Wednesday, May 11, 2016

ISRAEL CELEBRATES ITS 68TH YEAR ON EARTH.AND IN 1 BILLION MORE YEARS ISRAEL WILL STILL BE ON EARTH UNDER THEIR MESSIAH KING JESUS' RULE FOREVER.

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)

ISRAEL WILL BECOME A NATION. LITERALLY IN THE SPRING.

GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

ISAIAH 41:11
11  Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)

EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

EZEKIEL 37:9-28
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,(ALL THE WORLD) O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.(COME TO LIFE)
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.(ISRAEL WILL HAVE A POWERFUL ARMY)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.(BURNED BY HITLER)
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.(THE DRY BONES COME TO LIFE IN ISRAEL)
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).

MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people (ISRAEL) and upon thy holy city,(JERUSALEM) to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.

NEHEMIAH 2:17
17  Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we (ISRAELIS) are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste,(AD 70) and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem,(DAN 9:24-27) that we be no more a reproach.

LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.(ISRAEL RECAPTURES JERUSALEM)(THE BEGGINING OF THE LAST GENERATION AND THE LAST END OF THE AGE OF GRACE.NOT THE END OF THE WORLD ,THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER)

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

As Independence Day begins, Israelis move from commemoration to celebration-State ceremony fetes ‘civil heroes,’ including quake aid worker, Holocaust survivor, and the widow of Israel’s first astronaut-By Raoul Wootliff May 11, 2016, 9:19 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

Israel abruptly crossed over from mourning to celebration on Wednesday night, as Memorial Day came to a close at sundown and Israel’s 68th Independence Day began.Mourning and somber speeches gave way to fireworks, concerts and parties across the country as the nation transitioned to Independence Day, with flags raising from half-staff back to full.At the country’s official cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, the state ceremony marked the transition with a speech from Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein and the lighting of torches by 12 Israelis who are seen to have made an outstanding contribution to society.The juxtaposition of the two days is a key part of Israelis’ experience of national mourning, ensuring that no commemoration completely excludes the achievement wrought by the sacrifice, and that the elation of independence is never far removed from an awareness of its cost.The sudden switch is often seen as a difficult transition for bereaved families.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recorded a short video that was screened at the start of the ceremony, just ahead of the speech by Edelstein. President Reuven Rivlin was also in attendance.In his message, Netanyahu said that the creation of the State of Israel ended the Jewish people’s dependence on others for its protection.“Sixty-eight years ago the State of Israel was founded; it was a tremendous historic event. For thousands of years, the Jewish people longed to regain their independence and sovereignty. Today, we have it. We control our destiny, we protect our lives,” he said.Netanyahu also posted a video of his speech in English to the prime minister’s Facebook page.Acting as the official host of the ceremony, Edelstein warned against the divisions in Israeli society.“The grave phenomena of denigration and incitement have not, to my regret, passed the Israeli public by,” he said. “The tensions that characterize us, and which are often healthy, have exceeded the boundaries of good taste. Widespread freedom of expression, the lifeblood of democracy, is often characterized by offensive discourse. Utterances have become more and more extreme: sector by sector, belief against belief and worldview against worldview.”Rona Ramon, the widow of the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, was selected by the Culture Ministry along with 11 others to light ceremonial torches during the ceremony, whose theme was “civil heroism.”Four torch lighters were chosen for acts of heroism carried out during recent terror attacks: Herzl Biton, a Tel Aviv bus driver who fought off a Palestinian terrorist during a stabbing attack last January; Alison Bitton, a Border Police officer who prevented a deadly attack on a fellow officer in the northern West Bank in October; and IDF soldier Osa Roberto, who thwarted a terror attack at the Etzion Junction in the West Bank last month.Avi Toibin saved Israel’s canoe champion from drowning in a Tel Aviv river in 2009.Three of the torch lighters were women who have led the fight for equal rights in various realms of Israeli civic life: Rotem Eliseva, an 18-year-old women’s rights activist, started a national dialogue about rape and sexual assault by publicly sharing her own story; Dr. Anan Fala, Israel’s first female dentist from the minority Druze community, and a longtime advocate of women’s rights; and Jerusalem single mother Fainy Soknick, the founding director of a group dedicated to helping ultra-Orthodox women going through a divorce.The final torch lighters were chosen for their contribution to society through NGOs and volunteering programs they founded: Modi’in-based couple Nili and Moshe Levy, who have worked extensively with a project entitled “Gvanim in Education,” an initiative to promote Jewish pluralism in Israeli high schools; Sderot high school junior Hillel Bareli, a community activist who volunteered to help local kindergarteners and elderly people find shelters during Israel’s 2014 war with Hamas in Gaza; and Yaakov Ehrenfeld, a deaf and mute Holocaust survivor who has worked extensively with the Association of the Deaf and the Deaf Institute for Advancement.Father Gabriel Naddaf, an Israeli Greek Orthodox priest and head of an initiative aimed at integrating Israeli Christian Arabs in the IDF, also lit a torch. Naddaf’s choice as a touch lighter was brought into question this week following allegations he sexually harassed young people and demanded sexual favors in exchange for helping them. Naddaf has denied the charges and Culture Minister Miri Regev said that despite public outcry, he would not be removed from the ceremony.-Daytime independence celebrations will officially begin at 9:30 on Thursday morning with a ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. VIPs and political leaders will be in attendance.A flyover of combat planes and helicopters will mark the beginning of the festivities. The president, IDF chief of staff, prime minister and defense minister will sing their favorite Independence Day songs with the IDF band and an accompaniment of singers. The Outstanding Soldier Award will also be presented.Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.

