U.N SHOOTS DOWN ARAB COMPLAINT AGAINST ISRAEL

UN shoots down Arab push to condemn Israeli nuclear policy

Arab League move, blocked by 51-43 votes in Vienna, comes amid pressure on Israel to detail, relinquish its alleged WMDs

By Times of Israel staff September 20, 2013, 3:40 pm 22-The Times of Israel

The United Nations nuclear watchdog on Friday narrowly voted down an Arab League resolution to single out Israel for criticism over its alleged nuclear arsenal.The bid, against which the US spoke out this week, reflects mounting frustration in the Arab world over the deferment of an international conference on the banning of atomic arms in the region, Reuters reported Friday.The International Atomic Energy Agency rejected the initiative by a vote of 51 to 43 at its annual meeting in Vienna. 32 nations abstained.Had the resolution been passed by the IAEA, Israel would have been called upon to sign on to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and submit to agency scrutiny of its nuclear facilities.After the vote, Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin congratulated ministry employees and the Prime Minister’s Office, who worked incessantly in recent days to make sure the resolution would fail.“I am glad that common sense prevailed and that the nations of the world rejected the proposal, which was designed to attack Israel, ” he said, adding, “The whole world must understand that the main task before the IAEA and the international community is to stop the Iranian nuclear program.”Ambassador Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, who heads the Arab League group at the IAEA, was quoted as saying Friday that the vote would show the world that “Israel is not playing a constructive role.”The Arab initiative was part of mounting international pressure on Israel to relinquish — or at least admit to possessing — weapons of mass destruction. The heightened interest in the Jewish state’s alleged nuclear, chemical and biological weapons comes amid indications from Iran that it’s ready to show flexibility in nuclear talks, and in the wake of a Russian-brokered deal that would see Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons shipped off and eventually destroyed.A similar version of the resolution was narrowly passed four years ago at the IAEA, but its implementation was postponed due to pressure from Western governments. In 2011 and 2012, Arab member states refrained from pushing the initiative fearing it would harm attempts to convene an international conference to rid the Middle East of WMDs.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Assad’s decision to amass chemical weapons was “in response to Israel’s nuclear capabilities” and that “Israel has technological superiority and doesn’t need nuclear weapons.”According to a report in the September/October issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Israel possesses a stockpile of 80 nuclear warheads, all of which were produced by 2004, when Israel froze all production.Israel’s nuclear program has long been shrouded in secrecy, with the country maintaining a policy of ambiguity while refusing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.Previous estimates have put the number of warheads in Israel’s possession at up to 400. According to foreign reports, Israel’s military has the capacity to deliver a nuclear payload via a variety of methods, including ballistic missiles, aircraft, and submarine-launched cruise missiles.

Temple Mount: Is it worth fighting for?

Zahava Englard Author of THE GILBOA IRIS (Gefen Publishing House) and SETTLING FOR MORE: FROM JERSEY TO JUDEA (Urim Publications).

In 1967 Moshe Dayan shocked much of the Jewish world as well as the Muslim world when he handed the keys to the Temple Mount to the Islamic Waqf.He did this on his own, without consulting with the Knesset, without consulting with then Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, and without a care as to the sentiments of the Jewish nation.Moshe Dayan was likewise instrumental in sustaining the continuation of the ban against Jewish prayer on Haram esh-Sharif. This compound was our Har Habayit, our Temple Mount during ancient times.

Since that dark day in 1967, the Muslims have made a concerted effort to claim Jerusalem’s holy sites as Muslim sites albeit lacking theological and historical proof. They completely ignore the history and ancientness of the site.

Gen Moshe Dayan (on left) with Haim Bar Lev and Levi Eshkol (photo courtesy Illan Bruner, Israel National Photo collection)

Their motivation, roused by their objective to de-legitimize the Jewish connection to the land and city is further enabled by the passivity of the Israeli leadership.  The Waqf has systematically engaged in construction atop the Temple Mount and have thrown out valuable antiquities that date back to the Beit Hamikdash, the Jewish Temple.  From the Mosques on Temple Mount, Muslim clerics throughout the years instigate frequent violent rioting against Jewish worshipers below at the Kotel.All this with nary a sound from the Knesset.Renowned Israeli archeologist, Dr. Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University and the Shalem Center, has labored for years against the Waqf’s wanton destruction of ancient Jewish artifacts with little success. She with a team of archeologists currently sift through the dirt from the Mount deposited as garbage by the Islamic Waqf, and indeed have come up with major finds dating back to the Jewish people at the time of the first temple.

