DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN ( 500 million DEAD )
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 billion) of (8 billion) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500 million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH IN NOAHS DAY(BECAUSE OF SIN,VIOLENCE AND GODLESS PEOPLE)
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
HOSEA 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye chil dren of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
DEUTORONOMY 28:22-24
22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
AS OF JUNE 20,20-THERE ARE 411,588 DEATHS OF THE 7,254,140 COVID-19 CASES WORLDWIDE.
Major coronavirus outbreak in German slaughterhouse as R number rises-[The Telegraph]-Jorg Luyken-June 20, 2020
A mass infection of workers at a slaughterhouse in the Rhine region accompanied by an uptick in the R number is leading to concerns that the corona virus is making new inroads in Germany.Armin Laschet, leader in Germany’s largest state, North Rhine Westphalia, warned that he was contemplating a renewed lockdown after some 800 workers at one of the country’s largest slaughterhouses were confirmed.“The chain of infections can still be identified,” Mr Laschet said. “But if this changes a sweeping lockdown in the region will be necessary.”He added that the recent outbreak was “the biggest yet” in the region.Such a move would mean a return to strict contact restrictions for the city of Gütersoh, where the Tönnies slaughterhouse is based, and its 100,000 inhabitants. Schools and kindergartens in the city have already been closed.Local outbreaks of the infection in Berlin and Hesse have also raised concerns about a return of the epidemic in a country that was widely praised for its early handling of the pandemic.In Berlin’s Neukölln district - a poor and densely populated borough - several hundred households have been put under quarantine since Monday in response to a sharp rise in cases.The number of cases confirmed by German authorities on Saturday for the previous 24 hours stood at 601, following on from 770 the previous day. Earlier in June the number of new cases was as low as 300.The R number, which estimates how many people the average carrier infects, has also risen above 1, the value identified by Chancellor Angela Merkel as critical for controlling the outbreak. The seven-day average of the number, seen as the most reliable indicator of the progress of the virus, rose to 1.17 on Saturday.The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s government virus authority, has said that the infections are still localized and do not indicate a nationwide reemergence.
EXODUS 20:13
13 Thou shalt not kill.(Murder)(THAT INCLUDES ABORTION)
MATTHEW 18:6
6 But whoso shall offend (HURT) one of these little ones (CHILDREN) which believe in me,(JESUS) it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY FOLKS)
EXODUS 21:12
12 He that smiteth (MURDER)a man,(OR BABY) so that he die, shall be surely put to death.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY PEOPLE)
REVELATION 9:20-21
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils,(OCCULT) and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,(DRUG ADDICTIONS) nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
In Israel, Greek PM brands Turkey a ‘threat to regional peace’-The Times of Israel-Netanyahu, speaking alongside Greek counterpart, refrains from criticizing Ankara as east Mediterranean tensions soar over gas pipeline-By AFP-june 16,20- Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis, both wearing face masks against the coronavirus Covid-19, arrive to deliver joint statements in Jerusalem on June 16, 2020. (DEBBIE HILL / POOL / AFP)
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday accused Turkey of being a “threat to regional peace,” following wide-ranging talks in Jerusalem with his Israeli counterpart.In his first foreign trip since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Mitsotakis condemned “Turkey’s aggressive behavior in the eastern Mediterranean.”“We consider this activity to be a threat to regional peace and stability,” Mitsotakis told journalists after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Along with Cyprus, Israel and Greece signed an agreement in January on building an undersea pipeline to carry gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe.Ankara stands opposed to the deal and has sent ships to search for energy reserves off Cyprus, while last week the Turkish military conducted an air and naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean.“I have raised with the prime minister the recent incidents of illegal and provocative Turkish behavior at our sea and land borders,” the Greek premier said, standing alongside Netanyahu.Mitsotakis also criticized the “destabilizing effects that Turkey has played vis-a-vis its relationship with Libya.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis issue joint statements in Jerusalem on June 16, 2020. (DEBBIE HILL / POOL / AFP)-Ankara backs the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), based in the capital Tripoli, which for more than a year has battled an offensive by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.Turkey has sent air defense systems, drones and Syrian rebel fighters in support of the GNA, reversing earlier defeats to Haftar’s forces.The Turkish government additionally signed a controversial deal last year with the GNA that claimed gas-rich areas of the Mediterranean for Ankara, an agreement deemed “completely null and void” on Tuesday by Mitsotakis.Focusing on two-way ties, Netanyahu held off from criticizing Turkey and was instead upbeat about Israel’s partnership with Athens.“We have common interests, we face common challenges, we have extraordinary common opportunities,” he said.The Greek delegation is the largest to visit Jerusalem in months, with Mitsotakis bringing with him six ministers — including the defense, energy and tourism ministers of Greece.Netanyahu said his government aims to allow Israelis to travel to Greece and Cyprus from August 1, if coronavirus infection rates remain low.An Air Cyprus plane seen at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, on August 4, 2014. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)-Greece started welcoming tourists from around 30 countries on Monday, following closures due to the pandemic, while Israel is yet to lift its ban on visitors, imposed in March.According to Israeli officials, the government is counting on Greece and other “friendly” countries to support it at the EU level.The European Union is currently weighing retaliatory measures as Israel plans to annex parts of the West Bank, a step included in a US peace initiative.The Greek delegation will not travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority officials, who have categorically rejected Washington’s plan.But in an interview published by Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, Mitsotakis said he would speak to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas “once I return to Athens.”“We want to see the Israelis and the Palestinians living alongside one another in peace and security,” he said.The Israeli government says it could start the process of annexing the settlements and the Jordan Valley from July 1, a move which the UN has warned may spark violence.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
mn.
