video series, Thursday.

"I hope not," was Livni's answer to whether she was for or against dividing the capital city.

When asked if that means that she thinks a divided Jerusalem is a possibility, she responded that the issue would be "part of the negotiations."

However, she added that the goal would be "to keep Jerusalem united under Israeli sovereignty."

Livni also said that while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas "was once a terrorist, he isn't anymore."

Watch Livni discuss US-Israel relations, the two-state solution, Labor-Hatnua's chances at forming the next government and more on JPost.com.

The Jerusalem Post Election Arena will feature weekly interviews with politicians on key issues ahead of the March 17 election.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: RickStudy on January 23, 2015, 07:02:02 am
I can`t wait till something gets done about this Jerusalem problem  ;D


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Boldhunter on January 23, 2015, 11:12:58 pm
Psalms 122:6 KJV

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 25, 2015, 05:04:44 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-ruining-us-ties-for-an-election-speech-lapid-and-livni-say/
PM ruining US ties for election speech, Lapid and Livni say
In separate interviews, Netanyahu’s former allies accuse him of hurting Israel’s security to gain favor with right-wing voters

Hatnua party leader Tzipi Livni and Yesh Atid party chief Yair Lapid warned in separate interviews Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was wrecking Israel’s relationship with the White House for political gains.

Livni and Lapid, who were both high-ranking members of Netanyahu’s coalition until he called new elections and fired them in December, had nothing but scorn for the Likud leader in their comments Saturday. These pertained to the latest incident to deal a blow to Jerusalem’s ties with Washington: Netanyahu’s announcement that he will address Congress on March 3, a speech he did not coordinate with the White House and which is largely expected to attack the policies of President Barack Obama vis-à-vis Iran.

Senior Israeli sources told Channel 2 Friday that the prime minister was forced to defy the Obama administration because “he must present his stance” before a bad deal is signed with Tehran. But commentators and opponents have noted the proximity to the upcoming elections, to be held March 17, and have accused Netanyahu of electioneering.

“Netanyahu is destroying our strategic relationship with the US for a single election speech,” Lapid told an audience at a Saturday cultural event in Modiin.

“I spoke to senior US officials over the weekend and they are aghast at this conduct. It’s rude, it goes against all protocol,” and all in order to win him some favor in Likud circles, he said.

At a separate event in Bat Yam, Livni accused Netanyahu of self-defeating conduct that offended Israel’s strongest supporters in the international arena.

“Netanyahu’s step may serve him personally, politically, but hurts Israel’s security,” she said. “A responsible prime minister who has the state’s best interests in mind would not do this. A responsible prime minister would find a way to work with the US president – any president — to safeguard our most vital interests.”

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 08, 2015, 10:09:45 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-kerry-both-set-to-skip-pms-congress-speech-meet-with-herzog/
Biden, Kerry meet with Herzog; both to skip PM in DC next month
In Munich, VP and secretary discuss security with opposition leader, who says Netanyahu will face ‘complete boycott’ by Obama administration in March

2/7/15

US Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry both met informally with Zionist Camp co-leader Isaac Herzog — head of the Labor Party and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief rival in the Israeli elections — on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich, Germany on Saturday.

Their discussions reportedly revolved around security matters and the Zionist Camp’s defense strategy.

The meetings were not formally scheduled, and no photographs were immediately issued.

Herzog also met with the EU’s Foreign Affairs Chief Federica Mogherini and German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the sidelines of the conference.

The Biden-Kerry meetings with Herzog came a day after Biden’s office said the vice president would be abroad and would not attend a contentious speech on Iran Netanyahu is set to deliver to Congress on March 3. Netanyahu’s planned address has infuriated the Obama administration, which accused the Israeli leader of breaching protocol as the visit was not coordinated with the White House. Both Kerry and President Barack Obama said last month that they would not meet with Netanyahu during the visit, citing its proximity to the March 17 elections.

Speaking to Israel’s Channel 10 after his Munich talks, Herzog underlined the scope of the crisis in ties between Netanyahu and the Obama Administration. Netanyahu “won’t get to meet with a single American official on this visit — not from the National Security Agency, not from the White House, not from the State Department,” Herzog said. “It’s a complete boycott [of Netanyahu by the Obama administration]. Even if that’s not stated, that’s the story.”

As president of the Senate, Biden would typically attend the joint meeting, putting the White House in a bind because of its irritation with Netanyahu. Biden’s overseas trip allows the White House to avoid the awkwardness of having the vice president sit behind Netanyahu during the address. It’s unclear where the vice president plans to travel, though his office said the unspecified trip was in the works before the prime minister’s trip was announced.

Netanyahu has been under increased pressure to cancel the speech, in Israel and in the United States.

Herzog said earlier Saturday that the premier must cancel his trip to the US due to the antagonism his address — which was coordinated with House Majority Leader John Boehner — has caused in Washington.

“The time has come when Bibi (Netanyahu) must announce the cancellation of his visit to Congress,” Herzog said in a speech at the conference in Munich. “In conversations I’ve held with many European and US leaders, it is clear there is great anger over Netanyahu diverting the discussion on Iran’s nuclear program for political gain, and turning it into a confrontation with the president of the United States.”

“This speech that was born in sin, as an electioneering ‘production,’ endangers the security of Israel’s citizens and the special relationship between Israel and the US,” Herzog charged.

Many Democrats also object to Netanyahu’s speech, for three reasons: The invitation is an implied rebuke for Obama; the speech, scheduled two weeks before Israel’s elections, might be designed to boost Netanyahu’s re-election hopes; and Netanyahu backs new sanctions on Iran that the administration and Western powers argue could scuttle sensitive negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina called Boehner’s actions unprecedented, and said Netanyahu has “politicized” his US visit.

On Friday, an Israel Channel 10 TV report said that some 40 Democratic legislators were expected to stay away from the address, and that Netanyahu was anxious to avoid that spreading to a wider “second wave” of legislators. By Saturday, it said 60 legislators might stay away.

The Friday report also said that Netanyahu has conveyed messages to the Americans to the effect that “he didn’t know” the invitation extended to him to speak before the US Congress was anything but genuinely bi-partisan.

Netanyahu remains determined to go ahead with the address, to highlight the dangers of a deal that would leave Iran as a nuclear threshold state, but is making an effort “to soften” the Obama administration’s anger, and that of many Democrats, over the March 3 speech, the TV report said.



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 17, 2015, 08:03:59 pm
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/BlairYou-could-lock-Israeli-PA-negotiators-in-room-for-eternity-and-peace-would-not-come-391089
Blair: 'You could lock Israeli-PA negotiators in room for eternity and peace would not come'
2/15/15

Blair called on Hamas to clarify if they are Palestinian nationalist movement or broader Islamic one with regional designs

A new approach to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and the Gaza Strip is needed 20 years after Oslo, Quartet envoy Tony Blair said Sunday following his first visit to Gaza in more than five years.

“The last conflict left Gaza devastated and its people worn down and impoverished,” said the former British prime minister. “The problem is not – as is often thought – locking negotiators in a room long enough to make an agreement. At present, you could lock them in such a room for eternity and peace would still not come.”

According to Blair, if the reality on the ground was conducive to peace, “negotiators could find a way through the issues of borders and land swaps, and even Jerusalem, refugees and security guarantees.”

The problem, he wrote in an article posted on his website, is that not only is the ground not ripe for peace, but rather the exact opposite is true. Gaza, he said, “is living proof” of that.

Furthermore, in the West Bank the economy is stalled and “in Jerusalem the tension is palpable and dangerous.”

Blair, who previously visited Gaza only twice in the more than seven years he has served as the Quartet envoy, went through the Erez Crossing and met with members of the Palestinian unity government, local business and community workers, and families and workers at a UN facility for “internally displaced persons.”

He was in Gaza for several hours.

After the visit he wrote that there were three preconditions to a “successful peace process.”

First, he said, there must be a “dramatic and broad improvement” in the daily lives of Palestinians.

Second, there must be “unified Palestinian politics” that “explicitly is in favor of peace and two states, meaning a sovereign State of Palestine and a secure, accepted State of Israel.”

Third, he said, there must be “an enhanced role for the region, in alliance with the international community, which must step up to share leadership of the issue.” He argued that in all the current “darkness” in the diplomatic process there is one potential ray of hope – the changing region.


“As the threat of extremism throws up new risks, it also offers new opportunities for all those who believe in peace to unite in achieving it,” he said. “So we should not give up but re-double our efforts.”

The work, he said, should begin in Gaza, which he labeled “a metaphor for all that is wrong.”

Blair added that Gaza needed to be opened up and reconnected to the world, something that will necessitate a “reconciliation in Palestinian politics. And for reconciliation to happen, we need unity to be on a basis which supports peace.”

Furthermore, he said the international community needs “clarity” from Hamas.

“Are they a Palestinian nationalist movement dedicated to the achievement of a Palestinian State or part of a broader Islamist movement with regional designs that impact governments outside of Gaza? Are they prepared to accept a Palestinian State within 1967 borders or not, with such a state being a final settlement to the conflict?” he asked.

In addition, he said Egypt had to be given “credible guarantees about its own security” in relation to Gaza; the Gaza crossings should be opened so the region can be “reunited with the outside world;” Israel should do all it can to assist in Gaza’s reconstruction; and Egypt should lead the negotiation about the long-term future of Gaza.

“This Gaza plan should be part of a wider agreement after the new government of Israel is established, which should have at its core the dramatic improvement of Palestinian life on the West Bank,” he said. “This, in turn, could pave the way for Palestinian elections and the resumption of a proper negotiation for the resolution of the peace process.”


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 17, 2015, 08:11:44 pm
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Indyk-Get-ready-for-UNSC-resolution-proposed-not-by-Palestinians-but-intl-community-391188
Indyk: Get ready for UNSC resolution proposed not by Palestinians, but int'l community
2/16/15

Israel will likely face a UN Security Council resolution proposed by all its permanent members, designed to “lay out the principles of a two-state solution,” if the post-election government does not launch a diplomatic initiative, Martin Indyk said Monday.

Indyk, who was the US special envoy to last year’s failed Israeli- Palestinian talks and a former ambassador to Israel, said at the annual Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv that he expects this initiative would be “against Israel’s will.”

Indyk, currently vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, has been involved in the diplomatic process since the Oslo era. After he stepped down over the summer following the collapse of the negotiations, he did little to hide his opinion that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was largely responsible for the breakdown of the talks.

“If there is a government in Israel after these elections that decides to pursue a two-state solution, then there is a way forward,” Indyk said. “It begins with coordinating an initiative with the United States. And then, together with the US, looking to Egypt and Jordan and the resurrection of the Arab Peace Initiative, to find a way to provide the Palestinians both with an Egyptian-Jordanian anchor, and the political cover of the Arab Peace Initiative.”

He said that under this arrangement there would have to be a “freeze for a freeze”: an Israeli freeze of settlement activity and a freeze of Palestinian international activity against Israel.

But if there is not an Israeli initiative or support for a twostate solution, Indyk warned, there will be “international actions” pursued not by the Palestinians, but rather by the international community “in terms of a Security Council resolution” to “lay out and preserve the principles of a twostate solution in the future.”

By saying this resolution may come from all five permanent members of the UN Security Council, he hinted that the US would be involved.

Indyk began his comments by reflecting concern in Washington that the situation on the ground is reaching a boiling point, something that has been exacerbated by Israel’s withholding the transfer of tax funds to the PA so that it is unable to pay the salaries of its civil servants, including those responsible for security coordination with Israel.

“The collapse of the Palestinian Authority” is a real danger, and Israel could soon find itself responsible for the Palestinians both in the West Bank and in Gaza, he said.

Indyk, looking back on last year’s failed negotiations, said that there are “very wide gaps” between the two parties. At the same time, he said, solutions to bridge the gaps on all the main core issues could be found, “but the political conditions for both sides don’t exist at the moment.”

He said that not only is there a fundamental lack of trust between the leaders, “but also the lack of trust between the peoples,” with both sides believing there is no partner on the other side.

“As long as that is the case, it is very difficult to create a situation in which the political leadership feels the people at their back insisting they make a deal,” Indyk said. And this fundamental lack of trust between leaders and people is something “that will be extremely difficult to overcome,” he added.

Prior to Indyk, Brig.-Gen.

(res.) Moshe Tamir presented the principles of a plan for a limited unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, an idea that has been promoted for some time by the INSS under its previous director, Amos Yadlin, who stepped down recently when he took the plunge into politics.

Yadlin is now the Zionist Union’s candidate for defense minister.

An INSS workgroup – that in addition to Tamir also included INSS acting director Udi Dekel and security expert Brig.-Gen.

(res) Baruch Spiegel – suggested a limited Israeli unilateral withdrawal that would not compromise Israel’s security is only possible if the Jordan Valley and the settlements there remain in Israeli hands, and if the IDF retains freedom of action throughout Judea and Samaria.

Tamir said that if the withdrawal from Gaza were based on the premise of deterrence – that Hamas would not act if it knew that if it did so it would be hit sevenfold by Israel – then a different paradigm would have to be used to enable a withdrawal from even parts of the West Bank.

“In Judea and Samaria we are looking at a different way altogether.

It has to be complete prevention of militarization and arming,” he said. According to Tamir, withdrawal from parts of the West Bank could work only if it would be impossible for the Palestinians to arm themselves inside areas left by the IDF. And for that purpose, it would be necessary to hold onto the Jordan Valley and allow freedom of IDF action.

Another speaker on the panel was Tamar Asraf, spokeswoman for the Binyamin Regional Council, who said that the proposal for a limited unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank would necessitate the evacuation of some 100,000 settlers, something that would create a rift in the country that would be more dangerous to its future than the external threats.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 04, 2015, 09:13:03 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/192086#.VPfk6zKvW4M
Arab League to Discuss Creation of 'Unified Arab Force'

Annual summit to consider implementing Egyptian initiative for joint force to confront stability threats such as 'the rise of terrorism.'

3/3/15

The Arab League will consider setting up a defense unit to battle the spread of the Islamic State (ISIS) group at its annual summit later this month, an official said Tuesday.

Deputy chief Ahmed Ben Helli told reporters that the March 28-29 meeting in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh will discuss an Egyptian initiative to create a "unified Arab force," reports AFP.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has called for such a unit to confront security threats in the region where ISIS holds swathes of Syria and Iraq and has gained a foothold in Egypt's neighbor Libya.

Last month Sisi ordered air strikes in Libya after ISIS jihadists there beheaded 21 mostly Egyptian Christians.

Ben Helli said a united Arab force was needed, even as a "symbolic" show of deterrence at times of "conflict or disasters."

"Such forces should be ready and present so that they could symbolically show that the Arab countries have a deterrent force and a peacekeeping force that could step in at times of conflicts," he said.

Ben Helli added that such a unit would be tasked with "confronting threats that undermine the stability of the countries of the region, particularly the rise of terrorism."


In an interview Saturday with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel, Sisi said that a joint Arab force could get support from Arab League members Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

He said he discussed the creation of such a unified force with Jordan's King Abdullah II who welcomed the idea and said Arabs should press ahead to set up such a unit.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 06, 2015, 08:14:55 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-document-said-to-reveal-pms-concessions-to-palestinians/
3/6/15
New document said to reveal PM’s concessions to Palestinians
Paper allegedly drafted in secret talks pre-2013 acknowledges 1967 borders, accepts Jerusalem needs solving, details Israeli withdrawal; PMO denies any deals reached


A document drafted by Israeli officials in recent years, which details the framework for peace negotiations with Palestinians, appears to indicate a willingness for significant compromises by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yedioth Ahronoth revealed Friday.

According to the document, Netanyahu agreed to negotiate a peace deal on the basis of the 1967 borders, with land swaps; to acknowledge Palestinian aspirations in East Jerusalem; to evacuate settlers from the West Bank; and to allow those who so choose to remain under Palestinian rule.

The paper, according to Yedioth, was the result of secret talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that took place during Netanyahu’s previous term as premier between 2009-2013. Those negotiations — between Netanyahu’s emissary Yitzhak Molcho and PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s confidant Hussein Agha — attempted to draw up the framework for more comprehensive peace talks.

“The sides agree that Palestine will be an independent and sovereign state in a sustainable territory which will correspond to the size of the territory controlled by Egypt and Jordan before the 4th of June 1967,” the script states.

“The agreement for the establishment of Palestine will resolve all final-status issues, including the issue of settlements. Israelis who choose to remain in their homes in the state of Palestine will live under Palestinian law,” it continues. “There will be a complete withdrawal in stages of Israeli forces from the territory of Palestine. The last Israeli forces will evacuate when the final stage of the agreement comes into effect.”

The document does not accept East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine — nor would it, before negotiations had even begun — but it does state that “any solution must take into account the historical, social, cultural and emotional connections of the two peoples to the city, as well as protect the holy sites.”

Yedioth also reported that the document “opened the way” for a limited Palestinian “right of return” on an individual basis, though no direct quotes were immediately available. The “right of return” refers to the rights of descendants of former Arab residents of today’s Israel to return to their homes.

Asked to respond by the newspaper, the Prime Minister’s Office stated: “At no point did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree to a return to the 1967 borders, to the partition of Jerusalem, or to the right of return. That has been — and remains — his position.

“The conversations of Yitzhak Molcho were conducted with American involvement and did not lead to any agreements. They dealt with an American attempt to restart negotiations, with each side reserving the right to oppose certain clauses.

“Throughout the years, many drafts have been tabled without an agreement being reached on any of them, and even if such an American draft resolution was being considered, the prime minister made it clear in advance that he would oppose the clauses that do not adhere to his positions.”

Following the release of the Yedioth story, Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett called on right-wingers to vote for him in the March 17 election, vowing that he would “not give away a centimeter of the Land of Israel.”

Bennett wrote on his Facebook page: “We are on the way to the establishment of a Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem. We can stop this. The party needs lots of votes to prevent this.”




Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 17, 2015, 03:57:36 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/king-bibis-reign-challenged-israeli-election-061428651.html
3/17/15
Netanyahu and center-left opposition tied in exit polls: TV

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Exit polls by Israel's leading television channels showed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party drew even with Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union in the election on Tuesday, making the formation of the next government a serious challenge for both candidates.

Channel 10 and Channel 1 said Likud and the Zionist Union had secured 27 seats each in the 120-member Knesset, while Channel 2 said that Netanyahu had eked out a narrow victory, winning 28 seats to 27 for Herzog.

Final results are not expected until early on Wednesday morning.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 17, 2015, 04:03:22 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-twitter-says-won-great-victory-israels-election-205056583.html
Netanyahu, on Twitter, says won 'great victory' in Israel's election
3/17/15

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Twitter, claimed a "great victory" in Israel's election on Tuesday, after exit polls showed his right-wing Likud party even with its main opponent, the center-left Zionist Union.

"Against all odds: a great victory for Likud, a great victory for the national camp led by Likud, a great victory for the people of Israel," Netanyahu wrote on his official Twitter account.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 17, 2015, 04:55:27 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxgh8DLjZco


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 17, 2015, 08:38:44 pm
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/With-25-percent-of-votes-counted-Likud-extends-its-lead-over-Zionist-Union-394259
With 25 percent of votes counted, Likud extends its lead over Zionist Union
3/17/15

The returns on voting from ballot boxes indicate that the Likud has significantly extended its lead over Zionist Union.

According to Israel Radio, officials have counted the votes of 25 percent of booths across the country. The results indicate that the Likud wins 32 Knesset seats while Zionist Union garners 25 seats.

Yesh Atid is the third-largest party with 11 seats, Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu faction wins 10 seats, the Arab List nosedives to nine seats, the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas movement wins eight seats, Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi dips further to seven seats, while Yisrael Beytenu, which has only mustered five seats, climbs to seven.

United Torah Judaism wins six seats while Meretz rounds out the list with five seats.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 17, 2015, 10:00:13 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/192803#.VQkFWI7F9GY
Likud Leads with 30 Seats After 99% of Ballots Counted

Binyamin Netanyahu appears to be headed towards a greater victory than predicted by exit polls, with 30 seats. "Zionist Camp" has 24.

3/18/15

As counting of votes continues in the elections for the 20th Knesset, the Likud party may be headed for an even bigger victory than exit polls originally predicted.

As of 4:25 a.m. (Israel time), 99.5% of the ballots have been counted and the Likud is leading the pact with 30 seats. The “Zionist Union” of Labor and Hatnua has 24 seats.

The Joint Arab List has 13 seats, followed by Yesh Atid with 11 seats and Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu with ten.

The Jewish Home has eight seats, the haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism each have seven seats, Yisrael Beytenu has six and Meretz closes out the list with four seats.

Despite earlier indications that it may have passed the threshold, it appears as though Eli Yishai’s Yachad party will be left out of the Knesset.

Netanyahu addressed supporters of the Likud earlier Tuesday night, saying the results were a “great victory” for the nationalist camp in Israel.

“Against all odds, we have achieved a great victory for the Likud. We have achieved a great victory for the Likud-led nationalist camp and our people,” he said.

"I am proud of the people of Israel who, at the moment of truth, knew how to separate between the important and the secondary issues and focus on the important ones,” said Netanyahu, who mentioned issues such as “real security, a responsible economy, as well as social welfare. These are the things that are important to each family. Every father and mother, every young couple , every soldier, every citizen. And all Israeli citizens, Jews and non-Jews alike. All of you are important, and all of you are important to me.”


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 19, 2015, 05:49:33 am
Obama may agree to UN resolution on '67 borders after Netanyahu campaign rhetoric

Obama administration signals patience with Netanyahu running out.

In the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's resounding victory in Tuesday's election, the White House has expressed severe concern regarding the Likud leader's campaign rhetoric and noted turnaround against the establishment of a Palestinian state.

According to several administration officials, the Obama administration is now seriously considering agreeing to the passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution "embodying the principles of a two-state solution that would include Israel’s 1967 borders with Palestine and mutually agreed swaps of territory," according to The New York Times.

Although the relationship between Israel and the United States would remain strong, according to administration officials, it would not be managed by US President Barack Obama and Netanyahu. Instead, US Secretary of State John Kerry, one of Netanyahu's only remaining friends in the president's administration, would take over along with Pentagon officials who handle the close military alliance with Israel.

“The president is a pretty pragmatic person and if he felt it would be useful, he will certainly engage,” the Times quoted a senior administration official as saying. “But he’s not going to waste his time,” he added.

“The premise of our position internationally has been to support direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” a senior White House official said. “We are now in a reality where the Israeli government no longer supports direct negotiations. Therefore we clearly have to factor that into our decisions going forward.”

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/NY-Times-Obama-may-agree-to-UN-resolution-on-67-borders-after-Netanyahu-campaign-rhetoric-394428


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 19, 2015, 01:11:06 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/results-confirm-big-win-netanyahus-likud-111316437.html
Netanyahu faces pressure over Palestinian state after win
3/19/15

Jerusalem (AFP) - Benjamin Netanyahu weighed up options Thursday for a new Israeli rightwing coalition as Western governments cranked up the pressure on the premier for ruling out a Palestinian state during his campaign.

Both the European Union and the United States gave a cool reception to Netanyahu's upset victory in Tuesday's election.

They expressed concern that his lurch to the right during the hard-fought campaign could prove an insurmountable obstacle to any resumption of peace talks.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict would be impossible with a new government led by Netanyahu.

In a last-ditch appeal to Israel's far right just hours before polls opened, Netanyahu ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state and pledged to build thousands of new homes for Jewish settlers in annexed Arab east Jerusalem.

While it may have secured him a third consecutive term, it has left him deeply isolated internationally and has done further damage to his already frosty relations with US President Barack Obama.

Washington brokered nine months of negotiations between Netanyahu's last government and the Palestinians that were predicated on a two-state solution, accusing the Israeli leader of helping bring about their collapse.

The White House said it continued to see a two-state solution as "the best way" to resolve the conflict and warned it was reviewing its policy on the diplomatic stalemate between Israel and the Palestinians.

"Based on Prime Minister Netanyahu's comments, the United States will reevaluate our position and the path forward in the situation," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, without elaborating further.

The statement came as speculation swirled about whether the Obama administration might cease using the US veto at the UN Security Council to shield Israel from the Palestinians' efforts for statehood.

Speaking anonymously to the New York Times, several unnamed officials said the Obama administration might agree to a UN Security Council resolution enshrining a two-state solution in a move which would be anathema to Netanyahu.


"The premise of our position internationally has been to support direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians," a senior White House official said.

"We are now in a reality where the Israeli government no longer supports direct negotiations. Therefore we clearly have to factor that into our decisions going forward."

Natan Sachs, a fellow in Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution, told AFP it was likely Netanyahu would try and retreat from his remarks, although it "will not be an easy task."

"Netanyahu's comments don't help his credibility, as he seems to be contradicting his own policy from last year when he was negotiating a two-state solution," he said.

- 'Bold leadership required' -

The Palestinian leader said that it was clear from Netanyahu's campaign pledges that there was no prospect of a negotiated settlement with him as prime minister.

"Netanyahu's statements against a two-state solution and against a Palestinian state... are proof, if correct, that there is no seriousness in the (future) Israeli government about a political solution," Abbas said.

The Palestinians would continue to push for legitimacy on the international stage, Abbas said, referring to their attempts to achieve statehood through the United Nations and other international bodies.

"It is our right to go to anywhere in the world to achieve international legitimacy," he said.

The Palestinians will formally join the International Criminal Court on April 1 and have vowed to seek action from the very first day for alleged Israeli war crimes during last year's conflict in the Gaza Strip.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini telephoned Netanyahu to impress upon him the need to "relaunch" peace negotiations "based on a two-state solution".

"More than ever, bold leadership is required from all to reach a comprehensive, stable and viable settlement," she said in a statement.

Netanyahu's centre-left challenger Isaac Herzog had campaigned on pledge to relaunch peace negotiations with the Palestinians and mend ties with Washington.

Conceding defeat, he quickly ruled out any participation in a unity government with Netanyahu, saying going into opposition was "the only realistic option."


Results released by the Central Elections Committee on Thursday confirmed Likud had taken 30 of the 120 seats in parliament to 24 for the Zionist Union.

Rightwing and religious parties -- including the centre-right Kulanu -- took 67 seats to 53 for the centre-left and Arab parties.

The Joint Arab List made a strong showing, becoming the third-largest faction in parliament.

Thursday's results gave them 13 seats, one fewer than previously announced, however.

The extra seat was taken by the leftwing Meretz party, giving it a total of five.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 19, 2015, 04:48:20 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-threaten-end-israel-security-cooperation-164234237.html
3/19/15
Israeli leader backtracks from Palestinian state opposition

JERUSALEM (AP) — Days after winning Israel's election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be backtracking from hard-line statements that ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu says in a TV interview Thursday that he remains committed to Palestinian statehood — if conditions in the region improve. He tells MSNBC: "I haven't changed my policy."

During the final days of the campaign, Netanyahu said that he would not agree to establish a Palestinian state in the current climate — a position that drew heavy criticism from Washington. The two-state solution is a key U.S. foreign policy objective.

Netanyahu said he believes Israel cannot yield captured land to the Palestinians because it will be taken over by Islamic extremists, but said he would support Palestinian independence if circumstances change.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 20, 2015, 05:49:47 am
Palestinians confirm U.S. 'studying' abandoning Israel at U.N.
Charge Netanyahu 'spat on face of American policy'


A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party told WND his information confirms a report Thursday that the Obama administration is studying the possibility of supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for the resumption of talks to create a Palestinian state.

Dmitry Diliani, who is also a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, stated, “Now the United States, at the same time, yes, it has been studying its position.

“Especially at a time when Benjamin Netanyahu basically not only slapped the face of American policy by a statement rejecting a two-state solution,” he said. “He spat on the face of the American policy. Something that I don’t think any American would allow this to happen to the greatest country in the world.”

Diliani further confirmed reports that in light of the re-election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abbas may turn to the U.N. and other international bodies for recognition without the approval of Israel.

“This is something that is a total right for an independent state of Palestine that is recognized by the United Nations,” he said.

Diliani commented on Netanyahu’s election promise to reject the formation of a Palestinian state during his tenure in office.

Stated Diliani: “That means he basically canceled all the agreements. All the political planning in the region. Everything that is considered a political map for the whole region that was adapted by the whole world and former governments of Israel and the Palestinian people.”

Narrated by Leonard Nimoy, “The Miracle of Israel” documentary tells the miraculous story of Israel’s restoration and why it may hold the key to our future. Already seen by more than 1 million people, it’s available now at the WND Superstore

On the eve of this week’s elections, Netanyahu stated in a video interview with Israel’s NRG news website: “I think that anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state today and evacuate lands is giving attack grounds to the radical Islam against the state of Israel.”

He said anyone “who ignores this is sticking his head in the sand.”

“The left does this time and time again,” Netanyahu said. “We are realistic and understand.”

The interviewer asked Netanyahu specifically whether he meant that a Palestinian state would not be established if he were re-elected.

“Correct,” he replied.

On Thursday, Foreign Policy magazine quoted Western diplomats stating the Obama administration is “edging closer” to abandoning years of blocking U.N. Security Council resolutions imposing so-called peace talks.

The magazine reported the U.S. administration may back a resolution calling for the resumption of talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state, according to the unnamed Western diplomats.

The magazine indicated the Obama administration’s willingness to accept a U.N. resolution depends on the politics of Netanyahu’s soon-to-be formed coalition.

What do YOU think? Is Obama an anti-Semite? Sound off in today’s WND poll!

If the new governing coalition consists of right-wing parties instead of a unity deal with the left, the likelihood of the U.S. supporting U.N. action would increase, the magazine indicated.

Reported Foreign Policy:

    U.S. officials signaled a willingness to consider a U.N. resolution in the event that Netanyahu was re-elected and formed a coalition government opposed to peace talks. The United States has not yet circulated a draft, but diplomats say Washington has set some red lines and is unwilling to agree to set a fixed deadline for political talks to conclude.

“The more the new government veers to the right the more likely you will see something in New York,” the magazine quoted a Western diplomat as saying.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/03/palestinians-confirm-u-s-studying-abandoning-israel-at-u-n/#HpOFDzWCgBxcWxoV.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 21, 2015, 02:52:48 pm
UN's Ban to Netanyahu: Commit to two-state solution with the Palestinians

Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's election victory UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called Netanyahu on Friday and urged him to renew Israel's commitment to a "two-state solution" to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to clarify on Thursday comments made during his election campaign that a Palestinian state would not emerge under his tenure.   

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/UNs-Ban-to-Netanyahu-Commit-to-two-state-solution-with-the-Palestinians-394620


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 29, 2015, 11:24:40 am
Putin to Arab League: Palestinians have right to state with capital in east Jerusalem

Moscow will support the Palestinians in their efforts to build an independent state with a capital in east Jerusalem, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday according to Israel Radio. Speaking at the 26th annual Arab League Summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik over the weekend, Putin said that "Palestinians have the right to establish an independent and habitable state with a capital in east Jerusalem."   

http://www.jpost.com/International/Putin-to-Arab-League-Palestinians-have-right-to-state-with-capital-in-East-Jerusalem-395456


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 29, 2015, 11:42:37 am
UN says Israel, not Iran, North Korea or Syria worst violator of human rights

What country deserves more condemnation for violating human rights than any other nation on earth? According to the U.N.’s top human rights body, that would be Israel.

Last week, Israel was the U.N.’s number one women’s rights violator. This week it is the U.N.’s all-round human rights villain.

The U.N. Human Rights Council wrapped up its latest session in Geneva on Friday, March 27 by adopting four resolutions condemning Israel.  That’s four times more than any of the other 192 UN member states.

    Playing at caring about human rights is the U.N. game. And no state does it better than Iran.

There were four resolutions on Israel. And one on North Korea -- a country that is home to government policies of torture, starvation, enslavement, ****, disappearances, and murder – to name just some of its crimes against humanity.

Four resolutions on Israel. And one on Syria. Where the death toll of four years of war is 100,000 civilians, ten million people are displaced, and barrel bombs containing chemical agents like chlorine gas are back in action.

Four resolutions on Israel. And one on Iran. Where there is no rule of law, no free elections, no freedom of speech, corruption is endemic, protestors are jailed and tortured, religious minorities are persecuted, and pedophilia is state-run.  At last count, in 2012 Iranian courts ordered more than 30,000 girls ages 14 and under to be “married.”

And what did that one resolution on Iran say? Co-sponsored by the United States, it was labelled a “short procedural text,” consisting of just three operative paragraphs that contained not a single condemnation of Iran.

The Israel resolutions, on the other hand, were full of “demands,” “condemns,” “expresses grave concern,” and “deplores” – along with orders to “cease immediately” a long list of alleged human rights violations.

Ninety percent of states – inhabited by 6.6 billion people – got no mention at all. Countries like China, Qatar, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.  For the UN, there was not one human rights violation worthy of mention by any of these human rights horror shows.

Why not? For starters, China, Qatar, Russia and Saudi Arabia are all members of the UN Human Rights Council. Actually protecting human rights is not a condition of being elected to the Council, and thereby transforming into a UN authority on what counts as a human rights violation.

As a result, what counts fast becomes unrecognizable. Subverting human rights principles for all turns out to be the other side of the coin from subverting human rights for Jews.

Thus at this session, “death to America” Iran sponsored a Council resolution called “Enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights.” It was adopted by consensus – with U.S. blessing. 

The Cubans successfully engineered a Council resolution on protecting “cultural rights” – minus free expression.

The Palestinians – whose unity government includes the terrorist group Hamas – co-sponsored the resolution “effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of human rights.” 

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation – representing states where converting to Christianity is subject to the death penalty – sponsored a resolution called “combating intolerance of persons based on religion or belief.”

Playing at caring about human rights is the U.N. game. And no state does it better than Iran.

Iran’s human rights record happened to come up at the March session in the context of what the Council calls a “universal periodic review” (UPR). Touted as its leading human rights innovation, the same process is applied to every state every four years. 

That means Iran and Syria get treated the same way as, say, the United States and Canada.  At the end of the UPR, a report is summarily adopted containing a bunch of recommendations that the former cast of characters summarily dismiss. 

It was suggested to Iran, for instance, that it stop peddling little girls as sex slaves for old men. The recommendation received this reply:  “in light of Islamic teachings, a person that has reached the age of maturity and is of sound mind has the possibility of marrying.”

The Council created a human rights investigator on Iran, but Iran has never let him into the country.  Recommendations made to Iran during the UPR that it cooperate, were simply ignored. 

On March 19, 2014, the U.S. representative mustered all her courage and countered with this: “we note with disappointment that Iran has not addressed the issue of allowing the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran to visit the country…”

There is an alternative conclusion. We note with disappointment that the United States legitimizes this travesty and empowers the real enemies of human rights.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/03/29/un-says-israel-not-iran-north-korea-or-syria-worst-violator-human-rights/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 07, 2015, 07:07:09 am
Palestinians want UN timetable to 'end Israeli occupation'

Palestinian Ambassador Mansour says adopting resolution with timetable would help 'combat extremism in region' as extremists are 'fueled by injustice of Palestinians'.

The Palestinians are "ready and willing" to see if the UN Security Council has "the political will" to adopt a resolution with a deadline for ending Israel's occupation and establishing a Palestinian state, the Palestinian UN ambassador said Monday.

 Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters that adoption of a resolution with a timetable would be "one of the most effective measures to combat extremism in our region, because extremists receive their fuel from the injustice of the Palestinian people."

"If there is a just solution to this conflict ... in a short period of time, then you'll take away from them the main source of recruitment and mobilization," he said, adding that it would also contribute to resolving perhaps 70 percent of the "burning issues in the Middle East."

 Mansour said the United States holds the key.

 US President Barack Obama has said he will reassess US policy toward Israel following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comment before last month's election that he would not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state on his watch. That could be a possible sign that Washington would no longer shield Israel in the Security Council.

Last year, the council rejected a Palestinian resolution demanding an end to the Israeli occupation within three years. The US opposed that draft, saying Palestinian statehood can only be achieved through negotiations, but it didn't have to use its veto because the resolution didn't get the minimum nine votes needed for approval.

France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said late last month that his government would propose a council resolution in the coming weeks with a framework for negotiations toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A day earlier, the UN's outgoing top Mideast envoy, Robert Serry, challenged the Security Council to lead the way on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying it should present a framework for talks that "may be the only way to preserve the goal of a two-state solution."

Mansour said the Palestinians want a new resolution with a timetable and the parameters for a Palestinian statehood deal that would define the pre-1967 frontier as a reference point for border talks, designate Jerusalem as a capital of two states, and call for a fair solution for Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinians also want an international conference, and negotiations to include the parties as well as the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council – the US, Russia, China, Britain and France – and "concerned" Arab parties, he said.

Mansour stressed that there must be the "political will" not only to adopt a resolution but to ensure that it is implemented, which is the only way to end Israel's occupation and save the two-state solution.

That, he said, "should be our answer to the new-old position of Prime Minister Netanyahu who is against a two-state solution."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4644880,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 09, 2015, 05:40:55 am
10 Quotes That Reveal Barack Obama’s Obsession With A Palestinian State

Barack Obama is absolutely obsessed with getting the Jewish people and the Palestinians to agree to a peace deal which will permanently divide the land of Israel between those two peoples.  Barack Obama insists that such an agreement will bring permanent peace to the region, even though no previous agreement between the Jewish people and the Palestinians has lasted very long at all.  We are just told to believe that the creation of a Palestinian state will somehow cause terror groups such as Hamas to totally forsake their goal of obliterating the Jewish state and pushing all Jewish people living there into the Mediterranean Sea.  For Obama, this has become personal.  He wants to cement his legacy as a great “peacemaker” by being the president that succeeded where all presidents before him have failed.  He wants to be the one that delivers the West Bank and Gaza into the hands of the Palestinians, and he has about 20 months left to do it.  The recent election victory of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a blow to those plans, but Obama is not about to give up.  In fact, Obama administration officials are now hinting that they may back a plan for a declaration of a Palestinian state at the United Nations – thus bypassing negotiations with Israel completely.  Whether by hook or by crook, Obama seems absolutely determined to make the Palestinian dream a reality.  The following are 10 quotes that reveal Barack Obama’s obsession with a Palestinian state…

#1 “Negotiations will be necessary, but there’s little secret about where they must lead: two states for two peoples”

#2 “And I think everybody understands the outlines of what a peace deal would look like, involving a territorial compromise on both sides based on ‘67 lines with mutually agreed upon swaps, that would ensure that Israel was secure but would also ensure that the Palestinians have a sovereign state in which they can achieve the aspirations that they’ve held for so long.”

#3 “The only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine”

#4 “Neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer. Just as Israelis built a state in their homeland, Palestinians have a right to be a free people in their own land.”

#5 “Let me be clear: The United States strongly supports the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. That is a goal shared by Palestinians, Israelis, and people of goodwill around the world. That is a goal that the parties agreed to in the road map and at Annapolis. That is a goal that I will actively pursue as President of the United States.”

#6 “…we continue to believe that a two-state solution is the only way for the long-term security of Israel, if it wants to stay both a Jewish state and democratic”

#7 “It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of her own, and lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements of her parents every single day.”

#8 “None of us are under any illusion that this would be easy.  As I said in my speech this morning, it has already entailed significant political risk by President Abbas, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu.  But I think the reason that they’ve been willing to take those risks is they realize this is the best way, the only way, for us to achieve what should be our goal:  two states living side-by-side in peace and security.  It’s right for Palestinian children.  It’s right for Israeli children.”

#9 “Just as the Israeli people have the right to live in the historic homeland of the Jewish people, the Palestinian people deserve the right to self-determination. Palestinian children have hopes and dreams for their future and deserve to live with the dignity that can only come with a state of their own.”

#10 “The only solution is a democratic, Jewish state living side-by-side in peace and security with a viable, independent Palestinian state. ”

The rest of Obama’s minions seem almost equally as determined to see a Palestinian state established.

For example, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough recently called Israel’s presence in the West Bank “an occupation”…

    “The United States will never stop working for a two-state solution and a lasting peace that Israelis and Palestinians so richly deserve,” he said.

    McDonough then described the alternate to a two-state agreement: a one-state solution based on unilateral annexation and abandonment of democratic rights for Palestinians that, he warned, “would only contribute to Israel’s further isolation.” In other words, he said, more divestment, boycotts and efforts to delegitimize Israel in the international community.

    “An occupation that has lasted more than 50 years must end,” McDonough said, one of several times he brought the crowd to its feet.

And State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki says that the Obama administration is “not going to prejudge what we would do if there was a U.N. action” on a Palestinian state.  This represents a massive shift in policy from previous administrations.  The following comes from the Los Angeles Times…

    The U.S. would “reevaluate our approach” based on Netanyahu’s “change in his position,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters as the president flew to Cleveland to deliver a speech on economic policy.

    State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki raised the possibility that the reevaluation could include a shift in position at the U.N. She avoided the usual U.S. language about vetoing Security Council resolutions that Israel opposes.

    “The prime minister’s recent statements call into question his commitment to a two-state solution,” Psaki told reporters. “We’re not going to prejudge what we would do if there was a U.N. action.”

But in order for there to be a permanent peace, you have got to have two sides that want a permanent peace.

Unfortunately, that simply is not the case.

The following are the results of some surveys that have been taken of the Palestinian people in recent years…

-Only 34 percent of Palestinians believe that a “two state solution” is the answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

-58 percent of Palestinians prefer “armed struggle” over “engagement with Israel”.

-73 percent of Palestinians agree with the hadith quoted in the Hamas Charter that talks about killing Jews.

-62 percent of Palestinians support kidnapping Israeli soldiers and holding them hostage.

-Only 12 percent of Palestinians agree that official maps, documents and school textbooks should show the name “Israel”.

-Two-thirds of Palestinians believe that the eventual goal of the Palestinians must be “to get back all the land for a Palestinian state”.

If a Palestinian state is considered to be just an intermediate step to the liberation of all of “Palestine”, what kind of “permanent peace” is that?

Right now, the Palestinians are a divided people.  The Gaza strip is governed by Hamas, which is a terror organization devoted to the utter destruction of the nation of Israel.  The following are a few quotes from the Hamas Charter…

-“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”

-“The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [Holy Possession] consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment Day. No one can renounce it or any part, or abandon it or any part of it.”

-“The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews [and kill them]; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: Oh Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!”

Remember, the people of the Gaza strip willingly chose Hamas to govern them.

How in the world are the Jewish people supposed to believe that lasting peace is possible with an organization that is absolutely obsessed with their destruction?

It simply does not make any sense.

Before I wrap up this article, I want to share a photo with you.  It is a photo of Malik Obama (Barack Obama’s brother), and he is wearing a Hamas scarf.  On one side of the scarf is written a well-known Palestinian slogan: “Jerusalem is ours – WE ARE COMING!”  On the other side of the scarf there is a map of “Palestine” along with the following slogan: “From the River to the Sea!”  Remember, this photograph that you are looking at is of Barack Obama’s own brother…

Malik Obama

Does Barack Obama secretly share his brother’s beliefs?

Ultimately, I believe that we will eventually see the establishment of a Palestinian state.

But the “peace” that is achieved will be very short-lived.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/10-quotes-that-reveal-barack-obamas-obsession-with-a-palestinian-state


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 11, 2015, 05:59:05 am
Here is how the liberal anti Israel anti Jesus media slowly spins news stories to a liberal view.

Palestinian police deploy near Jerusalem for first time

Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian police have for the first time been deployed in three areas of the West Bank near annexed east Jerusalem, Palestinian and Israeli sources said on Thursday.

"For the first time, members of the Palestinian police wearing uniform and carrying weapons have been deployed in Abu Dis, Al-Ram and Bido," Palestinian police spokesman Louay Erzikat told AFP, saying the deployment had begun on Wednesday.

"This deployment is intended to target criminals and is the result of coordination" with the Israeli authorities, he said.

The Israeli army confirmed that Major General Roni Numa, head of the military's Central Command, had agreed to let the Palestinians open police stations in all three areas.

"The purpose of these stations is to address criminal matters as well as to maintain public order for the Palestinian population in area B surrounding Jerusalem," a spokeswoman said.

Under Oslo II, the second phase of the 1993 Oslo peace accords, the West Bank was divided up into areas of civilian and security control, known as areas A, B and C.

Area A, which covers the eight major towns and cities in the West Bank, is under full Palestinian civil and security control, while Area B, which accounts for roughly 22 percent of the West Bank, is under Palestinian civil control but Israeli security control.

Area C, which covers more than 60 percent of the occupied West Bank, is where the vast majority of Israeli settlements are located and is under full Israeli control, both civilian and security.

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-police-deploy-near-jerusalem-first-time-201949093.html



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 27, 2015, 02:18:56 pm
Israel responsible for Gaza shelter attacks - UN report

Did you expect anything else?

At least 44 Palestinians were killed by "Israeli actions" while sheltering at seven UN schools during last summer's war in Gaza, a UN inquiry has found.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he deplored the deaths and stressed that UN facilities were "inviolable".

The inquiry also found that three empty UN schools were used by Palestinian militants to store weapons, and that in two cases they likely fired from them.

The 50-day conflict claimed the lives of more than 2,260 people.

At least 2,189 were Palestinians, including more than 1,486 civilians, according to the UN. On the Israeli side, 67 soldiers were killed along with six civilians.
'Utmost gravity'

In November, Mr Ban announced that an independent board of inquiry would look into 10 incidents at schools run by the UN agency for Palestine refugees, Unrwa, between 8 July and 26 August 2014.

Both Israel and Hamas, the militant group that dominates Gaza, said they would co-operate with the probe headed by the retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert.

Although the board of inquiry's full 207-page report will remain private, the UN released a summary of its findings on Monday.

In one incident, a girls' school was hit by 88 mortar rounds fired by the Israeli military, the summary said. Another girls' school was struck by an anti-tank projectile, while a third was hit by a missile.

At a fourth girls' school, the inquiry found, "no prior warning had been given by the government of Israel of the firing of 155mm high explosive projectiles on, or in the surrounding area of the school".

"It is a matter of the utmost gravity that those who looked to them for protection and who sought and were granted shelter there had their hopes and trust denied," Mr Ban wrote in a cover letter accompanying the summary.

He also expressed dismay that Palestinian militant groups would put UN schools at risk by using them to hide arms.

Yah because normally they are only handing out flowers to people

The report found that weapons were stored at three schools, although they were not being used as shelters at the time. The inquiry found that Palestinian militants had probably fired from two schools, which Mr Ban said was "unacceptable".

"United Nations premises are inviolable and should be places of safety, particularly in a situation of armed conflict," he warned. "I will work with all concerned and spare no effort to ensure that such incidents will never be repeated."

A spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, Emmanuel Nahshon, said in response: "All of the incidents attributed by the report to Israel have already been subject to thorough examinations, and criminal investigations have been launched where relevant."

"Israel makes every effort to avoid harm to sensitive sites, in the face of terrorist groups who are committed not only to targeting Israeli civilians but also to using Palestinian civilians and UN facilities as shields for their terrorist activities."

There was no immediate comment from Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32479271


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 29, 2015, 05:46:21 am
Israelis who hate Israel—and the Christians who fund them

While most Israelis celebrated 67 years of independence last week, a fringe Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) hopes this year will be the last for the Jewish state. Zochrot, a tiny radical anti-Zionist group, was established with the aim of “rais[ing] public awareness of the Palestinian Nakba (“Catastrophe” in Arabic)” and “recognizing and materializing the right of return,” an agenda equivalent to calling for the abolishment of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. With no local support base or constituency, Zochrot operates only through generous funding from a coterie of foreign Christian aid organizations.

Using church funds, Zochrot promotes a “de-Zionized Palestine,” meaning free of Jews. The group’s founder, Eitan Bronstein, advocates for Jews to abandon Israel en masse. He dreams of a time “when the refugees return, Jews will become a minority in the country… There may be Jews, most of them of European origin, who won’t be able to adjust to a non-Zionist reality, and prefer to use their other passport to move elsewhere.”

Last month, together with Palestinian NGO BADIL, Zochrot embarked on a speaking tour across the U.S. to promote the “historical overview of the Nakba and the Right of Return.” Several years ago, BADIL awarded a prize to a blatantly antisemitic cartoon, featuring a grotesque caricature of a Jewish man standing over a dead Arab child and holding a pitchfork in the shape of a menorah dripping with blood. BADIL’s anti-Semitic history apparently does not concern Zochrot or its funders.

Last year, Zochrot commemorated Israel Independence Day by launching a smartphone app called “iNakba” to delegitimize the Jewish state. The app, an interactive map and photos of Palestinian Arab villages from pre-1948, was featured by The New York Times, proving the real influence of a small fringe group armed with millions of shekels of foreign funds. A year before, in 2013, Zochrot hosted a costly Tel Aviv conference titled “From Truth to Redress: Realizing the Return of Palestinian Refugees.”

These activities would ordinarily be out of reach for a group its size. But, due to the largesse of nine European Christian aid agencies, Zochrot does not lack resources. Foreign funding for 2014 and first quarter of 2015 totals NIS 2,892,665 (about $740,000). Of that, some NIS 2,726,917—about 93 percent—comes from the Christian charities.

These charities, both Catholic and Protestant, receive funding grants from their respective governments, mostly European. The charities are Bischoefliches Misereor (Germany), Broederlijk Delen (Belgium), Christian Aid (U.K.), Finn Church Aid (Finland), HEKS-EPER (Switzerland), ICCO (Netherlands), Trócaire (Ireland), the Mennonite Central Committee (Canada), and the United Church of Canada (Canada).

That these Christian groups support the abolishment of Jewish Israel is deeply troubling. The modern Zionist movement emerged in response to 19th-century anti-Semitic pogroms often caused by the anti-Jewish incitement of Christian clergy. Israel was subsequently established in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, the road to which was pave by centuries of anti-Semitic Christian teachings.

Following the Holocaust, a number of the world’s leading Christian theologians began a comprehensive reconsideration of Christianity’s attitudes toward Jews and Judaism. They undertook a process of renouncing and reformulating centuries of Christian teachings that led to anti-Jewish violence over the centuries. 

Yet in the last two decades, some churches have partnered with anti-Israel activists to reverse these theological reforms, by introducing a “Palestinian liberation theology”—a fusion of Palestinian nationalism and Christian theology. This ideology seeks to undermine Jewish claims, religious or historical, to sovereignty in any and all parts of the Land of Israel.

Zochrot serves as perfect window dressing for this theological onslaught on the right of the Jewish people to sovereign equality. Without its Christian backers, Zochrot and its pernicious agenda would cease to exist.

Yitzhak Santis is chief programs officer of NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based research institute.

http://www.jpost.com/Christian-News/Israelis-who-hate-Israeland-the-Christians-who-fund-them-400534


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 07, 2015, 11:09:33 pm
THIS IS HUGE!! :o

The Final Poke In God's Eye? - Obama To Support Palestinian State At UN SECURITY
http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2015/May07/076.html#M0QkSHlB7J6UAO5S.99
5/7/15

Zecharia 2:8 "For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you--for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye"

DEBKAfile reports exclusively from Washington: US President Barack Obama did not wait for Binyamin Netanyahu to finish building his new government coalition by its deadline at midnight Wednesday, May 6, before going into action to pay him back for forming a right-wing cabinet minus any moderate figure for RESUMING negotiations with the Palestinians.

Banking on Netanyahu’s assertion while campaigning for re-election that there would be no Palestinian state during his term in office, Obama is reported exclusively by our sources to have given the hitherto withheld green light to European governments to file a UN SECURITY Council motion proclaiming an independent Palestinian state. Although Netanyahu left the foreign affairs portfolio in his charge and available to be filled by a suitably moderate figure as per the White House’s expectations did not satisfy the US President.

The White House is confident that, with the US voting in favor, the motion will be passed by an overwhelming majority and therefore be binding on the Israeli government.

To show the administration was in earnest, senior US officials sat down with their French counterparts in Paris last week to sketch out the general outline of this motion. ACCORDING to our sources, they began addressing such questions as the area of the Palestinian state, its borders, SECURITY arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians and whether or not to set a hard-and-fast timeline for implementation, or phrase the resolution as a general declaration of intent.

Incorporating a target date in the language would expose Israel to Security Council sanctions for non-compliance.

It was indicated by the American side in Paris that the Obama administration would prefer to give Netanyahu a lengthy though predetermined time scale to reconsider his Palestinian policy or even possibly to broaden and diversify his coalition by introducing non-aligned factions or figures into such key posts as foreign affairs.

At the same time, both American and French diplomats are already using the club they propose to hang over the Netanyahu government’s head for gains in other spheres.

