ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
FIRST THE ISRAELIS WERE BEING PERSECUTED IN THAT UKRAINE CITY.NOW A JEWISH MAYOR SHOT IN THE BACK.NO COINCIDENCES HERE.ANTISEMITISM IN UKRAINE IS ON THE RISE.
Jewish mayor of Ukraine city hurt in assassination attempt-Kharkiv mayor Hennady Kernes seriously wounded with gunshot to his back; motives behind attack remain unclear-By AP April 28, 2014, 2:23 pm 1-The Times of Israel
KIEV, Ukraine — The mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city was shot in the back Monday and pro-Russia insurgents seized yet another government building as tensions rose in eastern Ukraine ahead of a new round of US sanctions.Armed insurgents tacitly backed by Moscow are seeking more autonomy in the region from the interim government in Kiev. In a bid to ratchet up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Barack Obama has promised to levy new sanctions on Russian individuals and companies in retaliation for Moscow’s alleged provocations in eastern Ukraine.Hennady Kernes, the mayor of Kharkiv, was shot in the back Monday morning, his office said. Kernes was said to be undergoing surgery and “doctors are fighting for his life,” according to the city hall.Officials have not commented on the circumstances of the shooting and it was not clear who was behind it. Kernes was a staunch opponent of the pro-West Maidan movement that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in February and was widely viewed as the organizer of activists sent to Kiev from eastern Ukraine to harass those demonstrators.But he has since softened his stance toward the new Kiev government and insisted that he does not support the pro-Russia insurgents or any annexation of Ukrainian territory.Kernes is Jewish and the city is home to a large Jewish community.The official website of the Kharkiv Jewish community describes Kernes as “Jewish by ethnicity.”Eleonora Groysman, editor of the Jewish Ukrainian news site evreiskiy.kiev.ua also told JTA that Kernes is Jewish.According to the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the 2009 election campaign in which Kernes became mayor was mired with anti-Semitic hate speech targeting him and other Jewish candidates.Kharkiv’s rabbi, Moshe Moskowitz, told Israel National News that “we are talking about a precious Jewish life, with a loving and warm relationship with the community, and we are shocked by the attempted assassination. We are praying for his safety — Moshe ben Hana.”Kharkiv is in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian gunmen have seized government buildings, set up roadblocks or staged protests to demand greater autonomy or outright annexation by Russia.Ukraine’s acting government and the West have accused Russia of orchestrating the unrest, which they fear Moscow could use as a pretext for an invasion. Last month, Russia annexed Crimea weeks after seizing control of the Black Sea peninsula.On Monday, masked militants with automatic weapons seized another city hall building in eastern Ukraine, this time in Kostyantynivka, 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the Russian border.After the seizure, about 15 armed men guarded the building. Some posed for pictures with residents while others distributed St. George’s ribbons, the symbol of the pro-Russia movement.Kostyantynivka is just 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Slovyansk, a major city in eastern Ukraine that has been in insurgents’ hands for more than three weeks now.President Obama said on visit to the Philippines earlier on Monday that the targets of the latest US sanctions will include high-technology exports to Russia’s defense industry. The full list, which is also expected to include wealthy allies of Putin, will be announced by officials in Washington later Monday.The European Union is also planning more sanctions against Russia, with ambassadors from the bloc’s 28 members to meet Monday in Brussels to add to the list of Russian officials who have been hit by asset freezes and travel bans.The increasingly ruthless pro-Russia insurgency is turning to an ominous new tactic: kidnapping.Dozens of people are being held hostage — including seven observers, journalists and pro-Ukraine activists — in makeshift jails in Slovyansk.The German government on Monday decried the seizure of the eight European military observers there and called for their immediate release. The observers, including three German officers, were detained Friday on allegations they were spying for NATO.Pro-Russia militants in camouflage and black balaclavas paraded some of the captive European military observers before the media on Sunday. They also showed three captured Ukrainian security guards bloodied, blindfolded and stripped of their trousers and shoes, their arms bound with packing tape.A Swedish officer was released Sunday and German captive Col. Axel Schneider spoke that same day, stressing at a news conference — under armed guard — that they were on an OSCE diplomatic mission and not spies.Times of Israel staff and JTA contributed to this report.
Nation comes to standstill as sirens wail for 6 million lost-Two-minute Holocaust Commemoration precedes ceremonies across country to mark annual memorial day-By Times of Israel staff April 28, 2014, 10:06 am 19-The Times of Israel
Millions of Israelis paused for two minutes Monday in solemn silence as air raid sirens wailed across the country to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.The annual commemoration for the 6 million Jews killed in Europe during the Holocaust brought the country to a standstill at 10 a.m., with drivers standing alongside their cars on highways and normally bustling city centers freezing for the funereal event.After the sirens, a number of remembrance ceremonies were planned for across the country, including a wreath-laying at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and the “Unto Every Person There is a Name” ceremony at the Knesset.In Poland, thousands of Israeli and Jewish youth and others will march from the infamous Auschwitz labor camp to the Birkenau death camp as part of the annual March of the Living memorial. Events for the commemoration day began Sunday night at 8 p.m. with a state ceremony at Yad Vashem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned at the ceremony that the world was ignoring the lessons of the Shoah by allowing Iran to continue its nuclear program.“I hope that the lessons of the past will be learned and that the desire to avoid confrontation at any cost will not lead to a deal that will exact a much heavier price in the future,” he said, referring to negotiations between Tehran and six world powers over uranium enrichment levels. “I call on the leaders of the world powers to insist on a full dismantling of Iran’s capability to manufacture nuclear weapons, and to persist until this goal is achieved.”President Shimon Peres, speaking at the same ceremony, called on the world to pay attention to the threat of rising anti-Semitism in Europe.“We must not ignore any occurrence of anti-Semitism, any desecration of a synagogue, any tombstone smashed in a cemetery in which our families are buried,” he said.