Gantz: Iran’s ‘blatant’ nuclear violations threaten Israel and global stability-The Times of Israel-Defense minister hails IAEA resolution criticizing Tehran for blocking inspector’s access to suspect sites; vows Iran will never get atomic weapons-By TOI staff and AFP-june 19,20-Today, 5:03 pm
Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Friday hailed the UN nuclear watchdog’s passing of a resolution criticizing Iran for not granting access to suspicious sites, saying that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions threatened Israel and global stability.The resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, the first of its kind since 2012, calls on Iran to grant inspectors access to two sites to determine whether undeclared nuclear activity took place there in the early 2000s.In a statement applauding the move, Gantz accused Iran of violating the 2015 agreement between Tehran and world powers that curbed its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.“We’ve known for years that Iran is concealing blatant violations of the nuclear deal with the intention of threatening both Israel and global stability,” Gantz said in a statement. “Israel will not allow Iran to achieve nuclear capability and the international community is doing the right thing by insisting on effective inspections.”Top Israeli officials have long accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge denied by Iranian leaders, who insist their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.Iran has been blocking access to the sites flagged by the IAEA for months, prompting a growing diplomatic row.Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Gharib Abadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, November 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)The resolution was carried by 25 votes in favor versus two against, with seven abstentions. Russia and China, both of which had spoken out against the prospect of a resolution earlier this week, voted against.It had been put forward by France, Germany and Britain and supported by the United States, even though the American ambassador to the UN in Vienna had said “the text could be strengthened.”Iran’s Ambassador to the UN in Vienna Kazem Gharib Abadi told Friday’s meeting that the resolution will not “encourage Iran to grant access to the Agency based on fabricated and unfounded allegations.”“Iran categorically deplores this resolution and will take appropriate action in response, the repercussions of which would be upon the sponsors of this resolution,” he added.Even though the sites in question are not thought to be directly relevant to Iran’s current nuclear program, the agency says it needs to know if activities going back almost two decades have been properly declared and all materials accounted for.Despite the row over the two sites, the IAEA says it still has the access it needs to inspect Iran’s declared nuclear facilities, as per its mandate under the 2015 nuclear accord.However, the latest dispute comes as that deal further unravels, with Iran continuing to breach its limits on nuclear activity in retaliation to a US withdrawal from the accord in 2018 and renewed sanctions.Iran has previously hinted that a resolution along the lines of the one passed Friday could cause “complication and difficulties” for the future of the 2015 accord, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).In his statement, Gharib Abadi warned the IAEA against actions that could lead to “the destruction of the JCPOA.”Director-general of International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, speaks before the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, March 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)Speaking to reporters after the resolution was passed, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said it would be “absolutely unacceptable” if an example were to be set that states can be selective in their implementation of agreements with the UN agency.“There are no exceptions. There is no Additional Protocol a la carte,” Grossi said, referring to the agreement under which the IAEA requested access to the sites.“I intend to sit down with Iran very soon and to try to solve this as soon as possible,” he said, adding that Gharib Abadi would be his first port of call.Iran this week argued that the IAEA’s access requests were based on allegations from Israel, which has flagged at least one site as a “secret atomic warehouse” and pressed the IAEA to investigate.Additional information provided by the IAEA to back up its requests “were merely some commercial satellite imageries that contained no convincing underlying reason” to provide access, Tehran argued.Also on Friday, the British Foreign Office said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab would be meeting French and German counterparts in Berlin to discuss “a diplomatic solution to Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East.”