French President Francois Hollande, for instance, the first foreign leader ever to attend a Gulf Council of Cooperation summit, which OPENED in Riyadh Tuesday to discuss Iran and the Yemen war, used the opportunity to brief Gulf Arab rulers on Washington’s turnaround on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

And US Secretary of State John Kerry plans to present the Obama administration’s new plans for Palestinian statehood to Saudi leaders during his visit to Riyadh Wednesday and Thursday, May 6-7. Kerry will use Washington’s willingness to meet Palestinian aspirations as currency for procuring Saudi and Gulf support for a Yemen ceasefire and their acceptance of the nuclear deal shaping up with Iran.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 15, 2015, 09:23:46 am
136 Nations Recognize A Palestinian State – Only Obama Stands In The Way Of Full Global Recognition

Will a UN Security Council resolution formally recognizing the establishment of a Palestinian state be passed by the end of 2015?  Now that the Vatican has formally recognized a Palestinian state, there is a tremendous amount of international momentum for precisely such a UN Security Council resolution.  In fact, France plans to push really hard for one by the end of this year.  At this point, the only thing that could derail those plans is Barack Obama.  For years, the threat of a Security Council veto has been the one thing stopping a resolution from moving forward.  But now that Benjamin Netanyahu has been re-elected and has put together a cabinet that does not seem inclined to negotiate with the Palestinians, the Obama administration is pledging to “reevaluate our approach” and says that it will not “prejudge” what it will do if a vote comes up at the United Nations.  And as you will see below, one news source is now reporting that behind the scenes Barack Obama has already given the “green light” for France to go ahead with a resolution on a Palestinian state at the UN.  If this is truly what Obama plans to do, it will absolutely shatter U.S. relations with Israel and plunge the entire Middle East into chaos.

Most Americans don’t realize this, but 136 countries already formally recognize a Palestinian state.  Those 136 nations have a combined population of more than 5.5 billion people.

As of this moment, the major holdouts are the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and most of Europe.  But most of the European nations have already indicated that they are ready to recognize a Palestinian state if the United States will.  In fact, as I mentioned above, France plans to lead the push for a Palestinian state at the UN Security Council.

The “State of Palestine” already has “non-member observer” status at the UN, but obviously they are not satisfied with that.  They have been very eager for formal recognition by the UN, and now that the Vatican has given them formal recognition that has really bolstered their cause.  The following is from a CNN article about the Vatican announcement that stunned the world on Wednesday…

    The Vatican announced Wednesday that it had brokered a treaty with the “state of Palestine,” upsetting Israeli advocates and propelling Pope Francis into the heart of yet another geopolitical fray.

    The treaty is expected to be signed “in the near future,” the Vatican said. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, is scheduled to visit Pope Francis on Saturday, the day before the church canonizes two Palestinian nuns.

    The treaty is thought to mark the first time the Holy See has formally recognized Palestinian statehood in a legal document.

Of course this didn’t come out of a vacuum.  The truth is that the Vatican has been moving in this direction for quite some time.  Just consider what the Washington Post had to say about the matter…

    The move should not be too great a surprise. Since the U.N. General Assembly voted to recognize Palestine as a “non-member observer state” in 2012, the Vatican has referred to the “state of Palestine” in its communiques. When Pope Francis visited the Holy Land last year, the official Vatican program referred to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as the leader of the “state of Palestine.” And the pontiff publicly referred to the “state of Palestine” at a speech in the West Bank.

Now that the Vatican has done this, international pressure on Obama to support a UN Security Council resolution on a Palestinian state is increasing.

When the UN Security Council resolution being drafted by France comes up for a vote later this year, what will Obama do?

Well, according to Debka, Obama has already given the “green light” for France to move forward…

    US President Barack Obama did not wait for Binyamin Netanyahu to finish building his new government coalition by its deadline at midnight Wednesday, May 6, before going into action to pay him back for forming a right-wing cabinet minus any moderate figure for resuming negotiations with the Palestinians.

    Banking on Netanyahu’s assertion while campaigning for re-election that there would be no Palestinian state during his term in office, Obama is reported exclusively by our sources to have given the hitherto withheld green light to European governments to file a UN Security Council motion proclaiming an independent Palestinian state.

Not only that, Debka is also reporting that members of the Obama administration have actually traveled to France to help draft the resolution…

    To show the administration was in earnest, senior US officials sat down with their French counterparts in Paris last week to sketch out the general outline of this motion. According to our sources, they began addressing such questions as the area of the Palestinian state, its borders, security arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians and whether or not to set a hard-and-fast timeline for implementation, or phrase the resolution as  a general declaration of intent.

    Incorporating a target date in the language would expose Israel to Security Council sanctions for non-compliance.

If what Debka is reporting is accurate, this represents a massive betrayal of Israel by the Obama administration.

However, the Jerusalem Post is reporting just the opposite.  They are reporting that Obama plans to veto the French resolution…

    US President Barack Obama has told associates that he intends to veto the French proposal for a UN Security Council resolution mandating the creation of a Palestinian state and an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank within two years, Channel 10 is reporting on Friday.

    French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said this past March that Paris planned to start discussions with partners in the “coming weeks” on a United Nations Security Council resolution to lay out the parameters for ending the Middle East conflict.

    “I hope that the partners who were reluctant will not be reluctant anymore,” said Fabius, referring to the United States, which has traditionally shielded its ally Israel from any action at the United Nations.

So what is the truth?

Only time will tell.

But what we do know is that Obama was absolutely furious when Netanyahu promised during his most recent campaign that there would not be a Palestinian state as long as he was in office.

And we do know that the Obama administration has pledged to “reevaluate our approach” and has said that it will not “prejudge what we would do if there was a U.N. action”…

    The U.S. would “reevaluate our approach” based on Netanyahu’s “change in his position,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters as the president flew to Cleveland to deliver a speech on economic policy.

    State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki raised the possibility that the reevaluation could include a shift in position at the U.N. She avoided the usual U.S. language about vetoing Security Council resolutions that Israel opposes.

    “The prime minister’s recent statements call into question his commitment to a two-state solution,” Psaki told reporters. “We’re not going to prejudge what we would do if there was a U.N. action.”

In the final analysis it is so hard to tell exactly what Obama will do, because as he has shown over and over again, lying comes as naturally to him as breathing does.

However, I think that we can get some clues about how obsessed Obama is with the establishment of a Palestinian state from public statements that he has made throughout his presidency.  The following quotes from Barack Obama regarding the need for a Palestinian state come from one of my previous articles…

#1 “Negotiations will be necessary, but there’s little secret about where they must lead: two states for two peoples”

#2 “And I think everybody understands the outlines of what a peace deal would look like, involving a territorial compromise on both sides based on ‘67 lines with mutually agreed upon swaps, that would ensure that Israel was secure but would also ensure that the Palestinians have a sovereign state in which they can achieve the aspirations that they’ve held for so long.”

#3 “The only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine”

#4 “Neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer. Just as Israelis built a state in their homeland, Palestinians have a right to be a free people in their own land.”

#5 “Let me be clear: The United States strongly supports the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. That is a goal shared by Palestinians, Israelis, and people of goodwill around the world. That is a goal that the parties agreed to in the road map and at Annapolis. That is a goal that I will actively pursue as President of the United States.”

#6 “…we continue to believe that a two-state solution is the only way for the long-term security of Israel, if it wants to stay both a Jewish state and democratic”

#7 “It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of her own, and lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements of her parents every single day.”

#8 “None of us are under any illusion that this would be easy.  As I said in my speech this morning, it has already entailed significant political risk by President Abbas, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu.  But I think the reason that they’ve been willing to take those risks is they realize this is the best way, the only way, for us to achieve what should be our goal:  two states living side-by-side in peace and security.  It’s right for Palestinian children.  It’s right for Israeli children.”

#9 “Just as the Israeli people have the right to live in the historic homeland of the Jewish people, the Palestinian people deserve the right to self-determination. Palestinian children have hopes and dreams for their future and deserve to live with the dignity that can only come with a state of their own.”

#10 “The only solution is a democratic, Jewish state living side-by-side in peace and security with a viable, independent Palestinian state.”

In the end, I believe that Barack Obama is going to choose to betray Israel at the United Nations, and it will have very serious ramifications that will literally be felt all over the planet.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/136-nations-recognize-a-palestinian-state-only-obama-stands-in-the-way-of-full-global-recognition


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 21, 2015, 10:50:41 am

Netanyahu Tells EU He Is Committed to ‘Vision’ of Two States


Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had a problem Thursday morning when he met with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

We all know that the EU is gung-ho for patronizing the Arabs and trashing Israel unless it gives up the Golan Heights, surrenders all of Judea and Samaria, and release its sovereignty over the Old City of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount area, and tell 250,000 Jerusalem Jews to live elsewhere.

Israel, for whatever reasons or thousands of reasons, seldom is able to look the EU or President Barack Obama in the eye and say, “Get lost.”

That is not the way it is done today. One must show agreement or bury disagreements in enough sugar to keep a dentist in business all his life.

Before we reveal how Netanyahu gracefully talked his way through the meeting with Mogherini, we have to remember that Netanyahu knows that the possibility of “two states” is as real as the tooth fairy. But he can’t say so because it will rile up the anti-Semites, even though they will get riled up no matter what.

So he still has to pretend otherwise. He denied during the recent election campaign that he has annulled the two-state” concept that he accepted in a speech in 2009 at Bar-Ilan University. Likud party sources said it was the Likud’s Tzipi Hotovely who made the remarks, but it does not matter because everyone knows she said exactly what Netanyahu, and you and I think. Netanyahu has given up on the possibility of a Palestinian Authority state alongside a Jewish State of Israel because the Palestinian Authority never has adopted the “two-state” solution except as a bargaining chip until it can whittle down Israel to the extent that the only possibility is one state – Arab Palestine.

Here is what the Facebook page of Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party stated last week, according to Palestine Media Watch (PMW):

    On the occasion of Nakba day – the day Palestinians commemorate “the catastrophe” of the establishment of the State of Israel – Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement reiterated its message that there is no room for Israel in the region. The movement posted the following text on its Facebook page, showing that the two-state solution is not something Fatah wants realized:

    From its [Mediterranean] Sea to its [Jordan] River… it is ours.

PMW added that “the PA National Security Forces regularly presents towns, villages and places all over Israel as ‘Palestine’ or ‘occupied Palestine,’ as does the PA Presidential Guards.”

But the EU, the United Nations and President Obama live in their own world, the one that idiots rule.

It is obvious to anyone who does not have to act out his role as a foreign policy dupe that “two states” is a meaningless expression.

Leave it to Netanyahu, a master of communication, to find a phrase to get him off the hook. He told her:

    I want to reiterate my commitment to peace. We want a peace that would end the conflict once and for all. My position hasn’t changed. I don’t support a one-state solution. I don’t believe this is a solution at all. I support the vision of two states for two peoples – a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state.

Got it? He supports the “vision” of two states, just like he supports the “vision” of 90 Likud Knesset Members.

Don’t even read all the headlines floating around today that Netanyahu “supports the two-state solution,” which is a solution to the Palestinian Authority’s problem that Israel exists and to the European Union’s problem to keep itself busy and ignore less important matters, such as the Islamic State taking over Syria.

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/netanyahu-tells-eu-he-is-committed-to-vision-of-two-states/2015/05/21/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 24, 2015, 06:22:46 am
Hezbollah shows off its tunnels, claims it is prepared for war with Israel

A rare glimpse into Hezbollah's underground tunnels was provided on Friday by Lebanese publication As-Safir, which is associated with the militant organization. The report praised Hezbollah's activities and painted it as a strong army ready for battle. While it is difficult to verify the claims in the article, it contained a rare discussion of the tunnels by Hezbollah members. 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4660497,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 25, 2015, 10:48:24 am
Hamas Declares Jerusalem ‘Eternal Capital’ of Islamic World

The terrorist organization also copied the Israeli phrase that Jerusalem always will be "undivided."

Hamas has declared that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Islamic world,” the Saudi Arabia-backed Al-Resalah reported.

The terrorist organization that rules Gaza and has cells in Judea and Samaria “warned of the repercussions of Israeli decisions to transfer government ministers to Occupied Jerusalem, dubbing the move a flagrant violation of international resolutions,” according to the website.

Hamas official, Ezzet Resheq wrote:

    Jerusalem will remain as intrinsically Palestinian and indivisible as it has always been. It will oust all Judaization schemes.

Hamas has decided to convince its followers that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s recent appointment of government ministers is some kind of unprecedented move, as if the Jews all of a sudden have woken up.

It appears that Hamas is desperate for propaganda to shore up support from the poor Gaza Arabs who suffer under the regime.

Resheq announced that the appointments are “a flagrant violation of international laws and a manifestation of the state of despair and panic overwhelming Israelis and the future of their colonizing entity.”

“There is no doubt that the Israeli occupation will take its last breath sometime soon,” he added.”.But Jerusalem shall forever remain Arabs [sic] and Muslims’ [sic] own property and the eternal capital of the Palestinian independent state and the Islamic nation as a whole.”

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/hamas-declares-jerusalem-as-eternal-capital-of-islamic-world/2015/05/25/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 31, 2015, 02:23:48 pm
Israeli premier warns of Palestinian boycott campaign

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns that Israel faces an "international campaign to blacken its name" aimed at delegitimizing its very existence.

Netanyahu said the campaign does not target Israel based on its policies regarding the Palestinians but "seeks to deny our very right to live here."

He told his cabinet Sunday that Israel was being disproportionally singled out by the international community. The world is mostly silent on countries with serious human rights violations while protesting Israel, he said.

Netanyahu warned that although attempts by the Palestinians to suspend Israel from world soccer this weekend were rebuffed, efforts to boycott Israel continue.

Palestinians accelerated their campaign to boycott Israel and Israeli-made products after peace talks collapsed last year.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e2e35774fa8d4a68ba317013db11132f/israeli-premier-warns-palestinian-boycott-campaign


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 01, 2015, 05:38:09 am
Something Else Coming In September: A UN Resolution Establishing A Palestinian State

There has been a lot of talk about things that are going to happen in September, but something that has been almost totally overlooked is the fact that the UN Security Council is likely to be voting on a UN resolution which will establish a Palestinian state at that time.  Right now, France is working on a proposed resolution which would give formal UN Security Council recognition to the Palestinians, would declare that a divided Jerusalem is the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state, and would set the 1967 borders as the baseline for future negotiations which would establish the final borders between the two nations.  It is being reported that France will submit this resolution for a vote after the 70th session of the UN General Assembly begins on the 15th of September.  At this moment, 136 nations have already recognized a Palestinian state, but the United States has always blocked recognition by the UN Security Council.  This time may be different though, because there are quite a few indications that Barack Obama actually plans to back the French resolution in September.  If that happens, and the UN Security Council approves this resolution, it is going to have enormous implications for all of us.

Not a lot of people understand that this is happening, so let’s take this step by step.

Back in March, the Wall Street Journal and other news sources reported that the French were working on a new Security Council resolution which will establish the parameters for a Palestinian state…

    France will begin discussions in the coming weeks on a U.N. Security Council resolution that would set out the steps for a negotiated end of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and a solution to the nearly 70-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday.

According to the Times of Israel, this resolution will use the 1967 borders as the baseline for future border negotiations, and it sets Jerusalem as the capital city for both states…

    France sees a window of opportunity after Israel’s elections to get the United States on board with a new push for Mideast peace, and is preparing a draft UN Security Council resolution in about 12 days, according to French diplomatic officials.

    The draft would define the pre-1967 frontier as a reference point for border talks but allow room for exchanges of territory, designate Jerusalem as capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state and call for a fair solution for Palestinian refugees, one official told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

And according to WND, the proposed French resolution draws heavily from a UN resolution which established a partition plan for the land of Israel back in 1947…

    The French draft is said to be based on U.N. Resolution 181, dating back to Nov. 29, 1947, which provided for the establishment of two separate states. Called the partition plan, Israel accepted the deal, but the Arab governments rejected it and went to war against Israel. It would have created an independent Palestinian state on 52 percent of historic Palestine.

    The current proposal is said to call for an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, creating a Palestinian state on 22 percent of the area.

    “We don’t and we won’t give up on this,” said Francois Delattre, French ambassador to the U.N.

So when will this new resolution be brought to a vote at the UN?

According to Haaretz, the French hope to submit their plan for a vote when the new General Assembly session begins in September…

    The proposed French resolution will only be tabled after the June 30 deadline set for the nuclear negotiations with Iran. The intention is to bring it to a vote in the Security Council during the General Assembly session in New York in September.

If you understand what I am saying and you are able to put all of the pieces together, you probably just had a “whoa moment”.  It would be hard to overstate just how important this is.

As I mentioned above, up until now the U.S. has always blocked any attempts to get the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state.

But now that Barack Obama is completely and totally fed up with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that could be changing.  The following is a pretty good summary of where things stand today…

    White House spokesman Josh Earnest pledged on May 12 that following “the comments made by the prime minister in the closing days of his election,” the United States would change its approach toward promoting a solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Earnest was referring, of course, to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comment that a Palestinian state will not be established as long as he is prime minister. The most likely assumption, based on Earnest’s words, was that the president will replace his indulgence of Netanyahu’s procrastination on the process with support for proposals for resolving the conflict. Among other things, the new approach appears to include a freeze of the US veto at the UN and its institutions until such time as Israel deigns to extract the two-state negotiations from the freezer.

If the United States does not veto the French resolution later this year, it will almost certainly pass.  So right now, the only thing standing in the way of a Palestinian state is Barack Obama.  And considering the fact that he is probably the most anti-Israel president in our history, that is a very sobering thought.

Publicly, Obama is being very coy about what he plans to do.  But privately, it appears that he has already made up his mind.  In fact, Debka is reporting that Obama has given France a “green light” to move forward with this resolution…

    US President Barack Obama did not wait for Binyamin Netanyahu to finish building his new government coalition by its deadline at midnight Wednesday, May 6, before going into action to pay him back for forming a right-wing cabinet minus any moderate figure for resuming negotiations with the Palestinians.

    Banking on Netanyahu’s assertion while campaigning for re-election that there would be no Palestinian state during his term in office, Obama is reported exclusively by our sources to have given the hitherto withheld green light to European governments to file a UN Security Council motion proclaiming an independent Palestinian state.

In addition, Debka is also reporting that officials from the Obama administration have actually traveled to France to help draft this new UN resolution…

    To show the administration was in earnest, senior US officials sat down with their French counterparts in Paris last week to sketch out the general outline of this motion. According to our sources, they began addressing such questions as the area of the Palestinian state, its borders, security arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians and whether or not to set a hard-and-fast timeline for implementation, or phrase the resolution as  a general declaration of intent.

    Incorporating a target date in the language would expose Israel to Security Council sanctions for non-compliance.

And like I discussed earlier, we are not likely to see any action taken on this resolution until the new session of the UN General Assembly begins on September 15th.

Global leaders probably hope that this plan will bring peace.

But it won’t.  In fact, it will just greatly inflame tensions in the region.

In the end, I believe that this “peace plan” will only lead to more war.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/something-else-coming-in-september-a-un-resolution-establishing-a-palestinian-state


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 03, 2015, 08:23:08 am
Obama: Netanyahu's Palestine stance erodes Israel's credibility

U.S. President Barack Obama said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's terms for diplomacy that might lead to a Palestinian state meant Israel had lost international credibility as a potential peacemaker.   
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-netanyahu-stance-palestine-endangers-israels-credibility-183732522.html


UN's Ban calls on Israel, Palestinians to halt unilateral actions undermining peace

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday called on "all parties with influence" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to immediately desist from taking unilateral actions that undermine trust and urged them to resume peace negotiations. Speaking at an UNRWA (Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians...) conference, Ban stressed...past political failure "must not lead to a humanitarian and indeed, moral failure."   
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/UNs-Ban-calls-on-Israel-Palestinians-conflict-to-halt-undermining-unilateral-actions-404887


Obama raises possibility of allowing U.N. vote on Palestinian statehood

President Obama took...tougher line with Israel in an interview...raising the possibility that the U.S. will allow a United Nations vote on issues related to the Palestinians... ...Obama noted that his administration ...“up until this point” quashed such efforts at the U.N...he said it is a challenge for the U.S. to keep demanding that the Palestinians negotiate in good faith if no one believes the Israelis are doing the same.   
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-obama-israel-palestinians-20150602-story.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 03, 2015, 09:12:28 am
Link for the 3rd article above?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 10, 2015, 11:30:50 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-calls-on-palestinians-to-return-to-talks/
6/9/15
Netanyahu calls on Palestinians to return to talks

Prime minister says recognizing the Jewish state not a precondition to negotiations; world powers have wrong approach


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called on the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table, saying that his demand that Ramallah recognize Israel as a Jewish state is not a precondition.

Netanyahu, speaking at the Herzliya policy conference, added that although he supports a two-state solution, a future Palestinian state would be demilitarized and Israel would maintain security control of West Bank area.

“I call on [Palestinian Authority] President [Mahmoud] Abbas to return to talks without preconditions,” he declared during a speech at the annual Herzliya Conference.

He added that though Palestinian recognition of a Jewish state was not a precondition for talks, it would form the basis of a lasting agreement.

“The Palestinians expect us to recognize a Palestinian state. But they won’t recognize a Jewish state for the Jewish people. That’s what we want. Mutual recognition,” he said.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 17, 2015, 06:38:38 am
US Lawmakers Call on Obama to Recognize Jerusalem as True Capital of Israel

Pro-Israel US lawmakers are calling on US President Barack Obama to use his executive powers to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and stop punishing US citizens born in Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Post reported. The request came days after a US Supreme Court decision to strike down a law allowing Jerusalem-born American’s to write “Israel” as their birthplace on their passports   

http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/43509/us-lawmakers-obama-stop-punishing-americans-born-jerusalem/?utm_source=Breaking+Israel+News&utm_campaign=a4e4b5ba2b-BIN+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b6d3627f72-a4e4b5ba2b-86603165#uhoZqUQqCxxeVVFy.97


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 20, 2015, 08:06:53 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/fabius-expected-in-region-to-push-french-peace-initiative/
Fabius expected in region to push French peace initiative
French FM set to meet Netanyahu, Abbas to discuss UN resolution setting 18-month timeframe for deal


6/20/15

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is expected in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Sunday to promote his country’s proposal for restarting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

He is scheduled to meet separately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

“What’s important is that negotiations restart,” Fabius told reporters during a visit to Cairo, where he held what he said were intensive talks with Egyptian officials on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

“We need Israel’s security to be totally assured, that is essential, but at the same time we need the rights of the Palestinians to be recognized because without justice there can be no peace,” Fabius said.

“From this point of view, when settlement building continues, (the prospect of) a two-state solution recedes,” he said.

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 25, 2015, 03:20:34 pm
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6034/pope-francis-jews-israel
The Scorpion, The Frog and The Pope

by Susan Warner
June 24, 2015 at 5:00 am

Despite attempts by post World War II popes to reconcile with the Jews, Pope Francis has, perhaps inadvertently, taken the first steps to disassemble any progress toward that goal.

The Pope's declaration inspires the already hate-infested Palestinians to commit murder with a symbolic pontifical blessing.

It might be premature to assign the term "anti-Semitism" to Pope Francis's current "missteps." However, it does not push the envelope too far to suggest that the Pope's view of the Jews and Israel is a product of a lifetime of Catholic and Replacement Theology bias.

At this momentous time, the Pope's repentance would be a welcome acknowledgement of Israel's right to exist.

Pope Francis recently declared Palestine to be a state. Thus, he writes a new chapter in the divisive history between Catholics and Jews.

The history of the Catholic Church is a two-thousand year old story of anti-Judaism, conspicuous by frequent massacres, murders, forced conversions, torture, pogroms, expulsions, demonization and other unspeakable acts of violence and offense.

The fable of the Scorpion and the Frog illustrates the notion that certain acts are not merely random chance but are as predictable as a "DNA" profile.

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?"

The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too."

So they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog has just enough time to gasp "Why?"

The scorpion replies: "Because it is my nature; it is what I do...."

This year, the Catholic Church is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Nostra aetate. Written in 1965, the document is a declaration of the relation of the Catholic Church to non-Christian religions including Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews (or what the document calls "Abraham's stock").

Its purpose was to promote "unity and love among men." At the same time, it served as a tool to start the repair of what had become an insurmountable rift between Catholics and Jews.

While the document has played a role in bridging one of the wide gaps between the two groups by releasing Jews from the burden of responsibility for the death of Jesus, it nevertheless fails to address a key issue for Jewish people -- the declaration of Israel as their historic, legitimate and legal homeland.

During the first few months after Pope Francis's March 2013 election, the Jewish community expressed hope that the Catholic Church would continue what appeared to be a warming relationship.

"Francis declared that 'since the Second Vatican Council, we have rediscovered that the Jewish People are still for us the holy root that produced Jesus.' He also stated that despite the horrors inflicted on the Jewish People by the Shoah, 'God never abandoned his covenant with Israel, and notwithstanding their terrible suffering over the centuries, the Jewish People have kept their faith. For this, we will never be sufficiently grateful to them as a Church, but also as human beings...."

Some optimistic Jewish leaders argue that, while there is a lot more work to do, the process of reconciliation has been steadily moving forward.

Current events, unfortunately, suggest a more pessimistic perspective.[1]

Israel is battling for its legitimacy and its very existence on every front, and Jews throughout the world are confronting a vigorous, revitalized and often violent resurgence of anti-Semitism.

Even as the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas call almost daily for death to the Jews, the Pope has declared terrorist and Holocaust denier, Mahmoud Abbas, "a man of peace."

In his declaration of Palestine as a recognized "state", the Pope has spurned Israel's existential security concerns in order to advance a bond with the Palestinians before both parties have agreed to even basic terms of a peace agreement.


The symbolic timing (May 13) of the Pope's ex officio declaration of a Palestinian state couldn't be more obvious or more offensive to Israel: 1. Israel's Independence Day celebrates the birth of the State in 1948; 2. Nakba Day (Catastrophe Day), the Palestinian day of mourning for the loss of their land to the State of Israel; 3.The summer celebrations of Nostra aetate, commemorating a vision of harmony.

Such a reckless affirmation is also a caustic reminder that Jewish-Catholic reconciliation work is far from complete.

Is the Catholic Church, like the scorpion, simply standing against the Jewish state because it is part of Church's DNA? Do the Pope's sympathies with the Palestinian narrative suggest the beginning of a return to the days of a Catholic Church riddled with thousands of examples of Jew-hatred?

Among the many diverse threads woven into the fabric of the Church, anti-Semitism stands at the forefront. The fabric of all of Christianity was set against the Jews from the outset.

While the timing of the Pope's announcement was shocking, it was nonetheless predictable. It is an echo of a long-held theology of the Catholic Church, which turned against its own Jewish heritage within a mere fifty years after the Apostle Paul died.[2]


The theological grandfather of contemporary Christian anti-Semitism is known as "Replacement Theology" or what is dubbed by scholars "supersessionism." This is the ancient idea that the Christian Church "replaced" God's "chosen" people.

By 135 CE, the newly emerging gentile Church had lost much of the Jewish vigor that had energized the period of the Hebrew New Testament writings.

In the generation after the Apostle Paul died, the gentile Church Fathers began penning tomes of anti-Jewish theology and commentary.[3] Early second-century writers and theologians such as Tertullian and Origen inverted the Jewishness of the Jesus story and began to demonize the Jewish people, using their very own Hebrew scriptures as a cudgel.

The thesis of "Replacement Theology," according to Dr. Jim Showers, Executive Director of Friends of Israel, "maintains that, because the Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah, God has replaced or superseded ethnic Israel with the Church and punished them by rescinding all of His covenant promises."

This early narrative proclaimed, "the Church as the New Israel," and fused with the idea that "the Church is the heir of God's promises to Abraham". Thus, the Church nullified God's original, unequivocal, irrevocable and eternal promise of the land and nation to Israel in His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was these early Church Fathers (125 - 325 CE) who first carved the "DNA" of Jew hatred in stone.

At the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, the Church put its final stamp on an anti-Jewish legacy. Among the Council's many proclamations, it designated a pagan day, Easter, to replace Passover as a way to separate itself from its Jewish roots.

At the conclusion of the Council, Constantine's summary letter to the attending Bishops stated:

"For it is unbecoming beyond measure that on this holiest of festivals we should follow the customs of the Jews. Henceforth let us have nothing in common with this odious people... We ought not, therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews... our worship follows a... more convenient course... we desire dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews... How, then, could we follow these Jews, who are almost certainly blinded."[4]

"Replacement Theology" deliberately poisoned the ancestral roots of Christianity. The two-thousand year war against the Jewish people began there.

Despite attempts by post-World War II popes to reconcile with the Jews, Pope Francis has, perhaps inadvertently, taken the first steps to disassemble any progress toward that goal. By preemptively positing a Palestinian state, he has essentially re-ignited the ceasefire lines of this age-old conflict. The Pope's declaration inspires the already hate-infested Palestinians to commit murder with a symbolic pontifical blessing.

The New York Times reported on the occasion of Pope Francis's 2014 visit to the Holy Land:

"Pope Francis plans to give a strong show of support for a sovereign Palestinian state when he makes his first visit to the Holy Land this weekend, becoming the first pontiff to travel directly into the occupied West Bank rather than passing through Israel.

The pope's decision to fly straight to Bethlehem from Jordan would be a symbolic lift to the Palestinians at any time. But its resonance is even greater given his tremendous popularity, his focus on the downtrodden, and his timing amid the recent collapse of peace talks and the Palestine Liberation Organization's unity pact with the militant group Hamas."

On that same visit, the Pope also made a "surprise" stop at an Israeli security wall to pray and to pose for photos. "By chance," he parked himself for prayer within camera range, beneath graffiti with the slogan: "Bethlehem look like Warsaw Ghetto." Does he need to say more?

After nineteen centuries of Christian persecution; after a modern-day genocide upon which the Catholic world turned its back, just when the Jewish people and Israel might have looked for a ray of hope toward continued reconciliation, Pope Francis is making a pact with the devil. "Nothing new here," said the scorpion to the frog; "it is what I do."

Perhaps it is premature to assign the term "anti-Semitism" to Pope Francis's current "missteps." However, it does not push the envelope too far to suggest that the Pope's view of the Jews and Israel is a product of a lifetime of Catholic and Replacement Theology bias.

At this momentous time, the Pope's repentance would be a welcome acknowledgement of Israel's right to exist.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 26, 2015, 07:38:18 am
Vatican signs treaty with "State of Palestine"

The Vatican signed a treaty with the "State of Palestine" on Friday, saying it hoped its legal recognition of the state would help stimulate peace with Israel and that the treaty itself would serve as a model for other Mideast countries.

Vatican Foreign Minister Paul Gallagher and his Palestinian counterpart, Riad al-Malki, signed the treaty at a ceremony inside the Vatican.

Israel expressed disappointment when the Vatican announced last month that it had reached final agreement with the "State of Palestine" on the treaty regulating the life of the Catholic Church in the Palestinian territories.

It repeated that regret in a Foreign Ministry statement Friday, saying the move hurt peace prospects and would discourage the Palestinians from returning to direct negotiations. It warned that it would study the agreement "and its implications for future cooperation between Israel and the Vatican."

Gallagher, though, said he hoped the Vatican's recognition "may in some way be a stimulus to bringing a definitive end to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which continues to cause suffering for both parties."

He said that he hoped the treaty could serve as a model for the church in other Mideast countries, where Christians are a minority and often persecuted.

The Vatican had welcomed the decision by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012 to recognize a Palestinian state and had referred to the Palestine state since. But the treaty marked its first legal recognition of the Palestinian territory as a state.

Al-Malki called the treaty an "historic agreement" and said it marked "a recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, freedom and dignity in an independent state of their own, free from the shackles of occupation."

The United States and Israel oppose recognizing the Palestinian state, arguing that it undermines U.S.-led efforts to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian deal on the terms of Palestinian statehood. Most countries in Western Europe have held off on recognition, but some have hinted that their position could change if peace efforts remain deadlocked.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon called the treaty itself one-sided, saying the text ignored "the historic rights of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and to the places holy to Judaism in Jerusalem."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_PALESTINIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-06-26-07-48-05


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 27, 2015, 05:44:48 am
‘UN resolution on Palestinian state is dangerous – even if US plans to veto it’

A close friend of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, French MP Meyer Habib shares many of his positions –including his pessimism about the Palestinians’ willingness to make peace.

French MP Meyer Habib is worried.

As an observant Jew with children in Jewish schools in Paris, he is worried about anti-Semitism in his home country and the popularity of radical Islam. He’s also worried about his government’s relations with the other country in which he has citizenship, Israel – especially France’s plan to ask the UN Security Council to call for a Palestinian state on the 1949 armistice lines.

Habib voiced his concerns to French President François Hollande while the two were returning from a visit to Italy on Sunday.

“I tried to tell the president on our flight that, in my opinion, it is counterproductive to go to the UN and try to force Israel’s hand. The great powers should push parties to negotiate, that is the only way to reach a good agreement. I think he listened. He said he would update me,” Habib told The Jerusalem Post from his office in Paris the next day.

Habib said he got the impression from Hollande that France thinks the US will veto its resolution anyway, but the MP maintained that the government would be making a mistake to pressure Israel in this way, even if it is certain it will be vetoed.

According to Habib, the UN resolution would give the Palestinians the state they want, with nothing in return – without them recognizing Israel as the Jewish state or giving up the right of return.

Instead of a UN resolution, France should push both sides to negotiate, which is the only way to bring peace, he posited.

At the same time, Habib is not very optimistic about the possible outcome of such talks.

“Israel wants and always wanted peace, but I don’t think it’s possible now,” he contended. “In the meantime, we should try to encourage coexistence to bring real peace, which would mean living side by side. [The Palestinians] don’t want any Jew to live in Gaza or Judea and Samaria; that’s not peace.”

“Whoever wants peace has to understand Jerusalem can never be divided and we need freedom of religion for all, like we have under Israeli sovereignty,” he stressed.

Habib told Hollande that Israel is ready for real peace, and proved so in the past by evacuating towns in Gaza where Israelis were born and raised. However, he delineated that the conflict is clearly not about land – otherwise the Gaza disengagement and generous offers by prime ministers Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak would have brought peace.

“Everyone wants an agreement and it’s very complicated.

The fact is that for 70 years, no one has succeeded,” he sighed.

“I explained to the president, as a French MP, that Israel is the only state in the region – where thousands of women and children are being killed – that has the same values as we do,” Habib continued. “Hamas is like Islamic State and Boko Haram, and wants Shari’a; negotiating with them is a bad idea. The world has to understand that Israel is in a hostile environment. It’s a small state, and the only one in the world for the Jewish people.”

Israel will not give up on its security and its land for “fantasies”; as a small country, it “doesn’t have the luxury of making mistakes.”

“Israel is like the life insurance of the Jewish people. I am convinced that if the State of Israel existed at the time, the Holocaust would have been impossible,” he added.

Habib asserted that Europeans can be naïve and ignore the lessons of the past, which is why they don’t understand how important it is that Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East – where he emphasized that everyone else is either a dictator or an extremist.

That naïveté applies to the Iran nuclear talks as well.

Habib expressed pride in France’s stance in the negotiations, saying his country is relatively alert, but he is concerned about the American position and Russian dominance in the negotiations.

“We all want an agreement with Iran, but it has to be a good one – and this is not a good one. We have to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and all experts and reports say they are on the way to getting one,” he pointed out. “I don’t think we’re heading towards [a deal] that looks effective. Iran will get all its money back and will be ready for the minute it is allowed to have weapons.”

Habib compared the brewing Iran deal to the 1938 Munich Agreement: “Everyone wanted to prevent a war, but we still got one.”

The French MP postulated that a bad deal with Iran puts the whole world in danger, not just Israel.

“How can a country like the US allow something like this?” he wondered. “I don’t understand it.”

IF HABIB’S positions seem very similar to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s, there’s a reason for that: Both grew up on the philosophy of Likud forebear Ze’ev Jabotinsky, and the two have been close personal friends for over 20 years.

Habib’s father, Emanuel Habib, was a leader of the Tunisian Jewish community in France and a well-known Revisionist Zionist who was friends with prime minister Menachem Begin.

Habib, 54, joined the Jabotinsky- founded Betar youth movement as a teen; he made aliya in the late-1970s, when he finished high school in France, and studied industrial engineering at the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology.

He eventually became an executive at Citizen Watches and the Groupe Vendome luxury jewelry brand, all the while engaging in activism in the French Jewish community through the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF).

It was through that activism that Habib met Netanyahu in the early 1990s, and became friends with him and his wife, Sara.

In 2013 Habib was elected a member of the French National Assembly, as part of the centrist UDI party, representing French expats in Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, San Marino, Turkey, the Holy See and Israel – which has more French citizens than all the other areas combined. The MP said he is proud to represent constituents from places that are central to all three monotheistic religions.

When asked if he coordinates his political actions with Netanyahu, Habib’s response made it clear he was sensitive to accusations of dual loyalty.

“I ask the prime minister’s opinion and I give him mine, but he’s the prime minister of Israel and I’m an MP in France,” he began, but then continued to detail the dynamics between them.

“We talk, and of course we share values; France and Israel have the same goal [of peace].

I love France very much. I was born there, and it is my first language, but there is no problem loving both countries.

France and Israel have friendly relations.”

“I am a member of the French Parliament and Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, have been among my closest friends for 23 years – well before he became prime minister,” he revealed. “Personally, I have learned a lot from him and gained a lot of useful experience at his side.

“This is why I am very grateful to him. I strongly believe that Netanyahu, who is still young, will [go down] in history as one of Israel’s greatest prime ministers, and will deeply mark Israel history.

I truly know that under his leadership, the people of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide are in safe hands and can sleep peacefully.

“As a Jew and as a French-Israeli binational, it is an honor for me to count him among my inner circle,” continued Habib. “And I was touched when he said last week to [former French president Nicolas] Sarkozy, when the three of us met: ‘We are like brothers.’” As for political issues, “I talk to the prime minister often and I try to explain France’s concerns to him. The French government has good intentions and wants peace, but they don’t understand it’s not just about territory. My deep belief is this is, fundamentally, a religious war.”

AS AN observant Jew in the French National Assembly at a time when anti-Semitism in Europe is on the rise, Habib has received death threats and must be accompanied by bodyguards in France.

Habib said the attacks on a Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012 and the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris earlier this year are tied to demonization of Israel.

“In [Operation Protective Edge], the media just showed dead bodies of Palestinian children all the time. Any normal person is pained to see a child killed, but the media only showed that, not the Grads and [other] rockets shot at Israel. That is why the French media holds part of responsibility in the rise of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic feelings.

“These pictures of children, trapped in a city under fire and sometimes killed, have been used as a justification for recent anti-Semitic attacks in France – for example, in last January’s attack on Hyper Cacher,” he explained.

As for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, calling for a boycott of a country is considered illegal discrimination in France, and in most cases French courts do not allow boycotts to continue – but the problem is a moral one at its core, Habib detailed.

The MP pointed to atrocities throughout the Middle East and Africa and said the UN hardly ever condemns them, but focuses on Israel.

“French people don’t hear that 300,000 people were killed in Syria and that Islamic State is crucifying Christians like they did 2,000 years ago.

They think Israel is the source of the world’s problems, when the Palestinians are responsible for the conflict,” he lamented. “War in the Middle East is not about territory, it is about religion.”

“This is a moral problem for everyone, not just Jews.

“The world needs to open its eyes. I’m not just worried about French Jews, I’m worried about France, my country, which is facing a Islamist threat,” he stated, clarifying that “of course not all Muslims are jihadis, but It is a lot of people... There are thousands of cases in France.”

We can’t know for sure. It is a lot of people... There are thousands of cases in France.

This is a phenomenon,” he warned.

“You can criticize the government, but so much attention is focused on the tiny, sole Jewish state that has been fighting for its existence for 70 years. People used to say Jews poisoned wells or put Christian blood in matzot. Today they blame a tiny state for all that is happening in the world,” Habib said.

http://www.jpost.com/International/UN-resolution-is-dangerous-even-if-US-plans-to-veto-it-407178


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 27, 2015, 09:21:36 am
In light of what happened yesterday, I'm just thinking out loud here...

I don't know when the timing of the rapture will be - it wouldn't surprise me if it happened BEFORE America gets taken over by Martial Law et al(b/c look how God rescued Lot from S&G BEFORE destruction fell). However...

Let's remember that in bible prophesy, Jews go back to their homeland of Israel before the ToJT comes to pass(and we're seeing that around the world now). Pt I'm trying to make is that another scenerio I see is that when this Jade Helm operation goes down, they could very well go after the Christians, while during the time American Jews finally get flown back to their homeland of Israel. You saw that recently when terrorist attacks et al happened in the Ukraine, France, etc.

So what I'm trying to say is that just stick with and study the word of God with your whole heart - in the near future, we're all going to find out who are the true sheep, and who are the true goats.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 29, 2015, 07:55:20 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCAe08ozgUU


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 04, 2015, 07:49:42 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va25D2wta2M


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 18, 2015, 12:15:16 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-calls-abbas-with-eid-greeting-says-israel-wants-peace/
PM calls Abbas with Eid greeting, says Israel wants peace
PA chief says he wants deal this year; rare conversation amid reports of secret contacts despite long-frozen peace talks

7/17/15

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday to convey his wishes for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan.

Netanyahu also told Abbas that the citizens of Israel want peace and that Israel would continue to act toward regional stability, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA said Abbas told Netanyahu it is important to reach a peace deal next year.

It was the first official, publicized call between the Israeli and Palestinian leader since June 2014. The two had last spoken in this capacity in June of last year when the three Israeli teenagers — Naftali Fraenkel, Eyal Yifrach and Gil-ad Shaar — were kidnapped and subsequently killed by a Hamas-affiliated cell in the West Bank.

But secret contacts between Netanyahu and Abbas have been taking place for several months, according to recent reports, including in The Times of Israel. Those reports have been denied by both the PMO and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

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Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 24, 2015, 04:02:07 pm
UN Resolution: Israel the World's Only Violator of Economic and Social Rights
You were expecting maybe Iran?




The UN’s 54-nation Economic and Social Council adopted a resolution on Monday that names the world's only - only - violator of economic and social rights in the world, UN Watch reports. Which country did a majority of 42 states including all EU members condemn? If you guessed Iran, Syria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, or any other likely candidate, then you haven't been paying attention to world affairs or the United Nations since the establishment of the nation of Israel.

That's right, Israel.

Only Australia and the U.S. opposed the resolution. Honduras and Panama abstained, and eight other countries were absent.

The resolution charges Israel with such crimes as “destruction of homes and properties, economic institutions and agricultural lands and orchards in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as well as in the occupied Syrian Golan”; of the “exploitation of natural resources”; and of “the dumping of all kinds of waste materials in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, which gravely threaten their natural resources.”

Hamas is mentioned a whopping 0 times. Zero.

Syria was mentioned 13 times, UN Watch reports, "but only to condemn Israel for alleged violations against 'the Syrian citizens of the occupied Syrian Golan' whose family members reside in 'their mother homeland, the Syrian Arab Republic.' The murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad is not condemned or even mentioned once." Zilch.

UN Watch goes on:

    After the introduction of the resolution by South Africa, the Syrian Ambassador took the floor and accused Israel of facilitating terrorist attacks against Syrian cities and civilians. Assad’s envoy condemned the Jewish state for “destroying the soil of the Golan, exploiting its resources, burning its products and other racist policies.”

No other country in the world but Israel was singled out for condemnation at this year’s ECOSOC’s annual session. Good to know that the United Nations has its priorities straight.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/un-resolution-israel-worlds-only-violator-economic-and-social-rights


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 16, 2015, 08:44:35 am
Palestinians invite hundreds of leaders to flag raising ceremony at UN in New York

The Palestinian Authority invited hundreds of world leaders to celebrate the raising of its flag for the first time at the United Nations headquarter in New York on September 30th. “It will be a glorious day, a proud day for us. We expect hundreds of leaders to be with [PA] President [Mahmoud] Abbas to celebrate that moment,” PLO Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour told reporters in New York on Tuesday.   

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinians-invite-hundreds-of-leaders-to-flag-raising-ceremony-at-UN-416273


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 18, 2015, 04:29:39 pm
Arabs Attack Police in Jerusalem's Old City
Arab rioters hurl rocks at police near Temple Mount, reinforced officers arrest one; mass call-up of Border Police decided.


The anticipated Arab attacks near the Temple Mount at the end of Friday prayers did not disappoint, as Arab rioters hurled rocks at police forces at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City.

At the gate, located on the eastern end of the northern wall of the Old City, one Arab assailant was arrested in the act.

Police forces used non-lethal riot dispersal methods to break up the rioters, in a clash that was foreseen by police who beefed up their numbers to 5,000 officers in the capital for Friday and deployed surveillance blimps.

At nearly the same time as the clash on Friday, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee decided following a special morning meeting to take a rare move, and permit the IDF to call up reserve Border Patrol officers to secure Jerusalem.

Committee Chairman MK Tzahi Hanegbi (Likud) said "Border Patrol fighters have rich and successful experience dealing with hostile and violent activities. Placing Border Patrol units in the capital will help restore order quickly."

The clash on Friday comes after Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called Wednesday for violence at the Temple Mount against Jews, saying, "the Al-Aqsa (Mosque on the Mount - ed.) is ours...and they (Jews) have no right to defile it with their filthy feet."

In his comments Abbas lauded "martyrs" spilling blood in Jerusalem to prevent Jews from their holiest site, making his call for violence clear.

Police precautions in Jerusalem come in light of a steep rise in Arab terror in the capital over the last week in time for Rosh Hashanah, during which Arabs repeatedly attacked police on the Temple Mount - the holiest site in Judaism - in pre-planned riots with rocks and explosives.

Likewise, a lethal Arab rock attack claimed the life Alexander Levlovitz (64) of Jerusalem, who was murdered on the eve of Rosh Hashanah on Sunday after a rock hurled through his car's window made him lose control of the vehicle and crash.

Aside from increasing the police presence, Muslim access to the Mount was limited on Friday. Only men aged 40 and over, and women of all ages, were allowed in so as to weed out the young Islamists who repeatedly spark violence on the holy site.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/200817#.VfyB3pc8aiw


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 29, 2015, 11:13:17 am
A UN Resolution Setting The Parameters For A Palestinian State Is Still In Play

Because nothing happened in the days immediately following the start of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly on September 15th, most people seem to think that we are not going to see a UN resolution formally recognizing a Palestinian state any time soon.  But according to the Jerusalem Post, such a resolution is still very much in play.  France is still very much interested in introducing such a resolution, but they are not going to do it unless they have the support of the United States.  In other words, the fate of a UN resolution setting the parameters for a Palestinian state is in the hands of Barack Obama.

For years, most observers have believed that a Palestinian state would only come into existence through direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  But negotiations have totally broken down and there does not seem to be any hope that they will resume any time soon.  In a desperate attempt to move the peace process forward, France wants to introduce a new Security Council resolution that would formally recognize a Palestinian state once and for all and set the framework for what a final peace deal would look like.  The following comes from a Jerusalem Post article that was published on September 26th…

    The idea behind the French move for a new Security Council resolution is to set internationally agreed parameters for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The aim would be to reassure the Palestinians on what a final peace deal might look like and put international pressure on Israel to participate in serious and focused negotiations.

    A UN resolution of this kind would bypass the need for consensus between the parties on terms of reference for final peace talks, which is precisely where the American- mediated peace effort broke down in early 2014.

But as I mentioned above, France will not introduce such a resolution unless it is already a done deal.

And the key to it being a done deal is to get the support of the Obama administration.  Here is more from the Jerusalem Post…

    The French have not yet finally decided on whether to go the Security Council route.

    It will depend on the degree of international support, especially American, they have.

Even though 136 nations already recognize a Palestinian state, the U.S. government has always stood in the way of a UN Security Council resolution.  But now that there seems to be little hope of peace talks resuming, Barack Obama is indicating that he may not stand in the way this time around.  The following excerpt comes from a Los Angeles Times article…

    President Obama took a step toward a tougher line with Israel in an interview released Tuesday, raising the possibility that the U.S. will allow a United Nations vote on issues related to the Palestinians if the two sides make no meaningful movement toward peace.

    In an interview with an Israeli television station, Obama noted that his administration has “up until this point” quashed such efforts at the U.N. while insisting that the Israelis and Palestinians must negotiate a resolution. But he said it is a challenge for the U.S. to keep demanding that the Palestinians negotiate in good faith if no one believes the Israelis are doing the same.

    “How do we move off what appears right now to be a hopeless situation and move it back towards a hopeful situation?” Obama asked in the interview. “That will require more than just words. That will require some actions. And that’s going to be hard work, though, because right now I think there’s not a lot of confidence in the process.”

So if France does introduce such a resolution, what should we expect it to look like?

Well, the Jerusalem Post is reporting that it would likely look very much like the November 1947 UN General Assembly partition plan…

    But if they do, the proposed resolution will likely refer to the November 1947 UN General Assembly partition plan, which called for the establishment of two states, one Jewish and one Arab, and which was jubilantly hailed by the Israeli state-in-themaking at the time. It will also seek to replace the 1967 UN Security Council Resolution 242, which called for land for peace without going into details as the preeminent international document on peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians.

    The proposed resolution will call for two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace; Jerusalem as the capital of both; borders along the 1967 lines with land swaps; and a satisfactory security package for Israel.

Obviously, surrendering any sovereignty over Jerusalem is something that the Netanyahu government will never, ever agree to.

So if the UN does adopt such a resolution, it will just raise tensions in the region.  The Palestinians will feel legally entitled to east Jerusalem, and Israel will insist that it never agreed to give it up.

In the end, such a situation would inevitably result in war.

Personally, I believe that Barack Obama very much wants to see the establishment of a Palestinian state by the time he leaves office, and I also believe that we will definitely see a Palestinian state recognized by the UN at some point.

But I don’t believe that the “peace” that our global leaders are hoping for will last very long.  In fact, I believe that an unprecedented war is coming to the Middle East.

If Barack Obama decides to go along with the UN resolution that France is pushing, I am convinced that the consequences for us will be absolutely disastrous as well.  Trying to divide the land of Israel is one of the stupidest foreign policy decisions that we could possibly make.

So let us hope that the decision to formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations is put off for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, the man with the power to make this decision is currently residing in the White House, and he doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to making wise choices.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/a-un-resolution-setting-the-parameters-for-a-palestinian-state-is-still-in-play


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 29, 2015, 11:21:02 am
From what I've read and heard, the first half of Daniel 9:27 deals with the Jews being allowed their OT LL sacrifices again. It has nothing to do with some "peace treaty".

To be frank, if the AC came out and said "This is a 7 year peace treaty!", where would be the "strong delusion"? Everyone's going to figure out the emerging OWL is nothing but a sham.

This is just my humble opinion - but I believe part of the "strong delusion" is the AC coming out and telling everyone there will be 1000 years of peace on earth(which the New Apostle Reformation wolves are pushing - saying in order for Jesus to come back for 1000 years on earth, they have to "build the church"). If I recall, Adolf Hitler pushed the idea that there would be 1000 years of peace on earth when he came to power.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 30, 2015, 06:29:26 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=36078
BOMBSHELL: ABBAS AT UN SAYS PALESTINE NO LONGER BOUND BY AGREEMENTS WITH ISRAEL
Geoffrey Grider | September 30, 2015 | 14 Comments

PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS DECLARED BEFORE WORLD LEADERS WEDNESDAY THAT HE IS NO LONGER BOUND BY AGREEMENTS SIGNED WITH ISRAEL AND CALLED ON THE UNITED NATIONS TO PROVIDE INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION FOR PALESTINIANS, IN THE MOST SERIOUS WARNING YET THAT HE MIGHT WALK AWAY FROM ENGAGEMENT WITH THE JEWISH STATE.

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Zechariah 12: 2,3 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: The real battle for the Bible believer in all this is exactly what the Bible said has always been the issue, and what would be the issue in the last days: Jerusalem. You will pay careful attention to where Abbas says that the flag of Palestine “will be raised soon in Jerusalem, the capital of our Palestinian state.” Wow. Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel since about 1500 BC. At this time we call to your attention the treaty that was signed between Palestine and the Vatican on May 13, 2015. Tick, tock….

In a statement issued by his office, Netanyahu said Abbas’ “speech of lies encourages incitement and unrest in the Middle East.” Netanyahu called on Abbas to “act responsibly” and answer his proposal for direct negotiations with Israel without any preconditions. “The fact that time after time he (Abbas) does not respond is the best proof that he has no intention of reaching a peace agreement,” the statement said.

Abbas’ comments reflect deep frustration, even desperation. It came after years of paralysis in attempts to negotiate Palestinian statehood with Israel and several months after Netanyahu formed a right-wing government that has continued settlement expansion on war-won lands the Palestinians want for their state.