UN envoys wish Israel all the best at 68-Ambassadors from countries around the world feature in Israeli mission’s video to mark 68 years of independence-By Stuart Winer May 12, 2016, 12:14 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

As Israel began celebrating 68 years of independence on Wednesday evening, ambassadors to the United Nations from a host of countries wished the Jewish state a hearty “happy birthday.”The envoys featured in a video prepared by the Israeli mission to the UN.“The State of Israel is celebrating 68 years of independence,” said Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon at the start of the short movie. “Today, friends from around the world are wishing Israel ‘Happy Independence Day.'”Danon’s opening was followed by a series of clips of ambassadors from various countries sending their greetings.“We wish you the happiest, most prosperous, and above all most peaceful new year, happy 68th,” said US Ambassador Samantha Powers.British envoy Matthew Rycroft in his message said, “To the State of Israel and all your people, I want to wish you the very best for your 68th year.”Gillian Bird of Australia said, “To the State of Israel, I want to wish you peace.”Their greetings were followed by footage of ambassadors from Tuvalu, Panama, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, New Zealand, Croatia, Micronesia, Estonia, Latvia, Austria, Spain, Bahamas, Greece, South Korea, Palau, Cyprus, Moldova, Monaco and Italy.“Shalom and Happy Birthday,” said German envoy Harald Braun.The video concluded with a montage of the ambassadors all saying in Hebrew, “Yom Ha’atzamut Sameyach” — Happy Independence Day.The messages were not limited to the video, however. In a message posted to his Twitter feed, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro wrote, “Mazal Tov to the people of Israel on your 68th Independence Day!! The American people share your pride & joy and are celebrating with you.”Mazal Tov to the people of Israel on your 68th Independence Day!! The American people share your pride & joy and are celebrating with you.— Dan Shapiro (@AmbShapiro) May 11, 2016-Independence Day falls on Thursday but celebrations began the evening before as the country transitioned from Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and terror victims into the festivities marking the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.

6 ways Israel is counting its blessings on Independence Day-A growing population, an even faster-growing economy, more cellphones per capita than the US as well as more women in its parliament – there’s plenty to celebrate at 68-By Ben Sales May 12, 2016, 2:39 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