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 11:21-2321 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
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.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)
Envoy to US: Annexation will help cure Ramallah of ‘illusions,’ accept 2 states-The Times of Israel-Envoy to US: Annexation will help cure Ramallah of ‘illusions,’ accept 2 states-Ron Dermer, in op-ed for Washington Post, says world has helped foster false Palestinian hopes of ending Israeli state, asserts Jerusalem’s plan will help them accept reality-By TOI staff-june 20,20-Today, 7:20 pm
Israel’s plan to annex large swaths of the West Bank will help, not hurt, the prospects of peace with the Palestinians, by convincing them to abandon their “illusion” of ending the Jewish state project and agree to a true two-state solution, Israel’s Ambassador to the US said in an op-ed published Saturday.Ron Dermer argued, in his opinion piece (paywall) for The Washington Post, that the international community’s policies have inadvertently helped the Palestinians foster false hopes of one day overthrowing the Jewish state.“The extension of Israeli sovereignty to certain territories in Judea and Samaria will not, as many critics suggest, destroy the two-state solution. But it will shatter the two-state illusion. And in doing so, it will open the door to a realistic two-state solution and get the peace process out of the cul-de-sac it has been stuck in for two decades,” Dermer wrote.He added, “Palestinian leaders have rejected every Israeli peace overture while systematically promoting a culture that rejects peace and glorifies terrorism, including by providing a lifetime of financial support for terrorists who murder Jews.”The conflict “has never been about establishing a Palestinian state. It has always been about rejecting the Jewish state,” he argued.And international leaders, by ignoring “the root cause of the conflict” and “doubling down on a failed strategy,” have continuously moved the goalposts closer to the Palestinian position in an attempt to bring them to agree to a resolution, he asserted.Palestinians riot by the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, east of Gaza City, on October 11, 2019. (Said Khatib/AFP)-The result, he said, was a “two-state illusion” that has “proved disastrous for peace,” maintaining Palestinian refusal to generous offers from Israel over the years while losing the Israeli public as each overture was met with more and more terrorism.The Trump peace plan, Dermer argued, offered a true course to peace by demanding Palestinian recognition of Israel’s legitimacy and addressing its security concerns, while seeking realistic solutions to the situation on the ground.Israel’s annexation plan, he stated, will relate only to “territories that will remain part of Israel in any realistic peace agreement.” This, Israel hopes, “will convince the Palestinians that another century of rejectionism is a losing strategy and that the Jewish state is here to stay.”Earlier this week coalition whip Miki Zohar said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised his Likud faction that no government he leads will ever recognize a Palestinian state, even in principle.“The prime minister announced yesterday at the faction meeting that in no constellation will the government or the Knesset recognize the principle of establishing a Palestinian state,” Zohar tweeted.Palestinians attend a Hamas rally in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 16, 2019. (Fadi Fahd/Flash90 )-Some settler leaders have also heavily criticized Netanyahu’s push for annexation, saying it will pave the way, under the Trump plan, for a Palestinian state.Under a coalition deal between Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, signed last month, the government can pursue annexation of all the settlements and the Jordan Valley — the 30 percent of the West Bank allocated to Israel under the Trump administration peace plan — from July 1.The Palestinians have rejected the US plan, and earlier this month said they had submitted a counter-proposal for a demilitarized Palestinian state to the Middle East peacemaking Quartet — the US, EU, UN and Russia.The Trump administration has indicated it will not oppose Netanyahu’s declared plans to do so, but has lately signaled ambivalence about the timing of such a move. And according to recent Hebrew media reports, the US administration wants Gantz to be on board with any annexation move.View of the Israeli settlement of Efrat, in the West Bank, on January 6, 2020. (Hadas Parush//Flash90)-While Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, a member of Blue and White, have backed Trump’s peace plan, they have signaled opposition to annexing lands unilaterally and endangering the peace deal with Jordan.Jordan’s King Abdullah deemed unilateral annexation “unacceptable” in briefings this week to American lawmakers, and is expected to withdraw his ambassador, downgrade ties with Israel and reconsider the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty if Netanyahu goes ahead. Abdullah also said he was trying to persuade Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to enter negotiations with Israel, however, and Jordan’s foreign minister this week reportedly told Abbas in Ramallah to telephone US President Donald Trump to explain his opposition to unilateral Israeli annexation.Channel 13 reported Friday that Netanyahu and Gantz held further talks on annexation, but did not make any progress toward reaching an agreement. The two have met several times in recent days to discuss the matter, including for talks attended by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.According to a Channel 12 report Friday, Netanyahu has drawn up four scenarios for annexation in which Israel would extend territory over most of the settlements and a total of anywhere from 12% to 30% of the West Bank.The issue has also threatened to upend years of diplomatic work forging quiet ties between Israel and Gulf states. Last Friday, the United Arab Emirates’ influential ambassador to the US, Yousef al-Otaiba, warned in a Hebrew op-ed published in an Israeli paper that Abu Dhabi would freeze normalization if annexation moves ahead.Interview-EU’s elder statesman: Annexation flouts biblical tenet ‘Thou shalt not steal’-Luxembourg FM Jean Asselborn warns move would ‘make it very difficult’ for the EU to sign future agreements with Israel, explains why his country would recognize Palestinian state-By Raphael Ahren-june 19,20-Today, 11:19 amJean Asselborn is the closest thing Europe has to an elder statesman. He is the continent’s longest-serving top diplomat, having been Luxembourg’s foreign minister for the last 16 years; and he is widely respected in the European Union’s foreign affairs milieu, with an influence over its international relations in inverse proportion to his tiny country’s size.He has long been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, and in recent weeks assumed the role of one of the EU’s most vocal opponents of Israel’s plan to unilaterally annex parts of the West Bank — second perhaps only to the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.Asselborn, 71, was behind an unsuccessful effort to issue a joint EU statement warning Israel against such a move, and has reportedly urged his colleagues to recognize a Palestinian state if Israel goes ahead with its plan to apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and all settlements across the West Bank — the 30 percent of territory allocated to Israel under the Trump administration peace plan.He has also been a fixture in the media speaking out against annexation, including taking his case straight to the Israeli people with interviews in the Israeli press.