WITH NEGOTIATIONS FROZEN, ABBAS HAS FAILED TO COME UP WITH A POLITICAL ALTERNATIVE.

His hopes of creating a Palestinian state through negotiations with Israel have been derailed. A new poll shows that a majority of Palestinians want the 80-year-old leader to resign and dissolve his self-rule government, the Palestinian Authority. Many no longer believe a two-state solution is realistic and support political violence.

Abbas had threatened to drop a “bombshell” in the speech – prompting speculation he would sever ties with Israel over its settlement expansion and other hard-line policies.

On Wednesday, he said that Israel’s refusal to commit to agreements signed “render us an authority without real powers.”

“As long as Israel refuses to cease settlement activities and to the release of the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with our agreements, they leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements, while Israel continuously violates them,” Abbas said.

“We therefore declare that we cannot continue to be bound by these agreements and that Israel must assume all of its responsibilities as an occupying power,” he declared. He did not elaborate on which agreements.

If Abbas were to go through with his demand that Israel, as the occupying power, assume responsibility for the Palestinians, this would require dissolving the Palestinian Authority and the resignation of Abbas. He didn’t mention any of this in his speech.

IN HIS SPEECH, ABBAS ACCUSED ISRAEL OF “REPEATED, SYSTEMATIC INCURSIONS UPON AL-AQSA MOSQUE AIMED AT IMPOSING A NEW REALITY,” WARNING THAT SUCH ACTIONS CREATE AN EXPLOSIVE SITUATION.

“It is no longer useful to waste time in negotiations for the sake of negotiations; what is required is to mobilize international efforts to oversee an end to the occupation in line with the resolutions of international legitimacy,” he said. “Until then, I call upon the United Nations to provide international protection for the Palestinian people in accordance with international humanitarian law.”

Palestinian analyst Hani al-Masri in Ramallah said Abbas is trying to attract attention and pressure Israel.

“This is a threat not a plan,” he said. “Abbas has no plan, otherwise he could have spelled it out in his speech and could have told the world he is going to do this and that and asked them for understanding and support.”

Thousands of Abbas supporters gathered in the city centers in several West Bank cities as they listened to Abbas’ speech. They cheered up when he said he is no longer bound by the signed agreements with Israel, waving Palestinian flags.

In a symbolic moment Wednesday, Abbas raised the flag of the state of Palestine at the United Nations for the first time, with a promise that it will be raised soon in Jerusalem, “the capital of our Palestinian state.”

More than 300 ministers, diplomats and well-wishers crowded into the rose garden at U.N. headquarters where a temporary flagpole had been erected for the ceremony which took place following Abbas’ speech.

The Palestinians campaigned for a General Assembly resolution that was overwhelmingly approved on Sept. 10 allowing U.N. observer states to fly their flags alongside those of the 193 U.N. member states. The Holy See and the Palestinians and are the only two U.N. observer states.

In a harshly worded essay ahead of his Wednesday address to the United Nations, the Palestinian president said a new multilateral approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is needed since direct negotiations with Israel have repeatedly failed.

Abbas said the model should be based instead on the type of negotiations that took place in the Balkans, Libya and Iran.

“The peace process must be multilateral. The same pattern of negotiations imposed for years will not work because Israel is the occupying power,” he wrote in an op-ed in The Huffington Post. While Abbas’ Palestinian Authority rules over most of the West Bank Palestinian population, Israel still controls much of the territory. source


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 01, 2015, 06:43:55 am
President Abbas raises Palestinian flag for first time at UN

— Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raised the Palestinian flag at the United Nations for the first time on Wednesday with a promise that it will be raised soon in Jerusalem, "the capital of our Palestinian state."

More than 300 ministers, diplomats and well-wishers who crowded into the rose garden at U.N. headquarters where a temporary flagpole had been erected for the ceremony applauded his words.

Abbas told the crowd it was an historic moment on the Palestinian road to independence. Palestine was designated as a non-member observer state at the United Nations in November 2012 and Palestinian statehood also has been recognized by many countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

As the black, white, green and red flag went up the flagpole, cheers and shouts of "Peace! Peace! Palestine!" erupted.

The Palestinians campaigned for a General Assembly resolution that was overwhelmingly approved on Sept. 10 allowing U.N. observer states to fly their flags alongside those of the 193 U.N. member states. The Holy See and Palestine and are the only two non-member U.N. observer states.

In contrast to the Palestinians, the Holy See flag was raised outside U.N. headquarters alongside flags of the 193 U.N. member states without fanfare or ceremony just before Pope Francis arrived last Friday to address the General Assembly. The permanent flagpole for the Palestinian flag is already in place beside it.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Wednesday a day of "pride" and "hope" for Palestinians around the world.

He urged the Palestinians to pursue their long-held dream for their own state by first uniting Gaza and the West Bank, and he urged Israel and the Palestinians to revive negotiations that collapsed last year and conclude "a successful peace process."

That will lead to the unfurling of the Palestinian flag "in its proper place — among the family of nations as a sovereign member state of the United Nations," Ban said.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150930/un--united_nations-summit-palestinian_flag-c14fde7357.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 01, 2015, 07:57:01 am
FYI, the "truth" movement also sides with the so-called "Palestineans", in particular a lot of the "influentials" like Fritz Springmeier.

I read like 60 pages of Fritz's "Be wise as serpents", and it was chock full of errors and heresies - he tried to tie the KJB to Sir Francis Bacon, and insisted how the Freemasons made up the pre-trib rapture and infiltrated churches with it, He also insisted the Freemasons did the same by trying to make up how Israel plays a role in the last days, and he also demonized the Jews(ie-he didn't tie Billy Graham to the Pope, but to the Jews).

As you can see, yes, bible prophesy is being fulfilled, as the nations are really coming against Israel.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 01, 2015, 10:33:34 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=36113
DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE HURRICANE NAME OF JOAQUIN ACTUALLY MEANS?
Geoffrey Grider | October 1, 2015 | 37 Comments

MAJOR HURRICANE JOAQUIN TO IMPACT OVER 65 MILLION FROM SOUTH CAROLINA TO MASSACHUSETTS

“He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.” Psalm 135:7 (KJV)

The past week has been off the charts as far as things related to the end times are concerned. Russia starting airstrikes in Syria, Iran sending in ground troops, the Pope proclaiming that he comes “in his own name”. It’s been absolutely crazy exciting so far, with no end in sight. That brings us to the topic of today’s story, Hurricane Joaquin.

hurricane-joaquin-means-yahweh-has-raised-up-established-october-2015
Governors in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and North Carolina have issued a State of Emergency.
I thought it unusual for the hurricane watcher people to pick a Spanish name, and it got me curious as to the meaning of that name. When I went and looked it up, I about fell off my chair. According to the name meaning web sites I visited, the name Joaquin means “Raised By Yahweh“. Huh, are you kidding me? “raised by Yahweh”?

Look, folks, maybe this storm will fizzle out and maybe it won’t, but at this point I really feel that the Lord God of Abraham is sending us a message. When you have the combined assembled nations of the world thumbing their nose at Him, raising the flag of Palestine and talking about dividing up His holy land of Israel, you got to know that judgment is coming. Look at where Russia and Iran are right now, and perhaps you will see that maybe judgment has already begun.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 14, 2015, 02:45:14 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=36389
ISRAEL DEPLOYS HUNDREDS OF TROOPS IN JERUSALEM AS PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE INCREASES
10/14/15

ISRAEL’S MILITARY DEPLOYED HUNDREDS OF TROOPS WEDNESDAY TO HELP POLICE TRYING TO STOP A WAVE OF DEADLY PALESTINIAN SHOOTING AND STABBING ATTACKS THAT HAVE TRIGGERED PANIC ACROSS THE COUNTRY

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:2 (KJV)

Jerusalem, Israel – Police also say they foiled an attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City, shooting and killing the assailant as he attempted to stab security forces. Eight Israelis and 30 Palestinians– including 13 identified by Israel as attackers — have died in a month of unrest, with dozens of other people wounded.

The government has thus far been unable to stop the violence. Israel says the attacks have been fueled by what it calls rampant incitement against Jews and Israelis on social media spread by Islamic groups and the Palestinian leadership.

israel-trying-to-prevent-third-intifada-in-jerusalem-by-palestinian-muslim-terrorists-october-14-2015

Israeli police said 300 soldiers had already been incorporated into their deployment on the streets of east Jerusalem, where many of the assailants are from. Israeli Cabinet minister Yuval Steinitz said the current conflict had less to do with political differences and more with anti-Semitic incitement to create a religious war.

Speaking to journalists, he showed Palestinian videos and animations that glorified the stabbings of Jews in the Old City of Jerusalem and the killing of a Jewish settler couple in the West Bank in front of their children.

HE ALSO QUOTED PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS’ RECENT STATEMENT WHERE HE BLESSED “EVERY DROP OF BLOOD SPILLED FOR ALLAH” AND THAT JEWS DESECRATED A JERUSALEM HOLY SITE WITH THEIR “FILTHY FEET.”

“This is not new. It is just a new wave of terrorism and violence and this time it’s totally clear that the main approach here is a religious approach. Defending Islam from the enemy of the mosque, the enemy of Islam — against the Jews,” Steinitz said. “It’s all about horrible, anti-Jewish, racist incitement.”

The cabinet met late into the night and released details of the new measures early Wednesday morning. Steps approved include allowing police to impose a closure on points of friction or incitement according to security assessments.

THE CABINET ALSO DECIDED TO STRIP RESIDENCY RIGHTS AND DEMOLISH HOMES OF SOME ATTACKERS AND DRAFT HUNDREDS MORE SECURITY GUARDS TO SECURE PUBLIC TRANSPORT.

The announcement came after a particularly bloody day in which a pair of Palestinian stabbing and shooting attacks in Jerusalem killed three Israelis. Three Palestinians, including two attackers, were also killed.

The wave of violence also comes at a time when prospects for negotiating an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seem nonexistent. source


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 15, 2015, 09:12:39 am
New Anti-Terror Guidelines for Police: Shoot Them Now, Talk Later

The new directive applies when police corner a terrorist in a closed place.


“Shoot now and negotiate later” is the new directive for police when confronting terrorists in a closed place, such as a bus or building, Haaretz reported Thursday.

The new guidelines change the tactic whereby a negotiating team would arrive before a SWAT team could do what it came to do and eliminate any threat of terror by killing the terrorist.

The change might meet with disapproval from organizations such as the United Nations and “human rights” organizations that accuse Israel of using “disproportional force” by killing a terrorist before he or she kills someone else.

The same voices often add that “Israel has a right to defend itself.”

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/new-anti-terror-guidelines-for-police-shoot-them-now-talk-later/2015/10/15/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 16, 2015, 05:11:32 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/201977#.ViFz_H6rTIV
Palestinian Arabs Set Fire to Joseph's Tomb

IDF troops disperse 150 Palestinian Arabs who try to set fire to the Joseph’s Tomb compound in Shechem. No injuries.

10/16/15

About 150 Palestinian Arabs on Thursday night arrived at the Joseph’s Tomb compound in Shechem and tried to set it on fire.

IDF soldiers who arrived at the scene surrounded the compound and used protest dispersal means to chase away the Palestinians, who began throwing rocks and firebombs at the soldiers.

The soldiers were able extinguish the flames. Initial reports indicated that damage was caused to the women's prayer area. There were no injuries.

Joseph's Tomb came under attack and in May 2000, during which it was destroyed and burned by Palestinian Arabs. It was eventually restored and, since that time, Jews regularly visit the site and pray there.

A year ago, Palestinians tried to set fire to the compound, but were dispersed by the Palestinian security forces.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 18, 2015, 07:03:25 pm
Netanyahu rejects French proposal, says Israel not the problem at Temple Mount
Israel will never agree to international forces at Temple Mount, Danon says Jerusalem furious at French bid for observers on Temple Mount


“We are preserving the status quo,” he said. “We are the only ones doing that, and will continue to do this responsibly and seriously.”

Israel is not the problem at the Temple Mount, but rather the solution, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at Sunday morning's cabinet meeting, rebuffing a French proposal to place international observers at the holy site.

“We are preserving the status quo,” he said. “We are the only ones doing that, and will continue to do this responsibly and seriously.”

He reiterated what he has been saying for weeks, that the only change in the status quo has been efforts organized by the Israeli Islamic Movement and other “outside forces” to bring explosives into the mosques on the site and “attack Jews from them.”

This is the change in the status quo that has caused all the events there over the last year, he said.

Netanyahu said that Israel rejected the French proposal put forward at the UN Security Council, and pointed out that it did not mention Palestinian incitement or terror.

There is, however, a call in the proposal to “internationalize the holy sites.”

Netanyahu said that everyone has seen what happens to holy sites in the the Middle East, “what happened in Palmyra [Syria], what happened in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere where Muslim extremists destroy each other's mosques, to say nothing about Christian, Jewish and heritage sites.”

Netanyahu said that Israel was acting in an aggressive and systematic manner against the wave of terrorism through the reinforcement of security forces, and taking both deterrent and punitive steps.

“Today we will begin taking steps against incitement, including against the Islamic Movement, which is the foremost inciters,” he said, adding that Israel will take action against that group's source of funding. The security cabinet is expected to meet later on Sunday to discuss this matter.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/PM-rejects-French-proposal-says-Israel-not-the-problem-at-Temple-Mount-426295


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 18, 2015, 11:24:15 pm
Palestinians to Claim Jerusalem’s Western Wall As Muslim Holy Site

The Palestinian Authority with the backing of six Arab countries plans to present a proposal to the United Nations cultural agency declaring the Western Wall – which once served as a retaining wall for the Jews’ ancient Second Temple – as an integral part of the Al-Aqsa mosque, a leading Israeli diplomat confirmed to Israel’s Ynet news.

Ynet reported Friday that as part of its proposal Palestinians will ask UNESCO to rename the Western Wall the “Buraq Plaza”:

A new proposal to establish that the Western Wall is part of al-Aqsa Mosque is set to be submitted by the Palestinians to a vote at UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) next week, Ynet learned Thursday. […]

Since the Palestinians are not members of the committee, the six Arab states submitted the proposal on behalf of the Palestinians: Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. However, senior Israeli sources say that the Palestinians are simultaneously acting to move the proposal to the UNESCO plenum, in which they are recognized as a state.

Though Israeli diplomats said they were working to get the proposal quashed, given the abundance of Muslim and Arab countries at the U.N., Ynet assessed that it would likely pass.

Acknowledging the deep Jewish historical connection to the site, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio wore a yarmulke and bowed his head at a visit to the Western Wall Sunday. The mayor was on a solidarity visit to Israel following weeks of Palestinian stabbing attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday condemned what he described as false Palestinian claims that Israel seeks to change current visiting and prayer regulations on the Temple Mount known as the “status quo.”

While he did not address the UNESCO proposal to Islamize the Western Wall, Netanyahu noted at his weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that Islamist militants “blast each other’s mosques to the sky” and that Palestinians this weekend torched Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.

“Israel is not the problem on the Temple Mount. Israel is the solution,” Netanyahu said.

Casting its religious net even wider, the Palestinian U.N. proposal also sought to declare Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem as officially part of Palestine, Ynet reported.

According to Jewish tradition, the major biblical patriarchs including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – along with their wives – are buried at the Hebron site. The Bible in Genesis describes Rachel being buried in Bethlehem.

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the holiest site in Judaism and, after Mecca and Medina, the third holiest site to Muslims.

The Palestinian Authority regularly negates any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, while groups of predominantly Muslim women daily harass Jewish and Christian visitors to the site.

President Mahmoud Abbas last month accused Jews of contaminating Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem with their “filthy feet.”

“They have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet. We won’t allow them to do so, and we will do whatever we can to defend Jerusalem,” Abbas said.

Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama Hacohen accused the Palestinians of adding “fuel to the fire of incitement” with the latest holy sites proposal.

“The Jewish people and the Western Wall are one, and the chances of the Palestinians to Islamize the Western Wall are the same as the chances of Islamizing the Jewish people,” the ambassador said.

“Even the morning after the vote the Israeli flag will fly over the wall,” he added.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/10/18/palestinians-to-claim-jerusalems-western-wall-as-muslim-holy-site/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 22, 2015, 06:37:13 pm
UNESCO Sides with 'Palestine': Israel the Aggressor
And almost got away with declaring the Western Wall Muslim-only.


A UNESCO resolution passed on Wednesday blatantly targeted Israel as the aggressor in the current swell of tensions with Palestinians over the use of the Temple Mount and almost succeeded in reclassifying the Western Wall as a Muslim-only site.

The resolution said in part:

[UNESCO] deeply deplores the recent repression in East Jerusalem, and the failure of Israel, the Occupying Power, to cease the persistent excavations and works in East Jerusalem particularly in and around the Old City… [and] strongly condemns Israeli aggression and illegal measures restricting freedom of worship and access to the holy Muslim site of the Al-Aqsa mosque.

An RT report indicates that two other holy sites, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, were deemed "an integral part of Palestine," according to the resolution. The draft was modified at the last minute as it became apparent that the Wailing Wall was also going to be off limits for Israelis. Even worse, the holy sites listed in the resolution were all written in their Arabic names and devoid of any historical Jewish link to the sites.

Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama Hachohen, spoke before the vote. She said:

The Western Wall and Jerusalem are the heart and the soul of every Jew. There is no voting, no tribunal, no parliament and even no army that can disconnect those.

Once the vote took place, 26 nations voted in favor of the resolution with six against: United States, United Kingdom, Estonia, Netherlands and Czech Republic.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the tensions surrounding the Temple Mount has led to 10 Israeli deaths and 80 wounded as Palestinians continue to clash with Israeli Defense Forces. Since the beginning of October, 24 Palestinian terrorists have been killed carrying out attacks, and another 24 killed in violence against police.

Benjamin Netanyahu has been under intense criticism as of late with multiple outlets pegging the prime minister as responsible for stoking the violence. Several recent headlines are of note.

Salon says Israel has descended into "unmasked, right wing extremism" causing a new generation of Palestinians to "fight occupation, settler-colonialism, [and] apartheid." Salon's Omar Barghouti has labeled Palestinian resistance as "a spontaneous reaction to the most racist, far-right government in Israel's history."

Slate's William Saletan faults Netanyahu for "cultivating an enemy within" and "stok[ing] the hatred" by demanding Palestinians coexist in peace with Jews but refusing to reciprocate the same ideals.

And though America stood by Israel in this UNESCO vote, the White House has been quick to join the finger-pointing chorus in telling the PM, "The inflammatory rhetoric needs to stop," as Press Secretary Josh Earnest did in response to Netanyahu saying that Hitler's Holocaust was encouraged Palestinian leadership at the time.

Perhaps the Obama administration needs a reminder of what it's like to be in Israel's shoes:
https://youtu.be/YllqrXMkDWo


http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/unesco-sides-palestine-israel-aggressor


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 22, 2015, 07:25:34 pm
UN Body Helps Palestinians 'Rewrite' Biblical History

A United Nations body declared two Jewish biblical holy sites to be Islamic and accused Israel of mistreating Palestinians on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City.

Israel says UNESCO is helping Palestinians to rewrite biblical history and transform the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a religious one. UNESCO has become an instrument in the hands of the Arabs and the Palestinians.

The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization passed a resolution Wednesday declaring the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem are an integral part of Palestine. Earlier, they claimed both as mosques.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said the declaration helps Palestinians promote their political narrative.

"It is an attempt by the Arab side, and by the Palestinians, to change history and pretend as if those places, which are holy places for Judaism, which have been holy places for Judaism for thousands of years, are actually Palestinian or Muslim holy places," Nahshon told CBN News.

Historical evidence indicates that the biblical forefathers -- Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- were buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs, along with their wives.

The site of Rachel's Tomb is believed to be the burial place of the biblical matriarch, Rachel, the favored wife of Jacob.

The resolution stopped short of including the Western Wall as part of the al-Aksa compound, as Palestinians had hoped. It would have renamed the Western Wall Plaza "al-Buraq," after Mohammed's winged horse.

"Even such an organization -- such as UNESCO, which has become a puppet in the hands of the Palestinians -- there is a limit to what you can do. But I have no doubt that they will try again," Nahshon said.

The resolution also accuses Israel of "aggression" on the Temple Mount. Yet Palestinians have repeatedly attacked police and visitors to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.

The current wave of terrorism is a reaction to what they say are Israeli attempts to change the status quo. Israel denies any changes there.

"This Palestinian initiative is certainly related to what we live here on the ground -- Palestinian violence, Palestinian incitement -- and also the attempt to transform a conflict into a religious conflict," Nahshon explained.

Earlier, Palestinians set fire to the tomb of the biblical patriarch Joseph. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned that arson attack, but Nahshon said it's a sign of what would happen if Palestinians were in charge.

"The Palestinian arson of Joseph's Tomb demonstrates very clearly what would be the fate of Jewish holy sites if they were under Palestinian control," he said.

Dr. Cornelius Bekker, from Regent University, said Christians should care because it's their history, too.

"The history of Israel is about God's choice," Bekker explained. "God chose Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, the very tomb here that's now been set on fire. And so we feel a kinship with Israel because it's about God's choice and it's our history. Jesus was a Jew, Paul was a Jew, [members of] the early Church were all Jewish."

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2015/October/-UN-Body-Helps-Palestinians-Rewrite-Biblical-History/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 23, 2015, 03:06:17 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-lifts-muslim-age-limit-jerusalem-shrine-094707871.html
Israel lifts Muslim age limit at Jerusalem shrine
10/23/15

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Muslim prayers at a major Jerusalem shrine, the epicenter of weeks of unrest, ended peacefully Friday after Israel lifted restrictions on worshippers in an apparent bid to ease tensions.

Meanwhile, violence continued in the West Bank where Palestinians threw a firebomb at an Israeli car, wounding a mother and her two children. An Israeli news site said one of the children, a 4-year-old girl, was badly burned.

The decision to allow Muslims of all ages to pray at the site coincided with a diplomatic push by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to restore calm. This includes getting all sides to agree on the ground rules at the Muslim-run shrine and prevent future tensions.

Kerry is meeting over the weekend with Jordan's King Abdullah II, custodian of the holy site, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, after holding talks Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who just returned from talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, said that "despite the anger and the polarization, there is still time to step back from the brink."

In Vienna, the Quartet of Mideast mediators — the U.S., U.N., European Union and Russia— issued a statement calling on Israel and the Palestinian leadership to show "maximum restraint and avoidance of provocative rhetoric and actions." Quartet envoys will travel to the region soon.

The Quartet statement was released after a meeting of high-ranking members on the sidelines of Syria talks. It said calm is needed to "restore confidence and hope in the viability of a negotiated two-state solution" between Israel and the Palestinians, ending "the occupation that began in 1967" and resolving the status of Jerusalem.

The current round of violence erupted in mid-September, with clashes at the Jerusalem shrine, revered by Muslims and Jews, quickly spreading to the rest of the city, as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

On Friday, Palestinians threw a firebomb at a passing Israeli car, wounding a woman and her two children in the West Bank, the Israeli military said. The Haaretz daily said a 4-year-old girl sustained burns on 35 percent of her body while her sister and mother were lightly wounded.

The attack came after a Palestinian stabbed a soldier in the West Bank and was shot by troops, the military said. The soldier and the Palestinian — a 16-year-old, according to Israeli media reports — were wounded.

Earlier, confrontations erupted on the Israel-Gaza border, with hundreds of Palestinians throwing stones and rolling burning tires toward the border fence, the military said. Several dozen then rushed toward the fence and tried to damage it, the army said.

Two Palestinians were wounded by army fire, Gaza health officials said. The military said soldiers initially fired warning shots.

In the past five weeks, 10 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings. Forty-eight Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, including 27 said by Israel to be attackers and the rest in clashes.

Tension around the Jerusalem shrine, a 37-acre hilltop platform, has been one of the triggers of the current violence.

Israel has repeatedly denied Palestinian allegations that it is trying to change long-standing understandings under which Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray at the shrine. Israel has accused Palestinian political and religious leaders of lying and inciting to violence.

Palestinians say their fears have been fueled by a rise in visits to the shrine by Jewish activists demanding prayer rights, including senior members of Netanyahu's coalition government.

The hilltop compound is a frequent flashpoint and its fate is a core issue at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 24, 2015, 09:40:54 pm
Israel and Jordan reach agreement on holy site tensions
Site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary

10/24/15
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/israel-and-jordan-reach-agreement-on-holy-site-tensions-1.2405056

Israel and Jordan have agreed on steps aimed at reducing tensions at a holy site in Jerusalem that have fanned Israeli-Palestinian violence, says US secretary of state John Kerry.

Jordan is custodian of the site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

Mr Kerry says the steps include round-the-clock video monitoring and Israel’s reaffirming of Jordan’s special and historic role as custodian.

Hebron, on February 2014: Many of those taking to the streets to throw stones at Israeli soldiers have no memory  of the suffering of the second intifada.  HAZEM BADER/AFP/Getty ImagesRuadhán Mac Cormaic: Violence fills political vacuum in Israel

Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel giving a press conference following their meeting in Berlin on Wednesday.

Photograph: Michael Kappeler/EPAStorm over Holocaust remark grows as Netanyahu meets Kerry

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu: “Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews,” he told the Zionist Congress.
 
Photograph: Atef Safadi/EPANetanyahu causes storm by blaming Palestinians for Holocaust

He says Israel is pledging to maintain the rules of worship at the site, and that Israeli and Jordanian authorities will meet about bolstering security.

The hill-top compound is a frequent flashpoint and its fate is a central issue at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mr Kerry made the announcement after meeting in Jordan’s capital with King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Mr Kerry met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Berlin on Thursday.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: RickStudy on October 25, 2015, 06:48:37 am
Thats kinda spooky but I wish they would just build the thing. I probably shouldn`t want it to be done but I do  :o


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 25, 2015, 06:44:46 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebzEgU_i864


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: RickStudy on October 25, 2015, 06:59:17 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebzEgU_i864


What did you get out of this video when you watched it?


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 26, 2015, 08:44:05 pm
Kerry plan for Jerusalem site leaves many issues unanswered

John Kerry's latest Mideast mission has aimed for the modest goal of easing tensions around Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site — the focal point of more than a month of deadly unrest.
But the steps announced by the U.S. secretary of state over the weekend did little to address the deeper issues behind the fighting, disappointing the Palestinians and raising fears that even if calm is restored, it is just a matter of time before another round of violence erupts.

During a swing through the region, Kerry announced the steps on Saturday after several days of meetings with Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders. The highlight was a Jordanian proposal to install surveillance cameras at the Jerusalem holy site that is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

More than a month of violence has been fueled by Palestinian allegations that Israel is trying to change the delicate status quo at the site, which allows non-Muslims to visit but not pray.

rest: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20151025/ml--israel-palestinians-d7537b4b73.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 03, 2015, 09:58:26 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/beilin-predicts-netanyahu-will-unilaterally-withdraw-from-much-of-west-bank/
Oslo architect: Netanyahu will withdraw unilaterally from much of West Bank Beilin urges interim deal followed by confederation, but doubts PM will opt for it; slams Kerry for thinking he can ‘come for a few hours’ and solve the problem
BY RAPHAEL AHREN November 3, 2015

Former minister and veteran peace activist Yossi Beilin on Monday called for the creation of an Israeli-Palestinian confederation as a long-term strategic goal for the solution of the conflict. Such a solution will have to be preceded by an interim agreement that would create a Palestinian state in provisional borders, he said.

However, he predicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, anxious to avoid a binational state but unwilling to meet Palestinian demands, would instead wind up unilaterally withdrawing from much of the West Bank to ensure a Jewish majority in Israel.

Any current attempt to achieve a final-status agreement between Jerusalem and Ramallah is not only doomed to fail but actually counterproductive, Beilin added, also slamming US President Barack Obama for insisting on an Israeli settlement freeze in 2009 and Secretary of State John Kerry for his failed bid to broker a comprehensive peace deal within nine months in 2013.

While a permanent peace accord is currently out of reach, Beilin said an interim agreement — if linked to a timetable leading to a comprehensive peace deal — is a realistic and worthwhile objective.

The so-called Road Map for Peace, the second stage of which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state within provisional borders, could be acceptable to both sides, said Beilin, who played a significant role in initiating secret talks with the Palestinians that resulted in the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords.

“No one wants a permanent agreement more than me. For me to suggest ‘interim’ is like for a religious Jew to suggest treife [non-kosher],” he told foreign reporters at a briefing in Jerusalem, speaking in English. However, such a solution would satisfy the Palestinians’ desire for statehood and allow both parties to focus on talks about the interim border and interim security arrangement, he added.

Kerry’s feeling ‘that he can come for few hours, meet with the different stakeholders and solve the problem… is totally wrong’
“It doesn’t include the two very thorny issues: refugees and Jerusalem. And this way it will make [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s life easier, and Abu Mazen [PA President Mahmoud Abbas] can end his career with a Palestinian state.” Abbas told him that if he was provided with “a horizon and a time table,” he would go for such a solution, Beilin said.

The long-term vision for an end to the conflict should include the idea of an “Israeli-Palestinian confederation,” the former justice minister and deputy foreign minister added. The territory disputed by Israelis and Palestinians is very small and there are hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, which makes a clear-cut division very complicated, he indicated.

“So those who are speaking about Greater Israel in that respect are right. And those who are speaking about Greater Palestine, on the Palestinian side, they are also right. This (confederation) is much more reasonable than an artificial border,” Beilin said.

In a confederation, Israelis and Palestinians would both have sovereign states but coordinate and cooperate in a wide array of fields, such as environment, planning and zoning, economy, agriculture, infrastructure, transportation and security.


“If you have a confederation the border is there. You have two separate states; you don’t give up on the idea of the two-state solution. They will have separate governments and representatives in the world and foreign policies and whatever. But they will have to coordinate on many, many issues,” he said. “In a confederation you can find joint solutions for difficult issues such as refugees and settlements. This is why I believe that it is time to speak about a confederation — as a hope; not tomorrow, but as a part of horizon.”

Merely trying to bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders together to try once more to to relaunch final-status talks is “dangerous,” Beilin warned. “It won’t succeed.” Rather, the international community should focus its efforts on ways to get both parties to agree on “something that is less than a permanent agreement. We must speak about this vision, which is something more than usual idea of the two-state solution: the two-state solution with an umbrella.”

Then-MK Yossi Beilin meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in 2008. (photo creditt: Omar Rashidi FLASH90)
Yossi Beilin with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, August 2008. (Omar Rashidi/Flash90)

Knowing that Netanyahu’s unwillingness to “pay the price” makes a final-status peace deal impossible, the US administration should not have raised false expectations that later failed to materialize and led to greater frustration, Beilin charged.

“There are no free failures. You always pay for a failure. And you are always surprised be the fact that low expectations do not prevent huge frustration,” he said.

Being specific, Beilin slammed Obama for pressuring Israel into freezing settlements in 2009 without having coordinated the step with the Palestinians and without any indication that such a step would yield any progress toward a peace deal.

“Nothing happened [during the freeze] and as a result of it he deferred the beginning of any kind of negotiations for years,” Beilin said of Obama. By forcing Israel to halt settlement expansion for 10 months, the US president made it impossible for the Palestinians subsequently to negotiate in the absence of such a freeze, he said. “He really put the Palestinians in an impossible situation because of the best of intentions.”

Naftali Bennett (left) and Yossi Beilin in a heated argument, Thursday (photo credit: screen capture/Channel 10/news.nana10.co.il)
Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett (left) and former Labor minister Yossi Beilin in a TV debate in 2012 (screen capture:Channel 10)

Beilin also criticized Kerry for his effort to reach a final-status deal two years ago. No one who understands anything of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict believed that Kerry’s efforts could succeed, Beilin argued, wondering why the secretary of state went ahead nonetheless.

“The feeling of Kerry that he can come for few hours, meet with the different stakeholders and solve the problem and go to another place – and I really appreciate his dynamism – but the feeling that you can just pop in do something there, and go on and believe that you can solve the problem, is totally wrong,” he said.

‘In a few years, Netanyahu will unilaterally withdraw’
Netanyahu is opposed to a binational state and has thus realized that there is no alternative to separating from the Palestinians, though he is not ready to agree to the Palestinians’ terms for a peace deal, Beilin said. In the absence of an agreement, Netanyahu will soon be forced to unilaterally withdraw from much of the West Bank to ensure a Jewish majority in Israel, he posited.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the Knesset, October 26, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the Knesset, October 26, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

“It’s a matter of three or four years before a minority of Jews is dominating a majority of Palestinians. And what then? What will you say then? What will Netanyahu say? He is going to ask for a recount of the Palestinians?” Beilin asked rhetorically.

“I’m telling you what he’s going to do: He is going to do exactly what [former prime minister Ariel] Sharon did,” Beilin said, referring to Sharon’s 2005 Gaza Disengagement. Not trusting the Palestinians, Netanyahu will prefer to unilaterally withdraw and “give them everything for free,” Beilin predicted.

“Now do you prefer an agreement with a party you are not sure about and you don’t trust and may breach it, but is still an address,” he continued, “or would you prefer a unilateral solution? It’s up to you. There is no third way. We will no remain for a long while as Jewish minority dominating a majority of Palestinians, There is no such situation.”


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 05, 2015, 07:51:42 pm
Report: PLO threatens to end recognition of Israel

Prior to the signing of the Oslo Accords, the PLO had refused to recognize Israel since the Zionist state was founded in 1948.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization is threatening to withdraw recognition of Israel, its most senior peace negotiator told an Arab newspaper on Thursday.

Saeb Erekat, who recently took over as secretary-general of the PLO, is quoted by Al-Quds al-Arabi as saying that a decision on reversing recognition of Israel - which was enshrined in a 1993 exchange of letters between the respective Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the time, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat - will be made after PA President Mahmoud Abbas completes a round of consultations with Arab leaders this month.

Prior to the signing of the Oslo Accords, the PLO had refused to recognize Israel since the Zionist state was founded in 1948.

Abbas is due to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday before continuing to Saudi Arabia, where a conference of Arab League foreign ministers is scheduled to convene next week.

Erekat's remarks contradict a recent statement made by Abbas during a meeting with a group of Dutch Jews in Holland last week.

“We never said we were going to cancel the Oslo Accords,” Abbas said Friday during a meeting near The Hague with members of the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, or CIDI, Dutch Jewry’s main pro-Israel advocacy organ and watchdog on anti-Semitism.

“We are not going to cancel, we will not cancel anything,” he added, as long as “Israel respects its obligations.”

On Sept. 30, at UN headquarters in New York, Abbas said: “We cannot continue to be bound by these signed agreements with Israel” because “the status quo cannot continue.”

Abbas dropped his promised bombshell at the UN General Assembly this past September when he threatened to stop abiding by the Oslo Accords, which have governed the relations between Israel and the Palestinians for more than two decades.

“Israel has destroyed the foundations upon which the political and security agreements are based,” Abbas said.

“We therefore declare that we cannot continue to be bound by these agreements and that Israel must assume all its responsibilities as an occupying power, because the status quo cannot continue....As long as Israel refuses to cease settlement activities and release of the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with our agreements, it leaves us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements.”

Although he directly referred to the Oslo Accords, he stopped short of stating that they had been annulled, and instead relied on watered-down language that tempered the impact.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 28, 2015, 07:00:37 pm
http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/11/27/november-29-the-day-the-un-stands-with-the-palestinians-and-demonizes-israel/#
11/27/15
November 29: The Day the UN Stands With the Palestinians and Demonizes Israel

On November 29, the United Nations will mark an “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” Established in 1977, the day claims to facilitate “the attainment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return and the right to national independence and sovereignty in Palestine.”

It is essential to understand the history of this day in order to understand its true purpose. The day is an outgrowth of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), established 40 years ago in November 1975, as part of the suite of General Assembly resolutions meant to demonize Israel and Jews.

The most infamous part of this effort, Resolution 3379, declared “Zionism a form of racism.” While resolution 3379 was eventually repealed in 1991, its sentiments live on through the very existence of the Committee and its activities. There is no other nation or people in the world that has a UN division dedicated to its “inalienable rights” — not the oppressed people of Tibet, the Kurds, the endangered Yazidi people in Iraq, or the Coptic minority in Egypt.

Under the guise of obtaining justice for the Palestinians, the Committee fuels the virulent anti-Israel political warfare campaign that continues to gain momentum within the corridors of the UN and contribute to the malignant rise of antisemitism worldwide. In other words, in order to promote the “inalienable rights” of Palestinians, the UN tramples on the rights of Israelis and Jews, acting in a way that shows that rights are no longer universal.

There is also ironic meaning to the date chosen to mark international solidarity with the Palestinian people. November 29 is the historic date upon which the UN adopted the Partition Plan in 1947, which paved the way for a Jewish state, and should have resulted in a parallel Arab state. Instead, the Arab population in Mandate Palestine rejected partition and, together with the neighboring Arab countries, went to war to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state.

If anything, November 29 should serve as a reminder that Palestinians had the “right to national independence” in their grasp, and that a two-state “partition” could have provided a way forward. Instead, the International Day of Solidarity embraces a supposed Palestinian “inalienable right to return to their homes and property,” endorsing a concept that contradicts the essence of the 1947 UN vote and which would geographically, politically, and otherwise mean the elimination of the Jewish and democratic State of Israel.

There is no other UN subsidiary committee or UN day of solidarity specifically designated to advance the political cause of one people over another. This committee is yet more proof such double standards against Israel persist and are sanctioned by an official UN event in New York.

The Day is also a catalyst for highly politicized non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to amplify their support for anti-Israel BDS (boycotts, divestments, and sanctions) movement and other hostile campaigns. Many of these NGOs, which receive extensive funding from European governments, also regularly exploit UN forums and judicial processes to accuse Israel of “war crimes,” “crimes against humanity,” and other alleged violations of international law.

For example, in 2013, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which prides itself on seeking to create “a wedge” within the American Jewish community over support for Israel, marked the occasion by escalating efforts to boycott Israeli company SodaStream. Similarly, Palestinian NGO Al Mezan co-signed a letter accusing Israel of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity,” while calling on “UN member states to vote in favor of any resolution that would recognize Palestinian statehood.” Al Mezan is funded, directly and indirectly, by Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, the European Union, Norway, Germany, the UN Development Programme, and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund.

In 2012, a dozens of NGOs including Al Mezan, Al-Haq, Badil, Defence for Children International-Palestine — all of which are heavily funded by European donors — participated in a World Social Forum entitled “Free Palestine” held in Brazil. The four-day forum, which overlapped with November 29, included panels on “the right to return,” “international law and human rights,” “popular resistance,” and “the case of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.” Tellingly, the conference did not center on obtaining Palestinian statehood, but rather lamented the “narrowing of the Palestinian struggle to the West Bank only.”

While November 29 recalls the implications of UN resolutions from 40 and 70 years ago, we should also bear in mind another momentous event from the Fall of 1945. On October 24, the UN was founded at Lake Success, New York, to “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights.” As the UN and NGOs prepare to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians by demonizing Israel and denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination, they and their donors should consider the extent to which they contribute to the exploitation of sacred and universal principles.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2015, 08:41:08 pm
Netanyahu: Israel Will Not Unilaterally Hand the PA ‘Even One Meter’ of Territory

Israel is not planning to unilaterally hand over portions of Area C in the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Likud ministers on Sunday.

“There won’t be any transfer of territory to the Palestinians, not 40,000 (dunams), not 10,000 (dunmas) and not even one meter,” Netanyahu said on Sunday.

He spoke after Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan publicly charged that the Office of the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories and the Civil Administration was continuing work on a plan to transfer 10,000 dunams of territory in Area C to the Palestinian Authority.

Read the rest of the article here.
http://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2015/11/29/netanyahu-israel-will-not-unilaterally-hand-the-pa-even-one-meter-of-territory/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 02, 2015, 08:41:47 pm
hypocrite
      noun hyp·o·crite \ˈhi-pə-ˌkrit\

: a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs

UN calls on Israel to punish Palestinian family's killers

A senior United Nations official expressed concern Wednesday over Israel's failure to bring to justice those behind an arson attack that killed three members of a Palestinian family, including a baby.

The mother, father and the 18-month-old son of the Dawabsha family died after their house in the village of Duma in the occupied West Bank was firebombed by suspected Jewish extremists in July.

The attacks led to widespread condemnation globally as well as by Israelis and Palestinians, but as yet no one has been charged for the killings.

Nickolay Mladenov, United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said the lack of charges was troubling.

"Four months have passed since the arson attack against the Dawabsha family," he said in a statement.

"I am concerned by the slow progress and call on the Israeli authorities to move swiftly in bringing the perpetrators of this terrible crime to justice."

Israeli news media reports in recent days have suggested a breakthrough in a case involving Jewish extremism is imminent, but a gag order has prevented details from being published.

The authorities have suggested that some of the suspects may be currently detained under Israel's administrative detention policy, which enables suspects to be held without trial for six-month renewable periods.

Palestinians often highlight the lack of arrests around the case as among the causes for a wave of violence that began on October 1.

Violence since the start of October has left 103 dead on the Palestinian side, including an Arab Israeli, as well as 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

"Amidst the current escalation of violence, it is essential that all firmly and consistently reject terrorism and act decisively to stop hatred and incitement," Mladenov said.

http://news.yahoo.com/un-calls-israel-punish-palestinian-familys-killers-164159259.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 07, 2015, 09:51:59 pm
Kerry's 'one state' comments cause consternation in Israel

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry set off an uproar in Israel on Sunday after warning that the country, through its continued West Bank occupation, will become a "binational state."

Kerry's words describe a scenario that would mark a failure of U.S. policy and end to Israel's existence as a country that is both Jewish and democratic. The U.S., the international community and many Israelis have endorsed the "two-state solution" — establishing a Palestinian state and ending Israel's control over millions of Palestinians in territories occupied in the 1967 war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Sunday that "Israel will not be a binational state" and blamed the Palestinians for the failure of peace efforts. But despite Netanyahu's pledges, Jewish settlement of the West Bank continues apace, while confusion over his true intentions grows by the day.

Meanwhile, Israel seems unable to stem a wave of stabbings and other attacks by Palestinian individuals, now in its third month, that has killed 19 Israelis and left over 100 Palestinians, most said by Israel to be attackers, dead.

This situation has sharpened the country's half-century-old debate over the Palestinians. Opposition politicians, intellectuals and retired military commanders are issuing increasingly strident warnings that never-ending violence awaits if Israel continues to occupy millions of angry Palestinians who cannot vote in its national elections.

"If Israel were the Titanic and the binational apartheid state its iceberg ... then the collision with the iceberg has already occurred," wrote columnist Rogel Alpher in the Haaretz daily. "Without a diplomatic solution, we will continue to slowly sink into an existence of knifings, hatred and fear."

rest:http://news.yahoo.com/kerrys-one-state-comments-cause-consternation-israel-190940132.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 07, 2015, 09:52:46 pm
Netanyahu Source: ‘Kerry Is Replaced Soon, Let him Say What He Wants’

"Everyone is busy with a countdown to the election of a different US president."


 :D

A political source close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Ma’ariv on Sunday night that “Kerry’s scathing speech did not shock the Israeli government because everyone knows that he will be replaced soon. Everyone is busy with a countdown to the election of a different US president, and until then Kerry can say whatever he wants.”

Interestingly, when MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List) was asked by Israel Radio about the same Kerry speech Sunday, he described it as “a strong speech by a weak man,” which stands to show that some observations by Israel’s political animals are universal.

Speaking at the Brookings Institute Saban Forum last Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry warned that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is likely to end up in a one-state solution, complete with the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and an Israeli obligation to retake the Arab portion of Judea and Samaria.

Kerry assured his audience that the US is still committed to a two-state solution, but noted that while Prime Minister Netanyahu has been paying lip service to it, a number of Israeli cabinet ministers are on the record in opposition to Palestinian statehood, and so, if things remain the way they have been, the Palestinian Authority is not likely to survive.

Netanyahu retorted in his own speech to the Saban Forum Sunday, delivered via video, saying the blame should be placed where it belonged, namely the Palestinians.

“President Abbas refuses to [go to] his people and say — it’s over. No more claims after a peace deal,” Netanyahu said. “The Palestinians have not been willing to cross the conceptual and emotional bridge of accepting a state next to Israel, not one instead of Israel. Not just Hamas, but also the PA. They refuse to accept a Jewish state for the Jewish people.”

Netanyahu hammered his point in on who is the real culprit in the conflict, saying, “Insofar as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is concerned, I think there is another misunderstanding. People have long said that the core of this conflict is the acquisition of territories by Israel in the 1967 War.

“That’s an issue that needs to be addressed in any peace process, as is the question of settlements, but it’s not the core of the conflict. In Gaza, nothing changed. In fact, instead of getting peace, we gave territory and got 15,000 rockets on our heads. We took out all the settlements; we disinterred people from their graves; and did we get peace? No. We got the worst terror possible.”

He pointed to earlier examples where Israeli concessions did not yield peaceful results:

I think that happened earlier too, when we left Lebanon and people said, ‘Well, if you leave Lebanon, then Hezbollah will make peace with you.’ And in fact, we got 15,000 rockets from there too. And so people are naturally saying, look, if we want a solution vis-à-vis the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, in the West Bank, how can we ensure that this doesn’t happen again?

Well, in order for us to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, we have to address the root cause of the problem. Why has this conflict not been resolved for a hundred years?

Why has it not been resolved after successive Israeli prime ministers, six in fact after the Oslo Agreement, have offered to make peace, have offered the Palestinians the possibility of building a state next to Israel – it’s because the Palestinians have not yet been willing to cross that conceptual bridge, that emotional bridge, of giving up the dream not of a state next to Israel, but a state instead of Israel.”

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/netanyahu-source-kerry-is-replaced-soon-let-him-say-what-he-wants/2015/12/07/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 11, 2015, 03:29:34 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/204752#.Vms9F0orLIV
Is Greece planning to recognize 'Palestine'?

Greek news website reports that the Greek parliament is planning a vote on recognizing a Palestinian state later this month.

12/11/15

The Greek Parliament is reportedly set to join a host of European countries that have recognized the “state of Palestine”.

A Greek news website, the Greek Reporter, reported on Thursday that a vote on the move is set for December 22.

According to the report, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has already signed the decision according to which “Palestine” will be the official name of the Palestinian state, and a resolution draft is being prepared in collaboration with House Speaker Nikos Voutsis.

The news website further stated that recognition of “Palestine” will be held by the Greek Parliament and not by the Greek State, in order “not to disturb good relations with Israel,” according to the foreign ministry.

If Greece does indeed move to recognize “Palestine”, it will be the latest in a series of countries which have already done so.

Britain was the first country to vote to recognize “Palestine” last year. After Britain, Sweden announced it officially recognized the state of "Palestine".

Last December, Portugal's parliament adopted a resolution calling on the government to recognize a Palestinian state, though Portugal's Foreign Minister Rui Machete said after the vote the government "will choose the moment best suited" to recognize the Palestinian state.

A similar vote was later reportedly being planned in Belgium, where legislators were working on a resolution to recognize a Palestinian state.

Similar motions passed in France, Ireland, and Spain - but these moves are symbolic gestures and have little, if any, actual diplomatic effect.

Meanwhile, Liz Kendall, a candidate for the leadership of the British Labour party, recently said the party should not have voted in favor of the motion to recognize the Palestinian state.

Kendall argued that recognizing Palestine was not the “right thing to do” and argued that a “responsible opposition” would not have done it.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 22, 2015, 06:57:42 pm
Abbas: ‘Palestinian Authority No Longer Exists’ – We Are a ‘State’

Mahmoud Abbas proclaims the 'Palestinian Authority' no longer exists -- it has officially been replaced by the "State of Palestine."

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas proclaimed Monday at a news conference in Athens that the entity formed under the internationally recognized Oslo Accords — the Palestinian Authority — no longer exists; it has officially been replaced by the “State of Palestine.”

Following his meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Abbas said:

“Regarding this issue of a passport under the name Palestine State, we are about to proceed to the passport replacement and the issuance of a new passport within one year or even less.

“We have already changed all documents issued by ministries and public services and they now bear the name ‘State of Palestine,’ he said.

“We no longer accept from anyone to use the name ‘Palestinian Authority.’”

The declaration made by Abbas — if taken seriously — could have some unique ramifications for those who live within PA-controlled territories and are “citizens” of those areas.

Israeli security personnel quietly support the entity in some delicate situations and basic energy infrastructure such as electricity, water and gas is provided through Israeli cooperation. Tax monies are also collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and transferred to the entity on a monthly basis, with a great hue and a cry if there is any delay.

If in fact Abbas now runs an entirely new nation, clearly there is no longer any need for any of this: all Israeli services can and may be cut off, possibly instantaneously.

Any aggression against Israel emanating from its territory could be construed as an act of war, perhaps justifying a “proportionate response.” How soon then might it be until Israel really invaded and re-occupied the territory that Arab instigators whine about as “occupied” ?

Meanwhile, although the Greek parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a resolution recognizing the Palestinian Authority as a new independent Arab country, the vote does not bind its government in any way.

There will be no formal recognition by Greece, according to a statement released by the Greek foreign ministry, so as “not to disturb good relations with Israel.”

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras recently met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, in addition to his meeting with Abbas in Ramallah. The meeting between Tsipras and Netanyahu ended with both in good spirits.

“We must underline the imperative need to begin a substantial, a credible peace process, but with a clear political target,” Tsipras told reporters Monday after meeting with Abbas.

“A process that will give again hope to the Palestinian people, but also to the Israeli people, for a better future, for a peaceful coexistence of two peoples in the same region.”

More than half of PA citizens (60 percent) polled in September (1,397 adults) by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, however, clearly support stabbing attacks and a violent intifada. Moreover, 66 percent believe an uptick in violence will serve them well.

In addition, more than half (54 percent) expressed outright opposition to the so-called “two-state solution” that has been consistently forced on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority by the United States and the European Union for decades. Even more – 70 percent – are opposed to a single-state “solution” in which Arabs and Jews will coexist with equal rights.

The bottom line: Palestinian Authority Arab citizens have not wavered one iota from their original belief in 1948 that the State of Israel must be annihilated and the Jews either exterminated or otherwise somehow removed from the region. The only question in their minds is how best to accomplish that goal.

For anyone outside of this region to delude themselves into thinking otherwise, and to form any foreign policy involving Israel’s interests based on such an error would be foolhardy and utterly dangerous for all Israeli citizens, be they Jews, Christians or Muslims.

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/abbas-palestinian-authority-no-longer-exists/2015/12/22/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 26, 2015, 05:39:43 pm
POPE FRANCIS CALLS FOR ISRAEL TO BE DIVIDED IN CHRISTMAS DAY SERMON AT THE VATICAN

Pope Francis, 73, spoke to thousands inside the grand St Peter's Basilica during his only public mass over Christmas. As the bells of the basilica rang out, Francis started the mass by unveiling and gently kissing statue of baby Jesus.

POPE FRANCIS PLEADED FOR SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE FLEEING WAR AND POVERTY WHO TRAVEL ‘ALL TOO OFTEN THROUGH INHUMANE CONDITIONS AND NOT INFREQUENTLY AT THE RISK OF THEIR LIVES’

“I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” Joel 3:2 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: IN THE THIRD CHAPTER OF JOEL, WE READ ABOUT ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL REASONS FOR GOD’S ANGER AT THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON. IT IS BECAUSE OUTSIDE NATIONS HAVE PARTED THE LAND OF ISRAEL, DISPERSED HIS PEOPLE, AND STOLEN HIS SILVER AND GOLD. THINK ABOUT THAT AS YOU PONDER ON THE POPE CALLING FOR ISRAEL TO BE DIVIDED TODAY. THE CUP IS FILLING UP RAPIDLY. THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT GOD IS IN FAVOR OF A ONE STATE SOLUTION.

Pope Francis used his Christmas message to urge Israelis and Palestinians to formulate a two state solution by sitting down at the negotiation table and agreeing a peace deal to allow both sides ‘to live together in harmony’.

THE MYTH OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE EXPOSED:

This video debunks the Palestinians’ claim and shows that Abbas has been lying about the origins and history of the conflict. Palestinian leaders have rejected partition plans that would have given them much more land for their independent state than the Jews were offered for theirs. Rather than being the innocent victims of a “dispossession” at the hands of the Israelis, the Palestinians rejected reasonable compromises and instead pursued their aim of getting rid of the only Jewish state in the world.

https://youtu.be/O7ByJb7QQ9U

He asked that Israelis and Palestinians resume direct dialogue which would ‘enable two people to live together in harmony and end a conflict which has caused great conflict for the entire region’, before praying for an end to the civil war in Syria and ‘in remedying the extremely grave humanitarian situation of its suffering people’.