Netanyahu compares Iran nuclear threat to Nazi menace-At Remembrance Day ceremony, PM implores world not to repeat mistakes; Peres warns of resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe
By Joshua Davidovich and Stuart Winer April 27, 2014, 8:06 pm -The Times of Israel
The world turned a blind eye to the rising Nazi threat over 75 years ago, and today Iran is being allowed to develop its nuclear program and menace Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday as the country marked Holocaust Remembrance Day.Declaring that Iran was determined to acquire nuclear weapons, and urging international negotiators to insist that Iran’s enrichment and other nuclear capabilities be completely dismantled, Netanyahu warned: “A deal that leaves Iran as a threshold nuclear state will bring the world to the threshold of the abyss.”Israeli leaders gathered at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial Sunday night to remember the 6 million victims of the Nazi genocide.On Monday morning, an air raid siren will ring out for two minutes as the nation comes to a standstill to mark Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day, as the memorial day is official known.Six survivors of the Shoah lit torches at Yad Vashem Sunday night, and Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres spoke at the ceremony.Netanyahu said the world had failed to act against the rising Nazi threat, despite being warned about it, drawing a line to current tensions with the Iranian regime.“It’s not that they did not see. It’s that they did not want to see,” he said of world leaders before the Holocaust.“Today we are facing real threats and immediate dangers,” he said. “I call on the world power to insist that Iran completely give up its abilities to make nuclear weapons.”He added that Israel would not stand by silently.“In contrast to our situation in the Holocaust today we have a tremendous power to protect ourselves,” he said. “Israel is stronger than ever.”“On behalf of the Jewish people, I say to those who have sought and still seek to destroy us: You have failed and you will fail.”The speech was a familiar echo of years past, when Netanyahu has also warned of the Iranian threat and vowed to defend the country from suffering another holocaust.“Iran is warning openly about its intentions to destroy us and is working with all its might to carry it out,” the prime minister said at the same ceremony in 2013. “The hate against Jews hasn’t disappeared, but has morphed into a murderous hate against the Jewish state. We won’t leave our fate in the hands of others, even the best of our friends.”Peres devoted part of his speech to the resurgence of European anti-Semitism, particularly in Hungary, where he said the Jewish community was destroyed with “brutal efficiency” 70 years ago.“We must not ignore any occurrence of anti-Semitism, any desecration of a synagogue, any tomb stone smashed in a cemetery in which our families are buried,” he said. ”We must not ignore the rise of extreme right wing parties with neo-Nazi tendencies who are a danger to each of us and a threat to every nation.”He added that Israel had to be strong because of anti-Semitism around the world, but “must not give up on peace.”“A strong Israel is our response to the horrors of anti-Semitism but it does not excuse the rest of the world from its responsibility to prevent this disease from returning to their own homes,” he said. “We are strong enough to repel dangers, we should not be scared of threats and we must not give up on peace.”Netanyahu wrote on Twitter Sunday that Iran was seeking to wipe out the Jewish people as the Nazis did some 70 years ago. He also drew a line to Gazan terror group Hamas, which he said was denying the Holocaust while trying to create a new one.Earlier, Netanyahu dismissed a statement by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemning the Holocaust as the “most heinous crime” of the modern era. Netanyahu told CNN Abbas was attempting to “damage control” after signing a unity deal with Hamas last week.Among the torchlighters at the Yad Vashem ceremony was Asher Aud (Sieradski), 86.Over six years, he was separated from his parents and siblings in his native Polish town of Zdunska Wola and then scavenged for scraps of bread and staved off a debilitating illness alone in the Lodz ghetto before he was deported to the Auschwitz death camp.There, he avoided the gas chambers and crematoria, and after a long incarceration, he weathered the notorious death march through the snow to Mauthausen, where those who fell behind were shot dead on the spot. After the war, he passed through a series of displaced person camps before he boarded a ship to the Holy Land where he did his best to forget the past for the next half century.Of all the atrocities he endured, Aud said the strongest memory is the one that was most traumatic — parting from his mother at the age of 14.It was September 1942. The Nazis had rounded up the Jewish community inside the local cemetery and were preparing to deport them. His father and older brother had already been taken and he was left with his mother and younger brother, Gavriel.“I remember looking down and I happened to be standing on my grandmother’s tombstone,” he recalled. “The Germans walked among us and anytime they saw a mother with a child, they tore the child from her arms and threw them into the back of trucks.”That’s when he realized life as he knew it was over.“I looked around and I just said ‘mother, this is where we are going to be separated,’” he said.Soon after they were marched through two lines of German soldiers. “I didn’t even feel it when the Germans hit me but every time they struck my mother and brother it was like they were cutting my flesh,” he said.Israel is home to some 200,000 survivors, over a quarter of whom live in poverty, according to a report released last week.On Sunday, government ministers approved a plan to fund an additional NIS 1 billion to expand benefits to survivors.The Associated Press contributed to this report
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 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.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
EU: American peace efforts ‘must not go to waste’-In wake of Fatah-Hamas deal, Abbas enjoys ‘a mandate to negotiate in the name of all Palestinians,’ Catherine Ashton says-By AFP April 27, 2014, 2:56 pm 2-The Times of Israel
The European Union on Sunday urged Israel and the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table, saying US efforts to broker peace must not be allowed to “go to waste.”“Negotiations are the best way forward,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in response to the breakdown last week in months of efforts by Washington to keep the two sides talking.“The extensive efforts deployed in recent months must not go to waste,” Ashton’s statement added.“The EU calls on all sides to exercise maximum restraint and to avoid any action which may further undermine peace efforts and the viability of a two-state solution.”Talks between the two resumed in July and were to have lasted nine months until Tuesday, April 29, but Israel angrily pulled out last week in response to a reconciliation deal bringing together the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Islamist Hamas movement which has pledged to destroy the Jewish state.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has pledged, however, that his new unity government will reject violence and recognize Israel and existing agreements.Ashton said “the EU expects any new government to uphold the principle of non-violence, to remain committed to achieving a two-state solution and to a negotiated peaceful settlement … including Israel’s legitimate right to exist.”“The fact that President Abbas will remain fully in charge of the negotiation process and have a mandate to negotiate in the name of all Palestinians provides further assurance that the peace negotiations can and must proceed,” she added.