(photo courtesy Biblical Archeological Society)

What may not be known to many is that as the Six Day War continued to progress in Israel’s favor, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol made plans for the eventual takeover of Mount Moriah – the Temple Mount. He formulated a plan in which the management of that holy site would be led by a committee of Muslims, Christians and Jewish clerics in order to safeguard the freedom of prayer for each of the three faiths.

The mosques would remain unharmed.Moshe Dayan ruined the Prime Minister’s plans and sustained the status quo that only one of those three faiths was allowed to pray at the holy site.While considered a national war hero, Moshe Dayan, nevertheless snubbed his nose at a miracle witnessed by the entire world that was almost 2000 years in the making. Prime Minister Eshkol felt powerless against Moshe Dayan, the great  war hero… The great war hero who groundlessly and irrationally feared the building of the Third Temple.

To this day, Jewish visitation to the Temple Mount is limited, and even when permission is granted, members of the Jewish nation are forbidden to pray there.Why has this shameful and abominable policy continued throughout the years, throughout the successive governments, left wing and right wing alike? For the same reason Europe is falling today…The fear of raising the ire of the Muslims. It is a fear that hides behind an inane banner of political correctness that can only be defined as outrageously absurd.  And the successive governments of the State of Israel, snubbing the divine gift – the rebirth of its nation, against all odds – in its own land, joins the rest of the “free” world in its uncontainable tsunami of fear.Indeed, like the rest of the world, the Israeli leadership falls on its knees paralyzed by a panic of violent Muslim retribution should we take a stand for what is the very core of our spiritual existence.The Temple Mount is where God has chosen to rest his Shechina, HIS divine spirit. It is sacred ground. And in this Divine Spirit is the essence to the Torah, and hence the essence of the Jewish nation.And yet, the real players in the Israeli government who are for the most part spiritually bankrupt, cower at the mere threat of an Arab riot should we have the “audacity” to pray at our most holy site. The Israeli government is quick to blink at the first stone thrown by an Islamic terrorist incensed at Jews praying anywhere near the Temple Mount  and shamefully abandons its nation’s heritage, its birthright.Yes, Islamic violence is unnerving, daunting and terrifying. Who has not read about this diabolical political cult’s chilling atrocities against their own people, let alone against whom they consider “non-believers?”  Who has not seen the horrifying images of their evil? Who is still unaware of the rampant, unbridled malevolence that rages from the many echelons of Islam? Be that as it may, the State of Israel – the nation of Israel, is not without resources.Why are we cowering? The struggle for Har Habayit, the Temple Mount is not about the control of one level of religious Jewish practice over another. It is not of factional substance. The Temple Mount is about who we are, what we are, how we came to be and why we came to be the Jewish Nation. The Temple Mount is our legacy. It is inseparable from the heart of our people. It is the very bastion of our faith that is 4000 years strong.And we are giving voice to maniacal, blood-thirsty Jihadists to define limits to our religious worship?  To forbid us to utter a prayer as we stand on hallowed ground? To move our lips? Are we to continue the pathetic stance of sanctioning the theft of what is inherently ours? If this is so, how pitiable we have become.Now is not the time to set our weapons down for plowshares. A bitter pill to swallow, for sure.But, some things are just worth fighting for, dammit.