“An annexation would be contrary to the security interests of the whole region, including Israel,” Asselborn said Monday at a virtual meeting of EU foreign ministers with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “Now is the time for urgent concerted action to preserve the prospect of peace.”In an interview with German news magazine Der Spiegel earlier this month, Asselborn didn’t just warn that annexation constitutes a violation of international law, but suggested that it may well be a violation of divine law.Luxembourg FM Jean Asselborn (courtesy)-“In the Middle East, which is strongly shaped by religion, one could also say that an annexation violates the seventh of the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not steal. An annexation of parts of the West Bank would be just that: stealing,” he said.Asked by The Times of Israel this week if he truly believes Israel would be violating the Ten Commandments by asserting sovereignty over the Jewish people’s biblical homeland, Asselborn did not back down.“I am not an expert in theology, but I think that in all cultures and religions, there is a well-established norm against theft. This is one of the basic norms of human coexistence and a fundamental principle of international law. The acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible,” he said.“Notwithstanding the Ten Commandments,” he added, “seizing territory by force is a violation of Israel’s obligations under the UN Charter as well as the Geneva Conventions, and goes against a host of UN Security Council resolutions.”I am not an expert in theology, but I think that in all cultures and religions, there is a well-established norm against theftAsselborn, who also served as Luxembourg’s deputy prime minister between 2004 and 2013, confirmed that his country would recognize a Palestinian state if Israel went ahead with annexation. Recognition of Palestinian statehood “would send a strong signal in defense of international law, and would contribute to creating a slightly less unequal situation between the two parties,” he said.While declining to discuss possible sanctions against Israel, the senior diplomat warned that annexation would create a situation in which it would become increasingly difficult to distinguish between Israel proper and areas the international community does not recognize as part of sovereign Israel. And this would “make it very difficult for the EU and Israel to enter into future agreements and implement existing ones,” he said ominously.Annexation may also result in a “one-state reality, made of unequal rights and perpetual conflict” replacing the two-state solution, Asselborn said. “A struggle for statehood would then evolve into an anti-apartheid-like struggle. Regardless of what comes next, this cannot be the answer.”A Palestinian throws a stone during clashes with Israeli forces following Friday prayers at the al-Aroub refugee camp, north of Hebron in the West Bank, on February 7, 2020. (Hazem Bader/AFP)-The Luxembourg foreign minister’s office had agreed with The Times of Israel to a telephone interview for Thursday morning but asked to be sent the questions in advance. Upon receiving them, his office decided to cancel the scheduled conversation on short notice and submitted Asselborn’s “personal answers to the questions” instead.What follows is the entire Q&A.The Times of Israel: You have said several times that Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank is a violation of international law, and indeed “theft.” Some pro-Israel advocates take great offense to such an assertion, arguing that the Jewish people have a legal right to the territory, based, inter alia, on the 1920 San Remo Conference. Could you please explain how exactly applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank amounts to theft? What international law or treaty makes the West Bank “Palestinian territory” that Israel can be accused of stealing? Jean Asselborn: I believe theft is generally defined as taking something from someone by force, and against his will. Applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank — which is another way of saying annexation — is exactly this: it is taking from the Palestinian people a territory that Israel has occupied by force.According to international law, the UN Charter and relevant UN resolutions, in particular UN Security Council resolutions 242 of 1967 and 338 of 1973, the West Bank remains under Israeli occupation and the acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible.In a recent interview, you went as far as citing the Ten Commandments. Do you really think that Israel would be violating one of the Ten Commandments by asserting sovereignty over the Jewish people’s biblical heartland, to which it has undeniable historic links?I am not an expert in theology, but I think that in all cultures and religions, there is a well-established norm against theft. This is one of the basic norms of human coexistence and a fundamental principle of international law. The acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible.Notwithstanding the Ten Commandments, seizing territory by force is a violation of Israel’s obligations under the UN Charter as well as the Geneva Conventions, and goes against a host of UN Security Council resolutions.You have been comparing the possible annexation of the West Bank with Russia’s annexation of Crimea. But even Josep Borrell acknowledged the other day that the two situations cannot be compared, because no one currently has sovereignty over the West Bank, as opposed to Crimea, which everyone agrees (except Russia of course) belongs to Ukraine. Luxembourg does not currently recognize a Palestinian state, so how can you argue that Israel applying sovereignty over this territory is comparable to the Crimea situation? Annexation is not a matter of legal, theological or philosophical debate. It is a matter of principle. I use the example of Crimea to illustrate this principle: annexation is against international law and must be opposed, whenever and wherever it occurs. While Luxembourg recognized Israel in 1949, it is true that Luxembourg does not currently recognize a Palestinian state.However, we firmly believe in the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to live in peace and dignity in their own sovereign and viable state. By opposing annexation, we are defending this right. It is also important to acknowledge what the Palestinians think about occupation and annexation. Their political rights will not disappear miraculously in case of annexation.The EU responded to Russia’s annexation with sanctions. Are you in favor of sanctions, or other less dramatic punitive measures, against Israel if annexation takes place? What kind of steps do you think would be appropriate for an annexation of the Jordan Valley and all other settlements across the West Bank, as PM Netanyahu currently says he plans on doing?As I have said many times, I do not want to speak about sanctions. On the contrary: we in the European Union have an interest in maintaining and further developing the longstanding friendship between Israel and the EU. Then-foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, left, hosts Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, February 23, 2011. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)-However, this has already been made difficult by the ongoing occupation and illegal settlement activities, and I fear this will be even more difficult in case of annexation. Our relationship will be put under severe strain if Israel decides to go ahead with annexation.Would your view on sanctions/punitive measures change if Israel were to opt for a partial annexation, for example of only the Jordan Valley or one or several settlement blocs (which everyone agrees will be part of Israel in any conceivable future peace agreement)? As I said before, we oppose annexation as being contrary to international law. A partial annexation is still an annexation and therefore not somehow more acceptable. The Palestinians have repeatedly stated that they are open to minor border modifications and the exchange of territory equivalent in size, volume and value.The UN Security Council underlined in its resolution 2334 of December 23, 2016, that it will not recognize any changes to the June 4, 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations. And I don’t think what we are currently witnessing is in any way agreed or based on negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.The Security Council votes on Resolution 2334, December 23, 2016. (UN Photo/Manuel Elias)-According to some, any substantial EU countermeasures against Israel would be blocked by Brussels’ requirement for unanimity. Can the EU theoretically exclude Israel from next year’s Horizon Europe program, or change the preferential tariff treatment for Israeli imports, or ban the import of settlement goods, if one or several countries oppose such steps? If so, what could Brussels do that does not require consensus of all 27 member states?Again, as I said before: I want to further develop our relationship with Israel, but international law, as reflected in UN Security Council resolution 2334, requires states to distinguish in their dealings with Israel between the territory of the State of Israel and the territory occupied since 1967.One could say that a creeping annexation is already taking place. De jure annexation will make it very difficult for the EU and Israel to enter into future agreements and implement existing ones.Our own EU guidelines say that any agreement with Israel must clearly stipulate its inapplicability to the territories occupied since 1967. What we are seeing is that the continuation of the illegal settlement policy by the Israeli government is making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between the two.One could say that a creeping annexation is already taking place. De jure annexation will make it virtually impossible to make such a territorial distinction and thereby make it very difficult for the EU and Israel to enter into future agreements and implement existing ones. This would create a “lose-lose” situation that is in nobody’s interest.One possible response to annexation would be recognition of Palestine as a state by individual EU member states. I believe you already said that Luxembourg would take such a step. How do you think such a mostly symbolic move would contribute to peace? Shouldn’t the recognition or non-recognition of a state depend on objective criteria regarding the requirements of statehood and not on what another state is or is not doing? The recognition of the State of Palestine in the 1967 borders would send a strong signal in defense of international law, and would contribute to creating a slightly less unequal situation between the two parties. It would also demonstrate our support for the two-state solution, which we believe is the only just and sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Palestinians wave their national flag during a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 29, 2012 to support Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas who is heading to the United Nations General Assembly today with huge backing for his bid for UN recognition of statehood despite strong US and Israeli opposition. Abbas will make the case for Palestine to become a UN "non-member observer state" and indicate his conditions for talks with Israel in a key speech to the 193-member assembly. (photo credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)-Palestinians wave their national flag during a rally in Ramallah on November 29, 2012, to support Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s bid for UN recognition of statehood. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90)-Will Luxembourg encourage other EU countries to follow its example and recognize a Palestinian state? This is something that every state must decide on its own, in accordance with its own national procedures. However, it is clear to me that recognition by a single member state would not make much of a difference. Our national parliament voiced its support for the recognition of the State of Palestine in December 2014 and invited the government to go ahead with recognition at the time deemed most appropriate.In my view, the most appropriate time would be when a group of EU member states would be ready to take the step to recognize the State of Palestine. This would send a strong signal of support for the two-state solution.Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn, right, meets President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem, September 7, 2015 (Mark Neyman/GPO)-You recently said in a statement that annexation “would deal a fatal blow to the two-state solution.” Indeed, more and more actors in the international community believe that such a move would make impossible the future creation of a viable Palestinian state and kill once and for all the two-state paradigm. Do you envision your country, and others in Europe, ever dropping the two-state solution and replacing it with the notion of one unitary state between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean, with equal rights for all?The two-state solution based on the internationally agreed-upon parameters is the only solution that can provide a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. These parameters cannot simply be abandoned or replaced unilaterally. They are the result of political negotiations that led to an international consensus.However, over the past decades we have seen the physical feasibility of the two-state solution and the viability of a Palestinian state being eroded by Israel through construction and expansion of settlements, demolitions, confiscations and forced displacement, which are all illegal under international law, especially the fourth Geneva Convention.In this February 18, 2020, photo, a view of the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Efraim on the hills of the Jordan Valley. (AP/Ariel Schalit)-The international community has collectively failed to prevent this, while the Palestinians are unable to oppose those developments that undermine their future state.Now there is a serious risk that the two-state solution could be replaced with a one-state reality, made of unequal rights and perpetual conflict. A struggle for statehood would then evolve into an anti-apartheid-like struggle. Regardless of what comes next, this cannot be the answer.Such a one-state solution would spell the end of the Zionist dream of a Jewish state, but many European countries have never formally endorsed Israel’s desire to be recognized as a Jewish state. Do you recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people in which all citizens have equal rights, regardless of religion and ethnicity?How Israel wishes to define itself is for the Israeli government and the Israeli citizens to decide. In a democracy, all citizens should have the same rights, regardless of ethnicity or belief.