SPEAKING FROM THE LOGGIA OF ST PETER’S BASILICA IN ROME, FRANCIS ISSUED A CHRISTMAS DAY PEACE APPEAL FRIDAY AGAINST POVERTY AND EXTREMIST ATTACKS.

He said: ‘Only God’s mercy can free humanity from the many forms of evil, at times monstrous evil, which selfishness spawns in our midst.’

‘Where God is born, hope is born. He brings hope. Where God is born, peace is born. And where peace is born, there is no longer room for hatred and for war.’

He asked that Israelis and Palestinians resume direct dialogue which would ‘enable two people to live together in harmony and end a conflict which has caused great conflict for the entire region’, before praying for an end to the civil war in Syria and ‘in remedying the extremely grave humanitarian situation of its suffering people’.

Pope Francis then turned his thoughts to those affected by ‘brutal acts of terrorism’, mentioning the recent attacks that left hundreds dead in the likes of Egypt, Paris and Tunisia. He also called for the international community to end the atrocities taking place in Iraq, Libya, Yemen and sub-Saharan Africa, and called for peace and concord across Africa and in Ukraine. source

“Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.” Psalm 129:5 (KJV)

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/pope-francis-calls-for-israel-to-be-divided-in-christmas-day-sermon/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 23, 2016, 04:50:28 pm
China's Xi calls for creation of Palestinian state
President says Palestinian problem "should not be marginalised" as he outlines series of economic deals for Middle East


Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the establishment of a Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as he announced a series of multibillion-dollar investment plans for the wider Middle East.

Speaking from Egypt during the second leg of a Middle East tour, Xi said on Thursday that the Palestinian problem "should not be marginalised".

"China supports the peaceful process in the Middle East [and] the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital being eastern Jerusalem," Xi told the Cairo-based Arab League through an interpreter.


Xi also announced aid of 50 million yuan ($7.6m) for a solar power station project in the Palestinian territories.

For the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to end, negotiations should be pushed forward to reach a peace agreement, Xi said.

Tensions between the two sides have been growing in recent months after a wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks on Israelis and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.

"Maintaining the legitimate interests of the Palestinian people is the responsibility of the Arab League as well as the international community," Xi said.

Separately, Xi also also announced that China would donate $35m in humanitarian aid to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Yemen.

"The situation in Syria could not continue as there is no winner in this conflict and it is only the Syrian people who are suffering," he said.

"The immediate priority to end this conflict is a ceasefire and to engage in a political dialogue and, at the same time, there must be an urgent need for humanitarian aid operations in Syria."

Regional tour

Xi arrived in Egypt on Wednesday, the first visit by a Chinese head of state to the country in 12 years.

Heralding a new era of closer political and economic ties, officials from the two countries signed 21 deals at a ceremony in Cairo.

The agreements span several development and infrastructure investments, including the first phase of a new Egyptian administrative capital announced last year, a $1bn financing agreement for Egypt's central bank and a $700m loan to the state-owned National Bank of Egypt.

Xi's visit to Egypt comes as part of a regional tour, which has already taken him to Saudi Arabia, amid efforts by Beijing to assert its economic and political clout in the Middle East.

Xi said China would dedicate $15bn in special loans to boost industrial production in the region, $10bn in trade credit for joint energy projects and another $10bn in soft loans.

China would also set up funds with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar worth a total of $20bn to invest in conventional energy.

On Tuesday, China and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding to build a nuclear reactor in the oil-rich kingdom.

Iran will be the final stop in Xi's three-nation trip, a visit that comes days after the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, leading to the lifting of international sanctions on Iran.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/china-xi-calls-creation-palestinian-state-160122061202778.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 27, 2016, 09:04:47 pm
Israel PM says UN's Ban 'encouraging terror'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday accused the UN chief of "encouraging terror" after Ban Ki-moon spoke of Palestinian frustration at Israel's occupation and said it was natural to resist.

"The comments of the UN Secretary General encourage terror," Netanyahu said in a statement. "There is no justification for terror."

Earlier, Ban told the UN Security Council of the "profound sense of alienation and despair driving some Palestinians -– especially young people" in the upsurge of attacks on Israelis since the start of October.

"Palestinian frustration is growing under the weight of a half century of occupation and the paralysis of the peace process," he said.

"As oppressed peoples have demonstrated throughout the ages, it is human nature to react to occupation, which often serves as a potent incubator of hate and extremism."

Violence since October 1 has killed 159 Palestinians and 25 Israelis, as well as an American and an Eritrean, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed since October have been attackers, while others have been shot dead by Israeli forces during protests and clashes.

Ban condemned the Palestinian attacks, but said Israeli settlement building cast doubt on Israel's commitment to the goal of an independent Palestine alongside the Jewish state.

"Continued settlement activities are an affront to the Palestinian people and to the international community," he said.

"They rightly raise fundamental questions about Israel's commitment to a two-state solution."

Netanyahu responded that the Palestinians themselves were not working for two states.

"The Palestinian murderers do not want to build a state, they want to destroy a state and they say it out loud," he said.

"They want to murder Jews wherever they are and they say so out loud. They do not murder for peace and they do not murder for human rights."

- Netanyahu under pressure -

An Israeli woman stabbed and killed by two Palestinians in a West Bank settlement was buried on Tuesday as pressure mounted on Netanyahu's government to stem a new wave of attacks.

Shlomit Krigman, 24, died overnight of wounds from Monday's attack.

The two attackers, identified by Palestinian media as Ibrahim Allan, 23, and Hussein Abu Ghosh, 17, were shot dead by a security guard.

It was the third attack inside a West Bank settlement since January 17, when an Israeli woman was stabbed to death by a 15-year-old Palestinian at the entrance to her home in Otniel.

A day later, an Israeli woman was stabbed and wounded by a 17-year-old Palestinian in Tekoa.

Before January 17, Jewish settlements built on land occupied by Israel in 1967 and considered illegal by much of the international community had been spared much of the violence.

But Monday's stabbings increased domestic pressure on the Israeli government, which derives much of its support from the settler community.

Netanyahu said on Monday he had instructed the army to submit a "comprehensive plan" to better ensure the security of settlements.

He also announced he would revoke the work permits of the attackers' relatives, which allow them to be employed in the settlements or in Israel.

The army also sealed off the Palestinian village of Beit Ur al-Tahta, home of one of the two attackers and which is close to Beit Horon, an army spokesman said.

About 400,000 Israeli settlers live alongside around 2.5 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The United States, United Nations and the European Union oppose all Israeli settlement building, and consider it an obstacle to peace.

Israel's defence ministry, however, has approved the construction of 153 new settler homes in the West Bank, the Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said on Monday.

The move marks the end of an informal construction freeze in the Palestinian territory that lasted 18 months, the NGO said.

US-backed peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel collapsed in April 2014 amid bitter mutual recriminations.

A chief grievance of the Palestinians was Israeli settlement building on land they claim for a future state.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/israels-netanyahu-says-uns-ban-encourages-terror-182617303.html?nhp=1


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 28, 2016, 10:31:58 am
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/benjamin-netanyahu-and-alexis-tsipras-form-alliance-between-israel-greece-and-cyprus/
PROPHECY WATCHERS STUNNED AS BENJAMIN NETANYAHU AND ALEXIS TSIPRAS FORM ALLIANCE YESTERDAY
The Israeli and Greek prime ministers signed numerous bilateral agreements during a Wednesday government to government meeting, including in the fields of economic cooperation, innovation and energy.

1/28/16

YESTERDAY, ONE OF THE STRANGEST AND MOST ASTONISHING POLITICAL MEETINGS TOOK PLACE IN ISRAEL.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warmly welcomed Greek PM Alexis Tsipras to discuss a three-way alliance between the countries of Israel, Greece and Cyprus. From a political perspective it’s a very interesting event, but from a prophecy perspective this thing is off the charts. Literally.

Back in February 11, 2015, we introduced you to Alexis Tsipras, this is what we said about him. “His name is Alexis Tsipras, and it seems that he meets much of the criteria of the prophesied Antichrist. He was just elected as the Prime Minister of Greece. He is an atheist and a far left winger. His party in Greece is called SYRIZA. He has appeared out of nowhere in the last couple of years, almost magically. He has landed himself in a most precarious situation. Greece is broken. Is he the one to fix it, and also the EU which is struggling and groping at almost anything to revive Europe? All eyes are on this man.” Remember that guy? You can refresh your memory by reading that full story here.

In recent years Israel has discovered several major offshore gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean containing trillions of cubic feet worth of gas, and is now keen to explore ways that it can transport it via Cyprus and then to Greece and into Europe. A move like this is of clear financial benefit to both Israel and a cash-strapped Greece. But of more interest was the rhetoric surrounding the meeting and the wider issues that were discussed.

The Israeli and Greek prime ministers signed numerous bilateral agreements during a Wednesday government to government meeting, including in the fields of economic cooperation, innovation and energy. “Energy also includes not merely discussing the possibilities of using our offshore gas, but also connecting Israel, Cyprus and Greece with an electricity cable that will, for the first time, enable Israel to diversify its electricity grid and even export gas through electrical energy,” Netanyahu said on Thursday.

NETANYAHU AND TSIPRAS ARE SET TO TRAVEL TO CYPRUS TO MEET WITH PRESIDENT NICOS ANASTASIADES FOR A TRILATERAL SUMMIT DEDICATED TO REGIONAL INTERESTS.

Alexis Tsipras, the Greek mystery man, after being quiet for many months now, has suddenly resurfaced in the most fascinating of all places, Israel. And the fact that he was there signing bilateral political and economic agreements has resounding prophetical implications. Just how far will it go?

Put on the coffee and open your bibles, things are about to get very interesting indeed. Stay Tuned…


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 11, 2016, 06:58:04 pm
Modern Sanhedrin and Ancient Jewish Sage Agree: UN, Ban Ki-Moon Cannot Deny the Jewish People’s God-Given Right to the Land

“And because He loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them, and brought thee out with His presence, with His great power, out of Egypt, to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou, to bring thee in,to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day; know this day, and lay it to thy heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else.” (Deuteronomy 4:37-39)


Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was angered by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s comments in his address to the Security council two weeks ago, when Ban said it was “human nature to react to occupation”. Netanyahu accused him of “stoking terror”, giving tacit justification for Palestinian violence. There are those who feel that Secretary Ban was guilty of much more than that.

In response to Ban’s comments, the Nascent Sanhedrin recently issued a proclamation calling for the State of Israel to leave the UN. The dispute is not over a point of international law, or even a point in the Middle East peace negotiations. Rather, the Sanhedrin reasons that it is fighting for the essential identity of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish People. They feel that the UN and Ban Ki-Moon are rejecting the validity of the Biblical covenant, and perhaps of the Bible itself. In the words of the Sanhedrin:

“Ban Ki-moon stands at the head of the organization called the UN, and the State of Israel continues to spurn its international rights and obligations concerning the Land of Israel as legally recognized in Article 80 of the UN Charter, which adopted all of the mandates of the League of Nations. To wit: The Land of Israel is solely the designated land of the Nation of Israel, and as such the Jewish state is therefore required to represent the interests of the Jewish People.

“Israel’s silence on this important matter is tantamount to an admission that the Land does not belong to the Jews (God forbid), and instead renders the country as one occupied by foreigners, with all that this implies.

“The State of Israel must immediately leave the UN, and sue it for damages, holding it accountable for its actions.

“The UN, in its current form, must be shut down, as it only serves to fuel anti-Semitism. It must be re-established in a new incarnation, as an international organization dedicated to peace in accordance with the Torah of Israel, and based in Jerusalem.”

The Sanhedrin’s claim, that Ban accuses Israel of wresting the land away from the previous occupants – the alleged Palestinian nation – was actually anticipated by Judaism. It was predicted 900 years ago almost verbatim by one of the most prominent Jewish sages in history: a rabbi known as Rashi.

Rashi is an acronym for Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, who was a French wine merchant who lived 900 years ago. A prolific scholar with commentaries on almost every piece of Jewish literature, including the Bible and the Talmud (the oral tradition), his commentaries present the basic meaning of the text in a concise and lucid fashion,and are therefore an essential part of Jewish study to this day.

Every Day, Holy Day: Lessons in Mussar by Alan Morinis. Buy Now.

Rashi’s commentary on the first verse of the Bible has always been considered enigmatic by scholars. While the Bible begins with the story of creation, and the verse, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…”, Rashi, who normally adheres to the simplest reading, sidestepped the central issue in an uncharacteristic manner, questioning why the Torah begins with the story of creation at all.

He answers his own question in a seemingly incongruous statement having nothing to do with the story of creation. He explains that the Torah first established that the world was created by God so that the non-Jews would not be able to claim that the Jews stole the land.

“If the other nations say, ‘Israel is a thief, since they conquered the land belonging to the seven nations that dwelt there previously’, the Jews can answer by saying, ‘the entire world was created by God and is His, and he can give it to whoever he sees fit.’”

Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf, a noted Jewish speaker and award-winning author, spoke to Breaking Israel News about how this Rashi commentary applies to the current situation in the Middle East and to Ban in particular. Rabbi Apisdorf points out that Rashi, in almost prophetic fashion, predicted with unwavering conviction that the Jews would return to Israel. It was unimaginable that the Jews would actually have the opportunity to remind the world of their right to the land.

“It is amazing how closely Rashi’s description from 900 years ago fits the present political reality, but in a way it is not surprising. What Rashi is really saying is that when it comes to Israel, where we go, as long as our voice is united,  the world will follow,” Rabbi Apisdorf told Breaking Israel News.

He explained, “When we accepted the Oslo Accords, we turned our backs on the claim that the land is ours, and only ours, by virtue of God’s covenant with Abraham. If the Jews don’t stand by that claim, why should anyone else?”

Rabbi Apisdorf’s solution was simple, and in a way, more shocking than that of the Sanhedrin.

“We don’t need to leave the UN. We need to reject the Oslo Accords, stand up at the UN, and make our claim in a loud, clear, and united voice. The purpose of this is first and foremost for the Nation of Israel, but it will impact the entire world.”

Given the turmoil and confusion the world finds itself in today, perhaps this is indeed the solution.


Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/61016/modern-sanhedrin-ancient-jewish-sage-agree-un-ban-ki-moon-cannot-deny-jewish-peoples-god-given-right-land-jewish-world/#5OM2gq8kjrMZv9PC.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 20, 2016, 09:55:17 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNDMFeXD-fo



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 20, 2016, 11:08:33 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af5uYVo5XDg


Title: If Peace Talks fail in July France will recognize Palestine
Post by: christistruth on February 21, 2016, 07:44:41 am
France has informed UN Security Council member states that it intends to convene an
international peace conference to advance Israeli­-Palestinian peace efforts in April, with a
view to brokering direct negotiations between the two sides in July, a TV report said
Friday.

Israel’s Channel 2 said France has submitted a document to the 15 Security Council members,
detailing plans for the July conference, to include representatives from the Middle East Quartet —
the US, Russian EU and UN — and several Arab states.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week dismissed the nascent French
initiative as “baffling” and bound for failure. The Obama administration has indicated that it does
believe there is a possibility of achieving a peace accord in its remaining time in office, but has
stressed its determination to keep alive possibilities of a two­state solution.

Friday’s TV report said that Secretary of State John Kerry, who is expected in Amman, Jordan on
Saturday for talks with King Abdullah, would “apparently” meet with Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas as well.

France has for months been preparing to hold a conference that would bring together the two
parties and their American, European and Arab partners in order to revive the peace process.
France has also warned that if its peace efforts fail, it will recognize a Palestinian state.

In Germany on Tuesday, Netanyahu said this threat “ensures that the conference will fail,
because if the Palestinians know their claim will be accepted in Europe…they will not do
anything.”

The Palestinians have welcomed the French proposal, but the conference idea has not been 016 France aims for peace parley in April, direct talks in  generating much enthusiasm in the international community, which is struggling to cope with far deadlier Middle East conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said France’s ambassador to Israel met a ministry official Tuesday to set out details of the planned conference.

Washington, which has traditionally acted as a peace broker in the Israeli-­Palestinian conflict, has
not taken a public position on the French plan.

The last peace negotiations, mediated by Kerry, collapsed in April 2014, and the period since has
been fraught with conflict. Since last fall, a wave of Palestinian terrorism and violence has seen
the killings of some 30 Israelis — the latest being Tuvia Yanai Weissman, a 21­year­old off­duty
IDF soldier, who was stabbed to death by two Palestinian teenagers in a West Bank supermarket
on Thursday.

Some 160 Palestinians have died in the same period, about three­quarters of them in the course of
attacking Israelis

http://www.timesofisrael.com/france-aims-for-peace-parley-in-april-direct-talks-in-july/ (http://www.timesofisrael.com/france-aims-for-peace-parley-in-april-direct-talks-in-july/)

France isn't a fringe dictatorship like China or North Korea, if they recognize Palestine, it's a bad sign to those who support Israel. I looked at this Prime Minister of France, I get a eerie feel about him. A thought came to me, "If they're so sure that this won't work, what if this Prime Minister gives them an offer they can't refuse?" But I will trust in Christ and not in leaders of this world. Interesting times for sure.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 21, 2016, 11:45:16 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qKFBl694BI


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 29, 2016, 08:05:13 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efqrZD73X0k


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 29, 2016, 11:00:47 pm
Palestinians Admit Their TV Programs Create Child-Terrorists

https://youtu.be/iz4byzzQEwg

It won't matter to the Left who defends the indefensible at any and every opportunity, but Palestinians interviewed on the street openly admit that the reason for the marked rise in child-terrorists is due to propaganda disseminated on their own TV channels.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) translated the man-on-the-street interviews, which feature an array of everyday Palestinians talking about the way in which children are exploited on their television programs.

Thankfully, most of those interviewed said they are against children participating in acts of terror, but a few said they only oppose it because it is largely ineffective. Regardless of the individual's stance, however, every interview subject admitted that Palestinian TV broadcasts incite children to commit acts of terror.

The interview moderator concluded his segment with a call to end the "incitement on TV screens... enough spilling the blood of our children."

PMW provides the following transcript and correlating video segment which aired on Fata-run Awdah TV on January 21, 2016: 


    Fatah-run Awdah TV host: "What is required of children during the process of national liberation?"
    Palestinian 1: "First of all, the children are victims... The children are deprived of everything considered children's entertainment. Our children, unfortunately, their entertainment is the weapon...
    Palestinian 2: "Our children are required, like the adults, to resist with every means they: with knives, with rocks, with Molotov cocktails, in every way they can resist, they also need to resist..."
    Palestinian teacher: "As a teacher, I believe that you need to sow love of knowledge in a child, that is most important. That he should go and fight while still a child - I am totally against that..."
    Palestinian 3: "These things are not for children. The children need to learn and live their lives, to go to school, to play..."
    Palestinian 4: "I am against children's stabbing operations..."
    Palestinian 5: "Stabbing operations by children are negative operations, because they don't bring significant results, they aren't organized. There's nothing positive about it, only negative - that we lose a child..."
    Palestinian 6: "As we see and hear - most of the stabbings taking place are very weak, and they do almost nothing to change reality..."
    Fatah-run Awdah TV host: "Do you think that the media and incitement on TV influence our children?"
    Palestinian 7: "Of course. It confuses the children when they see these things. I prevent my children from watching what is happening on TV, stabbing operations or shootings. I prevent my children from watching. It confuses them, causes them to want to do this..."
    Palestinian 8: "What is happening today in the media has a negative influence. It doesn't tell them 'No.' It encourages them to take to the streets..."
    Palestinian teacher:"I think that the media plays a large role. Especially our TV channels. Even when the situation has calmed down a little, you see that there are broadcasters among us and known satellite channels that begin to incite. Even if the incitement is indirect, it is incitement. You feel that the child does not know what to do. Unfortunately..."
    Fatah-run Awdah TV host: "Enough with this incitement on TV screens, on [Facebook] pages and social media. We must protect our children and must develop a strategy of struggle built on responsibility... enough spilling the blood of our children."

Yes, and how about spilling the blood of innocent Israelis as a result?

This news report highlights the root of the problem within Palestinian society. When television programs, news media, political leaders, activists and school curriculum all work in tandem to indoctrinate an entire populace from the cradle, it becomes next to impossible to dislodge these notions later in life. Thus, generation after generation is spawned not only anti-Semitic to its core, but willing to kill and die for it. How can peace for Israel ever be possible under such circumstances? It's can't.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/palestinians-admit-their-tv-programs-create-child-terrorists


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 01, 2016, 01:21:14 am
http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/11/27/november-29-the-day-the-un-stands-with-the-palestinians-and-demonizes-israel/#
11/27/15
November 29: The Day the UN Stands With the Palestinians and Demonizes Israel

On November 29, the United Nations will mark an “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” Established in 1977, the day claims to facilitate “the attainment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return and the right to national independence and sovereignty in Palestine.”

It is essential to understand the history of this day in order to understand its true purpose. The day is an outgrowth of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), established 40 years ago in November 1975, as part of the suite of General Assembly resolutions meant to demonize Israel and Jews.

The most infamous part of this effort, Resolution 3379, declared “Zionism a form of racism.” While resolution 3379 was eventually repealed in 1991, its sentiments live on through the very existence of the Committee and its activities. There is no other nation or people in the world that has a UN division dedicated to its “inalienable rights” — not the oppressed people of Tibet, the Kurds, the endangered Yazidi people in Iraq, or the Coptic minority in Egypt.

Under the guise of obtaining justice for the Palestinians, the Committee fuels the virulent anti-Israel political warfare campaign that continues to gain momentum within the corridors of the UN and contribute to the malignant rise of antisemitism worldwide. In other words, in order to promote the “inalienable rights” of Palestinians, the UN tramples on the rights of Israelis and Jews, acting in a way that shows that rights are no longer universal.

There is also ironic meaning to the date chosen to mark international solidarity with the Palestinian people. November 29 is the historic date upon which the UN adopted the Partition Plan in 1947, which paved the way for a Jewish state, and should have resulted in a parallel Arab state. Instead, the Arab population in Mandate Palestine rejected partition and, together with the neighboring Arab countries, went to war to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state.

If anything, November 29 should serve as a reminder that Palestinians had the “right to national independence” in their grasp, and that a two-state “partition” could have provided a way forward. Instead, the International Day of Solidarity embraces a supposed Palestinian “inalienable right to return to their homes and property,” endorsing a concept that contradicts the essence of the 1947 UN vote and which would geographically, politically, and otherwise mean the elimination of the Jewish and democratic State of Israel.

There is no other UN subsidiary committee or UN day of solidarity specifically designated to advance the political cause of one people over another. This committee is yet more proof such double standards against Israel persist and are sanctioned by an official UN event in New York.

The Day is also a catalyst for highly politicized non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to amplify their support for anti-Israel BDS (boycotts, divestments, and sanctions) movement and other hostile campaigns. Many of these NGOs, which receive extensive funding from European governments, also regularly exploit UN forums and judicial processes to accuse Israel of “war crimes,” “crimes against humanity,” and other alleged violations of international law.

For example, in 2013, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which prides itself on seeking to create “a wedge” within the American Jewish community over support for Israel, marked the occasion by escalating efforts to boycott Israeli company SodaStream. Similarly, Palestinian NGO Al Mezan co-signed a letter accusing Israel of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity,” while calling on “UN member states to vote in favor of any resolution that would recognize Palestinian statehood.” Al Mezan is funded, directly and indirectly, by Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, the European Union, Norway, Germany, the UN Development Programme, and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund.

In 2012, a dozens of NGOs including Al Mezan, Al-Haq, Badil, Defence for Children International-Palestine — all of which are heavily funded by European donors — participated in a World Social Forum entitled “Free Palestine” held in Brazil. The four-day forum, which overlapped with November 29, included panels on “the right to return,” “international law and human rights,” “popular resistance,” and “the case of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.” Tellingly, the conference did not center on obtaining Palestinian statehood, but rather lamented the “narrowing of the Palestinian struggle to the West Bank only.”

While November 29 recalls the implications of UN resolutions from 40 and 70 years ago, we should also bear in mind another momentous event from the Fall of 1945. On October 24, the UN was founded at Lake Success, New York, to “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights.” As the UN and NGOs prepare to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians by demonizing Israel and denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination, they and their donors should consider the extent to which they contribute to the exploitation of sacred and universal principles.

Palestinians lose SodaStream jobs after Israel boycott

Hundreds of Palestinian workers are now unemployed after the factory where they worked in a West Bank settlement was targeted by an international boycott movement and forced to move to Israel, the company's chief executive said Monday.

Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream International Ltd., said the last 74 Palestinian workers left Monday after being denied permits to work inside Israel at the new factory.

"We gave them an opportunity to work," he told Israel's Channel 2 TV, calling Palestinians the main victims of the boycott movement. But he also criticized the Israeli government for not granting them work permits.

In all, about 500 Palestinians lost their jobs after the factory moved last year amid a high-profile boycott campaign known as BDS — an acronym for boycott, divestment and sanctions.

The movement seeks to ostracize Israel by lobbying corporations, artists and academic institutions to sever ties with the Jewish state. Supporters say the boycott is aimed at furthering Palestinian aspirations for independence, and that their efforts are modeled on an earlier campaign against Apartheid South Africa.

Critics say the campaign is not aimed at Israeli policies but at delegitimizing Israel itself. Some accuse it of anti-Semitism because it singles out Israel for boycott while ignoring countries with poor human rights records.

Many Palestinians work in Israeli settlements because of limited job prospects in the West Bank. The Palestinians say the local economy is hobbled by Israeli restrictions.

Mahmoud Nawajaa, the BDS coordinator in the West Bank town of Ramallah, called the loss of the Palestinian jobs at SodaStream "part of the price that should be paid in the process of ending the occupation." He called on the Palestinian Authority to do more to find jobs for the workers.

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-lose-sodastream-jobs-israel-boycott-181033809.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 07, 2016, 04:34:03 am
New Proposal to Divide Jerusalem Unites People Against It

 A new plan on how to divide Jerusalem’s Jewish and Arab neighborhoods has had the peculiar distinction of uniting people against it.

The contentious plan, promoted by a group of liberal Israeli Jews and adopted in principle by the center-left Labor Party, would unilaterally fence off most of East Jerusalem’s Palestinian neighborhoods and transfer responsibility for their 200,000 residents from City Hall to the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank.

Kicked off with advertisements under the heading “Saving Jewish Jerusalem,” the campaign’s almost jingoistic tone seems intended to appeal to the broadest Jewish constituency, including Israel’s growing political center and conservative “nationalist camp.”

Instead, it has been rejected at both ends of the political spectrum, as well as by Palestinian leaders.

The new campaign describes Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents as imperiling the security, demographic balance, standard of living and economy of the city. It argues that a majority of people 18 and under in the city are Palestinian and plays on fears raised by the recent surge of Palestinian attacks against Israeli Jews.

rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/world/middleeast/new-proposal-to-divide-jerusalem-unites-people-against-it.html?_r=2


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 09, 2016, 02:12:43 pm
Obama Administration: A UN Resolution That Would Divide Israel And Jerusalem Is Back In Play

According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House is considering drastic measures to reboot the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.  Among those measures is a UN Security Council resolution that would set the parameters for a two state solution and that would recognize East Jerusalem as the official capital of a Palestinian state.  If Barack Obama makes this move, it will almost certainly be before the election in November.  I had previously reported that France was ready to introduce a similar UN Security Council resolution back in September, but at that time the French backed off because they did not have full support from the Obama administration.  But now that Obama is approaching the end of his term, he suddenly seems more willing to make a bold move.

Remember, this is not just some Internet rumor.  This comes directly from an article that was just published in the Wall Street Journal that claims to have top White House officials as the source of this information.  According to those anonymous officials, the Obama administration is now ready to potentially move forward with the kind of UN Security Council resolution that I mentioned above…

    The strongest element on the list of options under consideration would be U.S. support for a Security Council resolution calling on both sides to compromise on key issues, something Israel had opposed and Washington has repeatedly vetoed in the past.

The article goes on to say that the parameters of an agreement for a two state solution would be based on the 1949 armistice line but would allow for land swaps so that many Jewish settlements that have been built since 1967 would not be swallowed up by the new Palestinian state.

The Palestinians would be required to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and East Jerusalem would receive full UN Security Council recognition as the capital of a new Palestinian state.  This is something that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised that he would never agree to.

But Barack Obama appears to be completely fed up with Netanyahu at this point, and that is why the White House is now strongly considering moving forward with a UN Security Council resolution.  Needless to say, this would represent a dramatic change in policy from previous administrations.  Here is more from the Wall Street Journal…

    Mounting a push for a Security Council resolution would be a significant shift in U.S. policy and one the Israeli government has feared could marshal international sentiment in a way that could make it harder to resist making concessions. Such a move could further strain already tense relations between Messrs. Obama and Netanyahu, who have clashed over U.S. diplomacy with Iran and the administration’s past attempts to forge a Middle East peace agreement.

    Last year, the White House threatened to allow action at the U.N. to proceed without objection from the U.S. after Mr. Netanyahu said during his re-election campaign that he wouldn’t support a two-state solution. The Israeli leader subsequently walked back his statement, and the White House didn’t follow through with its threat.

Right now, 136 nations already formally recognize a Palestinian state.  But a Palestinian state has never had full UN Security Council recognition because the United States has always blocked efforts in that direction.

Many people don’t realize this, but if Obama throws his support behind such a resolution, it would be considered binding upon both the Israelis and the Palestinians.  The following comes from Israel National News…

    A Security Council resolution would be binding upon all parties, unlike General Assembly measures which are non-obligatory recommendations. Such a resolution would remain in force even after the president leaves office next January, effectively shaping the future of American policy in the region for Mr. Obama’s successors.

    The resolution would require Israel cease construction over the Green Line and would force Israel to recognize eastern Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

Needless to say, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be absolutely furious if the Obama administration pushes forward with a UN Security Council resolution that would attempt to dictate a solution to the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Perhaps this explains why Netanyahu just cancelled a meeting with Barack Obama at the White House later this month…

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined an offer to meet President Barack Obama at the White House later this month and canceled his trip to Washington, the White House said on Monday, citing Israeli news reports.

    Netanyahu’s decision to nix his U.S. visit marked the latest episode in a fraught relationship with Obama that has yet to recover from their deep differences over last year’s U.S.-led international nuclear deal with Iran, Israel’s arch-foe.

Of course there are lots of reasons why Netanyahu would potentially be upset with Obama.  In addition to the ridiculously bad Iran deal, we should also remember that Obama tried to help defeat Netanyahu during the last Israeli election, and the Wall Street Journal has reported that the Obama administration has been actively spying on Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders.

Barack Obama has stabbed Israel in the back over and over again, and so it would be absolutely no surprise if he decided to push for a UN Security Council resolution that would permanently divide the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, such a move would have very serious implications for all of us.  By dividing the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, Obama would be cursing our nation, and that is not something that any of us should want.

If Obama is going to do this, it will almost certainly happen before the election in November.

That means that we are looking at roughly an eight month time period.

Personally, because of how the UN schedule works, I would say that the most likely time for such a resolution to be introduced would be in September or October.  But it is definitely possible that it could come sooner than that.

For a long time, Barack Obama has expressed a desire to see the establishment of a Palestinian state before he leaves office.  Netanyahu has always been his nemesis in this regard, but now Obama seems determined to try to make something happen at the United Nations while he still has the power to do so.

Let us pray that he is not successful.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/obama-administration-a-un-resolution-that-would-divide-israel-and-jerusalem-is-back-in-play


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 30, 2016, 04:07:27 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/united-nations-names-israel-as-the-worlds-top-human-rights-violator/

United Nations Names Israel As The World’s Top Human Rights Violator

On March 24, 2016, the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) wrapped up its annual meeting in New York by condemning only one country for violating women’s rights anywhere on the planet – Israel, for violating the rights of Palestinian women. On the same day, the U.N. Human Rights Council concluded its month-long session in Geneva by condemning Israel five times more than any other of the 192 UN member states.

3/30/16

According to the United Nations, the most evil country in the world today is Israel.

“Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” Zephaniah 3:8 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Bible says that, in the end times, the united nations of the world will come against Israel and seek to destroy her. The United Nations is absolutely preparing for that day as you see in their combined declarations against Israel and the Jewish people.

On March 24, 2016, the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) wrapped up its annual meeting in New York by condemning only one country for violating women’s rights anywhere on the planet – Israel, for violating the rights of Palestinian women.

On the same day, the U.N. Human Rights Council concluded its month-long session in Geneva by condemning Israel five times more than any other of the 192 UN member states.

There were five Council resolutions on Israel.  One each on the likes of hellish countries like Syria, North Korea and Iran.  Libya got an offer of “technical assistance.”  And countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia and China were among the 95 percent of states that were never mentioned.

No slander is deemed too vile for the U.N. human rights bodies that routinely listen to highly orchestrated Palestinian versions of the ancient blood libel against the Jews.

In Geneva, Palestinian representative Ibrahim Khraishi told the Council on March 24, 2016:  “Israeli soldiers and settlers kill Palestinian children. They shoot them dead. They will leave them to bleed to death.”  And in New York, Palestinian representative Haifa Al-Agha told CSW on March 16, 2016:  “Israel…is directing its military machinery against women and girls. They are killing them, injuring them, and leaving them bleeding to death.”

Operating hand-in-glove with governments and the U.N. secretariat are the unelected, sanctimonious NGOs, to which the UN offers free facilities and daily advertisement of “side-events.”  In theory “materials containing abusive or offensive language or images are not permitted on United Nations premises.”

In practice, in Geneva the UN permitted handouts that claimed Israel “saw ethnic cleansing as a necessary precondition for its existence.”  A film accused Israel of sexual violence against children and “trying to exterminate an entire Palestinian generation.”  Speeches focused on the 1948 “catastrophe” in which a “settler colonial state” was established on Palestinian land.

The New York CSW-NGO scene included a film set in in the context of Israeli “oppression” and the “tear gas of my childhood,” and statements analogizing the experiences of Palestinians to today’s Syrian refugees.

Picture these real-life scenes:
•In Geneva’s grand U.N. “Human Rights” Council chamber, 750 people assembled, pounced on the Jewish state, broadcast the spectacle online, and produced hundreds of articles and interviews in dozens of languages championing the results.
•On the ground, Israelis are being hacked to death on the streets, stabbed in buses, slaughtered in synagogues, mowed down with automobiles, and shot in front of their children.
•At the New York’s UN headquarters, 8,100 NGO representatives gathered from all corners of the globe, in addition to government delegates, and watched the weight of the entire world of women’s rights descend on only one country.
•On the ground, Palestinian women are murdered and subjugated for the sake of male honor, Saudi women can’t drive, Iranian women are stoned to death for so-called “adultery,” Egyptian women have their genitals mutilated and Sudanese women give birth in prison with their legs shackled for being Christian.

Isn’t it about time that people stopped calling the U.N. a harmless international salon or a bad joke?

The poison isn’t simply rhetorical.  One of the Council resolutions adopted last week launches a worldwide witch-hunt for companies that do business with Israel – as part of an effort to accomplish through economic strangulation what Israel’s enemies have not been able to accomplish on the battlefield.  The resolution casts a wide net encompassing all companies engaged in whatever the U.N. thinks are business “practices that disadvantage Palestinian enterprises.”

And the toxicity is self-perpetuating. Acting at the beck and call of Islamic states and their conduit – French Ambassador Elizabeth Laurin and Council President Choi Kyonglim selected Canadian law professor Michael Lynk as the newest U.N. “independent” human rights investigator on Israel.

Lynk’s qualifications?  He has likened Israelis to Nazis, and challenged the legitimacy of the state of Israel starting in 1948 as rooted in “ethnic cleansing.”

All of this played out in the same week that Europe was reeling from the Belgian terror attacks.  Petrified or already vanquished, no European state voted against this onslaught of U.N. resolutions against Israel.  Germany and the United Kingdom occasionally abstained, while France voted with Arab and Islamic states on all but one Council resolution.

Here we are just 70 years after World War II and Europeans believe that they can license this vitriol against the Jewish state – the only democracy on the front lines of an Islamist war against human decency – and the consequences can be contained to the Jews.

Even as the converse stares them in the face.  Two days after the Brussels attacks, Islamic states rammed through a Council resolution slyly labeled “Effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of all human rights” that was actually so anti-human rights even Belgium was forced to vote against it.

As for the United States, the Obama administration has been the Human Rights Council’s most important supporter.  Though the U.S. is currently in a mandatory one-year hiatus — after serving two consecutive terms — President Obama plans to bind his successor by running again in the fall for another three-year term that starts January 1, 2017.

Memo to Americans who are mad as hell: It’s time to elicit a promise from our would-be leaders to refuse to sit on the U.N. Human Rights Council or to legitimize the United Nations. source



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 14, 2016, 09:42:22 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/nyt-hints-that-obama-may-use-un-resolution-to-create-palestinian-state-on-passover-eve/

NYT Hints That Obama May Use UN Resolution To Create Palestinian State On Eve Of Passover

The Palestinians are planning to bring their own resolution to the UN Security Council declaring that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem are illegal and that calls on the sides to return to the negotiating table with a time frame of one year to reach a final status agreement. The UN vote is set for April 22, Passover-eve, and Palestinian media reports that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is set to be present in New York for the vote.

4/14/16

Is Obama planning his revenge on Netanyahu?

EDITOR’S NOTE: On the eve of Passover on April 22nd, the United Nations will vote on Climate Change referendum. The Palestinians want a vote on condemning Israel for building on their own land in the West Bank. Will Barack Obama use this moment to demand the creation of a Palestinian state? Insiders say this would be his ‘perfect revenge’ against Netanyahu whom he has long shown contempt for.

“Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” Zephaniah 3:8 (KJV)

With the Obama administration in its final year, several officials have said that the president has grown so frustrated with trying to revive Middle East peace talks that he may lay down his own outline for an Israeli-Palestinian two-state peace agreement, in the form of a resolution in the United Nations Security Council.

If that happens, count on two reactions: Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will oppose it, and a chorus of American politicians and commentators will suggest that it would be unprecedented — even unthinkable — for an American president to support a Security Council resolution that Israel opposed, rather than veto it.

Last spring, when similar reports circulated, Senator John McCain of Arizona said that such an action would “contradict American policy for the last at least 10 presidents of the United States.” The Republican chairman and ranking Democrat of the House Foreign Affairs Committee joined in a letter protesting that “for decades the U.S. has used its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Israel from undue pressure at the world body.” A bipartisan group of senators agreed, seeking assurances that the policy would not change.

Remarkably, the assumption beneath those protests — that President Obama would be committing an unprecedented betrayal of the American-Israeli relationship if he did not block every Security Council resolution that challenged the actions or positions of Israel’s government — has gone unchallenged.

Until Obama decides how to act, Israel is focusing on frustrating Palestinian diplomatic efforts at the UN. The Palestinians are planning to bring their own resolution to the UN Security Council declaring that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem are illegal and that calls on the sides to return to the negotiating table with a time frame of one year to reach
 a final status agreement. The UN vote is set for April 22, Passover-eve, and Palestinian media reports that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is set to be present in New York for the vote.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 17, 2016, 05:51:41 pm
New UNESCO Resolution Erases Jewish Connection to Temple Mount

Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

On Friday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Executive Board in Paris adopted a resolution erasing Israel’s ties to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

The UNESCO resolution referred to the Temple Mount area solely as the Al-Aqsa Mosque or Al-Haram Al Sharif, ignoring the Jewish claim to the site.

The resolution called Israel “the occupying power” and the Western Wall as Al-Buraq Plaza. It demanded that Israel not restrict Muslim access to the Temple Mount, condemning Israel for “illegal measures against the freedom of worship” at the “Muslim holy site of worship”. It demanded a return to the “status quo”. The status quo since Israel conquered the Temple Mount in 1967 forbids non-Muslim prayer on the Temple Mount and has remained unchanged.

Blaming “Israel aggression” for the violence at the site, it had no mention of the role of Muslim rioters.

It also condemned the Israel’s plans to establish an egalitarian, non-Orthodox prayer section by Robinson’s Arch.

It accused Israel of “planting Jewish fake graves in other spaces of the Muslim cemeteries” located on Waqf property east and south of the Temple Mount, and of “the continued conversion of many Islamic and Byzantine remains into the so-called Jewish ritual baths or into Jewish prayer places.”.

It referred to Hebron and Bethlehem as solely “Palestinian sites”.

Authorized by the executive board’s Programme and External Relations Commission, the resolution was submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and Sudan. The 58-member board approved the resolution with 33 votes in favor, six against and 17 abstentions. Two countries, Ghana and Turkmenistan were absent all together. Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the US voted against the resolution. France, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, Russia and Slovenia were among those countries that supported the resolution.

Israeli ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama, released a statement saying, “Even if UNESCO passes dozens of resolutions, and decides to continue passing thousands more, Jerusalem will always remain as part of the capital of Israel and the Jewish people.” Shama added, “As you continue on this path of incitement, lies and terror you will be sending UNESCO down a path towards irrelevance.”

“This is yet another absurd UN decision,” Netanyahu said Saturday. “UNESCO ignores the unique historic connection of Judaism to the Temple Mount, where the two temples stood for a thousand years and to which every Jew in the world has prayed for thousands of years. The UN is rewriting a basic part of human history and has again proven that there is no low to which it will not stoop.”


Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/65788/unesco-names-western-wall-al-buraq-plaza/#Olk3siJ81Y4Xzcpm.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 17, 2016, 05:53:33 pm
Netanyahu Declares: Golan Heights Ours From Biblical to Modern Times

The Israeli cabinet held its first-ever meeting in the Golan Heights on Sunday amid reports that the territory is being discussed as part of Syrian civil war peace talks.

“I convened this celebratory meeting in the Golan Heights to send a clear message: The Golan will always remain in Israel’s hands. Israel will never withdraw from the Golan Heights,” declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the council.

“It is time that the international community recognized reality,” Netanyahu continued. “Whatever happens on the other side of the border, the border itself will not move. Secondly, after 50 years it is time that the international community realized that the Golan will remain under Israeli sovereignty.”

He pointed out that the Golan is Israel’s ancient heritage, calling it an “integral part of the Land of Israel in ancient times.”

“That is documented by dozens of ancient synagogues around us,” he said, referring to the remains of Jewish settlements dating back thousands of years. “And the Golan is an integral part of the State of Israel in the present time.”

According to recent reports, Netanyahu is upset over indications that a negotiated deal on the Syrian civil war that is being worked on by world powers would declare the Golan Heights as Syrian territory. He stated categorically that no such deal was acceptable to Israel.

Get your handmade Biblical ceramics from Naomi Persky. Buy now!
Israel’s Channel 10 reported that Netanyahu phoned US Secretary of State John Kerry over the issue, and that he will also discuss the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their upcoming meeting. The Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu will “act to ensure” that any language declaring that the territory belongs to Syria is unacceptable.

“I told the Secretary of State that we would not oppose a political resolution in Syria [to the civil war] so long as it does not come at our expense,” Netanyahu said at the meeting. “That is to say, at the end of the day Iranian forces, ISIS, and Hezbollah need to be removed from Syrian territory.”

In Biblical times, the area now called the Golan Heights was known as Bashan; its name is derived from the Biblical city of “Golan in Bashan”. Originally the land was assigned to the tribe of Mannaseh. During the times of the First Temple, the northern Jewish kingdom of Judea fought with the Aramean kingdom for control of the Golan; Israel’s king defeated the Aramean king near the current site of Kibbutz Afik.

Israel gained control of the strategically important Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War. After Israel briefly lost territory during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel and Syria established a United Nations-monitored ceasefire line in the region, with Israel taking the western two-thirds of the territory. Amid the ongoing Syrian civil war, the territory continues to play a strategic role for Israel. Iran, Hezbollah, and the Islamic State terror group all have a presence in Syrian territory near the Israeli border.


Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/65846/affirming-sovereignty-israeli-cabinet-will-hold-first-ever-meeting-golan-heights/#0iSvu7e177CfZgYt.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 27, 2016, 08:08:56 pm
UN Rejects Israel’s Claim To The Golan Heights As Top Rabbis Await The Messiah’s Imminent Arrival

The UN Security Council has unanimously rejected Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and this is likely to cause tensions in the Middle East to rise even higher.  On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boldly declared “that the Golan Heights will remain under Israel’s sovereignty permanently.”  After close to 50 years of control over the Golan Heights, this should not have been much of a shock.  But the Arab world immediately went into an uproar, and the UN Security Council has taken action.  In a unanimous decision, the UN Security Council has announced that Israel’s claims to the Golan Heights are “null and void and without international legal effect.”

So once again the United Nations and the nation of Israel are directly at odds with one another, because the truth is that Israel is never going to leave the Golan Heights as long as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in power.  The following comes from CNN…

    Israel’s Prime Minister has declared that the Golan Heights will remain permanently under the country’s control, during Israel’s first Cabinet meeting held in the territory.

    “The time has come for the international community to recognize reality, especially two basic facts,” said Benjamin Netanyahu during a Cabinet meeting Sunday.

    “One, whatever is beyond the border, the boundary itself will not change. Two, after 50 years, the time has come for the international community to finally recognize that the Golan Heights will remain under Israel’s sovereignty permanently.”

Asking Israel to give the Golan Heights back to Syria is kind of like asking the United States to give Texas back to Mexico.

It just isn’t going to happen.

But thanks in large part to pressure from the Islamic world, the UN Security Council remains bound and determined to take that strategically important sliver of land away from Israel.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council expressed “deep concern” that the Israeli government is claiming permanent sovereignty over the Golan Heights…

    “Council members expressed their deep concern over recent Israeli statements about the Golan, and stressed that the status of the Golan remains unchanged,” China’s U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi, president of the 15-nation Security Council this month, told reporters after a closed-door meeting.

    He added that council resolution 497 of 1981 made clear that Israel’s decision at the time to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the Golan was “null and void and without international legal effect.”

    Council statements are adopted by consensus, which means all its members, including Israel’s ally the United States, backed it.

Of course the Obama administration was definitely going to go along with this UN Security Council statement, because it has consistently proven to be the most anti-Israel administration in modern U.S. history.

Late last year, there was a lot of talk about a potential UN Security Council resolution which would have permanently divided the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem and that would have set the parameters for a Palestinian state.  At that time, the Obama administration was not quite ready to pull the trigger.

However, now that the end of Obama’s second term is rapidly approaching, it appears that things have changed.  There has been a lot of talk in the mainstream media about how such a resolution is now “on the table”, and members of Congress were so alarmed that 388 of them sent a letter to Obama urging him not to do this.  The following comes from the Wall Street Journal…

    Several hundred Democratic and Republican lawmakers are urging the White House not to back any resolution at the United Nations that sets parameters for Israeli-Palestinian talks, a move President Barack Obama has been considering.

    In a letter to Mr. Obama, 388 members of the House, including Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California, said U.S. support for a U.N. Security Council resolution would “dangerously hinder” the prospects of resuming direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

    “We are deeply troubled by reports that one-sided initiatives may arise at the U.N. in the coming months concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the letter says.

As you can see, even Nancy Pelosi is opposing Obama on this.

But will that stop him?

Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, top rabbis over in Israel are convinced that the arrival of the Messiah is imminent.  Two extremely prominent figures in the Jewish faith recently got together for a very important conversation, and this made headlines all over the world…

    Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch,Vice-President of the Rabbinical Court and the Head of the Edah HaChareidis in Jerusalem, paid a rare visit to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky at his home in Bnei Barak. They are two of the most prominent Torah figures alive today. Conversations between such great men have enormous significance and the Hebrew-language website Kikar Shabbat recorded the dialogue between these two great rabbis.

Much of their conversation centered on expectations regarding the coming of the Messiah.  As you can see, they clearly believe that it could happen at literally any time…

    Rabbi Kanievsky said that troubles were to be expected. “It is the days before Messiah,” he explained.

    Rabbi Sternbuch agreed. “In the End of Days, those who fear God will despair and their hands will loosen from fighting God’s war against the sinners, and there will be no one to rely upon except God,” he said, adding, “We have to bring the Messiah.”

    Rabbi Kanievsky answered that the Messiah should be arriving in the very near future. He quoted the Talmud (Megillah 17b) again, saying, “In the year after shmittah the Son of David will come.”

The year after the Shemitah on the Jewish calendar ends this October, so until then messianic expectations will be running high in Israel.

But at the same time, a geopolitical drama is playing out on the world stage which may eventually result in a great war coming to the land.  If the UN Security Council does decide to pass a resolution permanently dividing the land, that is going to cause tensions in the region to go through the roof.

In the Bible, we are told that Israel will be playing a central role in the events of the last days, and this is definitely shaping up to be the case.  In a recent episode of our television show, my wife and I discussed this extensively.  Even though the land of Israel is only about the size of New Jersey, and even though only a tiny fraction of the global population lives there, the attention of the rest of the planet is constantly focused on it.

Unfortunately for the United States, the Obama administration has chosen a path that is radically anti-Israel, and that is going to end up having very serious implications for all of us.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/un-rejects-israels-claim-to-the-golan-heights-as-top-rabbis-watch-for-the-messiahs-imminent-arrival


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 28, 2016, 09:40:25 am
Just to clarify, Donald Trump is NOT the Antichrist (nor am I trying to imply this) - however, go to the 18:45 mark of this video - what he said was pretty eyepopping, and reminded me of certain key end time scripture passages. (Daniel 9:27 and Joel 3:1-2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm0-tVUzCMI


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on April 30, 2016, 04:45:47 pm
REPORT: Germany Rethinking its ‘Unconditional Support’ for Israel

The Jerusalem Post reports:

Germany is beginning to re-examine its longstanding policy of near-automatic support for Israel in light of what it perceives as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s disinclination to move toward a two-state solution to the Palestine question.

According to a report in the prestigious magazine Der Spiegel, diplomatic officials in Berlin are taking a hard look at a decades-long policy of “unconditional support” for Israel in light of continued settlement expansion in the West Bank.

The reassessment has been triggered by the realization among officials in Berlin that as long as Netanyahu is in power, Israel has no intention of creating a Palestinian state in the West Bank, thus ushering in an era of “apartheid” – according to Der Spiegel.

Read the full story.

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2016/04/30/report-germany-rethinking-unconditional-support-israel/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 09, 2016, 07:26:48 pm
Netanyahu on Temple Mount Resolution: UN Needs a History Lesson

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited all U.N. personnel in Israel to a seminar on Jewish history. The invitation followed a recent resolution by the U.N. agency UNESCO that omits any connection of the Jewish people to the Temple Mount.

The U.N. special envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov declined Netanyahu's invitation, but the prime minister's spokesman, David Keyes, said the seminar would go on.

"Absolutely! We're going to hold it and we hope that a lot of diplomats come and we may even live stream it, in fact, to show folks at home," Keyes CBN News.

The UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem called Israel the "occupying power" and condemned its alleged aggression against Muslim worshippers. The document cites the al-Aksa Mosque and the Haram al Sharif, but it makes no mention of the Temple Mount or the 4,000-year-old history of Jewish people in Jerusalem.

"The Temple Mount isn't just any site," Keyes explained. "It's the single most holiest site to the Jewish people and has been for thousands of years. So denying the link the Jewish people and the Temple Mount is tantamount to saying you don't belong here." 

The UNESCO resolution referred to the Western Wall as the al-Buraq Plaza and criticized Israeli archaeological digs in the area. It also blamed Israel for last fall's violence on the Temple Mount but failed to mention the actions of the Muslim rioters.

Keyes says the seminar is meant to correct the record.

"The prime minister wanted to expose the truth about the Temple Mount – perhaps a refresher course about the Jewish people and their connection to this land and the Temple Mount – because it spans back thousands of years," he said. 

Keyes said the resolution makes peace more difficult.

"The fact that a U.N. body is denying that link between the Jewish people and the Temple Mount actually makes peace harder because peace is based on respect and understanding and this shows neither respect for history or understanding of the Jewish people," he said. 

More than 40 nations voted for the resolution on Jerusalem. The U.S. voted against it.

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2016/may/netanyahu-on-temple-mount-resolution-un-needs-a-history-lesson


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 02, 2016, 10:44:10 pm
This is HUGE!!!!

http://endtimeheadlines.org/2016/06/israel-ready-to-sign-peace-treaty-with-neighbors-and-palestine/
6/2/16
Israel Ready to Sign Peace Treaty With Neighbors and Palestine

Israel is ready to sign the peace treaty with its neighboring countries, including Palestine and Saudi Arabia, Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Zvi Heifetz said Wednesday. “We signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. We are ready to sign peace treaties with all our neighbors, including the closest [neighbor] to us — Palestine. We have no reasons to avoid signing the international treaty with Saudi Arabia and other states. We would be glad for that,” Heifetz told the Rossiya-24 television channel.

Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. Israel has been building settlements on the occupied territories despite objection from the United Nations.

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160601/1040626159/israel-palestine-peace.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 06, 2016, 12:24:41 pm
US accuses Israel of ‘systematically' seizing Palestinian land

 The United States on Tuesday issued an unusually harsh statement against settlement activity in which it accused Israel of “systematically seizing Palestinian land” in the West Bank.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby further charged that such seizures plus “settlement expansions and legalization of outposts is fundamentally undermining the prospects for a two-state solution.”

He spoke to reporters in Washington from a prepared text in response to a query about Israel’s decision earlier this week to advance plans for 560 new homes in the West Bank settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim. It addition, there were reports that it had authorized 240 new homes in the Jewish east Jerusalem neighborhoods of Har Homa and Ramot.

The announcements of settlement activity were made in the wake of two terror attacks that claimed the lives of Hallel Yaffa Ariel, 13, and Rabbi Michael “Miki” Mark, 47.

Ariel holds duel Israeli-US citizenship as does Mark’s wife Chava and his two children, all of whom were injured when Palestinian gunmen fired at their vehicle.

Israel has traditionally linked settlement building or the advancement of plans with terror attacks, out of a belief that it is the best response to such violence.

One reporter asked Kirby if he felt this was an appropriate linkage.

“There is no justification for terrorism,” said Kirby. However, he added, “that doesn’t change our opposition to settlement activity.”

Right wing Israeli politicians have criticized Netanyahu for the move, noting that the new activity, was not that significant. Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel called on the government to authorize thousands of new units in West Bank settlements.

But in spite of the limited scope of Israel’s settlement announcement, the US went well beyond its boiler plate response.

It also criticized Israel for the Jewish population growth over the pre-1967 lines, both in east Jerusalem and in Area C of the West Bank, known to settlers as Judea and Samaria.

“Moreover, approximately 100 settlement outposts in Area C have been built without formal Israeli Government approval, making them illegal even under Israeli law. Again, as the Quartet report makes clear, these actions risk entrenching a one-state reality and raise serious questions about Israel’s long-term intentions,” Kirby said.

The United Nations and the European Union also condemned the new settlement activity. But it was a standard response that was not nearly as harsh as the US statement.

Late last week the Middle East Quartet called on Israel to cease settlement construction and expansion in a report that it issued.

But the issue of settlement activity was only one, of many issues, raised by the Quartet in its report. The Palestinian Authority is disappointed with the document which it had hoped would blame the frozen peace process on settlement construction. Publication of the report was delayed by almost a month. It is presumed that Quartet — Russia, the US, the EU and the UN — spent the extra time toning down the document under pressure from the US.

The London-based Arabic language daily newspaper al-Hayat reported Tuesday that the PA decided to halt its cooperation with the Quartet on the Middle East following the report.

PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah’s office said, however, that the relationship with the Quartet had not been severed.

“The Palestinian Leadership expressed its dissatisfaction with the recent Quartet Report. The Report offers an imbalanced assessment of the realities on the ground, and equates between the victim and the colonizer, while giving Israeli settlers a pass. As far as "cutting ties"---no official statement or decision has been made as of now,” said Hamdallah’s Director of Communications, Jamal Dajani.

In Washington Kirby said, in response to the al-Hayat report, that all his office had seen was “a PLO statement that takes issue with some aspects of the Quartet report, and that’s our understanding, is that this is more a statement of their concerns and objections to the report itself.”

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/US-accuses-Israel-of-systematically-seizing-Palestinian-land-459618


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 09, 2016, 12:00:46 pm
U.S. Anger At Israel Could Result In A UN Security Council Resolution Establishing A Palestinian State

The Obama administration is absolutely furious with Israel. At the end of July, the U.S. State Department issued a scathing press statement in which it publicly rebuked the government for Israel for “settlement activity” in East Jerusalem which the Obama administration considers to be “corrosive to the cause of peace”. There has always been tension between the Netanyahu government and the Obama administration, but I don’t know if we have ever seen the State Department use such strong language to condemn Israeli activity. Unfortunately, the rapid deterioration of the relationship between the United States and Israel could have some very serious implications for the entire region in the months ahead. As you will see below, Newsweek is reporting that France is ready to make a renewed push for a UN Security Council resolution that would formally establish a Palestinian state, and this time around the Obama administration may be ready to go along with such a resolution.

The core issue that is causing so much contention between the United States and Israel right now is the expansion of housing in areas of East Jerusalem where Jewish people already live. The Netanyahu government doesn’t see anything wrong with this, but the Obama administration wants those areas of East Jerusalem to be handed over to the Palestinians as part of any peace deal. So the fact that more Jewish homes could be built on land that the Obama administration believes will soon belong to the Palestinians is making them very angry. The following is the entire press statement on this matter that was published on the official State Department website. I have bolded certain areas for emphasis…

    We are deeply concerned by reports today that the Government of Israel has published tenders for 323 units in East Jerusalem settlements. This follows Monday’s announcement of plans for 770 units in the settlement of Gilo.

    We strongly oppose settlement activity, which is corrosive to the cause of peace. These steps by Israeli authorities are the latest examples of what appears to be a steady acceleration of settlement activity that is systematically undermining the prospects for a two- state solution.

    In just the past few weeks, we have seen reports of the advancement of plans for 531 units in Ma’ale Adumim, 19 in Har Homa, 120 in Ramot, and 30 in Pisgat Ze’ev; the advancement of a plan to retroactively legalize an outpost near Ramallah; and the issuance of tenders for 42 units in Kiryat Arba.

    We are also concerned about recent increased demolitions of Palestinian structures in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which reportedly have left dozens of Palestinians homeless, including children.‎ More than 650 Palestinian structures have been demolished this year, with more Palestinian structures demolished in the West Bank and East Jerusalem thus far than in all of 2015.

    As the recent Quartet Report highlighted, this is part of an ongoing process of land seizures, settlement expansion, legalizations of outposts, and denial of Palestinian development that risk entrenching a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict. We remain troubled that Israel continues this pattern of provocative and counterproductive action, which raises serious questions about Israel’s ultimate commitment to a peaceful, negotiated settlement with the Palestinians.

But in Israel, they see things very differently. Thousands of Jewish people already lives in these areas, and the Netanyahu government has already stated that it has absolutely no intention of dividing the city of Jerusalem as part of any peace deal. Israeli authorities were quite alarmed by this recent State Department press statement, and the Jerusalem Post went so far as to accuse the State Department of essentially siding with Palestinian terrorists…

    But above all, in fixating on settlements, the State Department is deliberately turning a blind eye to the mortal danger of Islamic terrorism and the hatred of Jews that permeates Palestinian society. In so doing, the department is in fact giving a green light to the Palestinian leadership, media and administrative bodies that openly incite, encourage and support terrorism, violence and boycotts against Israel.

    By the same token, the State Department is giving sanction to the EU and its constituent member states, as well as to the UN and its specialized agencies to exacerbate their hostile policies against Israel. By their logic, if the US State Department takes such a slanted and hostile position, they can now exacerbate their own hostility toward Israel.

    Something appears to be very, very wrong within the State Department.

Neither side is going to back down, and in the weeks ahead this may be the impetus that causes the Obama administration to finally do something that it has long considered doing. About this time last year, the French were ready to go ahead with a UN Security Council resolution that would have divided the land of Israel and set the parameters for a Palestinian state, but the Obama administration wouldn’t go along with it so the French backed down.

But now the French are ready to move forward again, and Newsweek is reporting that we may see something happen before the next U.S. president is sworn in…

    The recent U.S. condemnation is anything but overstated; it is an indication of mounting global concern over the imminent extinction of the two state solution. In the next six months, until January 20, 2017, the window for saving it remains open, albeit narrowly.

    In a courageous attempt to sustain the fumes of hope for the two state paradigm, the French government is driving an initiative to convene an international conference in 2016—a tent for organizing consensus toward a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to revive peace talks. If the conference can achieve the support of nine out of 15 Security Council members for its suggested draft-resolution, with the U.S. agreeing not to exercise its veto, the two state solution will be able to cling to its ninth life.

Barack Obama knows that he only has a few months left to make his mark in the Middle East, and a few months ago the Wall Street Journal reported that for the very first time the Obama administration was publicly admitting that a UN Security Council resolution that would divide the land of Israel was on the table…

    The White House is working on plans for reviving long-stalled Middle East negotiations before President Barack Obama leaves office, including a possible United Nations Security Council resolution that would outline steps toward a deal between the Israelis and Palestinians, according to senior U.S. officials.

At this point, we don’t know if this will or will not happen by the time Obama leaves office.

But we do know that the French want this resolution to happen, and the only member of the Security Council that would be in a position to block it would be the United States.

So what will Obama do?

Only time will tell, but we will find out soon one way or the other, because Obama’s time in the White House is rapidly drawing to a close.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/u-s-anger-at-israel-could-result-in-a-un-security-council-resolution-establishing-a-palestinian-state


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 12, 2016, 10:40:11 pm
In NJ, Students Prepare to Confront Virulent Campus BDS Movement
8/12/16
https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/08/12/in-nj-students-prepare-to-confront-virulent-campus-bds-movement/

A concerned group of pro-Israel activists crowded into the social hall of Beth El Synagogue in East Windsor, New Jersey, Thursday night. The evening's topic was learning how to prepare college students in their families to combat the boycott/divestment/sanctions (BDS) movement growing on college campuses across the country.

BDS presents itself as a peaceful protest against Israeli settlements in the West Bank through economic sanctions on products produced in what Palestinian activists call “the occupied territories.” It isn't. The co-founder of the BDS movement, Columbia University Professor Omar Barghouti, has spoken openly about eliminating the entire State of Israel from the map.

Natan Sharansky, executive chairman of the Jewish Agency and human rights activist, has tagged the BDS movement as both anti-Israel and anti-Semitic for its use of what he calls the “three Ds”: delegitimization, demonization, and double standards.

In a program co-sponsored by the Beth El Israel Affairs Committee and the Princeton chapter of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, participants viewed two short films produced by non-profit Israel advocacy group Jerusalem U: Crossing the Line 2: The New Face of Anti-Semitism on Campus, and The Plight of the Palestinian Refugees.

Guests were then invited to query and comment during a student panel discussion led by Hillel Zaremba, the director of community relations & new media at Consulate General of Israel in Philadelphia.

Crossing the Line 2 details the experiences of a number of pro-Israel student activists on campuses including NYU and Brigham Young University, where the rise of the BDS movement resulted in violent protests, walkouts, and various forms of student harassment. Two Ohio University students, Rebecca Sebo and Gabriel Sirkin, feature prominently in the film. Their role as pro-Israel advocates on campus landed them in jail thanks to a pro-BDS student body president.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 25, 2016, 04:46:54 pm
PUTIN UNDERCUTS OBAMA: RUSSIA TO HOST MIDDLE EAST PEACE TALKS
Putin promotes national sovereignty over globalism

Russian president Vladmir Putin is asserting himself as the next broker for Middle East peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, a sign of his continued ambition to supplant the U.S. – and Obama – as the major power broker in the region.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that Putin would be willing to host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for talks at the Kremlin, reported Egyptian media.

“The Russian president has informed me that he has invited Palestinian President [Abbas] and Prime Minister Netanyahu for a meeting in Moscow,” al-Sisi said. “Egypt supports these efforts and both sides are urged to participate and respond positively to the initiative for the sake of finding light at the end of the tunnel for Palestinians and establishing their state alongside Israel.”

Egypt’s role in the process would be “that which convinces the sides that if peace will be attained light will shine on the entire region,” according to al-Sisi.

He added that Fatah and Hamas, the opposing Palestinian political parties, needed to make amends and end their civil war in order for the peace talks to be successful.

In July, Palestinian leaders presented several preconditions for participating in a trilateral Israeli-Egyptian-Palestinian peace summit in Cairo, including a freeze on Israeli settlement construction.

Abbas also demanded that Israel accept negotiations based on the pre-1967 boundary lines and pledge ahead of time to implement any agreements reached in the talks.

Putin originally suggested a Moscow peace conference in 2005, but the U.S., in hopes to contain Russia’s diplomatic influence, opposed it.

But after a decade under Obama’s tired lead-from-behind strategy coupled with ISIS’s regional destabilization, conditions in the Middle East have continued to give Putin the leverage he needs step in and show Russia’s influence as a regional power player.

http://www.infowars.com/putin-undercuts-obama-russia-to-host-middle-east-peace-talks/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 08, 2016, 09:56:02 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/israeli-ambassador-un-danny-danon-says-hatred-jews-highest-levels-lifetime/
9/8/16
Israeli Ambassador To UN Danny Danon Says That Hatred Of Jews At ‘Highest Levels Of Our Lifetime’

“Over 1/3 of European Jews are afraid to wear a yarmulke or Star of David in public,” Danny Danon said. “More than half of French Jews have considered emigrating because they don’t feel safe living as Jews in France. Today we hear things about Jews and the Jewish people that we thought belonged to the pages of history. … Anti-Semitism is returning to everyday life without shame.”


TEL AVIV – Jew hatred and demonization of Israel are at “the highest level of our lifetimes,” Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said at a high-level forum on anti-Semitism held on Wednesday at the UN’s headquarters in New York.

“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Whenever I meet someone for the first time who tells me that they are a Christian, I will invariably ask them how they feel about the Jews and Israel. If they tell me that they love and pray for them, as the Bible instructs us to, then their testimony of salvation in Jesus Christ – the King of the Jews – will carry more weight with me. If they have derogatory things to say about Israel, I make a mental note to have no company with them. Phony Christian anti-semites like Steven Anderson, Texe Marrs and others are a blight on Christianity.

“Over 1/3 of European Jews are afraid to wear a yarmulke or Star of David in public,” Danny Danon said. “More than half of French Jews have considered emigrating because they don’t feel safe living as Jews in France. Today we hear things about Jews and the Jewish people that we thought belonged to the pages of history. … Anti-Semitism is returning to everyday life without shame.”
Anti-Semite Steven Anderson brands all the still-living Holocaust survivors as “paid liars” who are simply lying when they talk about their experiences in Hitler’s death camps:

Steven Anderson wants you to know that Hitler’s Holocaust didn’t really happen, and that the current residents of the restored land of Israel are not really Jews but a “Satanic counterfeit” placed there by the Rothschilds family of Europe.

Danon also said that social media presents a “new kind of threat” in that anti-Semitism goes global very quickly.

“We are living in a new era and we face a new kind of anti-Semitism,” Danon said. “Using the tools of online social networks to demonize the Jewish people and the Jewish state, this is Anti-Semitism 2.0.”

“The enemies of the Jewish people are using the tools of modern technology to target and harass Jews around the world,” he said, adding that the modern world makes life easier for anti-Semites since “all you need is a wireless connection, a Facebook account, and a deep hatred for the Jewish people.”
“It is more effective than The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” he added.

He said that attacks against Jews online lead directly to attacks against Jews on the street.

“We know from history that during times of crisis, people look for scapegoats,” Danon said. “And time and time again that scapegoat has been the Jewish people. So we have to be proactive, we have to speak out and we have to educate our young people about the dangers of online anti-Semitism. And we also have to be honest. Talking is not enough. We need immediate and concrete action. … Media companies have to take preventative steps.”
Danon slammed some UN member states for expressing openly anti-Semitic sentiments.

“There is a place where some are not ashamed to spread lies and slander about Israel and the Jewish people and you are sitting in it right now, here at the UN,” Danon said.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power also spoke at the forum, asserting that “anti-Semitism poses a threat not only to Jews, but to the principles of pluralism, diversity, and the fundamental freedoms that we hold most dear.”

Power went on to list a series of anti-Semitic attacks that have taken place all around the world this year and said that, in the U.S., Jews and Jewish institutions continue to be the biggest target of religiously motivated hate crimes, according to a recent FBI report.

The American diplomat added that “we must be careful not to label or conflate legitimate criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic.”

“Such unfounded accusations may chill speech, unfairly marginalize those with distinct points of view, and, paradoxically, distract from the much needed efforts to combat such hatred,” she said.

“At the same time, governments and civil society groups – including those that may be critical of Israel’s policies – have a responsibility to swiftly and unequivocally condemn instances in which such criticism crosses over into attacks on the Jewish people, or if it tries to hold all Jews responsible for the policies of the State of Israel.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the forum via video broadcast, calling anti-Semitism “one of the world’s oldest, most pervasive and deadliest forms of hatred.”

“Despite the lessons of history and the horror of the Holocaust, Jews continue to be targeted for murder and abuse solely because they are Jews,” he added.

The day-long forum included addresses from President of the General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft; Canada’s Ambassador to the UN Marc-André Blanchard; the EU’s Ambassador João Vale de Almeida; as well as renowned Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt and representatives of the Anti-Defamation League. source


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 14, 2016, 06:43:50 pm
Palestinian Authority Races To Get A UN Security Council Resolution Before Obama Leaves Office

A little more than four months from now Barack Obama’s time in the White House is scheduled to end, and the Palestinians know that their best chance of getting a UN Security Council resolution addressing their conflict with Israel is rapidly slipping away. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are both greatly wooing the Jewish vote, and they both are making very strong pro-Israel statements these days. To many of you it probably isn’t a surprise that the Palestinians are not exactly thrilled with the prospect of a Trump presidency, but the truth is that they are very leery of Clinton as well. If you doubt this, just check out this Al-Jazeera article. At this point the Palestinians are pretty much convinced that any action at the UN Security Council must happen while Barack Obama still holds the reigns of power, and so they are in a race against time.

At a minimum, the Palestinians would like a UN Security Council resolution condemning any new Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank. And that is precisely what they are pushing very hard for right now…

The Palestinian Authority intends to accelerate its attempt to pass a United Nations Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, according to WAFA, the Palestinian News and Information Agency.

“The Palestinian leadership and in cooperation with the Arab League and the Arab ministerial group will hold contacts at the international level to speed up convening a Security Council session that should pass a resolution to stop settlements, which pose unprecedented and serious threat and creates a situation that would result in grave consequences,” said Nabil Abu Rude, who is a spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

Needless to say, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is steadfastly against such a resolution, and he is alarmed by statements made by Palestinian leaders that seem to indicate that they want to remove every single Jewish person from territories under their control…

The Israeli leader also addressed the longstanding Palestinian Authority demand for a Jew-free Palestinian state; a requirement famously expressed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas when he exclaimed, “In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli — civilian or soldier — on our lands.”

“I think what makes peace impossible is intolerance of others. Societies that respect all people are the ones that pursue peace. Societies that demand ethnic cleansing don’t pursue peace,” Netanyahu stated in the video.

If we see a UN Security Council resolution on Israeli settlement in the West Bank that would be significant, but there is another possibility that would be absolutely earth-shattering if Barack Obama chose to go that direction. Up until now, the U.S. government has always used their UN Security Council veto power to block any resolution that would formally establish the parameters for a Palestinian state and grant them East Jerusalem as the capital of that state. But earlier this year the Obama administration signaled that such a resolution was now on the table, and at this point Obama has just four months left to make a decision one way or the other.

If Obama decides to pull the trigger, such a resolution would be legally binding on the Israelis and the Palestinians, and neither Trump nor Clinton would be able to go back and change it once it is done…

This leaves only one option that isn’t seen as unrealistic, unpalatable, or insignificant: to set down the guidelines or “parameters” of a peace agreement—on the four core issues of borders, security, refugees, and Jerusalem—in a US-supported UN Security Council resolution. Once passed, with US support, these Security Council-endorsed parameters would become international law, binding, in theory, on all future presidents and peace brokers.

Top US officials see a parameters resolution as Obama’s only chance at a lasting, positive legacy, one that history might even one day show to have been more important to peace than the achievements of his predecessors.

Back in March, 388 members of Congress from both parties (including Nancy Pelosi) sent Barack Obama a letter urging him not to support such a resolution. So there is a considerable amount of political pressure on him not to do this.

But at this point he is a lame duck with nothing to lose. He always said that a Palestinian state was high on his list of priorities, and this is his final chance to do something about it.

If we do see a UN Security Council resolution, it is likely that it will upset both the Israelis and the Palestinians…

Any resolution the US supports will contain clauses that are difficult for each side to accept. The most troublesome issues for Israel are that the borders will be based on the pre-1967 lines and that the Palestinian capital will be in Jerusalem. The most onerous clauses for the Palestinians relate to recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, the absence of a timeline for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank, and a resolution of the refugee problem that would rule out anything but symbolic return to Israel.

And instead of promoting peace, it would actually just set the stage for a major war, but Obama doesn’t really understand the dynamics of the Middle East. He just wants to “leave a legacy”, and at this point negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are completely dead.

The only way that Obama is going to get something done before the end of his second term is at the United Nations.

There are five countries that have veto power on the UN Security Council, and the United States is the only one that has been standing in the way of a Palestinian state.

Obama has hinted that next time the U.S. may not use the veto power, and nobody is quite sure precisely what would happen if a resolution was put for a vote during the coming months.

Of course supporting a UN Security Council resolution formally dividing the land of Israel would be the worst move that Obama would make in his entire presidency, and this is something that I detailed on international television last month…

We are going to find out what happens one way or the other very soon, because January 20th, 2017 is just a little bit more than four months away.

Let’s pray that Barack Obama makes the correct decision.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/palestinian-authority-races-to-get-a-un-security-council-resolution-before-obama-leaves-office


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 16, 2016, 06:21:15 pm
A Palestinian State Cometh: UN Secretary-General Calls For Imminent Action To Save The ‘Two State Solution’

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has harshly criticized Israeli settlements in the West Bank and is calling for urgent action to save “the two state solution”. He insists that Israeli settlements in the West Bank “are illegal under international law” and he told reporters that the “occupation” of Palestinian-controlled territories “must end”. These comments represent perhaps the strongest statements that any UN Secretary-General has ever made against Israel, and they come at a very ominous time. As I detailed just a few days ago, there is a major push to try to get some sort of UN Security Council resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before Barack Obama leaves office. As you will see below, this is something that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon obviously endorses.

Those that are hoping for a “two state solution” know that fresh negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians are not likely to happen any time in the near future. So if the “peace process” is going to move forward, it is going to have to happen at the United Nations.

Ban Ki-moon is among those that are desperate to try to save the “two state solution”, and as the UN begins a new annual session this week he is urging imminent action. The following comes from the official UN website…

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for intensified efforts to encourage Israelis and Palestinians to take the difficult steps required to change the current destructive trajectory of the conflict, which is heading towards a “one-state reality” rather than a peaceful resolution.

“Twenty-three years ago, almost to the day, the first Oslo Accord was signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation,” the Secretary-General told the Security Council in a briefing on the situation in the Middle East.

“Unfortunately, we are further than ever from its goals. The two-state solution is at risk of being replaced by a one-state reality of perpetual violence and occupation,” he warned.

Using the term “occupation” clearly shows which side of the fence Ban Ki-moon is on, and he went on to declare that the “occupation” of the West Bank by Israel “must end”…

Turning to Israel’s settlement activities, Mr. Ban said that in the past two weeks alone, plans were advanced for yet another 463 housing units in four settlements in Area C of the West Bank. Official Israeli data shows that the second quarter of 2016 had the highest number of construction starts in three years.

“The decades-long policy that has settled more than 500,000 Israelis in Palestinian territory is diametrically opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state,” he said.

“Let me be absolutely clear: settlements are illegal under international law. The occupation, stifling and oppressive, must end,” he said.

Those that have followed Ban Ki-moon’s career know that he is a relatively soft-spoken guy.

To make these kinds of incendiary comments is basically his version of shouting from the rooftops. He appears to be obsessed with getting something done to formally establish a Palestinian state, and he knows that he realistically only has until January 20th, 2017 to accomplish his goal.

As I mentioned above, a new UN annual session begins this week, and many are concerned that a UN Security Council resolution that sets the parameters for a Palestinian state will be on the agenda. The following is from a Wall Street Journal article that was published just a couple of days ago…

The United Nations began its annual session this week, and Israel will be prominent on the agenda. Many fear the Security Council may consider a resolution setting definite territorial parameters, and a deadline, for the creation of a Palestinian state. President Obama has hinted that in the final months of his term, he may reverse the traditional U.S. policy of vetoing such resolutions. The General Assembly, meanwhile, is likely to act as the chorus in this drama, reciting its yearly litany of resolutions criticizing Israel.

If such a UN Security Council resolution gets passed, it will be far more important than the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November. Recently I had the opportunity to explain why this is the case on one of the biggest Christian television shows in America…

Unfortunately, when I do articles like this they tend to get a less attention than many of my other articles typically do.

The truth is that most Americans simply don’t understand the importance of what is going on in the Middle East.

In fact, one recent survey discovered that less than a third of all U.S. Millennials can find Israel on a map of the world…

Less than one-third of US-educated millennials are able to identify Israel on a map, a new survey has found.

According to the joint study — titled “What College-Aged Students Know About the World: A Survey on Global Literacy” — conducted by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and National Geographic, a mere 31 percent of respondents knew the location of Israel on a map of the Middle East.

Can you believe that?

How can our young people go to school year after year after year and not be able to point to Israel on a world map?

That is inexcusable, and it is yet another example of how our system of education has become a complete and utter disgrace.

And I was shocked to learn that UC Berkeley was actually going to have a college course about how to remove Jewish “colonialists” from “the land of Palestine”. The following comes from the Jerusalem Post…

This week I learned that beginning this year, the prestigious UC Berkeley will be offering a course on “settler colonialism” in Israel, meaning Jews as colonialists.* “Drawing upon literature on decolonization, [the course] will explore the possibilities of a decolonized Palestine.” In other words, let’s talk about how to eradicate Israel altogether. But not only the course facilitator will explore these possibilities, students will be required to “research, formulate, and present decolonial alternatives to the current situation.”

After criticism from the Jewish community, that course was canceled by UC Berkeley, but it still shows how anti-Semitism is on the rise in America.

All over the country, the tiny nation of Israel provokes extremely strong emotional reactions. Most people either really love the Jewish people or they really hate them.

And as the drama in the Middle East continues to unfold, support for Israel is going to become a major, major political issue in this nation.

But the very next thing that we are watching for is a UN Security Council resolution formally establishing a Palestinian state and granting them East Jerusalem as their capital.

Now that a new UN annual session has started, we are officially in the danger zone, and we will remain in the danger zone until the next president is inaugurated on January 20th, 2017.

Let us hope that nothing happens between now and then, because such a resolution would be one of the worst things that Barack Obama could possibly do.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/a-palestinian-state-cometh-un-secretary-general-calls-for-imminent-action-to-save-the-two-state-solution


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 16, 2016, 06:27:32 pm
Two-state solution to Israel-Palestine conflict at risk of giving way to ‘one-state reality,’ warns Ban

15 September 2016 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for intensified efforts to encourage Israelis and Palestinians to take the difficult steps required to change the current destructive trajectory of the conflict, which is heading towards a “one-state reality” rather than a peaceful resolution.

“Twenty-three years ago, almost to the day, the first Oslo Accord was signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation,” the Secretary-General told the Security Council in a briefing on the situation in the Middle East.

“Unfortunately, we are further than ever from its goals. The two-state solution is at risk of being replaced by a one-state reality of perpetual violence and occupation,” he warned.

Despite warnings by the international community and the wider region, leaders on both sides have failed to take the difficult steps needed for peace, the UN chief said.

Just yesterday, militants in the Gaza Strip fired yet another rocket into Israel, and in response, Israel fired four missiles at targets in Gaza. “Such attacks, and the response they elicit, do not serve the cause of peace,” he warned.

Turning to Israel’s settlement activities, Mr. Ban said that in the past two weeks alone, plans were advanced for yet another 463 housing units in four settlements in Area C of the West Bank. Official Israeli data shows that the second quarter of 2016 had the highest number of construction starts in three years.

“The decades-long policy that has settled more than 500,000 Israelis in Palestinian territory is diametrically opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state,” he said.

“Let me be absolutely clear: settlements are illegal under international law. The occupation, stifling and oppressive, must end,” he said.

The international community, including the Security Council and the diplomatic quartet on the Middle East peace process – comprising the UN, Russia, the United States and the European Union – universally views settlement expansion as an obstacle to peace, Mr. Ban said.

Regrettably, both sides have made remarks that only perpetuate an environment of mistrust, the Secretary-General said, citing a recent statement by Israel’s Prime Minister portraying those who oppose settlement expansion as supporters of ethnic cleansing, as well as Palestinian parties’ praise of despicable acts, such as the 1972 terrorist attack against Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.

On the first local Palestinian elections in over 10 years encompassing both the West Bank and Gaza, Mr. Ban said he is particularly concerned by last week’s decision of the Palestinian High Court to suspend all preparations while deliberations continue on a petition to cancel elections.

The elections, if held in line with international standards, could provide an important renewal of Palestinian democracy and a first step towards advancing national unity, he stressed.

International stakeholders must continue to work towards a negotiated end to the occupation, now entering its 50th year, and the establishment of a viable, democratic Palestine which lives in peace with Israel – “each respecting the other’s historic and religious connections to this holy land,” he said.

Turning to Gaza, he noted that there has been progress in rebuilding the enclave in the two years since the ceasefire in the 2014 conflict. But 65,000 people remain displaced, he said, underscoring the need for more assistance to rebuild nearly 5,000 destroyed houses.

Apart from reconstruction, Gaza’s humanitarian needs “run deep.” More than 1.3 million of its 1.9 million people need assistance, explained the UN chief, and he encouraged Member States to provide in a predictable manner financial support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East UNRWA.

Looking at the broader situation, Gaza remains under closures and is a “ticking time bomb.” Indeed, lasting progress in Gaza can only be realized on the basis of Palestinian unity, an end to the illicit arms build-up and militant activities, and a full lifting of movement and access restrictions.

On the situation in the Golan Heights, Mr. Ban said he remains concerned by the continued breaches of the ceasefire line, and by fighting in the areas of separation and limitation. These developments undermine the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, and jeopardize the ceasefire between Israel and Syria.

In particular, recent fire from the Syrian Arab Armed Forces impacted the Israeli-occupied Golan. On both occasions, Israeli Defense Forces had responded with an airstrike. “I call on Israel and Syria to abide by the terms of the Disengagement Agreement and exercise maximum restraint,” Mr. Ban said.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54925#.V9x_Xvnx671


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 16, 2016, 06:29:25 pm
UN's Ban: Netanyahu ethnic cleansing remarks 'outrageous'

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has criticised Israel's prime minister for saying Palestinians want the "ethnic cleansing" of Jews in the West Bank.

Benjamin Netanyahu's use of the term in a video attacking opponents of Jewish settlement construction on occupied territory was "outrageous", he said.

Mr Ban stressed that settlements were illegal under international law.

He also said he was appalled by the continued "glorification of terror" by Palestinian parties.

They were choosing to "praise despicable acts", such as the massacre of Israeli athletes by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Olympics, the UN chief noted.

Mr Ban also denounced rocket and mortar attacks on Israel by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, the most recent of which saw Israel launch missiles at targets in the territory in response overnight.

Last Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a video in English on his Facebook page in which he criticised people who described settlements as an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.

"I've always been perplexed by this notion," he said.

"Because no-one would seriously claim that the nearly two million Arabs living inside Israel - that they're an obstacle to peace. That's because they aren't. On the contrary.

"Israel's diversity shows its openness and readiness for peace. Yet the Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one pre-condition: No Jews. There's a phrase for that: it's called ethnic cleansing."

About 570,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Mr Netanyahu called the demand that they leave "outrageous".

Speaking before the UN Security Council on Thursday, Mr Ban criticised the remarks and insisted Israel's settlement policy was "diametrically opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state".

"I am disturbed by a recent statement by Israel's prime minister portraying those who oppose settlement expansion as supporters of ethnic cleansing," he said. "This is unacceptable and outrageous.

"Let me be absolutely clear: settlements are illegal under international law. The occupation, stifling and oppressive, must end."

Israel rejects the assertion that the settlements are illegal, and over the past two weeks has advanced plans for another 463 housing units at four locations.

On Sunday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas responded to Mr Netanyahu's video by accusing Israel's government of itself "carrying out ethnic cleansing and deliberately killing - acts that have exposed it to international criticism all over the world".

"We are not isolated, like the Israeli government is trying to present us. The government of Israel is actually the isolated one on the international stage because it isn't interested in continuing on the path of peace, continues the settlement industry and damages the holy sites," he added.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37376069


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 01, 2016, 04:56:20 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/obama-changes-location-jerusalem-crosses-out-israel/
Obama Crosses Out The Word ‘Israel’ Next To ‘Jerusalem’ On Official White House Press Release

The administration initially sent out a copy of President Barack Obama’s remarks at former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres’ funeral in Jerusalem, indicating that the remarks had been given in Jerusalem, Israel. But later Friday afternoon, the press office sent out a correction to the previous email, striking out “Israel” from the header of the transcript.

9/30/16

The White House forgot its own anti-semitic policy on Jerusalem Friday — at least temporarily.

“Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.” Psalm 135:21 (KJV)

EDITOR”S NOTE: As Obama gleefully crossed out “Israel” as it stood on a White House press release next to the word ‘Jerusalem’, it is interesting to note that when Donald Trump met with Benjamin Netanyahu last week, he promised that the United States would finally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. To Obama, Jerusalem is Palestinian territory, which is why he says ISIL and never ISIS.

The administration initially sent out a copy of President Barack Obama’s remarks at former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres’ funeral in Jerusalem, indicating that the remarks had been given in Jerusalem, Israel. But later Friday afternoon, the press office sent out a correction to the previous email, striking out “Israel” from the header of the transcript.

(https://nteb-mudflowermedia.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/obama-simon-peres-funeral-changes-location-of-jerusalem-israel.jpg)

Obama delivered the eulogy at Israeli national cemetery Mount Herzl.

U.S. policy has long refrained from recognizing any nation’s sovereignty over Jerusalem. Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital, with Israel declaring in 1980 the city was its undivided capital. A 2015 Supreme Court decision reaffirmed U.S. practice that forbids Americans born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their country of birth on passports.

Obama calls for Israel to ‘end occupation of Palestinian land’:

Today Obama was in Israel giving the eulogy at Shimon Peres’ funeral, but just a week ago he stood in front of the UN General Assembly and called Israel ‘occupiers’ who needed to ‘stop occupying Palestinian land’.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 10, 2016, 06:14:25 pm
The New York Times Calls For Obama To Support A UN Resolution That Would Divide The Land Of Israel

While most Americans are focused on the endless circus surrounding Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, a drama of earth-shattering importance is playing out behind the scenes. Most people seem to assume that we don’t have to be concerned about Barack Obama anymore because his second term is scheduled to end in a few months, but the truth is that an absolutely critical decision is in his hands right now. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have said that they will not support a proposed UN Security Council resolution that would formally establish a Palestinian state, that would set the parameters for the new state, and that would grant them East Jerusalem as their capital. So at this moment there is a tremendous amount of international pressure on Barack Obama to support such a resolution, because the U.S. veto power on the UN Security Council is the only thing standing in the way of formally dividing the land of Israel. I wrote about this in August, in September, and now I am writing about it again in October. If Obama is going to do this, it needs to happen by January 20th, 2017, and so for the next few months we are officially in “the danger zone”.

On Thursday, the New York Times editorial board added their voice to the growing chorus of those calling for a “parameters resolution” in a piece entitled “At the Boiling Point With Israel“…

The best idea under discussion now would be to have the United Nations Security Council, in an official resolution, lay down guidelines for a peace agreement covering such issues as Israel’s security, the future of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees and borders for both states.

In the article, the New York Times editorial board also strongly endorsed the U.S. State Department’s recent condemnation of Israel’s plan to build new housing units in the West Bank.

I have included the official State Department statement on this matter below. Just like Barack Obama did at the UN recently, the State Department referred to Israel’s presence in the West Bank as an “occupation”…

We strongly condemn the Israeli government’s recent decision to advance a plan that would create a significant new settlement deep in the West Bank.

Proceeding with this new settlement, which could include up to 300 units, would further damage the prospects for a two state solution. The retroactive authorization of nearby illegal outposts, or redrawing of local settlement boundaries, does not change the fact that this approval contradicts previous public statements by the Government of Israel that it had no intention of creating new settlements. And this settlement’s location deep in the West Bank, far closer to Jordan than Israel, would link a string of outposts that effectively divide the West Bank and make the possibility of a viable Palestinian state more remote.

It is deeply troubling, in the wake of Israel and the U.S. concluding an unprecedented agreement on military assistance designed to further strengthen Israel’s security, that Israel would take a decision so contrary to its long term security interest in a peaceful resolution of its conflict with the Palestinians. Furthermore, it is disheartening that while Israel and the world mourned the passing of President Shimon Peres, and leaders from the U.S. and other nations prepared to honor one of the great champions of peace, plans were advanced that would seriously undermine the prospects for the two state solution that he so passionately supported.

Israelis must ultimately decide between expanding settlements and preserving the possibility of a peaceful two state solution. Since the recent Quartet report called on both sides to take affirmative steps to reverse current trends and advance the two state solution on the ground, we have unfortunately seen just the opposite. Proceeding with this new settlement is another step towards cementing a one-state reality of perpetual occupation that is fundamentally inconsistent with Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state. Such moves will only draw condemnation from the international community, distance Israel from many of its partners, and further call into question Israel’s commitment to achieving a negotiated peace.

As you can see on the official State Department website, that press release was issued on October 5th.

At the exact same time, Hurricane Matthew was rapidly gaining strength, and it ultimately became the first category 5 hurricane to form in the Atlantic since 2007. It proceeded to slam into the southeastern United States, causing billions of dollars of damage in the process. The following comes from Wikipedia…

Preparations began in earnest across the southeastern United States as Matthew approached, with several states declaring a state of emergency for either entire states or coastal counties; widespread evacuations were ordered for extensive areas of the coast. On October 6, U.S. President Barack Obama declared a federal state of emergency for Florida.[1] The federal disaster declaration was later extended to include Georgia and South Carolina.[2] In Florida, over 1 million lost power as the storm passed to the east, with 478,000 losing power in Georgia and South Carolina.

When will we learn?

For decades the pattern has always been the same. Every time we come against Israel, the consequences are immediate and they are dramatic.

Unfortunately, our leaders never seem to learn, and now we stand on the precipice of perhaps the biggest betrayal of Israel of all time. Here is more from the New York Times about why they believe it is important to put “pressure” on Israel in the form of a UN Security Council resolution…

The most plausible pressure would come from Mr. Obama’s leading the Security Council to put its authority behind a resolution to support a two-state solution and offer the outlines of what that could be. That may seem like a bureaucratic response unlikely to change anything, but it is the kind of political pressure Mr. Netanyahu abhors and has been working assiduously to prevent.

No, such a resolution would not just be “a bureaucratic response”.

A UN Security Council resolution would be legally binding on both Israel and the Palestinians, and whoever is elected in November would not be able to go back and undo it.

Such a resolution would permanently divide the land of Israel, it would give formal UN recognition to a Palestinian state for the very first time, and it would hand East Jerusalem over to the Palestinians.

And according to the Times of Israel, the UN Security Council could begin discussing these matters as soon as next Friday…

The Security Council is expected to hold a session next Friday under the official banner: “The settlements as the obstacle to peace and a two-state solution.”

The meeting, initiated by the Palestinians, is considered the opening salvo to a resolution condemning Israel for settlement activity.

This process could result in just a resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity, but there is also a tremendous amount of concern that Obama could use this as an opportunity to “leave a legacy” in the Middle East. Here is more from the Times of Israel…

Israeli government members have been worried that Obama, before leaving office in January but after a successor is chosen in November, may seek to impose or advance a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or at least set out parameters for how it should be solved, including through the Security Council by not using the US veto for any anti-Israel resolutions.

According to a Channel 2 report Thursday, an Israeli official charged that the “disproportionate criticism” from Washington over the latest construction plans was “an alibi” to cover plans by Obama to take anti-Israel actions in the final weeks of his presidency.

If this happens, it will be the worst thing that Barack Obama has done during his entire time in the White House.

Whether it is Barack Obama or someone else, the truth is that someday the U.S. government will have a major role in dividing the land of Israel, and it is one of the most important prophetic markers that we are watching for.

Because once the land of Israel gets divided, all hell is going to break loose in America.

I have discussed the potential consequences for dividing the land of Israel on television, and in my new book I warn about all of the historic disasters that are coming to this nation.

If we get to January 20th and another president takes over and there has been no UN Security Council resolution, perhaps we can breathe a little bit of a sigh of relief.

But if Barack Obama does what the New York Times and so many others are urging him to do, the consequences for this country and for the world will be absolutely unimaginable.

So while you are keeping up with the latest insults that Trump and Clinton are hurling at one another, don’t forget about Obama, because what he decides to do regarding Israel in the months ahead is going to have dramatic implications for all of us.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-new-york-times-calls-for-obama-to-support-a-un-resolution-that-would-divide-the-land-of-israel


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 12, 2016, 05:47:13 pm
Report: Obama Administration 'Manufacturing Crisis' With Israel

With its eyes on the potential launch of an Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative after next month's presidential election, the Obama administration is "manufacturing a crisis" over settlement construction, to exert diplomatic pressure on the Jewish state, The Weekly Standard reported on Sunday, citing sources in Congress and the American Jewish community.

Last week, the administration raised many eyebrows with its unusually strident criticism of Israel's settlement policies following the approval of dozens of new homes in the West Bank.

One congressional source told The Weekly Standard that the administration had been "waiting for an opening" to hit hard against Israel, and an official with an American-Jewish organization was quoted as saying the administration "wants to be able to say the Israelis forced them to act."

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=719#dxdyI4xrwoRYqtE9.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 14, 2016, 01:18:35 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NimyutARdZU


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 24, 2016, 07:53:06 pm
Bill would forbid Israelis from speaking at UN

Coalition chairman to promote a bill that would forbid Israelis from appearing before international bodies with operational powers.

Hezki Baruch, 23/10/16 05:47

MK David Bitan

MK David Bitan

Miriam Alster/Flash 90

Coalition chairman MK David Bitan (Likud) is planning to promote a new bill that would forbid Israelis from appearing before international bodies with operational powers, such as the UN Security Council, Channel 2 News reported on Saturday.

The proposal comes following the appearance by B'Tselem executive director Hagai El-Ad at a UN Security Council meeting on Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, in which he spoke against Israeli “occupation” in Judea and Samaria.

On Friday, Bitan told Channel 2 that he was looking into the legal possibility of revoking El-ad's citizenship due to his defaming of Israel before the UN Security Council.

According to Saturday's report, Bitan discovered that legally it would not be possible to revoke El-ad's citizenship, and he therefore decided on a new course of action in the form of promoting legislation against anti-Israel speeches like the one given by El-ad.

Bitan's original plan was met with criticism from both the left and the right. Meretz chairwoman MK Zehava Galon said, "Maybe instead of revoking the citizenship of political opponents, MK Bitan, you could simply distribute to organization blacklists of people whom they should not employ?"

"These calls are dangerous. In a democratic country, citizenship is a basic right. It is not a gift granted to those who are favorable in the eyes of the chairman of the coalition,” she added.

The idea was also criticized by MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home).

"We will not revoke Hagai El-ad's citizenship! He did indeed cross a democratic red line, but there is no reason to revoke his citizenship. Balance is the key here," Smotrich said Saturday night.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/219274


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on October 28, 2016, 05:47:52 pm
12 Shocking Proofs That Disaster Strikes America When It Mistreats Israel


For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. Obadiah 1:15

1. The Madrid Peace Conference

1991 31 October

President George H. Bush promoted the Madrid Peace Conference, where he attempted to divide the land of Israel in exchange for “peace” with the Palestinians.

1991 31 October – The Next Day – The Perfect Storm

A very rare huge storm starting in the north Atlantic, moving east to west (wrong direction for storms to move – although in the Bible, the Holy Spirit and history move east to west). This storm was so unusual and contrary to “mother nature” it was immortalized by the book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and later a popular movie. Amazon says of the book  The Perfect Storm, “Meteorologists called the storm that hit North America’s eastern seaboard in October 1991 a “perfect storm” because of the rare combination of factors that created it. For everyone else, it was perfect hell. In The Perfect Storm, author Sebastian Junger conjures for the reader the meteorological conditions that created the “storm of the century” and the impact the storm had on many of the people caught in it.” Coincidence?
when-america-mistreats-israel-it-brings-disaster-judgment

Interestingly, one of the first places The Perfect Storm hit was Kennebunkport, Maine. Waves over 30 foot demolished the home of guess who – President George H. Bush, the instigator of the Oslo Accord.

2. The Madrid Peace Conference Part II

1992 23 August

The Madrid Conference was not successful the first time around, so a year later President Bush tried it again. Evidently, God’s opinion of a “land for peace” deal had not changed in the preceding 12 months, and disaster struck again…on the very same day.

1992 23 August – Same Day – Hurricane Andrew visits Florida

Hurricane Andrew smashes and crashes into Florida. Andrew causes over $30 billion in damage while destroying over 180,000 homes. At that time, Andrew was the worst natural disaster ever to hit America.

3. The Oslo Peace Accord

1993 13 September

President George H. Bush promoted and proudly signed the infamous Oslo Accord. The Oslo Accord was labeled a “Land for Peace” accord that demanded Israel award their land to the Palestinian murderers and terrorists in exchange for peace. The perverse Oslo proposition was simple: give us your land and we’ll stop killing you.

1993 31 October – The Next Day – Hurricane Emily On the very day that the Oslo Peace Accord was agreed upon, Hurricane Emily slammed into the Outer Banks with winds up to 115 miles per hour.

4. Talks To Give Up Golan Heights

1994 16 January

President Bill Clinton meets with terrorist and Israel hater Syria’s President Hafez el-Assad in Geneva. They talk about a peace agreement with Israel that includes Israel giving up the Golan Heights.

1994 17 January – less than 24 hours – 6.9 Earthquake rocks California

In less than 24 hours, a powerful 6.9 earthquake rocks Southern California. This mysterious quake, centered in Northridge, is the second most destructive natural disaster to hit the United States, behind Hurricane Andrew.

5. Political Disaster: Impeachment

1998 21 January

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Clinton at the White House and is coldly received. Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright refuse to have lunch with him.

1998 21 January – the same day – Monica Lewinsky scandal erupts

After Clinton’s rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, later the very same day, the Monica Lewinsky scandal breaks out, destroying the Clinton presidency and resulting in his impeachment.

6. Land For Peace

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright finishes the final details of an agreement which requires Israel to surrender 13 percent of Yesha (Judah and Samaria). President Bill Clinton meets with Yasser Arafat and Netanyahu at the White House to finalize another Israel “land for peace” hoodwink. Later, Arafat addresses the United Nations and declares an independent Palestinian state by May 1999.

1998 28 September – Same Day – Hurricane George hits Gulf Coast

Hurricane George blasts the Gulf Coast with 110 mph winds and gusts up to 175 mph. The hurricane hit the coast and stalled until the agreement was finalized and Arafat addressed the UN. Then it hit and caused $1 billion in damage. At the exact time that Arafat departs the U.S., the storm begins to dissipate.

7. Land For Peace

1998 15 October

Arafat and Netanyahu meet at the Wye River Plantation in Maryland. The talks are scheduled to last five days with the focus on Israel giving up 13 percent of Yesha. The talks are extended and conclude on October 23.

1998 17 October – Two days later – Tornadoes hit Texas

On October 17, heavy storms and tornadoes hit southern Texas. The San Antonio area is deluged with rain. The rain and flooding in Texas continue until October 22 and then subside. The floods ravage 25 percent of Texas and leave over one billion dollars in damage. On October 21, Clinton declares this section of Texas a major disaster area.

8. Negotiations To Give Away Jerusalem

1998 30 November

Arafat arrives in Washington again to meet with President Clinton to raise money for a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital. A total of 42 other nations were represented in Washington. All the nations agreed to give Arafat $3 billion in aid. Clinton promised $400 million, and the European nations $1.7 billion.

1998 30 November – Same Day – Financial Disaster

The Dow Jones average drops 216 points, and on December 1, the European Market had its third worst day in history. Hundreds of billions of market capitalization were wiped out in the U.S. and Europe.

9. Land For Peace

1998 12 December

President Clinton arrives in the Palestinian-controlled section of Israel to discuss another “land for peace” fiasco.

1998 12 December – Same Day – Clinton impeached

The U.S. House of Representatives vote four articles of impeachment against President Clinton.

10. Negotiations To Give Away Jerusalem

1999 3 May

Yasser Arafat schedules a press conference to announce a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital.

1999 3 May – Same Day – Powerful Storms in Oklahoma and Kansas

The most powerful tornado storm system ever to hit the United States whips through Oklahoma and Kansas. The winds are clocked at 316 mph, the fastest wind speed ever recorded. Arafat postpones his announcement to December 1999 at the request of buddy President Clinton. In his letter to Arafat, Clinton praises and encourages Arafat for his “aspirations for his own land.”

11. The Roadmap To Peace

2001 8 June

President George W. Bush sends Secretary Tenet to Jerusalem to promote his “Roadmap to Peace,” the continuation of the failed Oslo Accord.

2001 8 June – Same Day – Tropical Storm Allison hits Texas

Tropical storm Allison hits Texas the home state of President George W. Bush. Allison causes over $7 billion in damage and closes George Bush Airport for two days. Allison continues for five long days. When Tenet leaves Jerusalem, Allison settles down.

Epilogue: America Pressures Israel To Give Up The Gaza Strip

Gush Katif was paradise. And it was destroyed by those who took it over. Israel completed the evacuation of the Gaza Strip and gave it to the Palestinians. The Gaza Strip evacuation came directly from President Bush’s “Roadmap to Peace.” Hurricane Katrina formed on the same, exact day that the last settlers were evacuated

2005 23 August – the Same Day – Tropical Storm Katrina appears

August 23, a small insignificant tropical storm slowly appeared in the Atlantic below the Bahamas named Katrina. From her beginning meteorologists stated the U.S. had nothing to fear. Katrina packed little punch, plus the computer forecasts kept Katrina calmly corralled in the Atlantic. Defying the computer models, Katrina turned south-east, scraped the south tip of Florida and then with the vengeance of a runaway freight train Katrina took an unexpected turn into the warm Gulf Coast. Meteorologists tracking Katrina’s unusual path labeled Katrina one of history’s most bizarre hurricanes.

2005 29 August – Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans

Katrina raced directly toward New Orleans, harnessing deadly strength every moment. Literally recording wind strength “off the scale” On Monday, August 29, the nation watched in horror as deadly Katrina slammed and slaughtered the fragile Gulf Coast. Destructive Katrina left beautiful homes as piles of worthless rubbish. Deadly Katrina tossed bodies like litter along the highway. When Katrina ended her deadly mission America suffered the worst disaster in her storied history. As I saw the thousands of homes destroyed, my mind kept going back to those U.S. ordered bulldozers destroying the Jewish homes in the Gaza Strip. As I saw the thousands and thousands of United States citizens being evacuated from their land, my mind could not keep from remembering the Jewish people crying and literally begging to stay in their land. America found no mercy for the Jewish people.

The God of Israel is neither slumbering nor sleeping, America should remember that.

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=22211

Likud deputy minister: Italy earthquakes retribution for UNESCO vote

Deputy Minister Ayoob Kara attributes two earthquakes in Italy, during which he was on a state visit to the Vatican, to Italy's decision to vote for a UNESCO resolution disregarding Jewish connection to Jerusalem. 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4871416,00.html



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 09, 2016, 11:35:59 pm
UN committees adopt 10 resolutions against Israel in a single day

Echoing UNESCO resolutions last month, several new motions said to ignore Jewish ties to Temple Mount

The committees were also taking up four other resolutions — on Syria, North Korea, Iran and Crimea.

At least two of the resolutions involving Israel reportedly ignored Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, referring to the holy site by its Muslim name, Al Haram Al Sharif — in echoes of two resolutions passed last month by UNESCO.

The 193 member states of the United Nations vote in the committee stage, and then adopt measures in the final stage at the General Assembly plenary in December, UN Watch said in a statement. States’ votes rarely change between the committee and final votes, according to the Geneva-based nongovernmental watchdog organization.

“On the renewal of the mandate of a special committee to investigate ‘Israeli practices,’ one of the 10 resolutions passed, the vote was 86 in favor, 71 abstaining, and 7 opposed, with the US, Canada and Australia joining the Jewish state, backed by Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau,” UN Watch said. “Those abstaining included EU members, as well as several from Africa and Latin America, including Argentina, Mexico and Costa Rica.”

“Today’s farce at the General Assembly underscores a simple fact: The UN’s automatic majority has no interest in truly helping Palestinians, nor in protecting anyone’s human rights,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “The goal of these ritual, one-sided condemnations remains the scapegoating of Israel.