JTA — When Israel entered its 1948 War of Independence, the coastal city of Rishon Lezion was a hardscrabble settlement with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants.As waves of immigrants inundated Israel in its founding years, many were settled in temporary camps on Rishon Lezion’s sandy outskirts. The arrivals braved rainy winters in tents and subsisted on the national food rationing program, which limited Israeli consumption of eggs and meat.Not seven decades later, Rishon Lezion is Israel’s fourth largest city, a bustling hub of nearly 250,000 freckled with malls.Its rise mirrors the meteoric growth experienced by Israeli society in the 68 years since the nation’s founding. Though Israel faces social, cultural, religious and military challenges, it has burgeoned economically, technologically and militarily. As the nation celebrates its Independence Day on Wednesday, here are six statistics that show how.Israel’s population has grown tenfold since 1948.Israel was founded with a population of 806,000. Today there are 8.5 million Israelis, about 75 percent of them Jews.In 1948, just over a third of Israelis were native born, or “sabras.” The rest were immigrants either from war-torn Europe or the Middle East and North Africa. Today, three-quarters of Israelis are native born.But immigration, or aliyah, continues to swell the numbers: 30,000 immigrants arrived in Israel in 2015, including almost 8,000 from France, 7,000 from Ukraine and about 3,800 from the United States and Canada. In total, some 2.5 percent of Israel’s population — approximately 200,000 people — are from the US.Israel’s cities have grown apace. West Jerusalem, in 1948, had less than 100,000 residents. Now the city’s eastern and western halves include more than 800,000 residents. Sixteen Israeli cities boast more than 100,000 residents, and eight have more than 200,000.A higher percentage of Israelis than Americans own cellphones.In Israel’s first decades, phone access was a luxury. Through the 1970s, new immigrants sometimes waited years to get a landline in their apartment. In the meantime, they lined up at the local pay phone with a handful of tokens.Now, 96 percent of Israelis own cellphones, more than the 90 percent in the US. A swarm of Israeli phone companies compete for customers’ shekels, while Israeli technological innovation has made cellphones everywhere more powerful.Since 1948, Israel’s economy has grown even faster than its population. The country’s GDP in its founding year was $6.6 billion in today’s dollars. Now Israel produces about 44 times as much — nearly $300 billion a year. In 2010, the country joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of the world’s most affluent countries.Standards of living have also risen. Israel’s GDP per capita today is approximately $35,000 — 6.7 times what it was in 1948, adjusted for inflation. Nine years after the state’s founding, just one-tenth of Israelis had an air conditioner for the country’s sweltering summer. Now, thankfully, almost nine in 10 Israelis have the machines at home. The country boasts nearly 3 million cars, compared to 34,000 in 1948.Israel’s Air Force grew from nothing to be the region’s most powerful.When Israel’s provisional government declared independence, a militia, the Haganah, was in place to defend it. But the new state had a total of zero combat aircraft. The first shipment of 25 planes came a few weeks after independence from Czechoslovakia.The Israeli Air Force has since established itself as the best in the Middle East. At 680 combat aircraft, it isn’t the region’s largest fleet, but technological prowess, training and Israel’s stability make it the most formidable.Helpfully, Israel receives more than $3 billion of US military aid every year, helping it to maintain its advantage. The countries are now negotiating a new defense assistance package reportedly shaping up to be the largest ever.Israel’s yeshiva student population is 300 times bigger than in 1948.When Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, exempted full-time yeshiva students from Israel’s military draft, the pass applied to just 400 haredi Orthodox young men studying Torah all day. But Israel’s yeshivas have been fruitful and multiplied. Today, more than 120,000 yeshiva students skip the army, according to the religious pluralism advocacy group Hiddush.Haredi Jews make up 9 percent of Jewish Israeli society, and their numbers are growing. According to a March study by the Pew Research Center, 91 percent of them have more than three children, while half of secular Jews have two or fewer.The draft exemption has been a heated political issue in Israel for years, with many Israelis calling on the government to “equalize the burden” of military service. The centrist Yesh Atid party became Israel’s second largest in 2013 by promising draft reform. Its legislation passed in 2014, but was defanged last year after Israel’s most recent election, which swept haredi parties back into power and sent Yesh Atid into the opposition.The number of women in the Knesset has tripled.Women fought alongside men in Israel’s prestate battles and the War of Independence. But when the first Knesset convened in 1949, just 11 of the body’s 120 members were women — less than 10 percent. One of them was Golda Meyerson, who would leave her mark on the world as Golda Meir, Israel’s first female prime minister.While no other woman has yet followed Meir to Israel’s top post, more women than ever are members of Knesset. Women, who make up a majority of Israel’s population, are still underrepresented. But the body now includes a record 32 women, more than a quarter of Israeli lawmakers. That’s compared to 19 percent in the US Congress.Ben Gurion Airport welcomes 15 million travelers a year.As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has festered, Israeli fears of international boycott have risen. But you wouldn’t know it from Israel’s main link to the outside world, Ben Gurion Airport. Fifteen million travelers passed through the hub in 2015, up from 10 million in 2010.Tourism did drop 3 percent from 2014 to 2015, which Israel’s Tourism Ministry attributed to the 2014 Gaza War. But the war also showed the importance to Israelis of international travel. Some of the war’s tensest days came in late July, when many flights to Israel were canceled due to missile threats, momentarily severing those links between Israel and the world.

ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST

1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

GENESIS 12:1-3
1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3  And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

ISAIAH 41:11
11  Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)

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)

US cool on French Mideast peace push, may not attend-Washington may be delaying its decision to participate until White House decides on possible new American initiative-By AFP May 12, 2016, 1:08 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

WASHINGTON – The United States appears reluctant to support a French plan to relaunch the Israeli-Palestinian peace process with a major conference this month.The State Department was unable to say on Wednesday whether Secretary of State John Kerry will attend a planned May 30 meeting in Paris.And outside experts say Washington is unlikely to want to allow France to take the lead on an issue that it traditionally sees as its own.“We remain concerned about the continued violence on the ground and we welcome all ideas on moving this forward,” US spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said.“On this specific conference, on the May 30 event, no decision’s been made on participation.”“We still remain in consultation with the French and other international partners on it,” she said.Kerry was in Paris on Monday to see his counterpart Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, and his deputy Antony Blinken was there again on Wednesday.France’s prime minister, Manuel Valls, will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories this month to try to drum up interest in the French initiative.But Israel opposes the plan to bring ministers from 20 countries to Paris, insisting peace will come only through direct talks with the Palestinians.And there is clearly little enthusiasm in Washington.“They’re reluctant on at least two fronts,” said Ghaith al-Omari, a fellow of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy and a former adviser to Palestinian peace negotiators.“One front is that there’s always been American reluctance to engage in anything about the peace process that is not American led,” he told AFP.“The other component is that the administration has not decided yet whether or not they will be doing something American in the next few months.”Reports in Washington have suggested that President Barack Obama, due to leave office in January, may be planning a major speech to outline terms for peace.And Washington may decide to take a blueprint for the “two-state solution” to the conflict to the UN Security Council to clarify international expectations for a final outcome.But Obama has yet to decide whether to insert himself into an issue that has frustrated so many of his predecessors, as well as his own administration’s initiatives in 2010 and 2014 — or whether to let the French try.“Until there’s a decision it’s unlikely that the US will engage in any external initiatives,” Omari said.“If the president is going to give a speech, I can’t see Kerry going to the French initiative. If not, then there might be more space for American engagement.”

Iran appoints new head for state broadcasting-Mohammad Sarfaraz, replaced after two years on order of Tehran’s supreme leader, had opposed nuclear deal-By AP May 12, 2016, 1:47 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s state TV is reporting the country’s top leader has appointed a new head for the state broadcasting company.The Wednesday report says Mohammad Sarfaraz has been replaced after less than two years on the job by Abdolali Ali Asgari. The change comes at the order of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters.The report did not elaborate. However Sarafraz, who took office in November 2014, recently complained about a lack of funding.Under Sarafraz, the state broadcasting company’s stance was close to hard-liners who oppose moderate President Hassan Rouhani and last summer’s nuclear deal that Iran reached with world powers.

London mayor says he’ll be voice of city, not just Muslims-In whirlwind first 100 hours, Sadiq Khan reaches out to diverse groups, offers to help Americans avoid ‘the politics of fear’-By DANICA KIRKA May 12, 2016, 12:43 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

LONDON (AP) — In the 100 hours since he became London’s first Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan has tussled with Donald Trump, forged a bond with his Paris counterpart, visited a Holocaust memorial and even given bus riders a break on fares.Khan has been swept into the whirlwind of being the new leader of this global city — a job that also catapulted him to worldwide recognition because of his faith. But he says what’s important is being the voice of this polyglot city, which contains Sikhs, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and atheists as well as Christians — to name but a few — within its ranks.“I’m not a Muslim leader or a Muslim spokesperson,” he said. “I’m the mayor of London.”Khan, the son of Pakistani immigrants and a member of the Labour Party, triumphed despite a Conservative campaign that sought to depict him as being sympathetic to Islamic extremists.To counter a message of division, Khan offered tolerance and said the opportunities granted to him by Britain — through subsidized housing, school and medical care — helped him to succeed.Khan still sees that in “the current climate” he has a “responsibility to remind people that mainstream Islam is compatible with western liberal values.”He’s also not shy about reminding people that no one thing defines who they are.But he expressed surprise at what he described as the ignorance of Trump and his advisers, who recently suggested the United States should temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country. Trump suggested this week that he’d make an exception for Khan.“The idea of making an exception for me because I’m the mayor of London demonstrates how little they understand about the comments that he’s made,” he said. “There are business people here in London who want to do business in America, who happen to be of Islamic faith. There are children who want to go to Disneyland. …they’re Londoners, they’re British and they’re of Islamic faith.”Khan said Trump is “playing into the hands of extremists.”But as a spring downpour cascaded outside the glass-framed building that is London’ City Hall, Khan described an administration that would govern a city proud of its diversity.“Hope does trump fear, if you will forgive the pun,” Khan said.He pledged a vigorous campaign to keep Britain in the European Union — even if it means working closely with Conservatives. Thousands of jobs are at stake in London. His new friend, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, teased him by saying she’d roll out the red carpet for any companies who might want to re-locate should Britain decide to leave the 28-nation bloc in the June 23 referendum.He has a raft of other issues to face, such as London’s air quality, but as the son of a bus driver, he decided to start out with a fare break for frequent travel on London’s famous red double-deckers. His voice warmed as he described the move, which has already gone into effect.He also offered some advice for American voters.“It’s worth reminding my friends and cousins in America that actually London had a choice last Thursday. Londoners could have chosen the politics of fear … they chose not to.” he said. “If that’s a template for America, I’m really happy to help.”