Palestinians in Jordan Valley fear annexation heralds displacement-The Times of Israel-Many of the region’s lands have already been taken over by settlements or fenced off by the IDF; residents, analysts believe process could accelerate under Israeli sovereignty-By Joseph Krauss-june 19,20-Today, 9:49 am
FASAYIL, West Bank (AP) — For generations, the people of Fasayil herded animals on the desert bluffs and palm-shaded lowlands of the Jordan Valley. Today, nearly every man in the Palestinian village works for Jewish settlers in the sprawling modern farms to the north and south.The grazing lands to the west and east, leading down to the banks of the biblical Jordan River, have been swallowed up by the settlements or fenced off by the Israeli military. So instead of leading sheep out to pasture, the men rise before dawn to work in the settlements for around $3 an hour — or they move away.“Everyone here works in the settlements, there’s nothing else,” said Iyad Taamra, a member of the village council who runs a small grocery store. “If you have some money you go somewhere else where there is a future.”Palestinians fear communities across the Jordan Valley will meet a similar fate if Israel proceeds with its plans to annex the territory, which accounts for around a quarter of the West Bank and was once seen as the bread basket of a future Palestinian state.In this Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 file photo, a Palestinian demonstrator covers his face from tear gas fired by Israeli forces as he holds a poster of US President Donald Trump during a protest against Trump’s Mideast initiative, in yjr Jordan Valley in the West Bank (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex the valley and all of Israel’s far-flung West Bank settlements, in line with US President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan, which has been rejected by the Palestinians as overwhelmingly favoring Israel. The process could begin as soon as July 1.Netanyahu has said Israel will annex the land but not the people who rely on it, telling an Israeli newspaper they will remain in an “enclave” under limited self-rule, with Israel maintaining security control.Few, if any, Palestinians would be given citizenship, leaving their legal status uncertain. In a region that heavily relies on agriculture, the loss of farm and grazing land could force many to relocate.Shaul Arieli, a retired Israeli military commander who worked on border demarcation during the peace process in the 1990s, estimates that the Palestinians would lose up to 70,000 acres (280 square kilometers) of private land. He expects Israel will carve out a new 200-kilometer (124-mile) border between the Jordan Valley and the rest of the West Bank, and a 60-kilometer (37-mile) border around the Palestinian city of Jericho.He based his conclusions on maps presented by Netanyahu and the White House, which show Israel extending sovereignty over large swaths of land while leaving most populated areas outside its borders.In this Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 file photo, Jewish settlers stand at a view point overlooking the West Bank city of Jericho from the Jewish settlement of Mitzpe Yeriho (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)-Itay Epshtain, a special adviser to the Norwegian Refugee Council, said Palestinians would lose some of the limited protections they have, once Israeli courts are no longer formally obliged to consider international laws related to military occupation.“Palestinians void of civil status in Israel, and not coming under the authority of the military commander, would neither have standing in the High Court nor the ability to challenge decisions of the government,” he said.The Jordan Valley is home to around 60,000 Palestinians, according to the UN, but nearly 90 percent of the land is part of what is known as Area C, the three-fifths of the West Bank that is under complete Israeli control. In the Jordan Valley, it includes closed military areas and around 50 agricultural settlements housing some 12,000 Israelis.Palestinians are barred from those areas, and even on the lands they own, are forbidden from digging wells or building any kind of infrastructure without hard-to-get military permits. From 2009 until 2016, less than 2% of more than 3,300 permit applications in Area C were successful, according to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement group, citing official statistics.In this Monday, Feb. 10, 2020 file photo Palestinian farmers harvest onions in Jordan Valley in the West Bank (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)-Anything built without a permit, from home extensions to tents, animal pens and irrigation networks, is at risk of demolition by the Israeli military.“If you dig a well they will come the next day and fill it with concrete,” said Hani Saida, a farmer from the town of al-Auja. “They may annex this area, but they will never give us equal rights. They’ll keep trying to drive us away.”COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees civilian affairs in the West Bank, declined to comment.Abdul-Malik al-Jaber, a Canadian-Palestinian businessman and the chairman of a large company that exports dates from the Jordan Valley, says the process of obtaining permits is a “nightmare,” even for big investors.“There’s no way on earth a normal, simple farmer can afford the cost and the complications,” he said.Al-Jaber said his company has spent the last two months and around $35,000 trying to secure a permit to build a modern date-packing plant on land he owns. He was told the Israeli military considers it a training area, even though farmers live there and work the land.He fears annexation will only make things more difficult, by cutting off workers from the company’s fields and factories and further complicating the export process.This Feb. 18, 2020 file photo shows a view of the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Efraim on the hills of the Jordan Valley (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)-Israel’s annexation plans have sparked an international outcry, with European and Arab countries warning that it would violate international law and threaten any remaining hopes for a two-state solution.But in the Jordan Valley and elsewhere in the West Bank, the response has been more muted.