Israeli forces manhandle EU diplomats, seize West Bank aid

By Noah Browning-sept 21,13-yahoonews
KHIRBET AL-MAKHUL, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers manhandled European diplomats on Friday and seized a truck full of tents and emergency aid they had been trying to deliver to Palestinians whose homes were demolished this week.A Reuters reporter saw soldiers throw sound grenades at a group of diplomats, aid workers and locals in the occupied West Bank, and yank a French diplomat out of the truck before driving away with its contents."They dragged me out of the truck and forced me to the ground with no regard for my diplomatic immunity," French diplomat Marion Castaing said."This is how international law is being respected here," she said, covered with dust.The Israeli army and police declined to comment.
Locals said Khirbet Al-Makhul was home to about 120 people. The army demolished their ramshackle houses, stables and a kindergarten on Monday after Israel's high court ruled that they did not have proper building permits.Despite losing their property, the inhabitants have refused to leave the land, where, they say, their families have lived for generations along with their flocks of sheep.Israeli soldiers stopped the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivering emergency aid on Tuesday and on Wednesday IRCS staff managed to put up some tents but the army forced them to take the shelters down.Diplomats from France, Britain, Spain, Ireland, Australia and the European Union's political office, turned up on Friday with more supplies. As soon as they arrived, about a dozen Israeli army jeeps converged on them, and soldiers told them not to unload their truck."It's shocking and outrageous. We will report these actions to our governments," said one EU diplomat, who declined to be named because he did not have authorization to talk to the media."(Our presence here) is a clear matter of international humanitarian law. By the Geneva Convention, an occupying power needs to see to the needs of people under occupation. These people aren't being protected," he said.In scuffles between soldiers and locals, several villagers were detained and an elderly Palestinian man fainted and was taken for medical treatment to a nearby ambulance.The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement that Makhul was the third Bedouin community to be demolished by the Israelis in the West Bank and adjacent Jerusalem municipality since August.Palestinians have accused the Israeli authorities of progressively taking their historical grazing lands, either earmarking it for military use or handing it over to the Israelis whose settlements dot the West Bank.
Israelis and Palestinians resumed direct peace talks last month after a three-year hiatus. Palestinian officials have expressed serious doubts about the prospects of a breakthrough."What the Israelis are doing is not helpful to the negotiations. Under any circumstances, talks or not, they're obligated to respect international law," the unnamed EU diplomat said.(Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Louise Ireland)

WH confirms: Obama to meet with Abbas

Leaders will discuss recently relaunched peace talks; no plans for US president to meet Hasan Rouhani

By AP and Times of Israel staff September 20, 2013, 11:31 pm 1-The Times of Israel

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week. The meeting will occur just days before Obama hosts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said the subject of Tuesday’s meeting with Abbas will be recently relaunched peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Netanyahu will be at the White House on Sept. 30. In recent weeks, Secretary of State John Kerry has also met with both leaders.Rhodes said Obama on Tuesday will meet with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, with whom he will discuss the influx of refugees to Lebanon from the Syrian civil war. He said Obama will meet Monday with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

Speaking to the possibility that Obama will meet with newly-elected Iranian President Hasan Rouhani in New York, Rhodes reiterated that there was no one-on-one scheduled between the two leaders.Rouhani’s recent comments regarding Iran’s nuclear program and rapprochement with the West were not enough, according to the official.“We’re gonna make judgments based on the actions of the Iranian government, not just their words,” Rhodes said.

Pope seeks historic easing of rigid Catholic doctrine

Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere 2 hours ago-sept 20,13-yahoonews

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Francis has urged a break with the Catholic Church's harsh "obsession" with divorce, gays, contraception and abortion, in an interview signalling a dramatic shift in the Vatican's tone.The Argentine pope has brought a series of fresh perspectives to the notoriously rigid Church since his election in March, and his latest remarks on some of its key doctrines sent shock waves around the world."Revolutionary words", remarked Italy's biggest newspaper Corriere della Sera on Friday, while the International Herald Tribune's front page headline read: "Bluntly, Pope pushes shift in church."In the 30-page interview published in Jesuit journals on Thursday, the pope urged "mercy" and understanding for those who often feel most discriminated against by the Church."We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that," Francis said.The pope said that when these issues were discussed, they had to be put in context."The dogmatic and moral teachings of the Church are not all equivalent. The Church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently."We have to find a new balance. Otherwise even the moral edifice of the Church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel."Francis -- who has shown a strong reformist drive in his first few months in office -- said the Church needed more than anything to be able to "heal wounds".On homosexuality he said the Church "does not want to" condemn gays, and that "it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person".The 76-year-old pope stressed that the Church's official position had not changed, but said that it should "always keep in mind the individual".The interview was published after the pope on Monday called for "another way" of treating divorcees who remarry -- a thorny issue since Catholics who wed a second time are currently not allowed to receive Holy Communion at mass.In Thursday's interview, he also said the Church should be more merciful and welcoming towards women who had undergone abortions.The confessional "is not a torture chamber", added the pope, saying priests should be neither too rigid nor too lax in their approach to the sacrament.The remarks show a marked shift from his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI hardline defence of the Church's strict doctrines."Francis distinguishes between the sin and the sinner. He says that homosexuals are not inferior or different to others, the choice of how to live one's homosexuality being one of the mysteries of man," read an editorial by historian Lucetta Scaraffia in the Vatican daily Osservatore Romano."His Christianity is not a rigid puritanism without heart," she wrote in another Italian daily.Marco Politi, biographer of Benedict XVI noted "a break" with the former pope's way of thinking."Francis says: Church doctrine is what it is. It is useless to keep repeating the same things. What is important is to enter people's personal lives."Swiss Catholic priest and theologian Hans Kueng wrote in the daily La Repubblica that he hoped the pope would seek concrete reforms, "permitting sacrament for the divorced who have remarried, the abolition of celibacy for priests, and female priesthood.It remains to be seen whether Francis' views will translate to deeper change however.Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, on Friday explained that the Church distinguished between homosexuality "which is something negative" and the homosexual person "who has all our affection".And while he has called for understanding for the women who undergo abortion, Francis strongly condemned the act in a visit to gynaecologists on Friday."Every child not born, but condemned to abortion, possesses the face of the Lord who, before even being born and then after his birth, experienced rejection by the world."Francis' papacy -- he is the first Jesuit pope and the first from South America -- has marked a series of breaks with Vatican tradition.The pope has become known for his humility and concern for the poor, and has reached out to non-believers and those in other religions. He regularly picks up the phone to call ordinary people who write to him.