Bennett calls to annex 60 percent of West Bank-Reviving campaign platform, Jewish Home party leader says Palestinians in areas claimed by Israel should get citizenship-By Times of Israel staff, AP and AFP April 27, 2014, 9:56 pm 7
With peace efforts stalled, Israel should annex over half of the West Bank and give Palestinians in the affected areas full Israeli citizenship, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday.Bennett, a coalition hawk who heads the Orthodox-nationalist Jewish Home party, was one of two senior government officials Sunday to float the idea of Jerusalem extending sovereignty to Area C of the West Bank, which Israel maintains civilian and security control over as part of the Oslo Accords.“We are not going to reach a peace agreement in the foreseeable future,” Bennett said in a speech to foreign journalists. “I think we need to be realistic about what we can achieve.”Bennett said he advocated giving the Palestinians “autonomy on steroids” in areas of the West Bank they already control, while annexing the remaining 60 percent of the West Bank that Israel rules and that contains the vast majority of settlements.He said the goal should now be making conditions as livable as possible, by giving Palestinians freedom of movement and supporting their economy, and allowing them to hold elections in their autonomous areas and run their day-to-day affairs. Full independence, however, would be impossible, he said.“I know it is not as sexy as the perfect two-state solution but this is realistic,” he said.Bennett, who campaigned on the issue of annexation during the 2012 elections, painted a saccharine picture of life in the Israeli-annexed West Bank with “life becoming more and more bearable for everyone.”“What can the Palestinians hope for? Already they have the best life in the entire Arab world — they’re not being hanged because they are gay, women are allowed to drive,” he said.“But full self-governance, have your anthem, have your flag, pay your own taxes, have your own elections — we’re fine with it.”Bennett noted that Israel has twice annexed territory — after the Six-Day War when it annexed East Jerusalem and in 1981 when it extended sovereignty to the Golan Heights.The minister said that the unilateral move would be in response to the recent Palestinian unilateral actions. Although admitting that his suggestions were not an official government stance he said that other ministers, not just from his Jewish Home party, also support the idea of annexing part of, if not all, of Area C.Palestinians living in those areas would become full Israeli citizens, Bennett said.Earlier in the day, Communications Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) called on the Israeli government “to start preparing for the annexation of Area C.”The struggling peace talks took a nose dive at the end of March when Israel reneged on a pledge to release two dozen Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinians responded by asking to join 15 international treaties in a step denounced by Israel.Last week, Israel suspended negotiations in response to a Palestinian reconciliation deal that saw Fatah and Hamas agree to share rule and form a unity government. Israel and the West consider Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks, to be a terrorist group.
Senior minister: Israel should annex Area C-Gilad Erdan calls for unilateral annexation of Jewish-settled parts of West Bank in wake of Fatah-Hamas reconciliation-By Times of Israel staff April 27, 2014, 12:58 pm 18
Communications Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) called on Israel to annex large swaths of the West Bank in the wake of the emerging failure of the latest US-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians.Speaking to Army Radio on Sunday morning, Erdan, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, criticized the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement announced last Wednesday and called on the Israeli government “to start preparing for the annexation of Area C,” the part of the West Bank under full Israeli administrative control.Wherever “there is a Jewish population [in the West Bank] that should remain in place; we can start to prepare to annex [that area] if there is no Palestinian partner and the situation seems unlikely to change,” Erdan said.Erdan is one of the most senior Likud leaders, coming in third on the party’s Knesset slate (fifth on the joint list with Yisrael Beytenu).He explained on Sunday that if Israel showed it was willing to annex some territory unilaterally, “then Abu Mazen [PA President Mahmoud Abbas] and the Palestinians will understand that there is a price to pay for running away from negotiations and linking up with terror organizations.”The current Likud-led government “was not elected to think only about the interests of our enemies,” Erdan said, in a reference to the Palestinians.
Kerry: Israel could become an ‘apartheid state’-US secretary of state says change of leadership on both sides might be needed for peace, according to Daily Beast recording-By Lazar Berman April 28, 2014, 3:30 am-The Times of Israel
If Israel does not make peace soon, it could become an “apartheid state” like South Africa, US Secretary of State John Kerry told a closed room meeting of world leaders recently, it was revealed early Monday morning.According to a recording obtained by the Daily Beast, Kerry made the comments Friday to a meeting of the Trilateral Commission, a nongovernmental organization committed to fostering closer ties between Europe, North America, and Japan.“A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative,” Kerry told the gathering. “Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens—or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state. Once you put that frame in your mind, that reality, which is the bottom line, you understand how imperative it is to get to the two-state solution, which both leaders, even yesterday, said they remain deeply committed to.”According to the Daily Beast, Kerry also panned Israeli settlement building, said that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders shared blame for the stalled peace talks, and indicated that a change in leadership on one or both sides could help the parties reach an agreement.The top US diplomat said he might decide to present both sides with a “take it or leave it” peace deal.A nine-month negotiating period brokered by the US is due to end on Tuesday, and US President Barack Obama said at the weekend that a “pause” in US efforts might now be necessitated. That negotiated process has collapsed in recent days, since Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah on Wednesday signed a unity pact with rival Hamas, and Israel suspended all talks a day later, saying it would not negotiate with a Palestinian leadership supported by the Islamist terror group.The use of the term “apartheid” to refer to Israel is likely to anger many Israeli officials. While running for president in 2008, Obama rejected associating the label with Israel, calling it “emotionally loaded, historically inaccurate, and it’s not what I believe.”This would not be the first time Kerry expressed statements that raised hackles in Israel. “Both sides wound out in a position of unhelpful moves,” Kerry told a Senate hearing on April 8, before seeming to place the preponderance of blame on Israel.“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.In a further departure from the crisis-stricken Israeli-Palestinian negotiating framework, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s central council on Sunday adopted a plan to pursue attempts to join 60 United Nations bodies and international agreements.Meanwhile, the central council decided to establish “the legal center for the state of Palestine,” tasked with advising the central council and the PLO’s executive committee, according to the official WAFA news agency.Last month Abbas applied for membership in 15 international bodies and treaties, which Israel said breached a commitment agreed to before peace talks. The move came after Israel nixed a planned prisoner release.Joining international bodies is seen as a significant unilateral diplomatic step towards Palestinian statehood, and a departure from the US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian negotiating framework.Elhanan Miller and AFP contributed to this report.