“From 1967 until today, water for drinking, water for agriculture, the border, the crossings, the roads, the government lands in Area C between the villages and the cities, the entrances to the towns — all of them are under Israeli control,” said Mohannad Saida, a cousin of Hani.In this Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 file photo, a Palestinian demonstrator hurls back a tear gas canister fired by Israeli forces during clashes as they protest against US President Donald Trump’s Mideast initiative, in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)“Nothing is going to change,” he said.He said his family owns around 750 acres (3 square kilometers) north of al-Auja, stretching to the banks of the Jordan River. They fled during the 1967 war, when Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and their land was sealed off as a military zone.Over the years, they would drive into the hills to look down over the land. About 15 years ago, they noticed rows of freshly planted date trees, an extension of a nearby settlement.A few years later, a relative who worked as a bulldozer driver was able to enter the area for an Israeli construction project. He took pictures of the mud-brick homes where their ancestors had been born and raised.“We saw our mud houses,” Saida said. “They are still standing.”Archaeologists unearth Galilee Christian town sacked by Persians in 7th century-The Times of Israel-Archaeology-Remains of affluent, rural community discovered at Pi Mazuva in 2007 include crosses, pagan-inspired mosaic; new publication illuminates the Christians who lived there-By Luke Tress-june 19,20-Today, 3:53 pmIsraeli archaeologists have published a 360-degree analysis of a rural, affluent Christian town in the Galilee that was most likely destroyed by Persian invaders in 613 CE.Unearthed in 2007 in a salvage excavation before roadworks near Shlomi and Kibbutz Hanita, the remains of the Byzantine settlement at Pi Mazuva are located in modern Israel’s northwest corner on the border with Lebanon. The finds include Christian iconography, a large house and a colorful, high-quality, partially preserved mosaic floor.The findings were published in June’s edition of Atiqot, a research journal produced by the Israel Antiquities Authority, and initially reported on in Haaretz. The lead researchers were Gilad Cinamon, Yoav Lerer, Gabriela Bijovsky and Rina Talgam.According to the open-source Hebrew-language publication, the settlement was mentioned in the 4th-5th century Jerusalem Talmud as being part of “forbidden territories,” and according to Jewish law (halacha), were not considered part of Jewish territory. At the same time, certain commandments for Jews located in the Land of Israel were still enforced.“While for now we have no documents from Christian sources about this settlement, all the evidence points to an almost entirely Christian population,” Cinamon told Haaretz.In addition to the colorful mosaic, researchers also found pottery, a bronze cross, Arab-Byzantine coins, a rare sixth-century bronze weight and stones with crosses carved into them. Four structures were excavated in two seasons, which straddled narrow alleys. The researchers write that the bronze weight “teaches about the economic well-being of the rural community.”Rare Byzantine-era bronze weight found at Pi Metzuba in 2007. (IAA)-The 5-by-5-meter (16-by-16 foot) mosaic portrays floral motifs, animal and human figures, and fragments of Greek inscriptions, which have not been deciphered over a decade after their reveal. The researchers said it was probably made by experienced artists and adorned the floor of a local villa. It was removed to a local archaeology museum at Kibbutz Ein Dor, near Nazareth, where it is currently on display, according to Haaretz.The pastoral illustrations include images of cats, a rabbit eating grapes, a goblet, birds, a young man, fruit plants and a woman who seems to personify abundance and agricultural fertility.The motifs are eclectic, pointing to a continuity of classical traditions, on the one hand, and turning away from them, on the other,” the researchers wrote. “This mosaic joins many other mosaic floors that were created after the Muslim conquest, attesting that local Byzantine traditions continued throughout the 7th–8th centuries CE.”An archaeological excavation in northern Israel at the Pi Mazuva dig site in 2007. (Courtesy/Israel Antiquities Authority)-The room contained Christian objects but did not appear to be a chapel, but a hall used to entertain guests in an affluent family’s farmhouse.The coins found at the site date to the Byzantine and early Islamic periods, except for one, which was minted in Lyon, France, in 314 or 315 CE.The site was first discovered in 2007 during road construction and has only been partially excavated. Most of the site was backfilled, awaiting future archaeologists.A community near the site today preserves the Byzantine-era name and is called Kibbutz Metzuba.The Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Persian Empire went to war between 602 and 628 CE, the last of a series of conflicts between the two powers. The Persians invaded modern-day Israel and conquered Jerusalem in 614, with the help of some Jewish allies who had been persecuted by the Byzantines.According to the researchers, there were about 140 Christian settlements in the region during this era, including 63 churches or monasteries. Another 13 settlements had a mixed population. Many of these Christian sites in the Galilee were destroyed in the Persian invasion.UN nuclear watchdog passes resolution criticizing Iran, in first since 2012-The Times of Israel-Agency chief says selective adherence to deal 'unacceptable'-Motion calls on Tehran to provide IAEA inspectors with access to two sites suspected of undeclared nuclear activity in the early 2000s; Iran has blocked access for months-By AFP and TOI staff-june 19,20-Today, 1:00 pmThe board of governors at the UN’s nuclear watchdog has passed a resolution critical of Iran, diplomatic sources said Friday, the first of its kind since 2012.The resolution calls on Tehran to provide inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with access to two sites in Iran in order to clarify whether undeclared nuclear activity took place there in the early 2000s.It “calls on Iran to fully cooperate with the Agency and satisfy the Agency’s requests without any further delay, including by providing prompt access to the locations specified by the Agency.”Iran has been blocking access to the sites for months, prompting a growing diplomatic row.The resolution was carried by 25 votes in favor versus two against, with seven abstentions. Russia and China, both of which had spoken out against the prospect of a resolution earlier this week, voted against.t had been put forward by France, Germany and Britain and supported by the United States, even though the American ambassador to the UN in Vienna had said “the text could be strengthened.”General view of the board of governors meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, August 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)Earlier this week Iran warned that such a resolution would be “counterproductive” and that it would take “appropriate measures” in response.Russia’s Ambassador to the UN in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov echoed that position after the resolution was passed on Friday.