“The UN’s disproportionate assault against the Jewish state undermines the institutional credibility of what is supposed to be an impartial international body. Politicization and selectivity harm its founding mission, eroding the UN Charter promise of equal treatment to all nations large and small,” he said.

Among the resolutions voted on Tuesday were “Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”; “The occupied Syrian Golan,” and “Persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 and subsequent hostilities.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-committees-begin-voting-on-10-resolutions-against-israel-in-a-single-day/




Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 15, 2016, 04:48:54 pm
Palestinian Authority Vows to Make Life Difficult for Trump Over US Embassy Move to Jerusalem

 On Friday the Palestinian Authority vowed to "make life miserable" for President-elect Donald Trump over his pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

"If people attack us by moving the embassy to Jerusalem, which is a violation of Security Council resolutions, it is a violation of resolution 181 of the UN general assembly that was drafted by the U.S., it means they are showing belligerency towards us," Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour said.

During the event, which was sponsored by the anti-Israel Jerusalem Fund Foundation, Mansour added that if Trump follows through with his promise, Palestinians will unleash "all of the weapons that we have in the UN to defend ourselves.

"[And] we have a lot of weapons in the UN."

That's certainly true, Mansour, as aside from the Israeli delegation the UN is wholly anti-Semitic.

"Many candidates gave the same election promise [moving the US embassy to Jerusalem] but didn’t implement it, because what you do when you are campaigning is one thing, but when you have to deal with the legal thing, it is something else," Mansour said.

"If they do that, nobody should blame us for unleashing all of the weapons that we have in the UN to defend ourselves – and we have a lot of weapons in the UN."

The blog United With Israel notes, however, that a U.S. veto at the UN would negate any attempt by pro-Palestinian factions to thwart Trump's efforts:

    A Palestinian response to a decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem could not be effective in a Security Council resolution because the United States would veto it, he continued. However, he could “make their lives miserable every day by precipitating a veto on my admission as a member state. Italy in 1949 received 3 consecutive vetoes on its admission to the UN from the Soviet Union. These are the kind of things that I can do.”

    Mansour said he could “reopen the whole Pandora’s Box” of verdicts in the International Criminal Court of Justice on the matter of the separation barrier or the settlements. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has attempted to achieve Palestinian statehood through U.N. intervention, contrary to Israel’s policy that a peace agreement can be made only through direct negotiations between the parties.

Wonderful -- and we say: bring it on.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/palestinian-authority-vows-make-life-difficult-trump-over-us-embassy-move-jerusalem


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 16, 2016, 04:05:16 pm
State Dept on ‘Illegal Settlements’: Jews Bad, Arabs Good

This will soon change, you know, but for now it was fascinating to watch how State Dept. Press Office Director Elizabeth Trudeau, at a daily press briefing, November 14, 2016, was able to describe the exact same construction issue as against and for peace, depending on the religion of the people involved.

A reporter said: “Yesterday, Israel’s ministerial committee for legislation unanimously approved a law to retroactively legalize the illegal outposts. Do you have any comment on that?”

Trudeau responded: “We’re deeply concerned about the advancement of legislation that would allow for the legalization of illegal Israeli outposts located on private Palestinian land. … If this law were enacted, it could pave the way for the legalization of dozens of illegal outposts deep in the West Bank. … Our policy, as you know, on settlements is clear. We believe they are corrosive to the cause of peace.”

Next question, without an interruption, hardly a break for air:

“Also, a couple of days ago the Israelis made a Palestinian family of 12, or a number of families, demolish their own homes in East Jerusalem. I wonder if you have any comment on that.”

Trudeau: “We’ve spoken before to this practice of demolition. … We believe that any actions like that raise tensions are counterproductive to peace.”

To conclude: building Jewish homes in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem without legal authorization is “corrosive to peace,” while building illegal Arab homes in the same territory is not only a good thing, demolishing them is also corrosive to peace.

Spoken like an honest broker.

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/state-dept-on-illegal-settlements-jews-bad-arabs-good/2016/11/15/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 21, 2016, 08:26:27 pm
John Bolton Warns Obama May Divide the Land of Israel at U.N. Before the Inauguration

Is Barack Obama about to make the most catastrophic decision of his entire presidency?

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton is warning that there is "a lot of speculation" over at U.N. headquarters right now about "resolutions that recognize a Palestinian state or that try and set a boundary for Israel based on the 1967 ceasefire lines."

Of course, this would have to happen before the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20, because Trump has already made it quite clear that he will not support any U.N. resolution of such nature. Knowing that Trump is about to take office, advocates of the "two-state solution" are putting an immense amount of pressure on Obama to support a U.N. Security Council resolution that would permanently divide the land of Israel while he is still in the White House, and at this moment, we do not know what Barack Obama's final decision will be.

Most Americans have no idea that this drama is playing out behind the scenes, but those in the know are very much aware of what is happening. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article titled "Obama's Israel Surprise?" that discussed the possibility of Obama supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution that would permanently divide the land of Israel, and the New York Times editorial board has formally endorsed such a resolution.

The rest of the U.N. Security Council is ready to agree to such a resolution, and at this point, the only obstacle is getting Barack Obama's approval. That is why it was so exceedingly alarming to wake up on Sunday morning and read former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton's very chilling warning about what could soon happen at the U.N. The following comes from an article on the website of The Hill:

    Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton warned Sunday that President Obama should not take any actions before leaving office that could hurt Israel at the U.N.

    Bolton said during an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis that there is "a lot of speculation over in Turtle Bay at U.N. headquarters about resolutions that recognize a Palestinian state or that try and set a boundary for Israel based on the 1967 ceasefire lines."

    "I think that'd be very inadvisable for the president to do that," he said.

John Bolton is still very tied in to the international community, and Donald Trump is reportedly actively considering asking him to serve as secretary of state.

Needless to say, I would take what he is saying very seriously.

So what would this potential U.N. Security Council resolution look like?

It would likely accomplish three historic things.

1. It would give formal U.N. Security Council recognition to a Palestinian state for the very first time.

2. It would grant East Jerusalem to the Palestinians as the capital of their new state.

3. It would establish the 1967 ceasefire lines as the basis for final negotiations for borders between the two states.

Up until now, the U.S. government's veto power on the U.N. Security Council has always blocked anti-Israel resolutions from passing, but earlier this year, the Obama administration said that such a "parameters resolution" was now "on the table."

And at this point, we still don't know what Obama is going to ultimately decide, but the Trump transition team is so concerned about this they recently warned Obama "against making moves on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his last months in office."

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But no matter how much they object, the truth is that Trump and his team cannot actually do anything to stop Obama.

If Obama decides to betray Israel at the U.N., it is going to happen.

And of course the Israeli government is extremely concerned about what might take place as well. According to the New York Post, the Israelis asked Secretary of State John Kerry if the Obama administration would promise to veto any anti-Israel resolutions at the U.N. for the remainder of Obama's term, and Kerry flatly refused to make such a promise.

    Israel faces a unique window of danger from Nov. 9 to Jan. 20: What might President Obama do in his final days in office to slam the Jewish state?

    Start with Secretary of State John Kerry's recent flat refusal to promise a US veto on any upcoming anti-Israel resolution in the UN Security Council.

    On Saturday, Haaretz reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Kerry he's counting on Washington to stick to its policy of nixing anti-Israel resolutions. Kerry's reply: The administration has yet to make a decision on the matter.

Perhaps equally as alarming is what Obama told the Palestinians. In October, Obama reportedly told them to wait until after the election for any action at the U.N. Security Council.

    On the surface, the latest message to the Palestinian Authority from the Obama administration is no different from the past two decades of American policy: the U.S. will veto any resolution attacking Israel or demanding Palestinian independence without them first making peace with the Jewish state. But, as Haaretz reported, there was one significant caveat to the warning. They were told not to push for any such resolution until after the presidential election next month.

So why would it be so catastrophic if Obama decides to support a U.N. Security Council resolution that permanently divides the land of Israel?

John Kilpatrick, Shane Warren, Bob Jones and many others have warned that when we divide the land of Israel, our land will be divided too.

Whether it is Barack Obama, Donald Trump or some other president that does it, someday this will happen.

And when this happens, the floodgates will open and judgment after judgment will hit this nation. I have warned about many of these events in my latest book, and I hope to write much more about what is coming in the months ahead.

So right now we are in "the danger zone" until Jan. 20, 2017.

If we can get to Jan. 20 and Donald Trump is peacefully inaugurated and the land of Israel has not been divided, perhaps we can all breathe a little bit easier for a while.

But if the land of Israel is divided between now and then, the consequences for this nation are going to be more severe than most people would dare to imagine.

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/61394-john-bolton-warns-obama-may-divide-the-land-of-israel-at-un-before-the-inauguration


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 23, 2016, 02:31:21 am
Other Countries Muffle Mosques, But Israel Cannot?

Quite the controversy is raging over Israel’s proposed legislation aimed at muffling the five daily Muslim calls to prayer from local mosques. In recent decades, the call of the muezzin has been amplified by multiple loudspeakers, resulting in tremendous noise pollution starting at 4:30 AM every morning.

While Jewish residents have been most vocal in complaining about the muezzin loudspeakers, local Muslims have expressed outrage over the bill, which last week gained approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.

Arab Members of Knesset say the bill will limit religious freedom for Muslims in the country, and the Palestinian Authority has threatened to take the matter to the UN Security Council.

But when pressed on the issue, many local Muslims admit that the volume of the muezzin’s call is often excessive.

Nor has similar legislation in Muslim countries ever elicited such opposition.

In Egypt, for example, the use of loudspeakers to amplify the muezzin’s call is restricted. Muslim scholars at Al-Azhar University previously determined that the loudspeakers are a modern invention, and therefore have nothing to do with the Islamic law that mandates calling the faithful to prayer.

The spokesman for the Israel Embassy in London reminded everyone via Twitter that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also has a problem with noise pollution as a result of amplified daily calls to prayer.

The Arabic-language daily The National reported in 2011 that the UAE had limited the volume of mosque loudspeakers following repeated complaints by Muslim residents.

In June 2015, the AFP reported that Indonesia’s vice president had established an investigative committee to look into the problem of noise pollution caused by mosque loudspeakers. As the largest Muslim population country in the world, Indonesia has hundreds of thousands of mosques all blaring their calls to prayer at the same time.

Even in Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam, the government ruled that calls to prayer could only be amplified by a mosque’s indoor loudspeakers, and no longer using the loudspeakers fixed to the top of the minaret. The Arabic-language news portal Arab News reported over a year ago that Saudi imams had been required to remove the loudspeakers atop their minarets.

In Europe, Switzerland decided nine years ago to ban minarets altogether, and in Cologne, Germany approval to build a new mosque was only granted in 2007 after the local Muslim community undertook in write not to use loudspeakers to amplify its calls to prayer.

None of these decisions resulted in international crises.

The fact is that the excessive volume of the muezzin is a nuisance first and foremost to Muslim residents, and that includes in Israel. I personally know many Muslims in the Jerusalem area who can’t stand the daily harassment of the loudspeakers.

But the moment Israel’s government dares to intervene (and in exactly the same way as Muslims governments have in recent years) it is accused of being discriminatory and racist.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/30562/Default.aspx


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 24, 2016, 12:46:24 am
UN sees danger in Israeli settlements, Palestinian split

A UN envoy warned Wednesday that the situation in the Middle East was changing "dangerously" as Israel builds new Jewish settlements and Palestinians remain divided.

Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council that Israel's planned new settlements in east Jerusalem were part of "increasingly worrying" developments and urged Israel to halt the construction.

"The situation on the ground is changing steadily, dangerously, as proponents of Israeli settlement expansion feel emboldened, internal divisions among Palestinians flare up, and the prospect of a future Palestinian state comes under threat like never before," Mladenov said.

He spoke after Israel revived plans to build 500 new homes for Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to make the capital of their future independent state.

The announcement was seen by some as sign that Israel planned to forge ahead with settlements in the wake of the US presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who is expected to be less critical of Israel than Barack Obama.

The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal and has repeatedly called on Israel to halt them, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months.

Mladenov told the council that "inaction has a cost -- a cost measured in human lies and suffering" and took a veiled swipe at Israel by arguing that those who oppose a Palestinian state "offer no viable alternative."

"The alternative is an open-ended occupation, a perpetual conflict which breeds anger among the people of Palestine and Israel, and feeds radicals across the Middle East torn by ethnic and religious strife," he said.

Arab governments are discussing a proposed draft Security Council resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlements, even though a similar measure was vetoed by the United States in 2011.

Security Council diplomats said such a measure could be adopted by the council next month if the United States, in the final weeks of Obama's administration, decides to refrain from using its veto.

Mladenov again called on the Palestinians to unite under a single administration that would end the split between the militant Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Fatah in the West Bank.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/un-sees-danger-israeli-settlements-palestinian-split-175857137.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 29, 2016, 10:33:48 pm
Jimmy Carter: US must recognize a Palestinian state

Jimmy Carter has called on the outgoing Obama administration to take steps toward recognizing a Palestinian state before leaving office in January. The 39th US president made the call in an op-ed published Monday in the New York Times under the title "America Must Recognize Palestine."   

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Jimmy-Carter-US-must-recognize-a-Palestinian-state-473972


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 01, 2016, 03:03:19 pm
Stunning World, UN Passes 6 Resolutions Confirming Everything Is Israel’s Fault

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted six resolutions on “Palestinian and Middle East issues,” ranging from Jerusalem to the United Nations special information program on the question of Palestine. The good news is that Israel still has a smattering of friends at the UN: Canada, Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and the United States (and Israel, of course) voted against; Australia, Cameroon, Honduras, Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, and Vanuatu abstained. The rest, 153 world nations that include places where you plan to spend your vacation this summer or buy your car, condemned Israel as being responsible for most of the ills of the planet, especially the Middle East.

For instance, Haya al-Duraie, representing Kuwait which in 1991 expelled 400,000 Palestinians into the desert, expressed support for international efforts that were laying the foundation for security and stability in the region. “However,” the ambassador warned, “the faltering peace process continues to present a danger to the Middle East.”

There you have it.

The UN press release on the assembly votes, includes a section dealing with the “Situation in the Middle East.” One would expect this section to deal with the 500,000 Syrians who died and millions who were uprooted in the past six years; with the war between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq; with Iran’s nuclear threat and its region-wide terrorism; with Egypt’s paralyzing poverty; perhaps with the discriminatory policies of Saudi Arabia. Alas, one would be wrong. According to the UN General Assembly, there are two main issues threatening stability and peace in the Middle East: Israel’s “occupation” of Jerusalem and Israel’s refusal to hand over the Golan Heights to the Assad Regime.

On Jerusalem, the draft resolution called for “respect for the historic status quo at the holy places of Jerusalem,” and in the spirit of respect referred to the focal area of contention only by its Arabic name, “Haram al-Sharif.” The Assembly reiterated its determination that any actions taken by Israel, “the occupying Power,” to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem “were illegal and therefore null and void and had no validity whatsoever” – note the double invalidation. It also called on Israel to “immediately cease all such illegal and unilateral measures” and stressed that “a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the question of the City of Jerusalem should take into account the legitimate concerns of both the Palestinian and Israeli sides.”

At least they called it “Jerusalem” and not Al Quds. One point for the home team.

In its resolution on the “Syrian Golan” the Assembly, in the middle of a raging war between the murderous Assad regime that slaughters its own citizens and ISIS and Al Qaeda affiliates who murder everyone else, demanded that “Israel withdraw from all the occupied territory to the line of 4 June 1967 and called on all parties concerned to exert the necessary efforts to ensure the resumption of the peace process.” It should be noted that this example of raging idiocy received only 103 votes in favor, to 6 against (Canada, Federated States of Micronesia, Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau, United States), with 56 abstentions.

Pheew…

The Permanent Observer of Palestine – who could become the Palestinian Authority’s UN Envoy, should the Obama Administration pull a fast one (so far so good, though) – said the adoption of the six resolutions by an overwhelming majority of United Nations Member States was “a reflection of the longstanding international consensus in favor of achieving a just, lasting and peaceful solution to the question of Palestine,” and “a clear reaffirmation of the international community’s consensus on the two-State solution.”

He then added that “the despair and hopelessness of the Palestinian people is increasing as the fiftieth year of the illegal Israeli occupation approached.”

See you in fifty years?

The representative of Israel said the resolutions had not only failed to promote dialogue or build trust, they had also created an organizational infrastructure that had abused funding to allow anti-Israel activities to take place under the auspices of the United Nations.

She argued that supporting the resolutions and the inherent bias against Israel would not advance the cause of peace, but instead make peace harder to achieve. The “Special Information Program on the Question of Palestine” offers a misleading narrative of the region and circulates prejudiced materials under the banner of the United Nations, undermining the organization’s integrity and impartiality. It was baffling how the United Nations, which continued to face a severe budgetary deficit, had spent approximately $6.5 million a year on bodies that were dedicated solely to promoting the Palestinian narrative.

Loved the part about the resolutions “undermining the organization’s integrity and impartiality.” Who says Israeli diplomats have no sense of humor?

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/stunning-world-un-passes-6-resolutions-confirming-everything-is-israels-fault/2016/12/01/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 02, 2016, 02:11:54 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/united-nations-votes-resolution-erase-jewish-ties-jerusalem-temple-mount/
United Nations Votes For Resolution That Will Erase All Jewish Ties To Jerusalem And Temple Mount

The Jerusalem resolution, numbered A/71/l.22, addresses the situation in Jerusalem and its holy sites and states that “any actions taken by Israel, the occupying power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever, and calls upon Israel to immediately cease all such illegal and unilateral measures.”

12/2/16

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to support a resolution that used solely Muslim language to describe Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

“And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, 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 the LORD from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2:3 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: The hatred for the Jewish people displayed by the United Nations is absolutely stunning, and their resolution this week is quite reminiscent of language that came out of pre-war Nazi Germany in the early 1930’s. God Himself has ordained Israel and Jerusalem to belong eternally to the Jewish people. Erase all ties of the Jews to Jerusalem? That’s the role that the Antichrist will play during the time of Jacob’s trouble.

Out of the United Nation’s 193 member states, 147 voted in favor, seven voted against and eight abstained. The Jerusalem resolution was one of six resolutions condemning Israel and supporting the Palestinians that the General Assembly approved on Wednesday, as part of its special annual session for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which began on Tuesday.

All the European member states present in the room voted in favor of the resolution – countries such as France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom. The states that opposed the Jerusalem resolution were the United States, Canada, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Naura and Palu.

Those that abstained were Australia, Guatemala, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Vanuatu.

    The Jerusalem resolution, numbered A/71/l.22, addresses the situation in Jerusalem and its holy sites and states that “any actions taken by Israel, the occupying power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever, and calls upon Israel to immediately cease all such illegal and unilateral measures.”

The text calls on Israel to have “respect for the historic status quo at the holy places of Jerusalem” and “urges all sides to work immediately and cooperatively to defuse tensions and halt all provocations, incitement and violence at the holy sites in the city.”

The resolutions were introduced by a group of mostly Arab countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority, but also some Asian countries, such as Indonesia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, as well as a few African countries.
‘Egregious and Sinister.’ UNESCO Says Temple Mount Not Jewish:

Before the UN passed the Jerusalem Resolution mentioned in this article, it’s educational branch UNESCO passed a similar resolution denying a Jewish connection to the Old City and the Temple.

Resolutions A/71/l.18 and A/71/l.19, the first in the series, pledge respectively to support the UN’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in its efforts to end the Israeli “occupation,” and extend member state’s cooperation with and support to the division for Palestinian Rights of the UN Secretariat.

Draft resolution a/71/l.20, also adopted on Wednesday, with 153 votes in favor of it, seven abstentions and seven negative votes, aims to disseminate information on the Palestinian narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as on all the activities of the United Nations system relating to the question of Palestine. The resolution also states the need to organize and promote “fact-finding news missions for journalists to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.”
donald-trump-says-he-will-move-us-embassy-from-tel-aviv-to-jerusalem-israels-capital

DONALD TRUMP WILL BE 70 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AND 7 DAYS OLD ON FIRST FULL DAY IN OFFICE AS PRESIDENT

In resolution A/71/l.21, the General Assembly calls for “a peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine.” It also “calls upon Israel, the occupying power, to comply strictly with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, and to cease all of its measures that are contrary to international law and all unilateral actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

The last draft text adopted by the assembly, resolution A/71/l.8, adopted by a vote of 103 in favor, six abstentions and 56 votes against it, demands that Israel withdraw from all of the Golan to the line of June 4, 1967, and hand it over to Syria.
Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said, “Today’s resolutions are yet another example of the daily bias Israel faces in the UN.

“At the same time that Israel is celebrating the historic decision to reestablish the Jewish state in our homeland, the UN continues to fund organizations and pass resolutions that do nothing to better the lives of the Palestinians.”

The United States voted against all the resolutions. The representative of the US Mission at the General Assembly session spoke out against the “disproportionate number of resolutions condemning Israel.”

He further stated that voting on these resolutions “damages the prospect for peace.”

“All parties to the conflict have responsibility to end the conflict,” he said.

The US representative added that his country is “disappointed” that the General Assembly chooses to single out Israel, which is “counterproductive.”

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed by the United Nations on November 29 each year, the date marking the anniversary of the General Assembly’s 1947 adoption of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. source


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 03, 2016, 06:39:43 pm
UN calls on Israel to leave Golan, Israel prepares fight at UNSC

The UN General Assembly adopted six resolutions on the situation of the Palestinians on Wednesday, including a demand for Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights.

The move comes a day after the new President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thompson, was seen wearing a Palestinian scarf whilst at a UN committee hearing.

The resolution, called UNGA Resolution A/71/L.8, was put forth by over 35 countries, including Bahrain, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Indonesia, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and the Palestinian delegation, amongst others.

The resolution calls for peace talks between Syria and Israel and Lebanon and Israel to be restarted immediately, calls for the Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, and determines that Israel being in the Golan Heights and Israel’s de-facto annexation of the Golan Heights represents a key stumbling block to regional peace.

It was passed in the UN General assembly by a vote of 103 for, 6 against (Canada, Federated States of Micronesia, Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau, and the United States), and 56 abstentions.

The resolution is one of six anti-Israel resolutions passed Wednesday, another being on the status of Jerusalem (A/71/L.22). In it, the UN expressed “its determination that any actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever”.

The representative from Israel said in the assembly following the vote that “it was shameful how some countries had yet to accept the existence of Israel and abused the General Assembly to spread baseless allegations,” and that the resolutions seek to provide a “biased narrative.”

She continued, saying “since 2015, terror attacks against Israelis had claimed the lives of 42 citizens and injured over 600 and yet today’s resolutions made no mention of those victims.”

“Furthermore, the resolutions under discussion did not mention the internationally recognized terror organization Hamas. No one should delude themselves: supporting the resolutions and the inherent bias against Israel would not advance the cause of peace. Rather it would only make peace harder to achieve,” the representative added.

The US delegation meanwhile, said the US was “profoundly troubled by the submission of a disproportionate number of one-sided resolutions that had been designed to condemn Israel.”

The delegate continued, adding that “it (is) manifestly unjust that the United Nations, an institution founded on the idea that all nations should be treated equally, was so often used by Member States to treat Israel unequally.”

Lambasting the UN, the delegate continued, saying “three United Nations bodies in particular reflected the bias and unnecessary costs of such resolutions and wasted limited resources. Costing approximately $6.1 million in 2015, they did nothing to contribute to peace in the region.”

The US however did reiterate that it views the settlements as a stumbling block for peace.

Syria for its part, thanked the member states who voted for the resolution, saying the vote “sent a clear message to Israel that its killing, settlement expansion and forcible annexation of land ran counter to international principles.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry is expecting a tough fight against several anti-Israel resolutions which are due to be voted on at the UN Security Council before US President Obama leaves office.

There are three initiatives which especially worry Israel; initiatives from New Zealand, the Palestinians, and France.

New Zealand

New Zealand, which will be vacating its position on the council soon, wants to put forth a resolution which will require Israel to condemn settlement construction, condemn violence and incitement from both the Israelis and the Palestinians, condemn the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and call for an immediate re-start of negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. A draft resolution is expected to be submitted in the coming days

The Palestinians

The Palestinians are trying to pass a resolution which will term the Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal. Israel is worried that such a decision will prepare the groundwork for sanctions, and be a precursor for an indictment against Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

France

The French resolution calls for an international peace conference, which Israel has already expressed its opposition to. The opposition is premised on the fact that the initiative calls on a time table for discussions, and that should no agreement be reached, France will automatically recognize a Palestinian state.

Israel believes that the US will use its veto power over the French and Palestinian initiatives, yet is unsure as to US action towards the New Zealand initiative. This is because the New Zealand initiative does not seem to be unilaterally condemning one side or the other for incitement and violence.

While Israel is working primarily with the Americans in the Security Council, Israel is also working with other countries as well.

US Secretary of State is expected to discuss the issue at the upcoming Saban Forum.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4887554,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 03, 2016, 06:50:47 pm
Obama, Bennett agree: Keep Netanyahu guessing

The PM has two swords dangling above his head: Bennett’s bill to retroactively legalize settlement outposts, and the possibility Obama might let an anti-Israel resolution go through the UNSC.

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the following sequence of events would be nothing less than a scenario from hell.

On December 25, the first day of Hanukka and the day by which the High Court of Justice ordered that the settlement outpost of Amona must be dismantled, IDF soldiers might very well be called upon to trudge up to that Jewish community in Samaria and forcibly drag away its residents.

Passions will flare, the images will be gut-wrenching, and the country – with flashbacks to the withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 and the first evacuation of Amona in 2006 – will be torn.

And then, a couple of days later and thousands of miles away in the UN Security Council, an anti-settlement resolution calling the settlements illegal and demanding their immediate dismantlement could very well pass, with outgoing US President Barack Obama possibly allowing it to do so by abstaining on the measure, and not using the US veto.

Talk about losing on all fronts.

In such a case, Netanyahu would face considerable domestic political fallout from giving the order to tear down Amona. And this fallout would only be compounded by pictures from the world body not praising him for the move, but rather going further and slamming Israel for all settlements.

For Netanyahu, it would be an excruciating double whammy: Forcibly evicting Jews from their homes, and getting pummeled by the international community at the same time.

And that is only one nightmare scenario for the premier.

Another one goes like this: Legislation calling for the retroactive legalization of Jewish homes built on private Palestinian property in the West Bank – a bill that was temporarily shelved on Wednesday after it ran into coalition difficulties – eventually passes in one form or another.

The Right would celebrate for a few minutes – though the Supreme Court would probably end the celebration a short time later and shoot down the law – and the world, including Washington in the final days of the Obama presidency, would go crazy.

Instead of a single anti-settlement resolution in the UN, a more far-reaching resolution calling for a full Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines, with east Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, may be put forward – with a timetable, to boot. And it is this one – not a more limited anti-settlement resolution – that Obama, seething over the legalization of heretofore illegal outposts, might decide not to veto.

President-elect Donald Trump might oppose such a measure – thinking it would end any chance of him being able to broker what he has called the “ultimate deal” between Israel and the Palestinians – but Trump does not take office until January 20.

Obama, seeing other pieces of his legacy threatened by Trump, and lobbied heavily by some European governments and NGOs to leave a lasting mark on the Mideast, might be so rattled by the outpost legislation that he would take a dramatic step to counter it. And then, by the time Trump does enter office, it will be very difficult for him to undo what was already done at Turtle Bay.

Neither of those scenarios are science fiction.

Either one could conceivably transpire.

BAYIT YEHUDI chairman Naftali Bennett and the Amona residents and supporters could spare Netanyahu at least part of this nightmare by agreeing to the settlers voluntarily leaving the outpost and relocating nearby – and not demand to be repaid at this time with the bill to legalize illegal outposts as a quid pro quo.

This would prevent the issue from coming to a head now, under the Obama Administration and with threats of UN Security Council resolutions looming large. In another few weeks, with a new administration in office that might not be as forcefully opposed to all settlements everywhere, the US reaction might be different.

But Bayit Yehudi sees the current crisis over Amona as an opportunity to act for its constituents. What is at stake is not only the few dozen homes in Amona, but also thousands of others scattered in various outposts that were also built on private Palestinian land. The High Court-mandated December 25 deadline for the evacuation of Amona is an opportunity for it to be seen as not only saving Amona, but the other outposts as well. That has considerable political benefits in the battle for the Likud over rightwing voters.

So why make life easier now for Netanyahu, especially when they can score some political points? In addition, Bayit Yehudi and others to their right have been complaining for some time that Netanyahu has shelved building in Judea and Samaria under the pretense that Obama is holding him back. But now, they argue, the Obama administration is on its way out the door, and Netanyahu has a golden opportunity if not to build, then – at the very least – not to dismantle what has been built.

Were there trust between Netanyahu and Bayit Yehudi, or if the party genuinely believed that Netanyahu was interested in ultimately building beyond the settlement blocs and the security fence, they might cut him a break. But there is no trust, and so Bayit Yehudi is engaged in political brinkmanship.

At a certain point, however, Bennett will have to decide whether it is really in his interest to push Netanyahu over the cliff.

Coalition discipline broke down on Wednesday when the bill to retroactively legalize the outposts was shelved. The lack of coalition discipline that day was uncomfortable for the government, but it was only for one day. Does the Right want to bring down the government over this issue? Does it want to repeat what happened in 1992, when it toppled the Likud-led government of Yitzhak Shamir, only to wake up the next day with the Labor-led government of Yitzhak Rabin? Obviously not. Bayit Yehudi realizes the current government, from its perspective, is probably as good as it gets. To push the envelope now too far – to bring down the government over this bill at a time when a new administration is about to take office in Washington that may have a more sympathetic view of the settlement enterprise – would be self-destructive.

So Bennett will probably pull back from the brink, but not until the last minute. Why let Netanyahu off the hook early? Why not create the impression among the Right – a pool of voters for whom Bayit Yehudi competes with the Likud – that Bayit Yehudi is the true champion of the settlements, and that Netanyahu waffles on the issue and can’t be counted on? Obama, likewise, has no interest in making life easier for the prime minister.

For months administration officials have said that the president and his advisers have not yet decided on what course of action to pursue during the interregnum between the elections on November 8 and the formal end of the Obama presidency on January 20.

The administration has been extremely careful not to reveal its hand regarding what the president would do if a resolution on new parameters came before the Security Council, effectively replacing UN Security Council resolution 242 which for so long has been the baseline for all diplomatic efforts. Likewise, they have avoided answering what he would do if there was a new push for recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN, or an anti-settlement resolution.

The administration could have let on, but it has not, and there is a reason: a feeling that keeping Netanyahu guessing, not letting him know what to expect at the UN, will moderate his actions.

For instance, Netanyahu would perhaps have acted differently – and not lobbied his own security cabinet as he did this week against the outpost bill – had he been guaranteed that the US would veto an anti-Israel resolution at the Security Council.

Israeli uncertainty, from an American point of view, has its benefits. And there is indeed uncertainty, both in Israel and even in Congress, about what Obama might do.

That uncertainty was manifest this week, when Netanyahu said, as he has on numerous occasions: “I expect that in the twilight of President Obama’s tenure he will stand by what he said in 2011, that the way to achieve peace does not run through Security Council resolutions, but rather direct negotiations with the Palestinians, which has been the US position for years.”

At the UN General Assembly in 2011, Obama said of the Mideast conflict: “Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations – if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now.”

Even the US House of Representatives is uncertain where the president is going, as evidenced by the bipartisan resolution adopted this week reaffirming support for direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and opposing anti-Israel resolutions at the Security Council or attempts there to impose a solution on the parties. Had the House known for certain what Obama has planned for his remaining seven weeks in office, such a resolution might have been superfluous.


Obama and Bennett view the Mideast in starkly different terms. The last few days have shown, however, that they do have one thing in common: an interest – albeit for vastly different reasons – in keeping Netanyahu both squirming and guessing

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Obama-Bennett-agree-Keep-Netanyahu-guessing-474227


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 06, 2016, 01:11:16 am
Sec’y Of State John Kerry Threatens That Obama Will Use UN To Divide Israel To Create Palestinian State
by Geoffrey Grider

Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said that the U.S. would not rule out taking steps at the UN to propose a framework for a Palestinian state and condemned Israel’s so-called settlement enterprise as sabotaging the two-state solution.

“I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” Joel 3:2 (KJV)

Addressing the Brookings Institution’s Saban Forum, Kerry warned that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process “is getting worse: things are moving in the wrong direction.”

Contrary to recent reports from U.S. officials that President Barack Obama would not take any last minute measures at the UN, Kerry would not directly confirm that the U.S. would veto any resolution intended to establish a Palestinian state, saying only that the current administration would veto it “if it is a biased, unfair resolution calculated to delegitimize Israel.”

The secretary of state also contradicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s earlier address at the same forum in which he said that peace with the Palestinians would come once Israel secures peace with the Arab world. Instead, Kerry insisted that securing peace with the Palestinians is a precondition for peace with the Arab world.
Secretary of State John Kerry in a Conversation at the 2016 Saban Forum:

John Kerry starts out praising Israel, then predictably slams them calling them “occupiers” of Palestinian land.

“There will be no separate peace between Israel and the Arab world. Let me make that clear to you,” Kerry said. “There will be no advance or separate peace in the Arab world without advancing the Palestinian issue. Everybody needs to understand that. That is a hard reality.”

He also took Netanyahu to task for the prime minister’s claim that the failure to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people is the essential issue, saying that it is the settlements, and not Israel’s identity as a Jewish state, that is to blame for the failure to make peace.

Settlements, Kerry said, “are not the cause of this conflict. But … if you have a whole bunch of people who are strategically locating outposts and settlements in an area so that there will not be a contiguous Palestinian state, they are doing it to be an obstacle to peace.”
He further slammed Netanyahu’s government as having a lack of leadership, citing Education Minister Naftali Bennett’s recent comments that Israel had reached the “end of the two-state solution” as “profoundly disturbing.”

“I cannot accept the notion that [settlements] don’t affect the peace process, that they aren’t a barrier to the ability to create peace,” Kerry contended. “The left in Israel is telling everyone that it is a barrier to peace and the right, which supports it, is openly telling people that they support it because they don’t want peace. They believe in Greater Israel.”

While Israeli politicians on the right have argued that settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem has almost entirely ceased under the Obama administration, Kerry claimed that the settler population had grown by 20,000 since Obama came into office, “narrow[ing] the capacity for peace.”

The secretary of state further noted that “there has simultaneously been a process of demolition of Palestinian homes,” saying that there are currently 11,000 standing demolition orders against Palestinian-constructed buildings in the West Bank.

Kerry also warned that the failure to advance the two-state solution would render Israel’s status as a Jewish and democratic state unsustainable.

“So how does this work?” Kerry asked. “How do you have a one state that is Jewish and democratic and also has provisions in place for Israel’s security?”

“What’s your vision of a unitary state?” he continued. “If Palestinians are a majority, will there be a Palestinian prime minister of Israel? source

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/john-kerry-threatens-obama-will-use-un-force-two-state-solution-israel-palestinian-state/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 09, 2016, 05:59:16 pm
MK Bennett: Amona Bill Paves Way for Annexation of Judea and Samaria

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the Jewish Home party, hailed the preliminary passage of a controversial bill to legalize Israeli settlement outposts as paving the way for Israel’s eventual annexation of Judea and Samaria.

The legislation passed its first legislative test Monday, passing a preliminary Knesset reading in a 60-49 vote. The bill still faces three more readings before it can become law.

The measure has been staunchly opposed by many in Israel, including Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who has said that the bill violates international law. The measure has been also opposed by the U.S., the European Union, and the United Nations. Israeli opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog called the preliminary passage a “dark day for the Knesset.”

But Bennett said, “Today, the Israeli Knesset moved from heading toward establishing a Palestinian state to heading toward sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, and to remove any doubt about it—the outpost regulation bill is the tip of the iceberg in applying sovereignty.”

The bill, which originally was designed to prevent the court-ordered Dec. 25 demolition of the Amona outpost, will not prevent that community from being relocated after a compromise was reached between Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Instead, the bill will recognize other Israeli settlement construction that took place on private Palestinian land—including instances in which settlers were not aware the land was privately owned or received some form of state assistance—in good faith. Additionally, the bill provides compensation for Palestinian landowners.

According to the settlement watchdog group Peace Now, the bill will enable the Israeli government to legalize 55 outposts and build another 4,000 housing units in Judea and Samaria.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/79836/mk-bennett-amona-bill-paves-way-annexation-judea-samaria/#LqKHK1UypuPOf7Ac.97


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 09, 2016, 06:00:10 pm
UN official: Regulation Law violates international law
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights blasts Regulation Law, warns it will have "far-reaching consequences".


The UN human rights chief on Thursday slammed the “Regulation Law”, which passed its first reading in the Knesset on Wednesday, saying it would clearly violate international law.

"I strongly urge lawmakers to reconsider their support for this bill, which if enacted, would have far-reaching consequences and would seriously damage the reputation of Israel around the world," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, according to AFP.

"In enabling the use of land privately-owned by Palestinians for Israeli settlements without the owners' consent, this legislation would violate international law,” he added.

"Israel as the occupying power, must respect the private property of Palestinians, regardless of whether or not compensation is provided," said Al Hussein.

"All Israeli settlements -- whether outposts built without formal approval but often with the support of the Israeli authorities and which are currently illegal under Israeli law, or settlements approved by Israel -- are clearly and unequivocally illegal under international law and constitute one of the main obstacles to peace," he charged.

"They are also the principal cause of a wide range of human rights violations inside the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem."

The bill would allow the Israeli government to recognize construction built with government assistance and in good faith — meaning those outposts whose builders were not aware they were constructing on private land. If the original owners of the land are known, they would be eligible to receive financial compensation from the government.

The legislation, which still needs to pass two more readings at the Knesset in order to become law, has come under fire by the international community.

Earlier on Thursday, the European Union expressed its “strong opposition” to the Regulation Law.

“If it passes, this would be the first law adopted by the Knesset on the status of land in the West Bank, an occupied territory not under its jurisdiction. Senior members of the Israeli government have called this a step toward annexation of the West Bank,” the EU statement read.

“Recalling that settlements are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make the two-state solution impossible, the European Union reiterates its strong opposition, in line with the position of the Middle East Quartet, to Israel’s settlement policy and all actions taken in this context,” it added.

The State Department blasted the law as well earlier this week, warning it “would be profoundly damaging to the prospects for a two-state solution”.

On Monday, shortly after the bill passed its preliminary reading, the UN’s envoy to the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, blasted the legislation, claiming it "has the objective of protecting illegal settlements built on private Palestinian property in the West Bank.”

"It is a very worrying initiative. I encourage Israeli legislators to reconsider such a move that would have far-reaching legal consequences across the occupied West Bank," added the envoy.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/221474

 ::)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 13, 2016, 06:24:50 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3CijyK3B44


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 21, 2016, 04:25:09 pm
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israeli-ambassador-backs-trump-pledge-to-move-us-embassy-to-jerusalem/ar-BBxolB9?OCID=ansmsnnews11
Israeli ambassador backs Trump pledge to move U.S. embassy to Jerusalem

Israel's ambassador to the United States issued an impassioned endorsement on Tuesday of President-elect Donald Trump's promise to relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, a move that would mark a break with longstanding U.S. foreign policy.

Ron Dermer, the Israeli envoy to Washington, made the statement less than a week after Trump announced his decision to nominate as ambassador to Israel David Friedman, a pro-Israel hardliner who supports continued building of Jewish settlements and the shifting of the embassy from Tel Aviv.

Speaking at an Israeli embassy Hanukkah party, Dermer insisted that moving the U.S. diplomatic mission would be a “great step forward to peace,” rather than inflaming the Arab world, as critics of the idea have warned.

Israel and the Palestinians, who are seeking a state of their own, both claim Jerusalem as their capital. Successive U.S. administrations have said the city’s status must be negotiated. If Trump makes good on his campaign promise, it would upend decades of U.S. policy and draw international condemnation. Jerusalem is home to sites sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians.

Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official warned on Friday that moving the embassy to Jerusalem would mean the “destruction of the peace process as a whole.” The last U.S.-backed talks on Palestinian statehood collapsed in 2014.

Dermer, without mentioning Trump or his ambassador-designate by name, said the embassy move “should have happened a long time ago.”

Among the main reasons, he told a crowd that included foreign diplomats and American Jewish community leaders: "It would send a strong message against the de-legitimization of Israel.”

Dermer said he hoped that next year when the new U.S. ambassador lights the traditional Hanukkah candles in his embassy, he will do so in Jerusalem.

Dermer’s comments appeared more forceful than recent remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long vowed to keep Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.

Netanyahu, who has had a fractious relationship with President Barack Obama, has welcomed Trump's election but seems to be waiting to see what policies he implements.

The conservative premier is reported to have been pleased with Trump’s appointment of Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer and close friend of Trump who has no diplomatic experience, and members of his right-wing government have welcomed the choice.

Friedman has served as president of a U.S. group that raised money for one settlement and has advocated that Israel annex the West Bank, as it did with Arab East Jerusalem following its capture in the 1967 Middle East war in a move not recognized internationally.

Liberal Jewish-American activists have sharply opposed Friedman’s appointment and are urging the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate not to confirm his nomination.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 22, 2016, 05:28:24 pm
Egypt scuttles UN vote on Israeli settlement after Trump warning

Egyptian officials scrapped a plan to proceed with a United Nations Security Council vote condemning the construction of Israeli settlements, following pushback from Israeli officials and President-elect Trump.

"Egypt requested the vote's delay to permit them to conduct an additional meeting of the Arab League's foreign ministers to work on the resolution's wording," Haaretz reported, citing Western diplomats. But the vote might be postponed "indefinitely," according to the report.

Israeli settlement construction drew condemnation from the State Department earlier this year, in addition to the rebukes of more customary critics, raising fears in Israel and among congressional Republicans that President Obama might not veto a resolution on the matter in the waning days of his presidency. President-elect Trump stated his opposition to the resolution, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was lobbying Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to drop the resolution.

"The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed," Trump said in a statement. "As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations."

rest: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2610236


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 23, 2016, 03:03:39 pm
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/23/politics/israel-official-rips-obama-un-settlements/index.html?adkey=bn
12/23/16
US abstains as UN demands end to Israeli settlements

By Stephen Collinson, David Wright and Elise Labott, CNN

Washington (CNN)The United States on Friday allowed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction to be adopted, defying extraordinary pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in alliance with President-elect Donald Trump.

The Security Council approved the resolution with 14 votes, with the US abstaining. There was applause in the chamber following the vote, which represented perhaps the final bitter chapter in the years of antagonism between President Barack Obama's administration and Netanyahu's government.

In an intense flurry of diplomacy that unfolded in the two days before the vote, a senior Israeli official had accused the United States of abandoning the Jewish state with its refusal to block the resolution with a veto.

Trump had also inserted himself in the diplomatic drama, in defiance of the convention that the United States has only only one president at a time, by calling on the Obama administration to wield its Security Council veto.

Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, reacted angrily to the vote and issued a sharp parting shot at the Obama administration's role.

"It was to be expected that Israel's greatest ally would act in accordance with the values that we share and that they would have vetoed this disgraceful resolution. I have no doubt that the new US administration and the incoming UN Secretary General will usher in a new era in terms of the UN's relationship with Israel," he said.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 27, 2016, 12:14:57 pm
https://www.yahoo.com/news/israel-says-reducing-ties-nations-over-un-vote-102205471.html?ref=gs
Israel says 'reducing' ties with nations over UN vote
December 27, 2016

Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's foreign ministry said Tuesday the country was "reducing" ties with nations that voted for last week's UN Security Council resolution demanding a halt to settlement building in Palestinian territory.

Refuting reports that ties had been suspended, foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said that Israel was "temporarily reducing" visits and work with embassies.

"Until further notice, we’ll limit our contacts with the embassies here in Israel and refrain from visits of Israeli officials to those states, and of visits of officials from those states here," he told AFP.

Israel has already called back its ambassadors to New Zealand and Senegal for consultations, and cancelled aid programmes with the African state.

On Tuesday, Israel informed Angola it would be freezing its aid programme there, Nahshon said.

Israeli media have reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as foreign minister, has asked officials to visit the countries that voted for the resolution as little as possible for now.

At least two trips have been cancelled or postponed, including this week's visit to Israel by Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and an upcoming visit by the Senegalese foreign minister.

There have also been reports that Netanyahu was calling off a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May at next month's World Economic Forum in Davos, but there has been no official confirmation.

Deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely said Tuesday she was concerned that Israel would miss opportunities to explain its position by cancelling visits, but that she supported making clear "you can't take Israel for granted."

Countries should not be able to "make pilgrimages to Israel to learn about fighting terror, cyber-defence and agricultural technologies, and in the UN do whatever you want," she told army radio.

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have responded with especially harsh language to Friday's Security Council resolution which passed after the United States abstained from voting.

Netanyahu has alleged that US President Barack Obama "colluded" to see the "shameful" resolution through in the waning days of his administration.

By deciding not to veto the move, the United States enabled the adoption of the first UN resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy.

- 'Not turn other cheek' -

The text was passed with support from all remaining members of the 15-member council.

Israel summoned ambassadors of countries that voted for the resolution on Sunday -- Christmas Day -- while Netanyahu also met with US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro.

Security Council members such as Russia, China and Britain are key to Israeli diplomacy or trade and some analysts suggested the measures being taken were more symbolic than substantive.

The United States is Israel's most important ally and provides it with more than $3 billion per year in defence aid.

On Monday, Netanyahu defended his response to the UN vote in the face of criticism that he was overreacting, saying "we do not turn the other cheek".

"Not only will our relations with the nations of the world not be harmed, over time they will only improve because the nations of the world respect strong countries that stand up for themselves and do not respect weak ingratiating countries that bow their heads," he told a conference.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 28, 2016, 11:10:11 am
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/26/politics/john-kerry-middle-east-peace-plan/index.html
12/28/16
Secretary of State John Kerry: Two-state solution in serious jeopardy

(CNN)Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday began to lay out President Barack Obama's administration's vision for Middle East peace, offering a framework for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Kerry defended the United States' decision to abstain -- and not veto -- a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as one aimed at "preserving the two state solution" and argued that a two-state solution is "the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians."

"I am also here to share my conviction that there is still a way forward if the responsible parties are willing to act," Kerry said, opening his speech.
Kerry warned later, "Despite our best efforts over the years, the two-state solution is now in serious jeopardy."

The outgoing secretary of state's speech at the State Department comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Israeli administrations over the UN resolution vote.

Kerry defended the administration's commitment to Israel in his speech.
"No American administration has done more for Israel's security than Barack Obama's," he said. "The Israeli Prime Minister himself has noted our unprecedented military and intelligence cooperation. Our military exercises are more advanced than ever. Our assistance for Iron Dome has saved countless Israeli lives. We have consistently supported Israel's right to defend itself, by itself, including during actions in Gaza that sparked great controversy."

The vision Kerry began to lay out on Wednesday, though, is likely to be short-lasting: In less than a month, Kerry and Obama will leave office and President-elect Donald Trump -- who has vowed to radically reverse the recent downward trend in US-Israel relations -- will take over.

Trump, in his latest breach of presidential transition protocol, weighed in on Twitter Wednesday morning ahead of Kerry's speech to make that much clear.

"We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)!" Trump tweeted. "Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!"

    We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but.......
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016

    not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a quick reply to Trump on Twitter, thanking him for his "warm friendship" and "clear-cut support."

    President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel! 🇮🇱🇺🇸@IvankaTrump @DonaldJTrumpJr https://t.co/lURPimG0wS
    — Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) December 28, 2016

Netanyahu's government has said in recent days Israel will provide detailed, sensitive information to the incoming Trump administration to bolster their claims that the US played a covert role in pushing passage of the UN Security Council resolution on Israel. The Obama administration has denied any such involvement.

Netanyahu's outrage, though, has played out publicly. The Israeli prime minister launched a scathing attack on the Obama adminstration on Sunday and summoned the US ambassador to a face to face meeting.

Israeli official: Proof of US role in UN vote to be given to Trump
The United States abstained on the resolution, allowing it to pass, rather than vetoing it -- as it usually does with resolutions it sees as overly critical of Israel.

Kerry had planned to give the speech last Thursday, when the vote was originally planned. Those plans got scrapped after the proposal's original sponsor, Egypt, forced a delay for a day.

This story has been updated.

CNN's Theodore Schleifer contributed to this report.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 28, 2016, 11:24:45 am
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/28/middleeast/jerusalem-settlements-vote/index.html
12/28/16
Israel backs away from Jerusalem settlement vote

Jerusalem (CNN)Israel stepped back from approving hundreds of new homes in East Jerusalem on Wednesday, ahead of a speech by US Secretary of State John Kerry on the Obama administration's vision for Middle East peace.

The city council in Jerusalem canceled a vote to approve the construction of 492 units -- such as homes, synagogues and other public buildings -- in areas of East Jerusalem annexed by Israel.

Council member Hanan Rubin, a member of the city's zoning committee, said the decision followed a request from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It came days after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution condemning Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and as Kerry prepared to give his speech on Wednesday.

"The municipality regards housing in Jerusalem as a municipal need rather than a political action, and therefore there is no need to vote on this on a sensitive day when John Kerry is to give a speech," Rubin said.

"We don't want to be a part of a political controversy."

The reason behind Netanyahu's call for the city council's vote to be canceled remains unclear, and the vote could still come before the city council's zoning committee in the future.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 08, 2017, 04:39:08 am
John Kerry: Trump Moving U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem Would Cause Mideast ‘Explosion’

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/01/07/john-kerry-trump-moving-u-s-embassy-jerusalem-cause-mideast-explosion/

What a tool. He's already done that


Israel to Cut $6 Million in UN Funding Over Anti-Settlement Resolution

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/01/07/israel-cut-6-million-un-funding-anti-settlement-resolution/

About time,


Abbas warns Trump: Don't move the embassy

too late  :D

Moving the embassy would be crossing a "red line" and could jeopardize peace prospects, warned Abbas, according to AFP. "Any statement or position that disrupts or changes the status of Jerusalem is a red line which we will not accept," he declared in a speech, a transcript of which was published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.   

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/222889




Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 08, 2017, 04:36:56 pm
John Kerry Unveils His Plan For A Palestinian State Based Upon 1967 Borders With East Jerusalem As The Capital

Barack Obama stabbed Israel in the back on Friday, and now John Kerry has slapped Israel in the face just five days later.  In a shameful speech that lasted for 71 dreadful minutes, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry laid out his plan for peace in the Middle East on Wednesday.  His six-part plan is being welcomed warmly by the Palestinians, but it has further infuriated the Israelis.  Kerry claims that his plan reflects the emerging global consensus as to what a “final solution” will look like, and now we will wait to see what the 70 nations that will be gathering in France to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on January 15th will do.  There is a great deal of concern that the principles agreed upon at that conference will form the basis for a UN Security Council resolution that will be rushed to a vote before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20th.

The core of Kerry’s plan is the division of the land of Israel into two states.  The borders between Israel and “Palestine” would be based upon the 1967 ceasefire lines with mutually agreed upon land swaps.  The following comes from ynetnews.com…

    Outgoing US Secretary of State John Kerry laid out the Obama administration’s parameters for peace between Israel and the Palestinians during a speech at the State Department on Wednesday that lasted 71 minutes, one of the longest in US State Department history.

    Breaking sharply from longstanding US policy that foreign powers shouldn’t impose a solution, Kerry unveiled a six-part outline of what a future peace deal could look like. The outline tracked closely with principles long assumed to be part of an eventual deal, and Kerry insisted he was merely describing what’s emerged as points of general agreement.

    Primarily, Kerry called to create a secure and recognized border between Israel and a contiguous Palestine along the 1967 lines, with “mutually agreed, equivalent (land) swaps.”

As part of the land swaps, Kerry insists that the Palestinians must be given land that connects the West Bank and the Gaza strip.  In his speech he stated that “Palestine must be viable and contiguous”, and he made it exceedingly clear that East Jerusalem will be the capital of the new Palestinian state.

Of course UN Security Council Resolution 2334 has already given the entire West Bank and every inch of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.  So the only thing that another UN Security Council resolution would be needed for would be to formally establish a Palestinian state.

Kerry went on to say that if Israel does not accept a two-state solution “it will not have peace with the rest of the Arab world, I can guarantee that.”

Of course Kerry is half-correct in making that statement, because Israel will not have peace with the rest of the Arab world even if a Palestinian state is established.  In fact, the establishment of a Palestinian state would actually make war much more likely.