04/27/2014 - THE VATICAN INSIDER-Pope Francis,in historic ceremony, declares John XXIII and John Paul II are saints-Roncalli and Wojtyla's canonizations-Francis hailed Saints John XXIII and John Paul II as “men of courage” and great faith, who listened to the Spirit of God, and “bore witness to God’s goodness and mercy” before the Church and the world-gerard o'connell
rome-Saints John XXIII and John Paul II “were two men of courage, filled with the parrhesia (audacity) of the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world to God’s goodness and mercy”, Pope Francis told a crowd of one million in St Peter’s Square and the surrounding areas on April 27 after canonizing these two great leaders of the Catholic Church in the past century.“They were priests, bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them” because for them “for them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful – faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history”, he said.“Saints John XXIII and John Paul II were not afraid to look upon the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced side. They were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were not scandalized by him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of their brother (cf. Is 58:7), because they saw Jesus in every person who suffers and struggles.”, he said referring to the great faith and extraordinary humanity of both men.“In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8).”, he said. Indeed, he told those at the ceremony and the hundreds of millions who followed it by TV, radio and the modern means of communication that “such were the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as a gift from the risen Lord and which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon the People of God” that they “merit our eternal gratitude.”In their lifetime, he recalled, “Saints John XXIII and John Paul II cooperated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the Church in keeping with her pristine features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the centuries.” And he reminded everyone that “it is the saints who give direction and growth to the Church.” In convening the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), he said, “John XXIII showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let himself be led and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant-leader. This was his great service to the Church”, he said, adding that for this reason “I like to think of him as the pope of openness to the Spirit”.Likewise, he said, John Paul II “in his own service to the People of God…was the pope of the family.” He recalled that the new Polish saint “once said that he wanted to be remembered as the pope of the family” and, Francis added, “I am particularly happy to point this out as we are in the process of journeying with families towards the Synod on the family. It is surely a journey which, from his place in heaven, he guides and sustains.”. The crowd broke into warm applause, endorsing what Francis had said.When Pope Francis concluded his masterly homily on the life and work of his predecessors, the enormous crowd again broke into applause filled with joy and happiness.Never before in the history of the Church have two popes been declared saints on the same day, but that is what happened today, Sunday April 27,when Pope Francis canonized them before an estimatefd of one million people in the Square and neighboring areas, and a global audience of hundreds of millions of all faiths and none.Never before in the history of the Church has an emeritus pope assisted at the canonisation of his predecesor but that is what happened today too when Benedict XVI participated in the canonization ceremony. Pope Francis went to greet him warmly at the end of mass.The rite of canonisation took place at the beginning of the mass, when Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for Saints, speaking in Latin, asked Pope Francis “to enroll Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II among the Saints, that they may be invoked as such by all the Christian faithful”. The Sistine choir then led the faithful in the singing of the hymn to the Holy Spirit (“Veni Creator”). When they finished, Pope Francis read the formula of canonisation in which he said that ”after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II to be Saints, and we enroll them among the Saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church”.Even before he had finished the declaration the vast crowd in the square and side streets broke into resounding and prolonged applause. They continued as the Sistine choir began signing the hymn of joy, “”Jubilate Deo” –“Shout to the Lord, sing to the Lord”. This was the great moment that the one million pilgrims and devotees who had come here from all continents had long waited for. Some 400,000 had arrived from Poland and other countries, including the USA, to see the greatest Pole in history receive the highest honor of the Catholic Church; they came by chárter planes, trains, coaches and private cars for the event. Throughout his almost 27 year pontificate they flocked to his ceremonies in Rome and to the 129 countries that he visited, and now on this great day they came again, also from Wadowice - the little town where he was born, to express their immense joy at his being declared a saint.Hundreds of thousands of Italians came for the event too. They came to participate in the canonisation of John XXIII, the pope who had the courage to convene the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) that changed the face of the Catholic Church in its relation to the modern world and to the other world religions, even though many of them were not alive when the man they called “the good pope” died on 3 June 1963. But they also applauded John Paul II whom they admired and loved.Members of Royal families, as well as Heads of State and Government from 126 countries attended the colorful ceremony in St Peter’s Square, including the President of Italy and the present and past Presidents of Poland. Pope Francis greeted them individually at the end of mass, before driving among the enthusiastic but infinitely grateful crowd who waved the flags of their native lands, showing their immense joy at being here on this historic day which is a day without precedent in the 2000 year history of the Church, and which will henceforth be remembered as “the day of the four popes”.