In new push, IS advances toward Syrian city of Palmyra-Jihadist group nears historic city, from which it was ousted in March by regime forces backed by Russian airstrikes-By Sarah El Deeb May 12, 2016, 1:57 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State militants advanced toward the central Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday, threatening to besiege the world-famous ancient site several weeks after the government recaptured it from the extremists.The offensive came as a cease-fire over the northern city of Aleppo ticked down to its final hours, threatening to plunge the divided metropolis back into violence. A rocket attack on a government-held neighborhood late in the afternoon killed at least two people.Media allied with the IS group and other activists said the militants seized a strategically located but deserted rocket-launching site close to an air base less than 60 kilometers (40 miles) from Palmyra. For the government forces, the capture effectively severs a highway linking Palmyra to the government-controlled T-4 air base and the provincial capital Homs, threatening government supply routes.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activists confirmed the reported IS advance. The development comes after intense clashes with government troops near the air base, and a week after the extremist group advanced toward natural gas fields to the north.Al-Bayan radio reported that IS militants took control of the deserted site, seized two government checkpoints guarding the air base and downed a military helicopter to the north of the base. The Observatory also reported the downing of the aircraft but said the fate of its crew remains unclear.Wednesday’s capture “helps in severing the supply routes of the (Syrian) army from T-4 base to Palmyra, and tightening the siege on the city,” the IS-linked radio report said.Syrian state media denied reports that the road between Homs and Palmyra was cut.Syrian troops, with the help of Russian airstrikes, regained control of the world-famous ancient city in March, after IS had controlled it for nearly 10 months. During their rule, IS destroyed many of Palmyra’s relics and displaced its residents.Meanwhile, an airstrike on a medical point in IS-held territory north of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour killed at least seven people, among them a child, the Observatory reported. American, Russian, Syrian, and other air forces are known to conduct raids on the IS group in the area. It was unclear who was behind the attack on the village of Shaheil.The IS advance on Palmyra comes despite a partial cease-fire with the mainstream opposition militias that was intended to allow the government and its international allies to focus their efforts on the extremist group and its rival Al-Qaeda branch, the Nusra Front. That truce, brokered by the United States and Russia, broke down in the northern city of Aleppo.Nearly 300 people were killed in less than two weeks in strikes that also targeted hospitals and civilian areas. Human Rights Watch quoted rescue workers as saying that in one airstrike on a hospital in a rebel-held area of Aleppo, 58 civilians were killed, including medical staff and many patients. On the other side, a government-area hospital was hit and at least 20 people were killed in shelling blamed on the rebels.Last week, airstrikes hit a displaced people’s camp in the northern Idlib province along the border with Turkey and killed 28 people. The Russian and Syrian government denied any role.A partial cease-fire was restored, and has been extended twice. The latest cease-fire expires at midnight Wednesday.But Syrian state media accused “terrorists” of breaching the truce earlier in the day, when a rocket landed on the government-held Seif al-Dawleh neighborhood killing two people, according to the report. The Observatory said three people had died and at least 10 were injured.Government media refers to all factions of the armed opposition as “terrorists.”In Geneva, the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, a four-person UN team of investigators that aims to identify possible war crimes and other violations, decried strikes on medical facilities in Aleppo and at the Idlib camp for fleeing people.The commission noted that the recent truce has “increasingly deteriorated” and said international humanitarian law requires combatants to distinguish between “lawful and unlawful targets.”It urged parties to the conflict and states seeking a peaceful resolution to “demand civilian protection measures be taken.”Also Wednesday, the Russian military announced that a Russian soldier had died in Syria, the ninth Russian casualty since the start of Moscow’s Syria campaign.A Defense Ministry statement said the soldier, identified as Anton Yerygin, was wounded by shelling as he was escorting a convoy of vehicles and later died of his wounds.Yerygin is the ninth Russian serviceman to die in Syria, according to Russian official statements. Six died of enemy fire, two were killed in a helicopter crash and one killed himself.