09/20/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

Francis makes key new appointments

The Vatican hierarchy changes

Francis has started building his team of trusted collaborators. Cardinal Mauro Piacenza is being transferred to the Apostolic Penitentiary

Marco Tosatti rome Tomorrow morning the Holy See will announce two important changes in the Curia. The Prefect of the Clergy, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, is leaving the post to which he was appointed by Benedict XVI three years ago. Croatian archbishop Nikola Eterovic, who has been Secretary of the Synod of Bishops for more than nine years, is being replaced by Lorenzo Baldisseri, the Secretary of the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Piacenza will take over as Penitentiary Major of the Apostolic Penitentiary, currently held by Portuguese cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro. The cassocked diplomat Archbishop Beniamino Stella has been appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. He is currently President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the training school of the Holy See’s future Nuncios. Stella has been president of the Academy since 2007. Nikola Eterovic has been appointed as Nuncio to Germany. Mgr. Crociata, who is currently Secretary Generalo f the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), is expected to be appointed Military Ordinary of Italy.The changes are taking place a short time before Francis’ meeting with the international team of eight cardinals who are supposed to be advising the Pope on the reform of the Church’s structures. The meeting has been scheduled for the beginning of October. This the first big change the Pope has made to the system inherited from Benedict XVI, other than the appointment of Archbishop Pietro Parolin as Vatican Secretary of State, replacing Tarcisio Bertone.The reasons for these changes are not given, as per protocol. They are a papal prerogative. Mauro Piacenza started working for the Congregation for the Clergy in 1990, before he was nominated President of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and returned to the Congregation for the Clergy as Secretary, when the Brazilian Claudio Hummes was Prefect. Hummes drew in significant support for Francis in the Conclave that elected him Pope. Piacenza took over from Hummes in 2010 when Hummes reached the age limit for his position.For a month or so now, the Congregation for the Clergy has also been overseeing the Seminaries, with visits to the institutions, particularly those in Rome, starting straight away. In recent years, the Congregation has published a new Directory for the ministry and life of priests, as well as texts to mark the 50^th anniversary of Vatican II, which aimed to correct distorted interpretations of the Council. The Congregation has also stressed the importance of the spiritual dimension of priesthood over the hierarchical and administrative aspects.Genoan cardinal Mauro Piacenza was highly esteemed both by Benedict XVI and his Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, for his efficiency and in-depth knowledge of how the Congregation worked and its problems, as well as for his traditionalist ecclesiastical line of thought. His successor, Beniamino Stella, has a strong diplomatic background: Between 1987 and 2007 he served in various Nunciatures across the world, before being called to Rome to oversee the training of the Pope’s future ambassadors. So does the new Secretary of the Synod, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri. These changes seem to indicate that Pope Francis has chosen to appoint two of “his own people” to the positions he considers crucial for the actions he plans to take in the future.