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
FIRST THE ISRAELIS WERE BEING PERSECUTED IN THAT UKRAINE CITY.NOW A JEWISH MAYOR SHOT IN THE BACK.NO COINCIDENCES HERE.ANTISEMITISM IN UKRAINE IS ON THE RISE.
Jewish mayor of Ukraine city hurt in assassination attempt-Kharkiv mayor Hennady Kernes seriously wounded with gunshot to his back; motives behind attack remain unclear-By AP April 28, 2014, 2:23 pm 1-The Times of Israel
KIEV, Ukraine — The mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city was shot in the back Monday and pro-Russia insurgents seized yet another government building as tensions rose in eastern Ukraine ahead of a new round of US sanctions.Armed insurgents tacitly backed by Moscow are seeking more autonomy in the region from the interim government in Kiev. In a bid to ratchet up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Barack Obama has promised to levy new sanctions on Russian individuals and companies in retaliation for Moscow’s alleged provocations in eastern Ukraine.Hennady Kernes, the mayor of Kharkiv, was shot in the back Monday morning, his office said. Kernes was said to be undergoing surgery and “doctors are fighting for his life,” according to the city hall.Officials have not commented on the circumstances of the shooting and it was not clear who was behind it. Kernes was a staunch opponent of the pro-West Maidan movement that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in February and was widely viewed as the organizer of activists sent to Kiev from eastern Ukraine to harass those demonstrators.But he has since softened his stance toward the new Kiev government and insisted that he does not support the pro-Russia insurgents or any annexation of Ukrainian territory.Kernes is Jewish and the city is home to a large Jewish community.The official website of the Kharkiv Jewish community describes Kernes as “Jewish by ethnicity.”Eleonora Groysman, editor of the Jewish Ukrainian news site evreiskiy.kiev.ua also told JTA that Kernes is Jewish.According to the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the 2009 election campaign in which Kernes became mayor was mired with anti-Semitic hate speech targeting him and other Jewish candidates.Kharkiv’s rabbi, Moshe Moskowitz, told Israel National News that “we are talking about a precious Jewish life, with a loving and warm relationship with the community, and we are shocked by the attempted assassination. We are praying for his safety — Moshe ben Hana.”Kharkiv is in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian gunmen have seized government buildings, set up roadblocks or staged protests to demand greater autonomy or outright annexation by Russia.Ukraine’s acting government and the West have accused Russia of orchestrating the unrest, which they fear Moscow could use as a pretext for an invasion. Last month, Russia annexed Crimea weeks after seizing control of the Black Sea peninsula.On Monday, masked militants with automatic weapons seized another city hall building in eastern Ukraine, this time in Kostyantynivka, 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the Russian border.After the seizure, about 15 armed men guarded the building. Some posed for pictures with residents while others distributed St. George’s ribbons, the symbol of the pro-Russia movement.Kostyantynivka is just 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Slovyansk, a major city in eastern Ukraine that has been in insurgents’ hands for more than three weeks now.President Obama said on visit to the Philippines earlier on Monday that the targets of the latest US sanctions will include high-technology exports to Russia’s defense industry. The full list, which is also expected to include wealthy allies of Putin, will be announced by officials in Washington later Monday.The European Union is also planning more sanctions against Russia, with ambassadors from the bloc’s 28 members to meet Monday in Brussels to add to the list of Russian officials who have been hit by asset freezes and travel bans.The increasingly ruthless pro-Russia insurgency is turning to an ominous new tactic: kidnapping.Dozens of people are being held hostage — including seven observers, journalists and pro-Ukraine activists — in makeshift jails in Slovyansk.The German government on Monday decried the seizure of the eight European military observers there and called for their immediate release. The observers, including three German officers, were detained Friday on allegations they were spying for NATO.Pro-Russia militants in camouflage and black balaclavas paraded some of the captive European military observers before the media on Sunday. They also showed three captured Ukrainian security guards bloodied, blindfolded and stripped of their trousers and shoes, their arms bound with packing tape.A Swedish officer was released Sunday and German captive Col. Axel Schneider spoke that same day, stressing at a news conference — under armed guard — that they were on an OSCE diplomatic mission and not spies.Times of Israel staff and JTA contributed to this report.
Nation comes to standstill as sirens wail for 6 million lost-Two-minute Holocaust Commemoration precedes ceremonies across country to mark annual memorial day-By Times of Israel staff April 28, 2014, 10:06 am 19-The Times of Israel
Millions of Israelis paused for two minutes Monday in solemn silence as air raid sirens wailed across the country to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.The annual commemoration for the 6 million Jews killed in Europe during the Holocaust brought the country to a standstill at 10 a.m., with drivers standing alongside their cars on highways and normally bustling city centers freezing for the funereal event.After the sirens, a number of remembrance ceremonies were planned for across the country, including a wreath-laying at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and the “Unto Every Person There is a Name” ceremony at the Knesset.In Poland, thousands of Israeli and Jewish youth and others will march from the infamous Auschwitz labor camp to the Birkenau death camp as part of the annual March of the Living memorial. Events for the commemoration day began Sunday night at 8 p.m. with a state ceremony at Yad Vashem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned at the ceremony that the world was ignoring the lessons of the Shoah by allowing Iran to continue its nuclear program.“I hope that the lessons of the past will be learned and that the desire to avoid confrontation at any cost will not lead to a deal that will exact a much heavier price in the future,” he said, referring to negotiations between Tehran and six world powers over uranium enrichment levels. “I call on the leaders of the world powers to insist on a full dismantling of Iran’s capability to manufacture nuclear weapons, and to persist until this goal is achieved.”President Shimon Peres, speaking at the same ceremony, called on the world to pay attention to the threat of rising anti-Semitism in Europe.“We must not ignore any occurrence of anti-Semitism, any desecration of a synagogue, any tombstone smashed in a cemetery in which our families are buried,” he said.