Kerry also shockingly claimed that “Israel can either be Jewish or democratic”…

    Kerry said a two-state solution, which calls for an independent Palestinian state existing peacefully alongside Israel, is the only way to guarantee the Jewish state’s long-term security in the region.

    “If the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or democratic, it cannot be both,” Kerry said.

Needless to say, Kerry’s speech sparked a tremendous amount of outrage among pro-Israel leaders here in the United States.

    Yes John Kerry, if only this orange sliver was smaller there would be peace. pic.twitter.com/afvRO0O9Kq

    — Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) December 28, 2016

One of the leaders that is condemning Kerry’s remarks is U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.  In a strongly worded statement, he accused Barack Obama and John Kerry of being “relentless enemies of Israel”…

    Ted Cruz, a Republican senator and 2016 presidential candidate, lit into Kerry and Obama in a statement that accused of them being ‘bitter clingers.’

    They’re ‘spending every last minute of this administration wreaking havoc domestically and abroad,’ he said.

    ‘These acts are shameful. They are designed to secure a legacy, and indeed they have: history will record and the world will fully understand Obama and Kerry as relentless enemies of Israel.’

And Donald Trump is speaking out as well.  On Twitter, he let the world know what he thinks about how the Obama administration has been treating Israel…

    “We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect,” Trump tweeted. “The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.!) Stay strong, Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!”

In response, Barack Obama actually got on the phone and called Donald Trump in an attempt to smooth things over.

After eight years of failure, Barack Obama has saved the very worst for last.  With less than 30 days to go in his presidency, he has chosen this moment to betray Israel, and by doing so he has greatly cursed America.

I don’t get upset about a lot these days, but this is something that is worth getting upset about.  If Obama would have just left things alone, everything would have been fine.  But instead of deferring to the next president on important matters, Obama has chosen to implement a “scorched earth policy” during his final month in the White House.

As we move into 2017, our relationship with Israel is going to be one of the biggest political issues that we are facing.

If you are anti-Israel, you are with Barack Obama, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, the United Nations and all the rest of the globalists that are obsessed with dividing the land of Israel.

If you are pro-Israel, you are with Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz and all of the other brave leaders that are fighting the forces of globalism.

All over the world, the forces of anti-Semitism are rising.  Even here in the United States, there are large numbers of people that are virulently anti-Israel.

Ultimately, it is a spiritual thing.  Those that hate Israel and that hate the Jewish people are being inspired by the powers of darkness, and this cancer is spreading even among those that call themselves Bible-believing Christians.

God loves all people – and this includes the Israelis and the Palestinians.  And the ultimate solution to the problems in the Middle East would be to follow God’s blueprint, but unfortunately global leaders have their own ideas, and their anti-Semitic agenda is going to end up getting an enormous amount of people killed.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/john-kerry-unveils-his-plan-for-a-palestinian-state-based-upon-1967-borders-with-east-jerusalem-as-the-capital


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 11, 2017, 06:11:11 pm
The 70 Nations That Will Meet In Paris On January 15th Are Going To Publicly Commit To Dividing The Land Of Israel

A draft of the summary statement that will be released at the conclusion of the 70 nation conference in Paris on Sunday has been leaked. As you will see below, this communique is going to call for the division of the land of Israel, for the establishment of a Palestinian state, for the 1967 borders to serve as the basis for final negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and for the condemnation of any officials that refuse to support a two state solution. Of course this comes on the heels of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which many believe represented America’s greatest betrayal of Israel. Israeli government officials are publicly warning that there is a possibility that the principles agreed upon at this conference may form the basis for another Security Council resolution before January 20th, and this is something that we should all be watching for very closely.

Haaretz exclusively obtained a copy of a draft of the summary statement that will be released following the conference on Sunday, and you can read it for yourself right here. Reportedly, there was a major meeting of diplomats last Friday, and the latest draft reflects feedback that was received from those diplomats during that meeting…

Last Friday, there was a meeting of senior diplomats from the dozens of Western and Arab countries that will attend the conference. The French delegate, Pierre Vimont, presented them with the first draft of the conference’s summary communiqué and asked for comments.

According to Western diplomats, Vimont said France wants to reach a consensus among the participating states on a balanced statement that would stress the centrality of the two-state solution to the international community, but would take this month’s transfer of presidential power in the United States into account.

In many ways, the document very closely tracks the language of UN Security Council Resolution 2334. Here are some of the things that really stood out to me in the draft…

-It makes a clear commitment to “two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security”.

-It insists that there must be an end to “the occupation that began in 1967”.

-It calls on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to publicly renew their commitment to a two state solution.

-It also calls on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to publicly renounce any of their officials that do not support a two state solution.

-It states that the 70 nations gathered in Paris only recognize the June 4th, 1967 borders, and that the only future changes to those borders they will recognize will come as the result of negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And just like UN Security Council Resolution 2334, Jerusalem is specifically mentioned. So according to this document, Israel does not own the Wailing Wall, the Temple Mount, a single inch of the West Bank or a single inch of East Jerusalem.

-The summary statement will also call on all countries to clearly distinguish between the State of Israel and territories that would belong to the Palestinians based upon the 1967 borders in all of their dealings.

Needless to say, this is a horribly anti-Israel document and the Israeli government is already strongly denouncing it.

At this point, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is most alarmed about the possibility that this summary statement could be used as the basis for another UN Security Council resolution just a few days later…

Netanyahu fears that the final communiqué of the Paris conference will be adopted next Monday by the EU foreign ministers’ council and the foreign ministers of the Quartet, and might also be the basis for another resolution at the Security Council, which is scheduled to convene next Tuesday for its monthly debate on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

“We find ourselves only a few days before the Paris conference and, only a few days later, a Security Council debate,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday. “We are making a great effort to prevent another Security Council resolution.”

By organizing this conference and trying to lead the way in the effort to divide the land of Israel, France is in danger of greatly cursing itself.

Recently I was asked why God cares so much about Israel. Well, I think that a very basic illustration can help us to understand this better.

If you want to greatly anger any man, just go after his home and his family. This will be true in just about any culture all across the globe.

Similarly, when the rest of the world attempts to divide the land of Israel and hurt the Jewish people, they are going after the family that Jesus was born into and the city where He will rule and reign for 1000 years after He comes back.

When Jesus was being crucified, Roman soldiers divided up his clothing, and that was a deeply disgraceful thing to do.

But now just before Jesus returns, the entire globe is trying to divide up His land and divide up the one city on the entire planet that He has identified as His city (Matthew 5:35).

Why are our leaders being so foolish? In the Scriptures, God specifically warns us that in the last days He will judge the nations for dividing up His land. This is what Joel chapter 3:1-2 says in the Modern English Version…

In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will enter into judgment with them there regarding My people and My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.

Those that bless Israel will be blessed, and those that curse Israel will be cursed.

And the 70 nations that are gathering in Paris, France on Sunday are literally in danger of cursing the entire planet.

Let us just pray that there will not be another UN Security Council resolution following this conference, because that would be absolutely disastrous for Israel, for the United States, and for the rest of the globe.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-70-nations-that-will-meet-in-paris-on-january-15th-are-going-to-publicly-commit-to-dividing-the-land-of-israel


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 16, 2017, 02:23:28 pm
Pope Francis Authorizes Palestinian Embassy At The Vatican As He Threatens Trump On Jerusalem Move

The developments came as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Pope Francis and inaugurated the Palestinian embassy to the Holy See. Abbas said he had only heard through news reports of the proposal by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to move the embassy to Jerusalem.

The Vatican stressed the sacred nature of Jerusalem on Saturday as the Palestinian leader warned that prospects for peace could suffer if the incoming Trump administration goes ahead with plans to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.” Zechariah 1:14 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Pope Francis said that Jerusalem does not belong to the Jews alone, as the Bible says it does, but must be shared with Israel’s arch-enemy the Palestinians. He also authorized the creation of a Palestinian embassy at the Vatican. That tells you all you need to know about whose side the pope is on. Pope Francis warned Donald Trump against fulfilling his campaign promise to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The developments came as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Pope Francis and inaugurated the Palestinian embassy to the Holy See. Abbas said he had only heard through news reports of the proposal by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to move the embassy to Jerusalem.

The Palestinians strongly oppose the embassy move, saying it would kill any hopes for negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and rile the region by undercutting Muslim and Christian claims to the holy city.

New Palestinian embassy opened in the Vatican:
https://youtu.be/H4yNppcCfxI

“We hope that this news is not true, because it is not encouraging and will disrupt and hinder the peace process,” he said. He urged Trump to open a dialogue with both Israelis and Palestinians.

Trump hasn’t yet laid out a clear Mideast policy, but has signaled he will be more sympathetic to Israel’s hard-line right than previous administrations.

In Paris on Sunday, the French government is hosting a Mideast peace conference attended by dozens of foreign ministers to show Trump’s administration that most of the world wants a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians and is fed up with decades of conflict.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Pope Francis in the Vatican Saturday to inaugurate the opening of the first Palestinian embassy to the Holy See.

The Vatican has long sought an internationally guaranteed status for Jerusalem that safeguards its sacred character. In its communique after the Abbas meeting, the Holy See didn’t refer to Jerusalem by name but said during the talks “emphasis was placed on the importance of safeguarding the sanctity of the holy places for believers of all three of the Abrahamic religions.”

During the meeting, Abbas presented Francis with gifts recalling Christianity’s birthplace in the Holy Land, including a stone from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and documentation about the ongoing restoration of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

After the papal meeting, Abbas formally inaugurated the new Palestinian embassy across the street from one of the main gates of Vatican City. He pulled back a curtain revealing a plaque and extended the Palestinian flag from a flagpole outside a window.

The embassy, located in the same building as the embassies of Peru, Ecuador and Burkina Faso, comes after recent accords in which the Vatican formally recognized the “State of Palestine.“

“This embassy is a place of pride for us and we hope all of the countries of the world will recognize the state of Palestine, because this recognition will bring us closer to the peace process,” he said.

Abbas had initially accepted an invitation to be in Paris on Sunday, but French officials say that visit has been postponed. source

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/pope-francis-authorizes-palestinian-embassy-vatican-threatens-trump-jerusalem-move/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 16, 2017, 08:06:18 pm
Palestinian Official: Paris Summit Participants Tempered Attitude Fearing Trump

“Indeed, the outcome of the summit was overall positive but we expected it to lay out concrete parameters that would translate our resolutions into operative steps, but because the participating governments didn’t want to confront Trump they didn’t go that far,” said Tayseer Nasrallah, a member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council.

“Declaring a Palestinian State in the 1967 borders, a resolution against the settlements, their commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state … all this is fine and well, but sadly we don’t see a mechanism that would usher in the implementation,” he said. “It’s hard to predict what Trump will do. But based on his election pledges, he is unlikely to be committed to (Secretary of State John) Kerry’s parameters and the Paris resolutions. It’s hard to predict his Middle East policy altogether, including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, but if that happens it will definitely give an indication of his ideas regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Nasrallah said that in preparing for the Paris summit “there was excellent coordination between the Palestinian Authority and the Obama administration. There was excellent coordination with France. But again, the question that arises is whether the Trump Administration will allow the community of nations to implement the resolution or not.”

More than 70 nations attended the Paris summit, where they affirmed the international community’s commitment to creating a Palestinian state. Reports in the Israeli news media credited the Jewish state’s diplomats with helping to temper the language of the summit’s final declaration, calling the text a “significant weakening” and “less harsh than was initially expected.”

The Fatah official is not the only one to comment on the incoming Trump administration’s influence over the Paris summit outcome.

The Guardian newspaper on Sunday ran with a story titled, “UK signals closeness to Trump with snub to French Middle East summit.”

The newspaper reported:

The British government has signaled its determination to stay close to Donald Trump’s administration by refusing to send a high-level delegation to the Middle East peace conference organised by the French government.

Neither a Foreign Office minister, nor the UK ambassador to France, will be attending the meeting on Sunday. Most large EU countries have sent their foreign minister, and the British approach may hint at future UK policy choices. The French regard the conference as a vital chance to reaffirm the case for a negotiated two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Trump’s transition team reportedly told French diplomats they disapproved of the conference going ahead, seeing it as an attempt to put unfair pressure on Israel and give an unjustified reward to the Palestinians. The British government likely fears that the conference risks becoming a means to circumscribe future US policy on Israel before the Trump team has decided on it.

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/01/16/exclusive-palestinian-official-paris-summit-participants-tempered-attitude-fearing-trump/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 22, 2017, 04:49:00 pm
Trump to Announce U.S. Embassy Move to Jerusalem Monday

Numerous unconfirmed reports are circulating in the international media that President Donald Trump intends announcing Monday that he will relocate the U.S. embassy to Israel from the coastal city of Tel Aviv to the capital city of Jerusalem.

erusalem has been Israel’s capital city since its founding in 1948, but most countries have deferred moving the embassy there because the original UN partition plan for the British Mandate proposed Jerusalem as a city under international sovereignty.

Jordan, the Palestinians, and all surrounding Arab nations rejected the UN plan, and the Jordanian army took over the eastern half of Jerusalem in 1948, expelling the Jewish inhabitants of the Old City, where Jews had lived for several millennia.

With that part of the UN plan effectively rejected by Jordan and the Arab world, Israel established its capital in western Jerusalem. Though Palestinians, in theory, claim all of Jerusalem for themselves, the part of Jerusalem west of the 1949 armistice line (the “1967 lines,” or the “Green Line”) will unquestionably remain part of Israel in any peace agreement.

The core of the Arab and Muslim rejection of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a rejection of Jewish claims to religious and historical connection to the city itself. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat once turned down an offer of shared sovereignty over the Temple Mount because, as he told then-President Bill Clinton, he saw the Jewish claim to the holy site as fictitious.

In 1995, Congress mandated that the U.S. move the embassy to Israel through the Jerusalem Embassy Act. The law, however, contained a waiver that allowed the president to keep the embassy in Tel Aviv, acknowledging the supremacy of the executive in determining the foreign policy of the U.S. Trump’s pledge on Monday — if it comes to fruition — would decline that waiver.

Opponents of the decision to move the embassy have warned that it would set off violence in the Arab world. But it would also inspire joyful celebrations in Israel and around the world, as the U.S. would likely inspire other countries to follow its example, and would help Israel cement its national vision of “a free nation in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.”

At the inaugural ceremony itself, Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles stressed the themes of Zion and Jerusalem, quoting from Psalm 137:5: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.”

President Trump was scheduled to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayhu by telephone on Sunday afternoon.

Update: The White House has responded to the reports in the foreign press with a statement indicating that no statement on Jerusalem was “imminent,” and that the administration was “at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/22/report-trump-move-u-s-embassy-jerusalem-monday/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 30, 2017, 08:53:38 pm
Dont know how this slipped by but this is huge news!!

Palestinians slam UN chief's remarks on Jewish ties to Temple Mount

 Palestinian officials criticized United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday for saying that a Jewish temple existed atop the Temple Mount.

“[Gueterres] ignored UNESCO’s decision that considered the Al-Aksa Mosque of pure Islamic heritage,” Adnan al-Husseini, Palestinian Authority Jerusalem Affairs minister, told Xinhua, a Chinese news outlet, clarifying that the UN secretary-general “violated all legal, diplomatic and humanitarian customs, overstepped his role as secretary general, and…must issue an apology to the Palestinian people.”

Speaking to Israel Radio on Friday, Guterres reportedly said that it is "completely clear that the Temple that the Romans destroyed in Jerusalem was a Jewish temple."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres‏. Credit: Reuters United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres‏. Credit: Reuters

The new UN chief added that there is "no doubt" that Jerusalem is holy to all three of the major monotheistic religions. He also said, according to Israel Radio, that he had no intention of pushing for a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, though he believes in the two-state solution and would assist in that goal if asked.

Ahmad Majdalani, a Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee member, said that the statements "undermine the trustworthiness of the UN as a body that should support occupied peoples.” (UNESCO resolution on Temple Mount in Jerusalem)

“It appears that the secretary general of the United Nations lacks culture and knowledge in his own specialization,” Majdalani, who also serves as an adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, told Xinhua, calling on the UN secretary-general to clarify his position “that gives a green light to the occupation to undertake more measures against Jerusalem.”

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee approved a resolution in October that made no mention of Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, exclusively referring to the holy site as its is known in Islam, the Al-Aqsa Mosque/ Al-Haram Al-Sharif.

Fayez Abu Eitah, the secretary-general of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, said that Gueterres’s statements are unacceptable politically and morally.

“[The statements] are a direct attack on the Palestinian people’s right in the holy city, biased in favor of the site of occupation, and akin to granting legitimacy to Israel’s illegal presence in Jerusalem,” Abu Eitah told official PA television.

Moreover, the Palestinian representative to UNESCO Mounir Anastas rejected Guterres’s statements, which he argued hold no legal significance, while saying that that the Temple Mount is holy for all three Semitic religions, according to official PA radio.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinians-slam-UN-chiefs-remarks-on-Jewish-ties-to-Temple-Mount-480004


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 30, 2017, 08:54:46 pm
New UN Head, Unlike Ban Ki-Moon, Not Anti-Israel

António Guterres, the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, formerly the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Israel Radio on Sunday that it is clear the Jerusalem temple destroyed by the Romans was Jewish. This only a few months following a shameful statement by UNESCO that ignored any connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem.

Guterres served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He also served as President of Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In 2012, Guterres appointed American actress Angelina Jolie as his Special Envoy to represent UNHCR and himself at the diplomatic level.

Speaking to Israel radio in New York, Secretary-General Guterres said no one today can deny that Jerusalem is sacred to the world’s three monotheistic religions.

The new UN Secretary-General also said he was not planning to initiate a political move between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, even though he does believe in a two-state solution and will help the two sides should they request it. He also stressed that he intends to insist on an equal treatment of all the UN member states.

During the UN General Assembly’s special session in honor of International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust Friday, Guterres said the world has a duty to remember that the Holocaust was a systematic attempt to eliminate the Jewish people and so many others, noting that building a future of dignity and equality for all will honor the victims of this “incomparable tragedy in human history […] who we will never allow to be forgotten.”

Guterres said in video message that it would be a dangerous error to think of the Holocaust as simply the result of the insanity of a group of criminal Nazis.

“On the contrary, the Holocaust was the culmination of millennia of hatred, scapegoating and discrimination targeting the Jews, what we now call anti-Semitism,” he emphasized, adding that tragically and contrary to the international community’s resolve, anti-Semitism continues to thrive.

Moreover, the world is also witnessing a “deeply troubling” rise in extremism, xenophobia, racism and anti-Muslim hatred. “Irrationality and intolerance are back,” said the new UN chief.

Stressing that this is in complete contrast to the universal values enshrined in the UN Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Guterres said: “We can never remain silent or indifferent when human beings are suffering. We must always defend the vulnerable and bring tormentors to justice. And as the theme of this year’s observance highlights, a better future depends on education.”

“After the horrors of the 20th century, there should be no room for intolerance in the 21st. I guarantee you that as Secretary-General of the United Nations, I will be in the frontline of the battle against anti-Semitism and all other forms of hatred,” Guterres said.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/82797/new-un-sec-gen-unlike-ki-moon-believes-temples-jewish/#LmdqQfeBIX3xFdpI.97


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 07, 2017, 06:07:57 pm
Europe punishes Israel

While the United States has refused to condemn passage of the Regulation Law Monday night, Britain and the European Union slammed the legislation on Tuesday, saying that it threatened the pursuit of a two-state solution. Neither referrred to the previous situation on Cyprus, when Greeks were allowed to recompense Turks for building on their land when the island was divided rather than abandon their home, this with the consent of the Hague Court.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/224573


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 08, 2017, 08:38:16 pm
PRAY that this isnt true

This Is Not How You Reverse The Curse: Trump Administration Set To Announce Support For A ‘Two State Solution’

Many had believed that the “two state solution” would be “dead” under a Trump administration, but that is turning out not to be the case at all. According to an Israeli news source, the Trump administration is about to publicly declare support for a “two state solution”, and officials have reportedly been in contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office regarding “ideas to promote the two state solution.” This is extremely alarming, because I have previously written about how those that bless Israel will be blessed and those that curse Israel will be cursed. UN Security Council Resolution 2334 was a major step toward dividing the land of Israel, and when Barack Obama refused to veto that resolution in December he put the United States on the wrong side of that equation. In an article back in January, I listed 10 things that Trump could do to try to reverse the curse that Obama had brought on America, but instead it appears that Trump is also being seduced by the idea that a “two state solution” will bring lasting peace to the Middle East.

According to Ynet News, the decision has already been made. It is going to be the position of the Trump administration that a “two state solution” is needed in the Middle East, and there have already been discussions between Israeli officials and Trump administration officials about how to move the process forward…

    The Trump administration clarified in recent days to the Prime Minister’s bureau that it intended to support the ‘two-state solution’ as the base for negotiations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    The clarifications were part of the preparations currently underway for the first meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump since the latter assumed the American presidency. That meeting is to take place next week in the US capital.

    American officials have been in communication with Jerusalem, and they have sent a series of messages for the prime minister with ideas to promote the two-state solution. This would lay the groundwork for a joint statement from both the heads of government supporting this step.

And to be honest, this shouldn’t exactly be a huge surprise.

Shortly after being elected, Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he wanted to get the Israelis and the Palestinians to agree to “the ultimate deal”, and that he wanted to do so “for humanity’s sake”…

    President elect-Donald Trump wasted no time placing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict high on his foreign policy agenda, telling The Wall Street Journal on Friday that he hopes to end the conflict after taking office in January.

    “That’s the ultimate deal,” said Trump. “As a deal maker, I’d like to do … the deal that can’t be made. And to do it for humanity’s sake. He referred to the conflict as the “war that never ends.”

Of course Trump knew when he made that statement that the Palestinians would never agree to a deal that does not give them their own state.

So the truth is that Trump has been thinking about a Palestinian state for a long time, but now he is going to publicly come out and back one.

All of those pundits on the right and the left that were suggesting that the “two state solution” was now dead were completely wrong. Sadly, Trump is a lot more like his predecessors when it comes to foreign policy than many were anticipating, and so far he is not nearly as pro-Israel as many supporters of Israel were hoping.

In fact, just a few days ago the Trump administration released a statement denouncing any new Israeli settlements or the expansion of any existing settlements in the West Bank. The following comes from the official White House website…

    “While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal. As the President has expressed many times, he hopes to achieve peace throughout the Middle East region.”

And the Trump administration was not happy about a new Israeli law that was just passed that retroactively legalized about 4,000 “settler outposts” in Judea and Samaria. So far Trump is not loudly denouncing this new law, but much of the rest of the world is definitely doing so…

    France called the bill a “new attack on the two-state solution”, while Britain said it “damages Israel’s standing with its international partners”.

    Turkey “strongly condemned” the law and Israel’s “unacceptable” settlement policy, and the Arab League accused Israel of “stealing the land and appropriating the property of Palestinians”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres boldly proclaimed that this new law “is in contravention of international law and will have far reaching legal consequences for Israel”, and another UN official says that Israel has crossed “a very thick red line”…

    The law crossed a “thick red line” toward annexation of the West Bank, the United Nations said earlier Tuesday.

    UN envoy for the Middle East peace process Nickolay Mladenov said the bill set a “very dangerous precedent.”

    “This is the first time the Israeli Knesset legislates in the occupied Palestinian lands and particularly on property issues,” he told AFP.

    “That crosses a very thick red line.”

Tensions in the Middle East are on the rise again, and we could literally see missiles start flying back and forth at any minute.

There is going to be a tremendous amount of pressure on Trump to try to bring peace to the Middle East, and Trump is already making it clear that he believes that a “two state solution” is the “ultimate deal”.

But if Donald Trump were to broker a deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians that would permanently divide the land of Israel into two states, he would greatly curse this nation, and so many of the things that I talk about in my new book would begin to happen.

It wouldn’t matter that Donald Trump is a conservative Republican that was backed by more than 80 percent of all evangelical Christians that voted in the last election. If Donald Trump is successful in dividing the land of Israel, we will be greatly cursed, and there will be disastrous consequences for the United States, for the Middle East, and for the entire planet.

So some of Donald Trump’s new evangelical Christian buddies need to start talking some sense to him before he does something that will be absolutely catastrophic for all of us.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/this-is-not-how-you-reverse-the-curse-trump-administration-set-to-announce-support-for-a-two-state-solution


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 12, 2017, 06:34:38 pm
‘Bloodshed will follow if Trump moves US embassy to Jerusalem’

The Palestinians will start a new violent uprising if Donald Trump’s incoming White House administration relocates the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a senior Fatah official said this week in an interview translated by MEMRI. “I believe that any American act of stupidity will ignite the Palestinian territories,” Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu al-Einein told Egypt’s Alghad TV on Sunday.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Bloodshed-will-follow-if-Trump-moves-US-embassy-to-Jerusalem-477323


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 13, 2017, 06:02:44 pm
Turkey’s Erdogan: Israeli settlement push an ‘absolute provocation’

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday condemned Israel’s decision to ramp up settlements in the West Bank as an “absolute provocation”. Israel announced plans last month for 3,000 more settlement homes in the West Bank. It has also retroactively legalized about 4,000 settlement homes built on privately owned Palestinian land, a move that brought condemnation from the United Nations and the European Union.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Turkeys-Erdogan-condemns-Israels-settlement-push-as-provocation-481399


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 18, 2017, 06:15:00 pm
Left-wing lawmaker challenges coalition, submits ‘Annexation Bill’

Ministers must explain to the public how Israel will look in 20 years without any political solution on the horizon, said Zionist Union MK Ayelet Nachmias-Verbin. Earlier this week, the opposition lawmaker, who has supported a two-state solution, submitted a bill that suggested annexing area C of the West Bank and applying Israeli law and sovereignty there. “Does the Israeli government want to rule over Palestinians or does it want a Jewish and democratic state?” said Nachmias-Verbin on Friday.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Left-wing-lawmaker-challenges-coalition-to-implement-their-agenda-481892


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 18, 2017, 10:56:23 pm
Quote
PRAY that this isnt true

This Is Not How You Reverse The Curse: Trump Administration Set To Announce Support For A ‘Two State Solution’

Read in my local paper this week that they have no plans for this (it was the top story on the front page, BTW).


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 19, 2017, 05:57:39 pm
SENIOR FATAH OFFICIAL NABIL SHAATH SAYS THAT DEPLOYING TERRORISM IS HOW A PALESTINIAN STATE WILL BE CREATED

The Fatah official then told his Palestinian audience, “Your cause is just. You are occupied. Your land was stolen. Your rights were taken. Therefore, I’ve never seen any problem with carrying out the armed struggle while diplomatic and political activity supporting your cause is being carried out.”

A SENIOR OFFICIAL FROM PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS’ FATAH PARTY SANCTIONED “ARMED STRUGGLE” – A EUPHEMISM FOR TERROR – AS THE “INDISPUTABLE” RIGHT OF PALESTINIANS IN ORDER TO “LIBERATE OUR HOMELAND.”
“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Zechariah 12:3 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Why is there no peace between the Jordanian Palestinians and the Jews? As you will see here, Palestinians not only say that they should have Jerusalem, they go so far to say that the entire land of Israel is really Palestinian territory. Senior Fatah leader Nabil Shaath says that the “only way” there will be peace is when the Jews get out of Israel. Actually, Mr. Shaath, the Bible says it will be you and the Muslims who will be forced to vacate the Holy Land.

“Our cause is just. Our right to the armed struggle is an indisputable right. The Israelis didn’t come here through negotiations. They did not come at our request. They are usurpers who came with weapons to murder and tried to expel [us],” Nabil Shaath said in an interview with Fatah-run Awdah TV last month, translated by Israeli monitoring group Palestinian Media Watch.

Shaath, who served as Palestinian Foreign Minister, called for the creation of a “Palestinian Arab democratic state” in which Jews, Muslims and Christians live together, thereby eliminating the Jewish state altogether.

FATAH LEADER NABIL SHAATH: THE ARMED STRUGGLE IS OUR RIGHT

“The Israelis succeeded in expelling a large part of our people by force. Therefore, our right to the armed struggle is indisputable,” Shaath said. “We are humane people. We want to liberate our homeland. After we liberate our homeland, we will have no problem with living in a democratic state in which Jews, Muslims and Christians live – in a Palestinian Arab democratic state.”

The Fatah official then told his Palestinian audience, “Your cause is just. You are occupied. Your land was stolen. Your rights were taken. Therefore, I’ve never seen any problem with carrying out the armed struggle while diplomatic and political activity supporting your cause is being carried out.”


rest: http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/senior-fatah-official-nabil-shaath-says-deploying-terrorism-palestinian-state-will-created/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 20, 2017, 09:31:56 pm
Nikki Haley slams United Nations for anti-Israeli double standards
Carlos Garcia

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley gave a very strong statement condemning the United Nations for their anti-Israel bias and double standards against America’s Middle East ally. She made her comments to the press shortly after attending her first Security Council meeting Monday.

“The first thing I want to do is talk about what we just saw in there,” Haley began. “The Security Council just finished its regular monthly meeting on Middle East issues. It’s the first meeting like that that I’ve attended, and I have to say it was a bit strange.”

    The Security Council is supposed to discuss how to maintain international peace and security. But at our meeting on the Middle East, the discussion was not about Hezbollah’s illegal build-up of rockets in Lebanon. It was not about the money and weapons Iran provides to terrorists. It was not about how we defeat ISIS. It was not about how we hold Bashar al-Assad accountable for the slaughter of hundreds and thousands of civilians. No, instead, the meeting focused on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East. I am new around here, but I understand that’s how the Council has operated, month after month, for decades.

    I’m here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore. I am here to underscore the ironclad support of the United States for Israel. I’m here to emphasize the United States is determined to stand up to the UN’s anti-Israel bias. We will never repeat the terrible mistake of Resolution 2334 and allow one-sided Security Council resolutions to condemn Israel. Instead, we will push for action on the real threats we face in the Middle East.

United Nations Resolution 2334 is the controversial policy that the United States abstained from vetoing as one of the last acts of former President Obama before the inauguration. Under that resolution, the United Nations formally condemned the settlements that Israel built in contested lands claimed by the Palestinians.

“We stand for peace,” Haley continued.

    We support a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is negotiated directly between the two parties, as President Trump reiterated in his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday. The outrageously biased resolutions from the Security Council and the General Assembly only make peace harder to attain by discouraging one of the parties from going to the negotiating table.

    Incredibly, the UN Department of Political Affairs has an entire division devoted to Palestinian affairs. Imagine that. There is no division devoted to illegal missile launches from North Korea. There is no division devoted to the world’s number one state-sponsor of terror, Iran. The prejudiced approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues does the peace process no favors. And it bears no relationship to the reality of the world around us.

“It is the UN’s anti-Israel bias that is long overdue for change,” Haley concluded. “The United States will not hesitate to speak out against these biases in defense of our friend and ally, Israel.”

The statement follows up on Haley’s announcement that the United States would take notice of what supposed allies did not back us sufficiently at the United Nations, and would make an appropriate response. Haley also signaled at her confirmation hearing that she would not absolutely follow President Trump’s policies as promised on the campaign Trump when she said that she was opposed to the “Muslim ban” and that part of their mission was to “educate” Trump about the benefits of the United Nation.

Trump had promised to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that would enflame Muslim passions because it signals the preeminence of the Jewish claim over the ancient holy city. Trump has since distanced himself from moving the embassy and the Israeli settlements after becoming president.

http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/02/20/nikki-haley-slams-united-nations-for-anti-israeli-double-standards/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 08, 2017, 06:01:34 pm
I Expect US Embassy in Jerusalem Soon, Defense Minister Liberman Tells VP Pence

The comment came on the heels of a factfinding mission by two Republican senators to Jerusalem last weekend. The members of the House Subcommittee on National Security affirmed during the trip, which included scouting locations for the embassy, that President Donald Trump would not veto the Jerusalem Embassy Act when it comes up for review again in May.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/84765/defense-minister-vp-pence-expect-see-us-embassy-jerusalem-soon/




Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 08, 2017, 10:09:03 pm
UN Envoy Nikki Haley Warns Palestinians That UN Won’t Help Them Anymore

Palestinians should not look to the United Nations for a solution to its conflict with Israel, US Ambassador Nikki Haley warned in her first meeting with the Palestinian Authority’s envoy to the UN on Tuesday.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/84793/united-nations-envoy-haley-palestinians-dont-look-un-solution/?utm_source=Breaking+Israel+News&utm_campaign=531e12e52b-BIN_evening_3_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b6d3627f72-531e12e52b-86925585&mc_cid=531e12e52b&mc_eid=69db9b2ab7


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 09, 2017, 01:47:26 am
Arab League Warns: Us Embassy Move Is ‘Serious Threat To World Peace’

One day after Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with US Vice President Mike Pence, the Arab League on Wednesday voted unanimously in Cairo for a resolution blocking the proposed relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “The establishment of any diplomatic mission in Jerusalem, or transfer of one to the city, is an explicit assault on the rights of the Palestinian people and all Muslims and Christians, and a serious violation of international law,” the League said.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Arab-League-threatens-that-US-Embassy-move-is-serious-threat-to-world-peace-483624


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 28, 2017, 04:43:28 pm
Former PM Tony Blair: We Need a New Kind of Peace for Israel

Speaking at the annual AIPAC conference, former British prime minister and Middle East expert Tony Blair discusses why the old ideas about peace between Israel and the Palestinians won’t work anymore. (video)

https://youtu.be/1CR1ZJP2KGw

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/85680/former-pm-tony-blair-need-new-kind-peace-israel/#0e9vgHfSE8VqO64R.97


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 28, 2017, 04:44:00 pm
‘We had him booted out’: Palestinian won’t get top UN post, US envoy Haley tells AIPAC

The US won’t allow a Palestinian to secure “one of the highest positions” at the UN, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said, explaining why the US had blocked a former Palestinian prime minister’s appointment to lead the UN’s Libya mission.

https://www.rt.com/news/382519-us-palestinian-un-post/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 28, 2017, 04:45:11 pm
UN Leader’s Support for Jewish Temple a ‘Breath of Fresh Air’

“It is completely clear the Temple that the Romans destroyed in Jerusalem was a Jewish temple,” Guterres said…..so it is particularly outrageous that the UN has been hijacked by Israel’s enemies to delegitimize the Jewish state.”

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2017/march/UN-Leader-Support-for-Jewish-Temple-a-Breath-of-Fresh-Air


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 10, 2017, 05:44:25 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/israel-closes-southern-border-egypt-warning-imminent-passover-terror-attack-isis/
Israel Closes Southern Border With Egypt After Warning Of Imminent Passover Terror Attack From ISIS
The border closure comes a day after militants in Egypt bombed two churches, killing dozens of Christian worshippers during Palm Sunday ceremonies. In the wake of those attacks, Israel's anti-terrorism office called on all Israeli tourists in Sinai to return home immediately and asked Israelis planning trips to the Sinai to cancel.

4/10/17

Israel closed its Taba border crossing to the Sinai peninsula on Monday following warnings by its anti-terrorism office of an “imminent” militant attack there and urged its citizens to leave Egypt hours before the start of the Passover holiday, when Sinai is a popular destination for many secular Israelis.

Soon after the announcement, sirens wailed in parts of southern Israel alerting residents to a rocket attack. The military said a rocket fired from Sinai exploded in southern Israel, hitting a greenhouse but causing no injuries. The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Yisrael Katz, Israel’s transportation and intelligence minister, said in a statement Monday there was intel regarding a potential “terror attack” against tourists in the Sinai peninsula. The crossing remains open for those wanting to return from Egypt.

more


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 01, 2017, 10:38:23 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbyrMLGGSXg


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 02, 2017, 04:31:42 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/unesco-disavows-israeli-sovereignty-in-jerusalem-in-22-10-vote/

5/2/17
UNESCO Passes Resolution ‘Occupied Palestine’ Disavows Israeli Sovereignty In Jerusalem In 22-10 Vote
The UNESCO resolution calls on Israel to rescind any “legislative and administrative measures and actions” it has taken to “alter the character and status” of Jerusalem. It rejects the idea of a “basic law” in Jerusalem, based off of a 1980 Knesset law, which implies that the city is one unified whole and governed solely by Israel.


The United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO voted to condemn Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem in 22-10 vote on resolution ‘Occupied Palestine’

“Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all. And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.” 1 Chronicles 21:22-16 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: The word Jerusalem appears 811 times in your King James Bible, and clearly shows the Jewish connection to it. Not only that, the Bible also records the day where King David purchased the threshing floor of Ornan that became the site of Solomon’s Temple to the LORD in Jerusalem. So the idea that the United Nations could pass a resolution condemning the Jewish control of Jerusalem is beyond absurd – it’s satanic. UN please take note that the LORD is watching everything and is preparing His soon response to your actions. You can read about it in Zephaniah 3:8 (KJV) if you’re interested.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — passed a resolution called “Occupied Palestine” by a vote of 22-10, with 26 countries abstaining or absent, on Tuesday.

The resolution calls on Israel to rescind any “legislative and administrative measures and actions” it has taken to “alter the character and status” of Jerusalem. It rejects the idea of a “basic law” in Jerusalem, based off of a 1980 Knesset law, which implies that the city is one unified whole and governed solely by Israel.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 04, 2017, 04:26:20 am
On the Anniversary of Israel's Founding, UNESCO Offers a 'Gift'

As millions of Israeli and diaspora Jews marked Israel's 69th Independence Day, the United Nations cultural body UNESCO voted Tuesday to adopt its latest resolution denying Jewish ties to Jerusalem.

The resolution—which passed in a 22-10 vote, with 23 abstentions—states that "all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and in particular the 'basic law' on Jerusalem, are null and void and must be rescinded forthwith."

The 10 countries voting against the resolution were the U.S., U.K., Italy, Netherlands, Lithuania, Greece, Paraguay, Ukraine, Togo and Germany. Among those voting in favor of the measure were Brazil, China, Egypt, Iran, Russia, South Africa and Sweden.

Italy was the only European Union country to publicly oppose the resolution ahead of the vote.

"Our opinion is very clear," Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said. "UNESCO cannot be the place for a permanent ideological confrontation."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday, "There is no nation in the world for whom Jerusalem is more holy than for the Jewish people," adding that UNESCO "is trying to bury this truth. We will uphold it."

Israel's Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon called the resolution "distorted" and "shameful," and said it will "not change the fact that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people."

http://www.charismanews.com/politics/issues/64643-on-the-anniversary-of-israel-s-founding-unesco-offers-a-gift


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 12, 2017, 05:05:09 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/ahead-trump-visit-netanyahu-declares-jerusalem-embassies-especially-us/
Ahead Of Trump Visit, Netanyahu Declares All Embassies, Especially The US, Should Be In Jerusalem
The remark came less than two weeks ahead of the expected visit of US President Donald Trump, who during his presidential campaign last year, promised to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a potential move he has distanced himself from since his election in November.

5/12/17

Ahead of Trump visit, Netanyahu says Jerusalem is eternal capital of Israel and embassies should be relocated there

“And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.” Isaiah 31:9 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Just mere days before President Trump is scheduled to visit Israel, on the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, PM Netanyahu said that the US Embassy, as well as all other nation’s embassy, should be moved to Jerusalem. Is Trump heading to Israel to announce the prophecy infused and game-changing move? He will be in Israel May 22-23, after stopping in Saudi Arabia and before he goes on to the Vatican.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that all foreign embassies in Israel should be located in Jerusalem, chief among them the American embassy.

Speaking at a Likud event on Thursday, Netanyahu said Jerusalem is the “eternal capital of the Israeli people and it is fitting that all embassies, especially that of our friend the United States, be moved the Jerusalem.”

The remark came less than two weeks ahead of the expected visit of US President Donald Trump, who during his presidential campaign last year, promised to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a potential move he has distanced himself from since his election in November.
Netanyahu: US Embassy Should Move to Jerusalem

Israel considers Jerusalem its undivided capital while the Palestinians want East Jerusalem, including the Old City, as the capital of a future state. The international community has never recognized Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem after Israel captured it in 1967.
Most foreign embassies in Israel are in Tel Aviv, with some nations also maintaining consulate-generals in Jerusalem.

The possible relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is still said to be under consideration amid contradictory reports that a decision was made against the idea and rumors that the US president may announce the move during his expected trip to Israel later this month.
Donald Trump Promises To Move Embassy From Tel Aviv To Jerusalem:

“The president has not made a decision yet and is still reviewing that,”White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Wednesday at the daily press briefing.

Sanders was asked about a report on the Hebrew-language news site NRG that implied Israeli sources were notified Trump had decided against moving the embassy and would sign a waiver in June blocking implementation of a longstanding Congressional mandate ordering the relocation.

Every president since the 1995 law has exercised their right to sign that waiver — including Barack Obama and his predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — every six months.
Since rumors of the president’s upcoming visit to the region surfaced, speculation has grown that Trump may announce the embassy move in the Jewish state.

Trump’s trip, which was officially announced last week, comes just before Jerusalem Day, when Israel will celebrate 50 years since capturing the city’s eastern neighborhoods and holy sites in the Six Day War.
donald-trump-president-will-move-us-embassy-from-tel-aviv-jerusalem-israel

HOW DONALD TRUMP MOVING THE U.S. EMBASSY FROM TEL AVIV TO JERUSALEM COULD TRIGGER THE PSALM 83 WAR

He will be in Israel May 22-23, after stopping in Saudi Arabia and before he goes on to the Vatican. He will also travel to Brussels and Sicily for NATO and G7 summits on the final leg of his first foreign trip.

Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis (R) publicly mused two weeks ago that Trump would use his visit to announce the relocation of the US Embassy.

“What better time could there be to announce the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem than when you are over here celebrating with our Israeli friends this very important 50th anniversary of the liberation of Jerusalem?” he said. source


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 19, 2017, 05:54:31 pm
Trump's Approval Rating With Jewish Israelis Plummets As He Won't Commit To Embassy Move Promise • Now The End Begins

President Donald Trump’s approval rating among Jewish Israelis has dropped by 23 percentage points since he took office in January

“And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:” Daniel 2:21 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Candidate Trump told prospective Jewish and Christian voters that his promise to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv was “100% guaranteed” to take place shortly after he became president. This platform promises is one of the main reasons why Christians and Jews voted for him.  In a few days, President Trump will give a speech in Israel, in Jerusalem, and his spokespeople are playing coy. Why did God allow Trump to win the election against all odds? To keep this promise. The president should choose wisely, very wisely. The Bible says that God “setteth up kings”, He also removes them as well.

One possible factor: the absence of a firm decision as to whether he will move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as promised.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the poll, conducted by Smith Research was released on Thursday and found that only 56% of 500 Jewish Israelis who were polled said they considered the Trump administration more pro-Israel than pro-Palestinian. That figure is down from 79% on January 11.

Jewish Israelis do not think Trump has turned against them, however. The poll also found only a one percentage point increase in those who consider the Trump administration to be more pro-Palestinian, rising from 3% to 4%.
Donald Trump Promises To Move Embassy From Tel Aviv To Jerusalem:

“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Zechariah 12:3 (KJV)

The poll reportedly had a margin of error of 4.5%. Another poll will be taken after Trump’s Israel visit. The Jerusalem Post notes that Trump will need to work to convince Israelis that he is on their side during his visit to the Holy Land next week.

Also on Thursday, a White House official told Breitbart News that it does not expect to announce plans to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, despite Trump’s campaign promise to do so.

“There’s no planned announcement for the embassy on the trip,” the White House official said. However, the official reportedly cautioned that the plan could change. Separately, the Post reported Thursday that a decision on the embassy could take place after Trump’s visit.

Palestinian Officials To Withdraw Recognition Of Israel If Trump Moves US Embassy | NBC Nightly News:

Despite the absence of confirmation or a solid plan for the potential embassy move, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has toured several sites in Jerusalem to decide which is best for the relocation. He has also expressed his confidence that the move will ultimately take place.
donald-trump-president-will-move-us-embassy-from-tel-aviv-jerusalem-israel

During a Jerusalem Unity Day event at the Capitol on Wednesday, DeSantis said, “I’m not necessarily predicting that that’s going to happen, but I think if you’re ever going to do it, with all the celebrations that are going to be going on next week, just think of how much energy this would ad to that; not only in Israel, but here in the United States, for the millions and millions of Americans who would like to see this happen.”

He added, “moving the embassy there [to Jerusalem] is a great statement to say Israel is here to stay.” source

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/trumps-approval-rating-jewish-israelis-plummets-wont-commit-embassy-move-promise-jerusalem/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 30, 2017, 06:22:54 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/president-trump-will-sign-waiver-delaying-us-embassy-move-jerusalem/
NTEB EXCLUSIVE: Sources Tell Us President Trump Will Sign Waiver Postponing The US Embassy Move To Jerusalem
President Trump promised during his campaign to move the embassy, a policy embodied both in federal law and the Republican Party platform. But since he came into office, Trump’s promise seems to have lost some momentum.

5/30/17

On Thursday, President Barack Obama’s last waiver pursuant to the Jerusalem Embassy Act will expire. Absent a new waiver by President Trump, the provisions of the law will go into full effect. Trump promised during his campaign to move the embassy, a policy embodied both in federal law and the Republican Party platform. But since he came into office, Trump’s promise seems to have lost some momentum.

“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Zechariah 12:3 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: We were able to confirm through contact with Rep. Ron DeSantis’ office in Washington that the event mentioned below is scheduled to take place on June 7th, 2017, and that it is by invitation only. And sadly, we were also able to confirm that it is “highly likely” and a “very safe bet” that President Trump will follow in the footsteps of Obama, Bush and Clinton and sign the waiver on June 2nd delaying the transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem. This is one story that I hope and pray we have to issue a retraction on. Keep your promise, President Trump, and move that embassy to Jerusalem now!

The Knesset and the Congress will jointly mark 50 years since the reunification of Jerusalem in an event scheduled to be broadcast on live video link between the two legislatures next Tuesday. The move could be viewed as tacit recognition by the White House of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and spark controversy.

Sources told The Jerusalem Post that either President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence will participate in the event on Capitol Hill, alongside Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, its host. In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein will take part from the Knesset. All members of Knesset and both houses of Congress have been invited to the event, which was organized by Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer.
Celebrating 50 Years of Jerusalem’s Reunification in Congress:

While the US does not officially recognize Israeli sovereignty in the parts of Jerusalem that Israel liberated in 1967, White House participation in the event could be viewed as tacit acknowledgment of Israel’s position regarding Jerusalem. The event comes after Trump became the first sitting US president to visit the Western Wall during his trip here last week but held back from making any mention of Jerusalem Day, celebrated the day after he left the country.
The event comes along with a strong push from Jerusalem to recognize the city as Israel’s capital.

Netanyahu called on the US and all other countries to move their embassies in Israel to Jerusalem. Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin both asked Trump to recognize the capital during his visit to Israel last week.

While Trump did neither of those things, he mentioned the millennia of Jewish history in Jerusalem during his address at the Israel Museum. source


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 08, 2017, 07:54:39 pm
Stunning! Senate OKs U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem resolution 90-to-0

The U.S. Senate, in an extremely rare moment of action without any opposition, has adopted a resolution calling on President Trump to abide by a 1995 law that calls for the U.S. Embassy to be in Jerusalem.

The vote was 90-0, with Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Dan Sullivan of Alaska not voting, along with Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

While the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 calls for the move to Jerusalem, which would be seen worldwide as a resounding affirmation of Israel’s historic claim to Jerusalem, it also provides a waiver the president can sign every six months if he determines the move might harm national security.

The waiver has been employed by both Democratic and Republican presidents ever since, including President Trump just days ago.

However, Trump renewed his commitment to moving the embassy, explaining the timing is not right.

So while the call for the law to be followed is seen by many as a call for the establishment of the embassy in Jerusalem, technically it simply states that the law should be followed.

Now the senators, in a 90-0 vote, have commemorated the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War by adopting S. Res. 176.

The resolution states:

Be it resolved, that the Senate (1) recognizes the 50th Anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and extends its friendship and hopes for peace to the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel; (2) reaffirms its support for Israel’s commitment to religious freedom and administration of holy sites in Jerusalem; (3) continues to support strengthening the mutually beneficial American-Israeli relationship; (4) commends Egypt and Jordan, former combatant states of the Six Day War, who in subsequent years embraced a vision of peace and coexistence with Israel and have continued to uphold their respective peace agreements; (5) reaffirms that it is the longstanding, bipartisan policy of the United States Government that the permanent status of Jerusalem remains a matter to be decided between the parties through final status negotiations towards a two-state solution; and (6) reaffirms the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104–45) as United States law, and calls upon the President and all United States officials to abide by its provisions.

The resolution also points out Jerusalem has been the focal point of Jewish religious devotion for 3,000 years.

WND reported one week ago when Trump, following a provision of the 1995 law, signed a waiver delaying the embassy move for another six months.

Netanyahu said he was disappointed that the U.S. Embassy, now in Tel Aviv, will not move to Jerusalem immediately. But he’s grateful that Trump has committed to doing exactly that in the future.

“Though Israel is disappointed that the embassy will not move at this time, we appreciate today’s expression of President Trump’s friendship to Israel and his commitment to moving the Embassy in the future,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

“Maintaining embassies outside the capital drives peace further away by helping keep alive the Palestinian fantasy that the Jewish people and the Jewish state have no connection to Jerusalem,” he said.

srael, he said, believes “that the American Embassy, like the embassies of all countries with whom we have diplomatic relations, should be in Jerusalem, our eternal capital.”

While Trump signed the waiver, a statement on the White House website explaining his reasoning.

“No one should consider this step to be in any way a retreat from the president’s strong support for Israel and for the United States-Israel alliance,”  the White House said. “President Trump made this decision to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, fulfilling his solemn obligation to defend America’s national security interests. But, as he has repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy, the question is not if that move happens, but only when.”

Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all had used such waivers.

On Oct. 23, 1995, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and requiring the U.S. Embassy to be moved there by May 31, 1999. The law passed the Senate by 93-5 and the House by 374-37. Yet, Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama each signed the waiver provision every six months, citing national security concerns.

The move by Trump brought disappointment to the large constituency of evangelical Christians who support Israel.

Penny Nance, CEO of Concerned Women for America, immediately released a statemet: “CWA’s members are very disappointed that the president chose to sign the waiver in direct contradiction to his campaign promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. In 1967, Arab armies declared war on Israel. Until that time, Jordan had occupied east Jerusalem for 20 years, destroyed most synagogues, and did not allow religious freedom. Israel won the 1967 war and liberated east Jerusalem, thus re-uniting their ancient, 3,000-year-old capital. Under the Israelis, Muslims, Christians, and Jews enjoy religious freedom.”

She pointed out: “Israel is the only country in the world that does not have the U.S. Embassy in its own designated capital. It’s an unjust anomaly. We believe it is a mistake to tie the U.S. Embassy move to any possible peace agreement, since Palestinians remain unwilling to negotiate directly with Israel.”

Nance said that both U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, said in her presence the move is 50 years overdue.

She pointed out that 81 percent of evangelicals voted for President Trump, and the vast majority also support the Jerusalem Embassy Act.

“In December we will once again ask the president to keep his word when this waiver expires,” she said.

Mat Staver, chief counsel of Liberty Counsel, had encouraged Trump to not sign the waiver.

Just before the waiver signing, he explained: “Congress signed the Jerusalem Embassy Act in 1999. Eighteen years waiting is more than enough. It is beyond time for the United States to move the Embassy to Jerusalem. To not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel contradicts the Bible, history, present-day reality, and is anti-Semitic.”

Eugene Kontorovich wrote at the Volokh Conspiracy blog that while the decision to sign a waiver at this point certainly is a disappointment for Trump supporters, “it will not be the end of the show.”

“He will have seven more waivers ahead, with mounting pressure as his term progresses. Under Obama, speculation focused on what actions he would take or allow against Israel (and even these waited until very late in his second term).”

He explained the waiver “does not waive the obligation to move the embassy.”

“That policy has been fully adopted by Congress in the Act (sec. 3(a)(3)) and is not waiveable. Of course, Congress cannot simply order the president to implement such a move, especially given his core constitutional power over diplomatic relations.”

WND reported last month when Christian leaders representing 60 million members of the faith across America sent the president a letter asking him to move the embassy.

The non-profit Liberty Counsel reports the letter called for the move – which was directed by Congress in 1995 – to be made “at long last.”

The letter, signed by about five dozen Christian leaders, stated, “The time has come, at long last, to uphold American law by moving the U.S. Embassy to Israel’s eternal indivisible capital city of Jerusalem.”