Netanyahu compares Iran nuclear threat to Nazi menace-At Remembrance Day ceremony, PM implores world not to repeat mistakes; Peres warns of resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe
By Joshua Davidovich and Stuart Winer April 27, 2014, 8:06 pm -The Times of Israel
The world turned a blind eye to the rising Nazi threat over 75 years ago, and today Iran is being allowed to develop its nuclear program and menace Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday as the country marked Holocaust Remembrance Day.Declaring that Iran was determined to acquire nuclear weapons, and urging international negotiators to insist that Iran’s enrichment and other nuclear capabilities be completely dismantled, Netanyahu warned: “A deal that leaves Iran as a threshold nuclear state will bring the world to the threshold of the abyss.”Israeli leaders gathered at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial Sunday night to remember the 6 million victims of the Nazi genocide.On Monday morning, an air raid siren will ring out for two minutes as the nation comes to a standstill to mark Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day, as the memorial day is official known.Six survivors of the Shoah lit torches at Yad Vashem Sunday night, and Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres spoke at the ceremony.Netanyahu said the world had failed to act against the rising Nazi threat, despite being warned about it, drawing a line to current tensions with the Iranian regime.“It’s not that they did not see. It’s that they did not want to see,” he said of world leaders before the Holocaust.“Today we are facing real threats and immediate dangers,” he said. “I call on the world power to insist that Iran completely give up its abilities to make nuclear weapons.”He added that Israel would not stand by silently.“In contrast to our situation in the Holocaust today we have a tremendous power to protect ourselves,” he said. “Israel is stronger than ever.”“On behalf of the Jewish people, I say to those who have sought and still seek to destroy us: You have failed and you will fail.”The speech was a familiar echo of years past, when Netanyahu has also warned of the Iranian threat and vowed to defend the country from suffering another holocaust.“Iran is warning openly about its intentions to destroy us and is working with all its might to carry it out,” the prime minister said at the same ceremony in 2013. “The hate against Jews hasn’t disappeared, but has morphed into a murderous hate against the Jewish state. We won’t leave our fate in the hands of others, even the best of our friends.”Peres devoted part of his speech to the resurgence of European anti-Semitism, particularly in Hungary, where he said the Jewish community was destroyed with “brutal efficiency” 70 years ago.“We must not ignore any occurrence of anti-Semitism, any desecration of a synagogue, any tomb stone smashed in a cemetery in which our families are buried,” he said. ”We must not ignore the rise of extreme right wing parties with neo-Nazi tendencies who are a danger to each of us and a threat to every nation.”He added that Israel had to be strong because of anti-Semitism around the world, but “must not give up on peace.”“A strong Israel is our response to the horrors of anti-Semitism but it does not excuse the rest of the world from its responsibility to prevent this disease from returning to their own homes,” he said. “We are strong enough to repel dangers, we should not be scared of threats and we must not give up on peace.”Netanyahu wrote on Twitter Sunday that Iran was seeking to wipe out the Jewish people as the Nazis did some 70 years ago. He also drew a line to Gazan terror group Hamas, which he said was denying the Holocaust while trying to create a new one.Earlier, Netanyahu dismissed a statement by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemning the Holocaust as the “most heinous crime” of the modern era. Netanyahu told CNN Abbas was attempting to “damage control” after signing a unity deal with Hamas last week.Among the torchlighters at the Yad Vashem ceremony was Asher Aud (Sieradski), 86.Over six years, he was separated from his parents and siblings in his native Polish town of Zdunska Wola and then scavenged for scraps of bread and staved off a debilitating illness alone in the Lodz ghetto before he was deported to the Auschwitz death camp.There, he avoided the gas chambers and crematoria, and after a long incarceration, he weathered the notorious death march through the snow to Mauthausen, where those who fell behind were shot dead on the spot. After the war, he passed through a series of displaced person camps before he boarded a ship to the Holy Land where he did his best to forget the past for the next half century.Of all the atrocities he endured, Aud said the strongest memory is the one that was most traumatic — parting from his mother at the age of 14.It was September 1942. The Nazis had rounded up the Jewish community inside the local cemetery and were preparing to deport them. His father and older brother had already been taken and he was left with his mother and younger brother, Gavriel.“I remember looking down and I happened to be standing on my grandmother’s tombstone,” he recalled. “The Germans walked among us and anytime they saw a mother with a child, they tore the child from her arms and threw them into the back of trucks.”That’s when he realized life as he knew it was over.“I looked around and I just said ‘mother, this is where we are going to be separated,’” he said.Soon after they were marched through two lines of German soldiers. “I didn’t even feel it when the Germans hit me but every time they struck my mother and brother it was like they were cutting my flesh,” he said.Israel is home to some 200,000 survivors, over a quarter of whom live in poverty, according to a report released last week.On Sunday, government ministers approved a plan to fund an additional NIS 1 billion to expand benefits to survivors.The Associated Press contributed to this report
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 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.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
EU: American peace efforts ‘must not go to waste’-In wake of Fatah-Hamas deal, Abbas enjoys ‘a mandate to negotiate in the name of all Palestinians,’ Catherine Ashton says-By AFP April 27, 2014, 2:56 pm 2-The Times of Israel
The European Union on Sunday urged Israel and the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table, saying US efforts to broker peace must not be allowed to “go to waste.”“Negotiations are the best way forward,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in response to the breakdown last week in months of efforts by Washington to keep the two sides talking.“The extensive efforts deployed in recent months must not go to waste,” Ashton’s statement added.“The EU calls on all sides to exercise maximum restraint and to avoid any action which may further undermine peace efforts and the viability of a two-state solution.”Talks between the two resumed in July and were to have lasted nine months until Tuesday, April 29, but Israel angrily pulled out last week in response to a reconciliation deal bringing together the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Islamist Hamas movement which has pledged to destroy the Jewish state.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has pledged, however, that his new unity government will reject violence and recognize Israel and existing agreements.Ashton said “the EU expects any new government to uphold the principle of non-violence, to remain committed to achieving a two-state solution and to a negotiated peaceful settlement … including Israel’s legitimate right to exist.”“The fact that President Abbas will remain fully in charge of the negotiation process and have a mandate to negotiate in the name of all Palestinians provides further assurance that the peace negotiations can and must proceed,” she added.
Bennett calls to annex 60 percent of West Bank-Reviving campaign platform, Jewish Home party leader says Palestinians in areas claimed by Israel should get citizenship-By Times of Israel staff, AP and AFP April 27, 2014, 9:56 pm 7
With peace efforts stalled, Israel should annex over half of the West Bank and give Palestinians in the affected areas full Israeli citizenship, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday.Bennett, a coalition hawk who heads the Orthodox-nationalist Jewish Home party, was one of two senior government officials Sunday to float the idea of Jerusalem extending sovereignty to Area C of the West Bank, which Israel maintains civilian and security control over as part of the Oslo Accords.“We are not going to reach a peace agreement in the foreseeable future,” Bennett said in a speech to foreign journalists. “I think we need to be realistic about what we can achieve.”Bennett said he advocated giving the Palestinians “autonomy on steroids” in areas of the West Bank they already control, while annexing the remaining 60 percent of the West Bank that Israel rules and that contains the vast majority of settlements.He said the goal should now be making conditions as livable as possible, by giving Palestinians freedom of movement and supporting their economy, and allowing them to hold elections in their autonomous areas and run their day-to-day affairs. Full independence, however, would be impossible, he said.“I know it is not as sexy as the perfect two-state solution but this is realistic,” he said.Bennett, who campaigned on the issue of annexation during the 2012 elections, painted a saccharine picture of life in the Israeli-annexed West Bank with “life becoming more and more bearable for everyone.”“What can the Palestinians hope for? Already they have the best life in the entire Arab world — they’re not being hanged because they are gay, women are allowed to drive,” he said.“But full self-governance, have your anthem, have your flag, pay your own taxes, have your own elections — we’re fine with it.”Bennett noted that Israel has twice annexed territory — after the Six-Day War when it annexed East Jerusalem and in 1981 when it extended sovereignty to the Golan Heights.The minister said that the unilateral move would be in response to the recent Palestinian unilateral actions. Although admitting that his suggestions were not an official government stance he said that other ministers, not just from his Jewish Home party, also support the idea of annexing part of, if not all, of Area C.Palestinians living in those areas would become full Israeli citizens, Bennett said.Earlier in the day, Communications Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) called on the Israeli government “to start preparing for the annexation of Area C.”The struggling peace talks took a nose dive at the end of March when Israel reneged on a pledge to release two dozen Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinians responded by asking to join 15 international treaties in a step denounced by Israel.Last week, Israel suspended negotiations in response to a Palestinian reconciliation deal that saw Fatah and Hamas agree to share rule and form a unity government. Israel and the West consider Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks, to be a terrorist group.
Senior minister: Israel should annex Area C-Gilad Erdan calls for unilateral annexation of Jewish-settled parts of West Bank in wake of Fatah-Hamas reconciliation-By Times of Israel staff April 27, 2014, 12:58 pm 18
Communications Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) called on Israel to annex large swaths of the West Bank in the wake of the emerging failure of the latest US-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians.Speaking to Army Radio on Sunday morning, Erdan, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, criticized the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement announced last Wednesday and called on the Israeli government “to start preparing for the annexation of Area C,” the part of the West Bank under full Israeli administrative control.Wherever “there is a Jewish population [in the West Bank] that should remain in place; we can start to prepare to annex [that area] if there is no Palestinian partner and the situation seems unlikely to change,” Erdan said.Erdan is one of the most senior Likud leaders, coming in third on the party’s Knesset slate (fifth on the joint list with Yisrael Beytenu).He explained on Sunday that if Israel showed it was willing to annex some territory unilaterally, “then Abu Mazen [PA President Mahmoud Abbas] and the Palestinians will understand that there is a price to pay for running away from negotiations and linking up with terror organizations.”The current Likud-led government “was not elected to think only about the interests of our enemies,” Erdan said, in a reference to the Palestinians.
Kerry: Israel could become an ‘apartheid state’-US secretary of state says change of leadership on both sides might be needed for peace, according to Daily Beast recording-By Lazar Berman April 28, 2014, 3:30 am-The Times of Israel
If Israel does not make peace soon, it could become an “apartheid state” like South Africa, US Secretary of State John Kerry told a closed room meeting of world leaders recently, it was revealed early Monday morning.According to a recording obtained by the Daily Beast, Kerry made the comments Friday to a meeting of the Trilateral Commission, a nongovernmental organization committed to fostering closer ties between Europe, North America, and Japan.“A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative,” Kerry told the gathering. “Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens—or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state. Once you put that frame in your mind, that reality, which is the bottom line, you understand how imperative it is to get to the two-state solution, which both leaders, even yesterday, said they remain deeply committed to.”According to the Daily Beast, Kerry also panned Israeli settlement building, said that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders shared blame for the stalled peace talks, and indicated that a change in leadership on one or both sides could help the parties reach an agreement.The top US diplomat said he might decide to present both sides with a “take it or leave it” peace deal.A nine-month negotiating period brokered by the US is due to end on Tuesday, and US President Barack Obama said at the weekend that a “pause” in US efforts might now be necessitated. That negotiated process has collapsed in recent days, since Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah on Wednesday signed a unity pact with rival Hamas, and Israel suspended all talks a day later, saying it would not negotiate with a Palestinian leadership supported by the Islamist terror group.The use of the term “apartheid” to refer to Israel is likely to anger many Israeli officials. While running for president in 2008, Obama rejected associating the label with Israel, calling it “emotionally loaded, historically inaccurate, and it’s not what I believe.”This would not be the first time Kerry expressed statements that raised hackles in Israel. “Both sides wound out in a position of unhelpful moves,” Kerry told a Senate hearing on April 8, before seeming to place the preponderance of blame on Israel.“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.In a further departure from the crisis-stricken Israeli-Palestinian negotiating framework, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s central council on Sunday adopted a plan to pursue attempts to join 60 United Nations bodies and international agreements.Meanwhile, the central council decided to establish “the legal center for the state of Palestine,” tasked with advising the central council and the PLO’s executive committee, according to the official WAFA news agency.Last month Abbas applied for membership in 15 international bodies and treaties, which Israel said breached a commitment agreed to before peace talks. The move came after Israel nixed a planned prisoner release.Joining international bodies is seen as a significant unilateral diplomatic step towards Palestinian statehood, and a departure from the US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian negotiating framework.Elhanan Miller and AFP contributed to this report.