“The Republican National Convention’s official 2016 platform rightly stated, ‘We recognize Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish state and call for the American embassy to be moved there in fulfillment of U.S. law. Moreover, we were honored and grateful that you pledged to specifically uphold this policy in response to a request from the American Christian Leaders for Israel coalition during your campaign. Many of our constituents cast their vote for you due to this commitment,'” the letter said.

http://www.wnd.com/2017/06/stunning-senate-oks-u-s-embassy-in-jerusalem-resolution-without-dissent/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 12, 2017, 06:42:50 pm
Al Aqsa Imam: Western Wall Belongs Only to Muslims
In another egregious step towards claiming the whole of Jerusalem for the Muslim world, two Arab leaders said on Friday that the Western Wall, or Kotel, belongs exclusively to the Muslims.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/89427/palestinian-official-western-wall-belongs-to-the-muslims/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 16, 2017, 08:47:04 pm
Palestinians to claim Tomb of Patriarchs on UN World Heritage List
The World Heritage Committee is set to debate inscribing the Old City of Hebron – including its Tomb of the Patriarchs – to the “State of Palestine” when it meets from July 2 to 12 in Krakow, Poland. “This is a new front in the war over the holy places that the Palestinians are trying to ignite as part of their propaganda campaign against Israel and the history of the Jewish people,” Israel’s Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama HaCohen told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinians-to-claim-Tomb-of-Patriarchs-on-UN-Heritage-List-497033


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 17, 2017, 09:12:12 pm
UN Blames Israel for Palestinian Men Beating Wives [Watch]

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Monday was presented with a report citing rampant violence and abuse targeting women in the Palestinian Authority and reacted decisively by…condemning Israel.

At the 35th session of the Human Rights Council, Ms. Dubravka Šimonović, Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, presented her findings from a visit to Israel in September, when she also toured areas under control of the Palestinian Authority. Her report to the UNHRC focused on the “gendered impact of the occupation”. She cites a , “clear link between prolonged occupation and gender based violence”, blaming the blame for violence against Palestinian women by Palestinian men entirely on Israel.

The plight of Palestinian women is indeed dire. One third of married Palestinian women in Judea and Samaria and over half in Gaza have been subjected to domestic violence.

The Rapporteur  made specific mention of the IDF at checkpoints as a source of abuse against Palestinian women requiring UN intervention. In fact, 3.3% of married women report being exposed to psychological violence at barriers and inspection points from soldiers, while 0.6% report exposure to physical violence, and 0.2% report sexual harassment.

The extreme plight of Palestinian women makes the obfuscation by the UNHRC even more egregious. While calling for an end to the “Israeli occupation”, the Rapporteur  decried the rise in femicides, while failing to mention that so-called ‘honor killings’ targeting women were specific to Islamic culture and the influence of Israel has decreased this horrific crime. When Israel dismantled the Jewish communities in Gush Katif, the number of femicides in Gaza rose dramatically.

UN Watch,  a non-governmental organization who monitors the performance of the United Nations, had a representative overseeing the proceedings. Hillel Neuer addressed the council, noting that the conclusion of the report was  that, “when Palestinian men beat their wives, it’s Israel’s fault.”

He challenged Ms. Šimonović’s assertion that a link existed between Israel’s presence and violence against women.

“How do you know there is a ‘clear linkage’?” Neuer asked. “Where is the data? I don’t see it anywhere in the report.”

Neuer also decried the assertion as an injustice to the Palestinians.

“Is it right to continue infantilizing Palestinians, such that when a man in Ramallah beats his wife, we encourage him to say ‘Israel made me do it’?” Neuer stated.

“Why did you fail to mention that official Palestinian TV regularly broadcasts Islamic preachers who tell the people how to beat their wives?” he said, citing several examples. “The hitting is a kind of reminder that the love and friendship that Allah commanded is still found between the couple,” Neuer said, quoting a Mufti in Gaza.

Neuer’s comments were received poorly by the council. Council vice-president Amr Ahmed Ramadan of Egypt, broke with parliamentary protocol and refused to thank Neuer.

“I would like to say thank you, but I can’t—because I think that you need to respect this Council more in the next days,” Ramadan said.

https://youtu.be/MzyH1Pq3bR4

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/89736/un-blames-israel-palestinian-men-beating-wives-watch/#TU20ZRStwFZhS9fq.97


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 21, 2017, 12:09:11 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/jared-kushner-arrives-israel-begin-middle-east-peace-push/
Jared Kushner Arrives In Israel To Begin Peace Covenant Discussion With Both Netanyahu And Abbas
Jared Kushner, a 36-year-old real estate developer with little experience of international diplomacy and peace negotiations, arrived in Israel early on Wednesday and will spend barely 20 hours on the ground - he departs shortly after midnight. Trump has described a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians as "the ultimate deal" and made it a priority since taking office: he's received both Netanyahu and Abbas in the White House and visited the region last month.

6/21/17

Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, beginning a new U.S. effort to revive Middle East peace efforts.

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: For nearly 70 years, the most savvy politicians and heads of state have tried time and again to make peace between the Jews and the Palestinians only to come close but ultimately fail each and every time. Now out of the shadows comes a figure draped in intrigue and mystery, with admittedly zero experience in politics, diplomacy or peace negotiations, and is absolute center on the global stage. As previously mentioned, our sources tells us that Jared Kushner will be the one to pull it off. How is this possible? Simple, you’re living in the end times and prophecy is leaping off the pages of the Bible as it gets ready to be fulfilled as we watch. Flight #777 on Titus 2:13 Airlines now boarding, get ready to fly.

Jared Kushner, a 36-year-old real estate developer with little experience of international diplomacy and peace negotiations, arrived in Israel early on Wednesday and will spend barely 20 hours on the ground – he departs shortly after midnight.

During his stopover, he will meet Netanyahu for their first formal discussions on peace, before travelling to Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, for talks with Abbas after Iftar, the evening meal that breaks the Ramadan fast.

U.S. officials are calling the trip part of an effort to keep the conversation going rather than the launching of a new phase in the peace process, saying that Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, the president’s special representative for international negotiations, are likely to return repeatedly.

Greenblatt arrived in Israel on Monday for preliminary discussions in both Jerusalem and Ramallah, and will remain for follow-up talks after Kushner has departed, officials said.

Trump has described a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians as “the ultimate deal” and made it a priority since taking office: he’s received both Netanyahu and Abbas in the White House and visited the region last month.

But it remains unclear what approach Trump, via Kushner and Greenblatt, plans to take on resolving one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.

For at least two decades, the goal of U.S.-led diplomacy has been a “two-state solution”, meaning an independent Palestinian state living side-by-side and at peace with Israel. But when he met Netanyahu in Washington in February, Trump said he was not fixed on two states saying, “I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like”.

Netanyahu has in the past given his conditional backing to two states. But ahead of his last election victory in 2015, he promised there would never be a Palestinian state on his watch, a remark seen as an attempt to shore up support on the right.
In preliminary discussions before Kushner’s visit, Palestinian sources said the phrase “two state solution” had not been used.

On Tuesday, hours before Kushner’s arrival, Netanyahu announced the beginning of work on a new settlement in the West Bank, and has talked of thousands more settlement homes, ramping up a policy that has long been a major obstacle to peace.

The Palestinians have in the past called for a freeze on settlement building before any negotiations can take place. Most of the world considers settlements built on occupied land illegal under international law, a position Israel disputes.

Palestinian sources said that ahead of Kushner’s meeting with Abbas, they had been asked to draw up a list of 12 ‘bullet point’ demands they have in any negotiations.

They they saw it as a helpful exercise in focusing on core elements rather than an oversimplification of a complex issue.

Trump administration officials have said that if they are going to make progress on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, they do not want to get bogged down in process but to move more rapidly towards resolving what are known as “final status” issues, the complexities around Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, water resources, security and borders. source

RELATED ARTICLES: Please visit our section on Jared Kushner and the End Times to get up to speed on all the amazing developments now taking place. There we present a vast amount of Scripture and “happening now” news events that the Bible believer really needs to know about.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” 2 Thessalonians 2:3 (KJV)


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 09, 2017, 03:01:21 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/israel-complete-east-jerusalem-kedem-center-relentless-attacks-un-world-heritage-committee/
Israel To Complete East Jerusalem Kedem Center After Relentless Attacks From UN World Heritage Committee
“Today I have instructed that procedures be completed for the construction of the Kedem Center for displaying the historical and archaeological findings for the City of David,” Netanyahu said. “This will be an impressive structure with extensive displays. The entire world will see the truth and the first visitors whom I will invite there will be UNESCO and UN delegations,” Netanyahu said.

7/9/17

Israel plans to complete the construction of an internationally controversial Kedem Center for tourists that will be located in east Jerusalem just outside the Old City’s Dung Gate, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:2 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: In the ongoing battle to claim ownership of the city of Jerusalem, the United Nations has decided to do it one bite at a time. By declaring various towns in the “disputed territories” to be of ‘Palestinian origin’, like Hebron, the UN is actually gunning for Jerusalem, which they want desperately to award to Palestine. As a counter-move, Israeli PM Netanyahu has decided to speed completion of the Kedem Center, a museum dedicated to the 3,000 year history of the Jews in Jerusalem.

“Today I have instructed that procedures be completed for the construction of the Kedem Center for displaying the historical and archaeological findings for the City of David,” Netanyahu said. “This will be an impressive structure with extensive displays. The entire world will see the truth and the first visitors whom I will invite there will be UNESCO and UN delegations,” Netanyahu said.

He spoke in the aftermath of two votes the World Heritage Committee took last week in Krakow Poland. The first disavowed Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. The second inscribed the Tomb of the Patriarchs to the World Heritage in Danger list under the State of Palestine.

“The connection between the Jewish People and Hebron and the Tomb of the Patriarchs is one of purchase and of history which may be without parallel in the history of peoples,” Netanyahu said. “Of course this did not prevent the UNESCO World Heritage Committee last Friday from passing yet another delusional resolution which determined that the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the same Cave of Machpelah, is a Palestinian heritage site,” he said.

“In the wake of this resolution I decided to cut an additional $1 million from Israel’s UN membership dues and transfer the funds to the establishment of The Museum of the Heritage of the Jewish People in Kiryat Arba and Hebron.”

“The money will also serve additional heritage initiatives related to Hebron. I trust you [Jerusalem and Heritage Minister] Ze’ev [Elkin] to submit a proper proposal on this matter,” Netanyahu added. source


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on August 03, 2017, 10:01:46 pm
UN Secretary-General Guterres set to visit Israel at end of August

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to visit Israel at the end of the month for his first trip here since taking over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1. While Ban made the first of his 12 visits to Israel…Guterres’s visit comes after he has already taken nearly 40 official trips abroad, including eight trips to the region: to Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/UN-Secretary-General-Guterres-set-to-visit-Israel-at-end-of-August-501470


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 12, 2017, 08:16:27 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/president-trump-send-jared-kushner-envoy-middle-east-israeli-palestinian-peace-talks/
President Trump To Send Jared Kushner And Envoy Back To Middle East For Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks
“While the regional talks will play an important role, the president reaffirms that peace between Israelis and Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties and that the United States will continue working closely with the parties to make progress towards that goal,” the official said.

8/11/17

President Donald Trump is sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and negotiator Jason Greenblatt to the Middle East soon to meet regional leaders and discuss a “path to substantive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks,” a White House official said on Friday.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Jared Kushner is again heading to the Middle East in another attempt to broker peace between the Jews and the Palestinians. He recently stated “we’re trying to work with the parties very quietly to see if there’s a solution.” Will the mystery man from 666 Fifth Ave have enough tricks up his sleeve to pull it off what no one has been able to do over the past 69 years? Stay tuned…

Deputy national security adviser Dina Powell will also be on the trip, which will include meetings with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the official said.

“While the regional talks will play an important role, the president reaffirms that peace between Israelis and Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties and that the United States will continue working closely with the parties to make progress towards that goal,” the official said.
Jared Kushner, who serves as a senior adviser to his father-in-law, was charged with helping to broker a deal between Israelis and Palestinians after Trump took office.

The president went to Saudi Arabia and Israel during his first post-inauguration trip abroad and has expressed a personal commitment to reaching a deal that has eluded his Republican and Democratic predecessors.

nteb-gospel-tracts-street-preaching-witnessing-ministry-468The timing of the trip was pegged to the recent “restoration of calm and the stabilized situation in Jerusalem” after a spate of violence last month sparked by Israel’s installation of metal detectors at entry points to the Noble Sanctuary or Temple Mount compound there.

Trump directed that the talks focus on a pathway to peace talks, fighting “extremism,” easing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and identifying economic steps that can be taken to ensure security and stability, the official said.

“To enhance the chances for peace, all parties need to engage in creating an environment conducive to peace-making while affording the negotiators and facilitators the time and space they need to reach a deal,” the official said. source

 


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on September 04, 2017, 09:57:39 pm
UNESCO’s Globalist Agenda … Minus Israel

It’s time for member states to take a hard look at UNESCO—and discern the growing gulf between its actions and the noble precepts of its Constitution and the UN charter. Despite its public commitment to justice, the rule of law and human rights, “without distinction of race, sex, language or religion,” UNESCO strips these rights solely from Israel and denies its religious heritage, history, and legitimacy as the nation state of the Jewish people. UNESCO’s “unrestricted pursuit of objective truth,” and commitment to preserve the historic heritage of all world cultures excludes Israel.

Recent resolutions supporting contrived Palestinian claims to Jewish history, land, and heritage are part of the UN’s anti-Zionist track record. Despite the legacy of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate and 1947 Resolution 181, anti-Semitism steadily increased as UN membership swelled. By 1967, the tide had turned. In 1975, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin called for Israel’s “expulsion from the United Nations and the extinction of Israel as a State” and this was to a standing ovation. Also under Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, a former Nazi officer, Resolution 3379 equated Zionism with racism.

Yet neither anti-Semitism nor Muslim majorities suffice to explain this organization’s hatred of Israel—unless also seen through the lens of encroaching globalism.

“The task before UNESCO,” said its first Director-General Julian Huxley in 1946, is “the emergence of a single world culture” by transferring “full sovereignty from separate nations to a world organization.”

The “new world order” will be a socialist, authoritarian global government and court with “global rule of law” and a “one-world economy,” according to the Commission for Global Governance.

The Obama Administration provides an example of leftist globalists in action. Bankrolled by billionaire George Soros, and using the radical social-manipulation “rules” of Obama mentor Saul Alinsky, the Left exploits groups like Black Lives Matter as “agents of change” to help usher in their new world order. They fund and direct radical groups to sow chaos and division by politicizing leftist targets such as police by labeling them as “racist.”

“The black community is in a grave situation and they are being exploited and manipulated by the liberal left,” said African-American Vanderbilt University law professor Carol Swain.

In the same way, UN globalists manipulate the Palestinians. They play the “racism” card to incite chaos, division and attacks against Israeli police and soldiers—just like in Ferguson, MO. Their strategy: foment societal disruption so as to undermine democratic foundations—then step in and take over.

The Globalist agenda also includes the establishment of a one-world religion which means the
political globalists have a religious arm. The UN is riddled with New Agers, occultists and others who consider freedom of religion hostile to New Age global harmony.

Former UN Assistant Secretary-General Robert Muller told the San Jose Mercury that religious fundamentalism’s “inflexible belief systems … play an incendiary role in global conflicts.” There’ll be no peace without “taming fundamentalism through a United Religion that professes faithfulness only to global spirituality,” he said.

On two counts, Israel is a thorn in the side of one-world globalists. First, Zionism is Israel’s call as the nation state of the Jewish people; its Jewish identity, history, and defensible borders are integral to its survival. As Israel’s former U.N. Ambassador Chaim Herzog declared: “The key to understanding Zionism lies in its name. ‘Mount Zion’ is the place where God dwells according to the Bible. Jerusalem or Zion is where the Lord is King…. “Zion” grew … to mean the whole … Jewish homeland, symbolic of … Jewish national aspirations.”

Second, though Israel supports freedom of worship for all residents, including Christians and Muslims, the Jewish religion reveres G-d—not a New Age, cultic pantheon. In Deuteronomy, Moses conveyed Israel’s calling to “a people holy (“separate”) to the Lord your G-d. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.”


Read more at https://www.jpost.com/Blogs/Israel-Uncensored/UNESCOs-Globalist-Agenda-minus-Israel-503912#Ki9k1bEp8MxPjtSw.99


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 20, 2017, 09:42:31 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/palestinian-president-abbas-says-peace-israel-possible-will-trumps-deal-century/
7 YEAR TREATY? Abbas Says Peace With Israel Possible This Year, Will Be Trump’s ‘Deal Of The Century’

Abbas met Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders in New York and thanked him for his support. "If this is any proof to anything ... it attests to the seriousness of your Excellency, Mr. President, to achieve the deal of the century in the Middle East during this year or in the coming months, God willing," Abbas said through an interpreter. Trump said his team of advisers was working very hard on the issue, as were Israel, Saudi Arabia and other nations.

9/20/17

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed optimism on Wednesday about reaching a peace agreement with Israel this year and said U.S. President Donald Trump’s commitment to the issue would help create the “deal of the century” in the region.

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Abbas dropped quite the bombshell today when he said that not only is peace with Israel possible, but could happen this year. On top of that, Abbas went on to give President Trump all the credit for making it happen when and if it does take place. Typical Palestinian bluster…or…are we about to witness the 7 Year Peace Treaty? Mr. Abbas, if that happens, it won’t just be the ‘deal of the century’, it will fulfill 2,500 year old prophecy. What a great time to be alive and a Bible believer.

Abbas met Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders in New York and thanked him for his support.

“If this is any proof to anything … it attests to the seriousness of your Excellency, Mr. President, to achieve the deal of the century in the Middle East during this year or in the coming months, God willing,” Abbas said through an interpreter.

Trump said his team of advisers was working very hard on the issue, as were Israel, Saudi Arabia and other nations.

    “I think we have a very, very good chance, and I certainly will devote everything within my heart and within my soul to get that deal made,” Trump said. “We’re at a very important juncture, there’s a small period of time, and we’re going to see what we can do. There can be no promises, obviously,” he said.

Abbas noted that the Palestinians had met with Trump’s team more than 20 times since the U.S. president entered office in January, and he said the fact that Jews and Muslims were celebrating a new year was a positive sign.

“This is a very sweet coincidence that we can celebrate the new year together within a 24-hour period, and if this is an indication to anything, it means that we can coexist peacefully together,” Abbas said.
Later at the U.N. gathering, Abbas urged the 193-nation body to end the “Israeli occupation of the state of Palestine” within a set timetable.

He also borrowed a campaign line of Trump’s, using the phrase “draining the swamp” as an argument for addressing the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. Trump used a similar phrase as a presidential candidate to criticize politicians and policy making in Washington.

“Beyond any doubt, draining the swamp of colonial occupation of our land and ending its unjust, oppressive and illegal practices against our people would greatly affect the fight against terrorism, depriving terrorist groups of one of the key rallying cries they exploit to promote their repugnant ideas,” Abbas said in his prepared remarks.

Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the week. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders both went out of their way to praise the U.S. president.

The White House played down both meetings in terms of their significance toward peace talks on one of the world’s most intractable conflicts that has defied the peacemaking efforts of several U.S. administrations going back decades.

The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the Israeli occupied West Bank, territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to the United States, Husam Zomlot, said “the meeting was forward-looking, and the conversation was deep and frank between the two allies.”

The Palestinian Authority said in a statement Abbas told Trump that “peace can be achieved through implementing the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.” Abbas also said “the illegal Israeli settlements policy poses an immediate threat” to that.

For at least two decades, the goal of U.S.-led diplomacy has been a “two-state solution”, meaning an independent Palestinian state living side-by-side and at peace with Israel.

But neither Trump nor his aides have publicly recommitted to a two-state solution, instead saying it is up to the two parties to work out in peace talks. Abbas’ insistence on a return to 1967 pre-war borders is something Israel has repeatedly rejected. source


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on November 13, 2017, 07:23:08 pm
US: Nine UN anti-Israel drafts harm peace efforts

Next month, the UN General Assembly is expected to affirm east Jerusalem’s status as “occupied territory,” call for international companies to boycott Israel and condemn Israel’s presence on the Golan Heights. Nine drafted texts, of what will likely be a slate of 20 anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian resolutions, were overwhelmingly affirmed Friday in New York at a meeting of the Fourth Committee…which is made up of the 193 UN member states.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/US-Nine-UN-anti-Israel-drafts-harm-peace-efforts-514087


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 02, 2017, 08:09:39 pm
151 UN states vote to disavow Israeli ties to Jerusalem

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to disavow Israeli ties to Jerusalem as part of six anti-Israel resolutions it approved on Thursday in New York. The vote was 151 in favor and six against, with nine abstentions. The resolution came as the Trump Administration was rumored to be actively considering relocating its embassy to Jerusalem.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/UN-disavows-Israeli-ties-to-Jerusalem-515730


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: TheCuriousAtheist on December 02, 2017, 08:30:14 pm
151 UN states vote to disavow Israeli ties to Jerusalem

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to disavow Israeli ties to Jerusalem as part of six anti-Israel resolutions it approved on Thursday in New York. The vote was 151 in favor and six against, with nine abstentions. The resolution came as the Trump Administration was rumored to be actively considering relocating its embassy to Jerusalem.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/UN-disavows-Israeli-ties-to-Jerusalem-515730

The UN is a bunch of crooks along with FN and EU. They have literally no businesses deciding over peoples ties, or life.

Only LORD God does.


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 17, 2017, 07:52:43 pm
UNSC Weighing Resolution That Would Reject Trump Recognition Of Jerusalem

The United Nations Security Council is considering a draft resolution that would seek to reverse U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Reuters reported on Sunday.

The draft, prepared by Egypt, does not refer to either the U.S. or to President Trump. It was circulated between the 15 members of the council and according to Reuters enjoys support, but the U.S., which wields veto power in the council, is likely to shoot it down.

A vote on the draft resolution, Reuters reported, can take place as early as next week. It would need nine votes to pass and no veto from the U.S., France, Britain, Russia or China.

Arab diplomats began looking for a UNSC resolution to reverse Trump’s decision soon after its announcement.

The U.S. president’s declaration was also rejected by the European Union, with foreign policy Chief Federica Mogherini saying the 28-country body would like to see Jerusalem become the shared capital of both Israel and the Palestinians.

The Czech Republic, however, announced that it recognized the western part of the city as Israel’s capital and according to Israeli media is planning to move its embassy there.

The U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley praised Trump’s decision as “the just and right thing to do.”

The draft resolution “affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon was quoted by Reuters saying, “No vote or debate will change the clear reality that Jerusalem” is the capital of Israel.

A UN Security Council resolution adopted in December 2016 “underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations,” Reuters reported.

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/12/17/unsc-weighing-resolution-that-would-reject-trump-recognition-of-jerusalem/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 18, 2017, 06:04:47 pm
U.S. vetoes UN call for withdrawal of Trump Jerusalem decision

Zec 12:2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

Zec 12:3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

fulfilled


The United States was further isolated on Monday over President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital when it blocked a United Nations Security Council call for the declaration to be withdrawn.

The remaining 14 council members voted in favour of the Egyptian-drafted resolution, which did not specifically mention the United States or Trump but which expressed "deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem."

"What we witnessed here in the Security Council is an insult. It won't be forgotten," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said after the vote, adding that it was the first veto cast by the United States in more than six years.

"The fact that this veto is being done in defence of American sovereignty and in defence of America's role in the Middle East peace process is not a source of embarrassment for us; it should be an embarrassment to the remainder of the Security Council," Haley said.

The U.N. draft resolution affirmed "that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council."

Trump abruptly reversed decades of U.S. policy this month when he recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, generating outrage from Palestinians and the Arab world and concern among Washington's western allies.

"In the wake of the decision of the United States ... the situation has become more tense with an increase in incidents, notably rockets fired from Gaza and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces," U.N. Middle East peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council ahead of the vote.

EMERGENCY GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION

Trump also plans to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The draft U.N. resolution had called upon all countries to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Haley and Trump for the veto in a video clip posted on his Facebook page.

Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be in the city's eastern sector, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move never recognised internationally.

Following the U.S. veto, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Arab states, which had agreed earlier this month to seek a Security Council resolution, would meet to evaluate the situation to determine what their next steps might be.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the Palestinians would seek a rare emergency special session of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Trump's decision.

Under a 1950 resolution, an emergency special session can be called for the General Assembly to consider a matter "with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures" if the Security Council fails to act.

Only 10 such sessions have been convened, and the last time the General Assembly met in such a session was in 2009 on Israeli actions in occupied Palestinian territories. Any outcome of such a session is non-binding, but carries political weight.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/israel-believes-u-veto-u-n-resolution-jerusalem-170400201.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 18, 2018, 02:56:16 am
Erdogan, Pope to discuss Trump’s Jerusalem move

Turkish president to visit Vatican, discuss response to US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/240757




Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 18, 2018, 03:09:08 am
Abbas cancels peace negotiations due to Saudi leaked Jerusalem plan  :D
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas decided to deliver Sunday’s speech – in which he ruled out a peace process as long as Donald Trump is US president – after parts of Trump’s Middle East peace plan were leaked to him by the Saudis, Channel 2 reported on Tuesday night. Even before Sunday’s speech, Ben Caspit of The Jerusalem Post’s Hebrew sister paper Maariv reported last week that Abbas was angered by the preliminary reports of Trump’s plan that the Saudis had given him.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Abbas-cancels-peace-negotiations-due-to-Saudi-leaked-Jerusalem-plan-536945


PA Chairman threatens war over Jerusalem

Mahmoud Abbas threatened war if US President Donald Trump does not allocate Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian State. In a Cairo speech, Abbas said, “Jerusalem is the key to peace if it is our capital, and if it is not – it is the key to war. Trump will need to chose.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/240790


US Withholds $65 Million From UN’s Palestinian Refugee Agency, Calls for Changes

“There is a need to undertake a fundamental re-examination of UNRWA, both in the way it operates and the way it is funded,” a U.S. official told AFP. According to the State Department, the U.S. sent UNRWA $60 million to keep the agency operating through the end of the year, but withheld additional planned funding of $65 million, while encouraging other countries to share the burden.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/101110/us-withholds-65-million-uns-palestinian-refugee-agency-calls-changes/

Washington’s Paradigm Shift on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The Trump administration’s approach to the Palestinians represents what Mideast experts and Israel advocates are describing as a paradigm shift in Washington, D.C.—acknowledging that Palestinian rejectionism lies at the root of the Arab-Israeli conflict, rather than reflexively blaming the Jewish state for the impasse in negotiations. The purported paradigm shift comes as the current Palestinian leadership is rejecting American involvement in the peace process.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/101125/washingtons-paradigm-shift-israeli-palestinian-conflict/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 22, 2018, 07:30:14 pm
VP Pence Says U.S. Embassy Will be Moved to Jerusalem 'Before the End of the Year'

 Jerusalem will have a United States embassy in the city “before the end of the year,” Vice President Mike Pence told Israel’s Knesset.

"By finally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the United States has chosen fact over fiction, and fact is the only true foundation for a just and lasting peace," Pence told Israeli parliamentarians.

In his speech to Israel’s Knesset, Pence also encouraged Palestinians to reconsider negotiations.

"Peace can only come through dialogue,” he said.

He also said aid was forthcoming for persecuted Christians in Israel.

"For the first time we are providing direct support to Christian and religious minorities as they rebuild their communities after years of repression and war,” he said.

Pence’s words weren’t well received by everyone, however. Arab members of the Knesset boycotted the vice president’s speech.

"We recognize that peace will require compromise, but you can be confident the one thing the United States of America will never compromise is the safety and security of Israel. Any peace agreement must preserve Israel's ability to defend itself by itself," he said.

Pence also said that the U.S. would not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.

“We are your friends," he said. "And the day is coming when you will be free from the evil regime that suffocates your dreams and buries your hopes. We are with you, and when your day of liberations finally comes, and come it will, the friendship between our peoples will blossom once again."

https://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/vp-pence-says-u-s-embassy-will-move-to-jerusalem-before-the-end-of-the-year.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on January 28, 2018, 04:41:04 am
UN issues 240 recommendations for Israel, including halting settlement expansion

A United Nations’ review of human rights topics in Israel has issued 240 recommendations, including that it end settlement expansion. Israel said it would need time to review 232 recommendations made by individual countries in the Human Rights Council working group in Geneva. It “noted” eight recommendations submitted by the “State of Palestine,” saying the entity doesn’t “satisfy the criteria for statehood under international law.”

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/un-recommends-that-israel-halt-settlement-expansion-1.5766686


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on February 21, 2018, 02:51:26 am
Papyrus With Oldest-Known Hebrew Reference to Jerusalem Proves City Jewish 1,300 Years Before Birth of Islam

A 2,700-year-old papyrus that is the oldest known non-Biblical Hebrew reference to Jerusalem has been found, announced the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on Wednesday. The papyrus, originally stolen by antiquities thieves, was put on display in Jerusalem on Wednesday, coinciding with the second UNESCO resolution attempting to deny Judaism’s connection to its most holy city – a connection this ancient artifact so graphically proves.

The two lines of writing on the tiny scrap of papyrus (4.3 inches by 1 inch) are surprisingly clear: “From the king’s maidservant, from Naharta, jars of wine, to Jerusalem.”

The scroll was originally plundered from a cave in Nahal Hever in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea by antiquities thieves. Professor Shmuel Ahituv of Ben-Gurion University studied the papyrus when it was first recovered. He spoke at the IAA press conference, noting that on the papyrus, the name of the city was spelled with a letter ‘yud’, as it is in modern Hebrew. Pronounced ‘Yerushalayim’, Ahituv noted that it is spelled this way only four times in the entire Bible.

Ahituv also noted that papyrus, made from the pith of the papyrus plant, was more expensive than the more common clay. The text specified a “female servant of the king” sending the wineskins to “Yerushalem”, suggesting the shipment was sent by a prominent woman to a person of high status in the capital.

FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK LINK https://www.jewsnews.co.il/2018/02/18/papyrus-with-oldest-known-hebrew-reference-to-jerusalem-proves-city-jewish-1300-years-before-birth-of-islam.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 01, 2018, 06:56:58 pm
Jerusalem Embassy Will Bring War, Warns Palestinian Leader

A key Palestinian religious leader is warning that there will be war if the United States follows through on its announced plan to open an embassy in Jerusalem, which Washington now formally recognizes as Israel’s capital. The threat, according to Palestinian Media Watch, comes from Sheik Muhammad Hussein, the grand mufti of Jerusalem. Last week, the State Department announced the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will open May 14, 2018, the 70th anniversary of Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948.....LINK

http://www.wnd.com/2018/02/jerusalem-embassy-will-bring-war-warns-grand-mufti/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on March 05, 2018, 07:02:12 pm
Guatemala to move embassy to Jerusalem 2 days after US embassy move

Guatemala will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in May, two days after the US embassy makes the same move, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said on Sunday at a conference in Washington. “I would like to thank President Trump for leading the way…Morales said in a speech…

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5145367,00.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 01, 2018, 01:23:22 am
UN Human Rights Commissioner Lashes Out Against Israel Again

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein accused Israel of using “excessive force” in dealing with Hamas-led demonstrations near and along the border fence in Gaza. “Every week, we witness instances of use of lethal force against unarmed demonstrators,” Zeid said last Friday. He claimed, without any first-hand knowledge of actual conditions on the ground, that many of the Palestinians killed while taking part in demonstrations as part of the so-called “Great March of Return” were “unarmed or not presenting an immininent threat.”

https://canadafreepress.com/article/un-human-rights-commissioner-lashes-out-against-israel-again


Quote
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein

is it me or does that just look wrong


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on May 15, 2018, 01:21:26 am
White House blames Hamas for Gaza protester deaths  :)

It wasn’t surprising that Hamas blamed Israel for the deaths Monday of more than 50 Palestinians protesting the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. What was unusual was a White House spokesman defending Israel in such clashes.

“The responsibility for these tragic deaths rest squarely with Hamas,” said White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah.

“Hamas is intentionally and cynically provoking this response,” he told reporters.

“As the Secretary of State [Mike Pompeo] said, Israel has the right to defend itself.”

Earlier Monday, the health ministry in Gaza run by the government of Hamas, a U.S.-declared terrorist organization, claimed dozens of Palestinians protesting at the border were killed by Israeli fire. The Israeli military said it was repelling an effort by Hamas to breach the border. The Palestinians were commemorating Nakba Day, the “catastrophe” of Israel’s founding 70 years ago.

Robert Spencer, the editor of Jihad Watch, commented that what the White House spokesman said is true, but “it is startling to see it come from the White House after so many years when Israel was always the one to blame there.”

Amid the protests, the U.S. officially opened an embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, drawing effusive praise from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Today, today, the embassy of the most powerful nation on earth, our greatest ally, the United States of America, opened here,” Netanyahu said at a ceremony marking the event.

“God bless the United States of America and God bless Jerusalem, the eternal undivided capital of Israel,” he said.

Netanyahu praised President Trump for his decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. Embassy. When the date for the embassy opening was announced in February, coinciding with the founding of Israel, PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat called the move a “flagrant violation of international law and agreements” signed between the Palestinians and Israel that will “destroy” the two-state solution.

The Arab League, meanwhile, planned to hold an extraordinary meeting Monday to discuss the United State’s “illegal” move of its embassy to Jerusalem, reported the state news agency MENA, according to Reuters.

Iran, denouncing Trump as “feeble-minded,” called on the Palestinians and the international community to engage in resistance, the Times of Israel reported.

Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri urged Muslims to take up arms and carry out jihad against the United States, saying the embassy move was evidence that negotiations and “appeasement” have failed the Palestinians, reported France 24

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Monday the United Kingdom had no plans to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Britain was one of 128 countries that voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution in December declaring Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel “null and void.” Nine countries voted against it.

The Palestinian leadership, Fatah and Hamas, claims the Jewish people have falsified their 3,000 year-old history to lay claim to Jerusalem. The holy city, the Palestinians insist, is “Palestinian” and must be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

After the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 was passed, Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama signed every six months a waiver incorporated in the law allowing the president to delay its implementation for national security reasons.

Trump signed the waiver in June but decided in December finally to implement the law.

The three presidents who chose to delay enacting the Jerusalem Embassy Act nevertheless affirmed publicly when they were in office that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, and two of them said they supported moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

Obama, a Democrat, told AIPAC in 2008 that Jerusalem “will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided. I have no illusions that this will be easy.”

Bush, a Republican, promised during the 2000 campaign that “as soon as I take office I will begin the process of moving the U.S. ambassador to the city Israel has chosen as its capital.”

And Clinton, a Democrat, entered office in 1993 saying he supported “the principle” of moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.”

http://www.wnd.com/2018/05/white-house-blames-hamas-for-gaza-protester-deaths/


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on June 02, 2018, 05:24:24 pm
NATO chief says alliance won’t aid Israel if Iran attacks

NATO’s secretary-general said Saturday the alliance wouldn’t come to Israel’s defense in case of attack by arch enemy Iran. Jens Stoltenberg told the magazine Der Spiegel in comments published Saturday that Israel is a partner, but not a member and that NATO’s “security guarantee” doesn’t apply to Israel.

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5276805,00.html



Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 10, 2018, 08:33:50 pm
Watchdog group: United Nations ignores antisemitism, de-Judaizes Holocaust

The United Nations has failed to seriously combat antisemitism and in some cases has de-Judaized the Holocaust, a Geneva watchdog group said on Monday. UN Watch made the accusation in a report it presented at a special event at the Knesset. Israel has long argued that the UN’s treatment of it is tantamount to antisemitism because of the body’s long record of excessively condemning Israeli actions above and beyond those of other nations.

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Watchdog-group-United-Nations-ignores-antisemitism-de-Judaizes-Holocaust-562076


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 14, 2018, 05:36:33 pm
Israel exchanges intense fire with Hamas militants in Gaza

Smoke raises in the background following an Israeli airstrike hits a governmental building in Gaza City , Saturday, July 14, 2018. The Israeli military carried out its largest daytime airstrike campaign in Gaza since the 2014 war as Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel, threatening to spark a wider conflagration after weeks of tensions along the volatile border. No casualties or major damage was reported on either side, and Israel said it was focused on hitting military targets and was warning Gaza civilians to keep their distance from certain sites.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military carried out its largest daytime airstrike campaign in Gaza since the 2014 war Saturday as Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel throughout the day, threatening to trigger an all-out war after weeks of growing tensions along the volatile border.

Two Palestinian teenagers were killed in an airstrike in Gaza City, while three Israelis were wounded from a rocket that landed on a residential home.

Israel said it was focused on hitting militant targets and was warning Gaza civilians to keep their distance from certain sites. But even before the report of casualties the intense tit-for-tat airstrikes and rocket barrages still marked a significant flare-up after a long period of a generally low-level, simmering conflict.

"The Israeli army delivered its most painful strike against Hamas since the 2014 war and we will increase the strength of our attacks as much as necessary," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the latest Israeli sortie, the third of the day, struck some 40 Hamas targets including tunnels, logistical centers and a Hamas battalion headquarters. He said the escalation was the result of the sustained Hamas rocket attacks, its fomenting of violence along the border and its campaign of launching incendiary kites and balloons that have devastated Israeli farmlands and nature reserves.

"Our message to Hamas is that we can and will enhance the intensity of our effort if needed," he said. "What Hamas is doing is pushing them ever closer to the edge of the abyss ... Hamas will have to understand that there is a price to be paid."

Later, witnesses reported that Israeli warplanes dropped four bombs on an unfinished building near a Hamas police and security compound in Gaza City, reducing the old structure to rubble. The four-story building is adjacent to a public park. Gaza's Health ministry said two teenagers were killed in the strike and ten others injured.

It marked the first casualties of the day. Striking in the heart of Gaza City is typically only seen during full-blown conflicts like the 2014 war and could signal that a further escalation may be in store.

The Israeli military had no immediate reaction to that strike but said it had targeted a separate high-rise building in the northern Gaza Strip that was used as a Hamas urban warfare training facility. It said a tunnel was dug under the building.

Shortly after, Israeli medical officials said three Israelis were wounded from a rocket that landed on a house in southern Israel. It said paramedics in the southern city of Sderot were treating a 52-year-old man with a chest wound, a 17-year-old girl with a face wound and a 20-year-old woman with injuries to her limbs.

Sirens wailed overnight and throughout most of the day Saturday in southern Israel as waves of rockets and mortars were launched from Gaza amid the airstrikes. The military said it identified about 60 launches of rockets and mortars from Gaza toward Israeli territory, of which about 10 were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system. As a precaution, the military shut down a popular beach in southern Israel and placed limitations on gatherings of large crowds. Israeli police says four of the projectiles caused damage.

Israel has been warning Hamas in recent weeks that while it has no interest in engaging in the kind of conflict that led to the sides fighting three wars over the past decade, it will not tolerate Gaza militants' continued efforts to breach the border and its campaign to devastate Israeli border communities with incendiary attacks.

With Israel focused on rising tension along its northern border in its efforts to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent military foothold in post-civil war Syria, it has been wary of escalating hostilities in Gaza. But Netanyahu has also come under pressure to act from southern Israeli communities, who have once again found themselves under rocket fire from Gaza in addition to contending with the daily field fires.

"We are ready to operate simultaneously in different theaters," Conricus said, referring to the dual threats from Syria and Gaza. "It will be challenging to fight on more than one border but it is something we can do and are prepared to do."

Israel's military chief visited the border area for briefings and the Security Cabinet, Israel's top decision-making body, is expected to convene Sunday to discuss further actions.

On Friday, thousands of Palestinians gathered near the Gaza border for their near-weekly protest. A 15-year-old Palestinian who tried to climb over the fence into Israel was shot dead. Later the military said an Israeli officer was moderately wounded by a grenade thrown at him.

Gaza's health ministry said Saturday that a 20-year-old struck by gunfire Friday during the protests in the southern Gaza Strip had also died of his wounds.

The Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza has led border protests aimed in part at drawing attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. The demonstrations have been fueled in large part by pervasive despair caused by the blockade, which has caused widespread economic hardship.

Over 130, mostly unarmed, Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since protests began on March 30.

Israel says it is defending its sovereign border and accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover for attempts to breach the border fence and attack civilians and soldiers. Most recently, it has been struggling to cope with the widespread fires caused by the incendiary kites and balloons floating over the border.

In a statement, the military said Hamas' activities "violate Israeli sovereignty, endanger Israeli civilians and sabotage Israel's humanitarian efforts that aim to help Gazan civilians."

In a relatively rare admission, Hamas said it fired the rockets to deter Israel from further action. Most of the recent rockets from Gaza have been fired by smaller factions but Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said it was an "immediate response" that was meant to "deliver the message."

The military said its jets targeted two Hamas tunnels as well as other military compounds, including those involved in the production of the kites and balloons. It said the Hamas battalion headquarters in northern Gaza was completely destroyed and footage it released showed a series of large explosions that left a gaping hole in the ground.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/violence-flares-israel-strikes-gaza-hamas-fires-rockets-034953865.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on July 14, 2018, 05:38:13 pm
Three wounded as 200 projectiles fired at Israel from Gaza Strip

More than 40 targets were struck across the Gaza Strip following incessent rocket fire and launching of aerial incendiary devices.

Close to 200 projectiles were launched from the Gaza Strip toward the South since late Friday with at least 30 of them intercepted by the Iron Dome.

According to the IDF, Hamas launched 100 of the projectiles from 3 p.m onwards. The Iron Dome intercepted about 20 and another 73 fell in open areas. One rocket landed inside a kibbutz in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council area and another rocket struck a courtyard of a synagogue in Sderot, without causing any injuries.

Three Israelis were wounded after a projectile hit a home in Sderot.

According to Magen David Adom, a 14-year-old girl was lightly wounded in her legs, a 15-year-old was lightly wounded with injuries to her face from broken glass and a 52-year-old man was in moderate condition after sustaining a chest wounded. All were evacuated by MDA to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.

Earlier in the day, a firefighter was lightly wounded after falling while trying to take cover from a projectile. Damage was also caused to vehicles and to a chicken coop in a community in the Eshkol Regional Council.

As a precaution, the IDF instructed residents in Gaza border communities to remain within a 15-second radius from bomb shelters or safe rooms, closed the Zikim beach on Saturday and restricted gatherings of more than 100 people in open spaces, and more than 500 people in closed spaces across the border communities.

Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot held a situational assessment with the Gaza Division on Saturday, which included the participation of Southern Command head Maj.-Gen. Hertzi Halevi, Operations Directorate head Maj.-Gen. Aharon Haliva and Gaza Division commander Brig.-Gen. Yehuda Fuchs, as well as other commanders.

Earlier in the day, the IAF carried out the largest daytime operation against Hamas since Operation Protective Edge in 2014 with fighter jets hitting 40 targets across the Gaza Strip, IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis said.

“There are three vectors here that we see in severity and cannot allow them to continue: fire terrorism, terrorism along the fence and rocket fire. We intend to stop it,” Manelis said.

While “it’s too early to talk about a broad military operation, we have understood in recent weeks that this day will come, and once relevant conditions have been created, we will act.”

A senior IAF officer said that while “in the last few hours Hamas has chosen to fire projectiles toward communities close to the Gaza border, you can’t take it for granted they will stop there.”

He warned that Israel would respond in a tougher manner if Hamas increase their distance of rocket fire to over 10 km.

“Hamas will regret it if it goes beyond that range, but we’re prepared for such a possibility,” he said.

The daytime trikes on Saturday targeted the headquarters of the Beit Lahiya Battalion, with jets striking urban warfare training facilities, weapon storage warehouses, training compounds, command centers, offices and more.

“The battalion command’s entire infrastructure has been destroyed, vaporized, turned into a giant hole,” Manelis said. Other strikes targeted armories, including those belonging to Hamas’s naval terrorism wing.

“This attack displays the IDF’s advanced intelligence and operational capabilities and could expand as needed and in accordance with a situational assessment,” the military said.

Later on Saturday, the IAF struck a high-rise building in the al-Shati refugee camp, wounding at least two children and several other Gazans. The IDF said it had warned residents of the building in advance of the strike, which was targeted because it was being used by Hamas as an urban warfare training facility and had a tunnel underneath it for underground warfare training.

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/IDF-strikes-terror-tunnels-as-31-Hamas-rockets-fired-to-southern-Israel-562479


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 03, 2018, 03:53:21 am
The United Nations demands that Israel give up the eastern part of Jerusalem, so it can serve as the capital of Palestine

UN Secretary General calls for Jerusalem to be capital of Palestinian state, Abbas accuses Israel of Apartheid at UN pro-Palestinian event.

The commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People at the United Nations began Wednesday.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressed the opening meeting of the three-day commemoration.

Secretary General Guterres said that the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people served to “remind us of our collective and unfinished task” to create a Palestinian State.

Guterres criticized Israel for “demolitions, continued settlement construction, and evictions” and stated that eastern Jerusalem must be the capital of a Palestinian Arab state.

Palestinian Authority representative to the United Nations Riyad Mansour read a statement by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the meeting.

Abbas noted in his statement that the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is held on the anniversary of the UN vote to partition mandatory Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state.

The PA chairman called the partition vote “unfair” and stated that the decision was made “without the consent of the Palestinian people.”

Abbas accused Israel of “Apartheid,” of refusing to live up to its commitments under the Oslo accords, and of “colonialism.”

According to Abbas, the PA has fought incitement and terrorism, has fulfilled all of its obligations under the Oslo accords, and has never refused negotiations.

He called on the United Nations to end the “double standards” under which he said Israel was not required to abide by UN resolutions.

Henry Suarez, the representative of the Non-Aligned Movement from Venezuela, also spoke at the meeting and accused Israel of attempting to “change the character” of Jerusalem and called for the international community to hold Israel accountable for its alleged “violations of international law.”

https://www.jewsnews.co.il/2018/11/29/the-united-nations-demands-that-israel-give-up-the-eastern-part-of-jerusalem-so-it-can-serve-as-the-capital-of-palestine.html


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 03, 2018, 03:54:32 am
148 nations disavow Jewish ties to Jerusalem, Temple Mount

The UN General Assembly…approved six anti-Israel resolutions including two that ignored Jewish ties to the Temple Mount. The primary resolution…that passed 148-11 with 14 abstentions…disavowed Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. Both that text and a second more global one on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which passed 156-8, with 12 abstentions, spoke of…The Temple Mount – solely by its Muslim name of al-Haram al-Sharif.

https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/148-nations-disavow-Jewish-ties-to-Jerusalem-Temple-Mount-573295


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 04, 2018, 04:12:15 am
UN passes 6 anti-Israel resolutions in one day, rejects Jewish ties to Jerusalem

Meanwhile, Israel continues to innovate and invent solutions that make the world a better place and alleviate misery and hunger.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-israel-is-changing-the-world-with-these-7-inventions/

Back in the 1980s, Ayn Rand said this about  the United Nations: “Psychologically, the U.N. has contributed a great deal to the gray swamp of demoralization—of cynicism, bitterness, hopelessness, fear and nameless guilt—which is swallowing the Western world. But the communist [Islamic] world has gained a moral sanction, a stamp of civilized respectability from the Western world—it has gained the West’s assistance in deceiving its victims—it has gained the status and prestige of an equal partner, thus establishing the notion that the difference between human rights and mass slaughter is merely a difference of political opinion.
…..

Who, but a concrete-bound epistemological savage, could have expected any other results from such an “experiment in collaboration”? What would you expect from a crime-fighting committee whose board of directors included the leading gangsters of the community?”

“When an institution reaches the degree of corruption, brazen cynicism and dishonor demonstrated by the U.N. in its shameful history, to discuss it at length is to imply that its members and supporters may possibly be making an innocent error about its nature—which is no longer possible. There is no margin for error about a monstrosity that was created for the alleged purpose of preventing wars by uniting the world against any aggressor, but proceeded to unite it against any victim of aggression.”

“UN passes 6 anti-Israel resolutions in one day, rejects Jewish ties to Jerusalem,” World Israel News, December 2, 2018 (thanks to Mark):

    The United Nations on Friday continued its streak of frequently condemning the Jewish state, passing six anti-Israel resolutions.

    The first, titled “The Syrian Golan,” passed with 100 votes in favor, 12 against and 62 abstentions. For a second consecutive year, the United Kingdom broke with the European Union to vote against it, joining the United States, Israel, Canada, Australia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands and a few others.

    According to the nongovernmental organization U.N. Watch, which monitors anti-Israel bias at the world body, the measure is “oblivious to genocidal massacres taking place now in Syria, and its security implications for Israel and the civilians of the Golan Heights,” and it “ignores Syria’s history of shelling Israeli communities, its leader’s calls for a ‘war of annihilation’ against Israel and Syria’s 1967 aggression that led to its loss of the territory.”
    Attacking Jewish control of Jerusalem

    The second, titled “Jerusalem,” was adopted with 148 votes in favor, 11 against and 14 abstentions, rejects Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. Israel and the United States were joined by Canada, Australia, Guatemala and six others to vote against.

    According to U.N. Watch, this resolution “implies that Israeli administration of Jerusalem hinders freedom of religion when in fact the opposite is true – before 1967, Jordan destroyed Jewish holy sites and denied access to Jews, while under Israel all faiths have access to the city and enjoy full freedoms.”

    The third, titled “Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat,” which appropriates U.N. funds for anti-Israel purposes, passed with 96 votes in favor, 13 against and 64 abstentions.

    The United States, Israel, Australia, Canada, Moldova, Hungary, Honduras, Guatemala and others voted against it.

    “The DPR serves the biased special committee and is dedicated to spreading anti-Israel propaganda the world over,” said U.N. Watch. “Its 16-member staff is grossly disproportionate to the U.N.’s other four divisions which cover enormous geographical regions.”
    Pushing Palestinian narrative

    The fourth, “Special information programme on the question of Palestine of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat,” was adopted with 152 votes in favor, eight against and 14 abstentions. The United States, Israel, Canada, Australia, Guatemala and a few others voted against the resolution.

    “The program eschews a balanced approach by overtly choosing the Palestinian over Israeli narrative, ignoring terrorism against Israeli men, women and children, and other daily realities of Israeli life,” stated U.N. Watch. “Resources devoted to anti-Israel propaganda are taken away from other worthy causes.”

    The fifth, “Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine,” passed 156 votes in favor, eight against and 12 abstentions. The United States, Israel Canada and Australia and four others voted against the measure, which solely blames Israel for no peace in the area.

    The final resolution, “Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,” was adopted 100 votes in favor, 12 against and 62 abstentions. The United States, Israel, Australia, Canada and Hungary joined several other countries to vote against the resolution…

rest:https://gellerreport.com/2018/12/un-anti-israel.html/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter


Title: Re: UN chief: End occupation, divide Jerusalem
Post by: Mark on December 10, 2018, 04:09:52 am
The UN hits a new low, as their leader suggests deploying armed forces to protect Muslim ‘Palestinians’ from the Israeli Army

The protection of Palestinian civilians could be improved by the deployment of UN-mandated armed forces or unarmed observers, a beefed-up UN civilian presence or expanded UN assistance, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote in a report on Friday.

The United Nations General Assembly requested the report in a resolution adopted in June that condemned Israel for excessive force against Palestinian civilians and denounced the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israeli civilian areas.

The resolution asked for proposals to ensure “the safety, protection and well-being of the Palestinian civilian population under Israeli occupation, including … recommendations regarding an international protection mechanism.”

Guterres outlined four options, but he did not make a specific recommendation. He noted that all options would need the cooperation of both parties, a sustained cessation of hostilities and additional resources to ensure they were viable. He wrote:

The combination of prolonged military occupation, constant security threats, weak political institutions, and a deadlocked peace process provides for a protection challenge that is highly complex politically, legally and practically.”

Armed UN peacekeepers or armed forces from a group of like-minded states operating under a United Nations mandate could be deployed to offer physical protection, Guterres said. This option, however, would need a Security Council mandate and the United States, a close ally of Israel, would likely wield its veto.

A UN or non-UN civilian observer mission could be deployed “with a specific mandate to report on protection and well-being issues and provide local mediation,” Guterres said. This would also need a UN-mandate.

A third option could be expanding current UN programs and development and humanitarian aid to address the needs of Palestinian civilians more effectively and strengthen Palestinian institutions, he wrote.

The final option could be to send additional UN human rights, coordination and political officers to boost monitoring and reporting on the situation and increase the UN’s visibility, Guterres said.

The General Assembly resolution requesting the report was adopted with 120 votes in favour, eight against and 45 abstentions. It was put forward in the General Assembly after the United States vetoed a similar resolution in the 15-member UN Security Council.

“The best way to ensure the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population is still the negotiation of a comprehensive, just and final settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict,” Guterres said.

https://www.jewsnews.co.il/2018/12/09/the-un-hits-a-new-low-as-their-leader-suggests-deploying-armed-forces-to-protect-muslim-palestinians-from-the-israeli-army.html