04/27/2014 - THE VATICAN INSIDER-Pope Francis,in historic ceremony, declares John XXIII and John Paul II are saints-Roncalli and Wojtyla's canonizations-Francis hailed Saints John XXIII and John Paul II as “men of courage” and great faith, who listened to the Spirit of God, and “bore witness to God’s goodness and mercy” before the Church and the world-gerard o'connell
rome-Saints John XXIII and John Paul II “were two men of courage, filled with the parrhesia (audacity) of the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world to God’s goodness and mercy”, Pope Francis told a crowd of one million in St Peter’s Square and the surrounding areas on April 27 after canonizing these two great leaders of the Catholic Church in the past century.“They were priests, bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them” because for them “for them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful – faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history”, he said.“Saints John XXIII and John Paul II were not afraid to look upon the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced side. They were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were not scandalized by him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of their brother (cf. Is 58:7), because they saw Jesus in every person who suffers and struggles.”, he said referring to the great faith and extraordinary humanity of both men.“In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8).”, he said. Indeed, he told those at the ceremony and the hundreds of millions who followed it by TV, radio and the modern means of communication that “such were the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as a gift from the risen Lord and which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon the People of God” that they “merit our eternal gratitude.”In their lifetime, he recalled, “Saints John XXIII and John Paul II cooperated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the Church in keeping with her pristine features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the centuries.” And he reminded everyone that “it is the saints who give direction and growth to the Church.” In convening the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), he said, “John XXIII showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let himself be led and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant-leader. This was his great service to the Church”, he said, adding that for this reason “I like to think of him as the pope of openness to the Spirit”.Likewise, he said, John Paul II “in his own service to the People of God…was the pope of the family.” He recalled that the new Polish saint “once said that he wanted to be remembered as the pope of the family” and, Francis added, “I am particularly happy to point this out as we are in the process of journeying with families towards the Synod on the family. It is surely a journey which, from his place in heaven, he guides and sustains.”. The crowd broke into warm applause, endorsing what Francis had said.When Pope Francis concluded his masterly homily on the life and work of his predecessors, the enormous crowd again broke into applause filled with joy and happiness.Never before in the history of the Church have two popes been declared saints on the same day, but that is what happened today, Sunday April 27,when Pope Francis canonized them before an estimatefd of one million people in the Square and neighboring areas, and a global audience of hundreds of millions of all faiths and none.Never before in the history of the Church has an emeritus pope assisted at the canonisation of his predecesor but that is what happened today too when Benedict XVI participated in the canonization ceremony. Pope Francis went to greet him warmly at the end of mass.The rite of canonisation took place at the beginning of the mass, when Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for Saints, speaking in Latin, asked Pope Francis “to enroll Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II among the Saints, that they may be invoked as such by all the Christian faithful”. The Sistine choir then led the faithful in the singing of the hymn to the Holy Spirit (“Veni Creator”). When they finished, Pope Francis read the formula of canonisation in which he said that ”after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II to be Saints, and we enroll them among the Saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church”.Even before he had finished the declaration the vast crowd in the square and side streets broke into resounding and prolonged applause. They continued as the Sistine choir began signing the hymn of joy, “”Jubilate Deo” –“Shout to the Lord, sing to the Lord”. This was the great moment that the one million pilgrims and devotees who had come here from all continents had long waited for. Some 400,000 had arrived from Poland and other countries, including the USA, to see the greatest Pole in history receive the highest honor of the Catholic Church; they came by chárter planes, trains, coaches and private cars for the event. Throughout his almost 27 year pontificate they flocked to his ceremonies in Rome and to the 129 countries that he visited, and now on this great day they came again, also from Wadowice - the little town where he was born, to express their immense joy at his being declared a saint.Hundreds of thousands of Italians came for the event too. They came to participate in the canonisation of John XXIII, the pope who had the courage to convene the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) that changed the face of the Catholic Church in its relation to the modern world and to the other world religions, even though many of them were not alive when the man they called “the good pope” died on 3 June 1963. But they also applauded John Paul II whom they admired and loved.Members of Royal families, as well as Heads of State and Government from 126 countries attended the colorful ceremony in St Peter’s Square, including the President of Italy and the present and past Presidents of Poland. Pope Francis greeted them individually at the end of mass, before driving among the enthusiastic but infinitely grateful crowd who waved the flags of their native lands, showing their immense joy at being here on this historic day which is a day without precedent in the 2000 year history of the Church, and which will henceforth be remembered as “the day of the four popes”.