“While stressing the need for Tehran and IAEA to settle this problem without delay, we believe that the resolution can be counterproductive,” he tweeted.Even though the sites in question are not thought to be directly relevant to Iran’s current nuclear program, the agency says it needs to know if activities going back almost two decades have been properly declared and all materials accounted for.Speaking to reporters after the resolution was passed on Friday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said it would be “absolutely unacceptable” if an example were to be set that states can be selective in their implementation of agreements with the UN agency.“There are no exceptions. There is no Additional Protocol a la carte,” Grossi said, referring to the agreement under which the IAEA requested access to the sites.“I intend to sit down with Iran very soon and to try to solve this as soon as possible,” he said, adding that Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Vienna Kazem Gharib Abadi would be his first port of call.Earlier this week Gharib Abadi argued in a statement that the IAEA’s access requests were based on allegations from Iran’s arch-enemy Israel.Iran this week argued that the IAEA’s access requests were based on allegations from Israel, which has flagged at least one site as a “secret atomic warehouse” and pressed the IAEA to investigate.Iran’s alleged atomic warehouse in Turquzabad, Tehran. (YouTube screenshot)-Despite the row over the two sites, the IAEA says it still has the access it needs to inspect Iran’s declared nuclear facilities, as the agency is mandated to do under the landmark deal between Iran and world powers reached in 2015.However the latest row comes as that deal continues to unravel, with Iran continuing to breach the limits on nuclear activity in the accord in retaliation for the United States’ withdrawal from it and reimposition of sanctions.At the start of this week’s meeting on Monday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi repeated his appeal to Iran to “cooperate immediately and fully” and grant access.While the new resolution is largely symbolic in character, it could be a prelude for the dispute being referred to the UN Security Council, the only UN body that can impose sanctions.US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal two years ago and went on to re-impose tough economic sanctions on Iran. In retaliation, Iran has been slowly abandoning limits on its activities set out under the deal, including on the size and enrichment level of its uranium stockpile.Iran has accused the European parties to the deal — France, the UK and Germany — of not doing enough to mitigate the impact of American sanctions.
SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.
GENESIS 1:5,145 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)
SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS-CHEMICAL WEAPONS
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL/NUCLEAR) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
REVELATION 16:21 80-120LB HAIL ON HUMANS
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent:(80-120 LBS) and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
Iran's currency hits lowest value ever against the dollar-[Associated Press]-june 20, 2020
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s currency has dropped to its lowest value ever at 190,000 rial for each dollar amid severe U.S. sanctions against the country.The Iranian currency has tumbled from a rate of 32,000 rials to $1 at the time of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.The rial unexpectedly rallied after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the nuclear deal and reimpose crippling trade sanctions over two years ago.U.S. sanctions have caused Iran’s oil exports, the country’s main source of income, to fall sharply.Last week, Senior Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said that Iran’s oil revenues have plummeted to $8 billion from $100 billion in 2011.Iran recently sent five tankers with at least $45.5 million worth of gasoline and similar products to Venezuela.It was a way to bring money into its cash-starved Iran and put its own pressure on the U.S., which under Trump has pursued maximalist campaigns against both nations.
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 billion) of (8 billion) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500 million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH IN NOAHS DAY(BECAUSE OF SIN,VIOLENCE AND GODLESS PEOPLE)
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
HOSEA 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye chil dren of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
DEUTORONOMY 28:22-24
22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
AS OF JUNE 20,20-THERE ARE 411,588 DEATHS OF THE 7,254,140 COVID-19 CASES WORLDWIDE.
Major coronavirus outbreak in German slaughterhouse as R number rises-[The Telegraph]-Jorg Luyken-June 20, 2020
A mass infection of workers at a slaughterhouse in the Rhine region accompanied by an uptick in the R number is leading to concerns that the corona virus is making new inroads in Germany.Armin Laschet, leader in Germany’s largest state, North Rhine Westphalia, warned that he was contemplating a renewed lockdown after some 800 workers at one of the country’s largest slaughterhouses were confirmed.“The chain of infections can still be identified,” Mr Laschet said. “But if this changes a sweeping lockdown in the region will be necessary.”He added that the recent outbreak was “the biggest yet” in the region.Such a move would mean a return to strict contact restrictions for the city of Gütersoh, where the Tönnies slaughterhouse is based, and its 100,000 inhabitants. Schools and kindergartens in the city have already been closed.Local outbreaks of the infection in Berlin and Hesse have also raised concerns about a return of the epidemic in a country that was widely praised for its early handling of the pandemic.In Berlin’s Neukölln district - a poor and densely populated borough - several hundred households have been put under quarantine since Monday in response to a sharp rise in cases.The number of cases confirmed by German authorities on Saturday for the previous 24 hours stood at 601, following on from 770 the previous day. Earlier in June the number of new cases was as low as 300.The R number, which estimates how many people the average carrier infects, has also risen above 1, the value identified by Chancellor Angela Merkel as critical for controlling the outbreak. The seven-day average of the number, seen as the most reliable indicator of the progress of the virus, rose to 1.17 on Saturday.The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s government virus authority, has said that the infections are still localized and do not indicate a nationwide reemergence.
EXODUS 20:13
13 Thou shalt not kill.(Murder)(THAT INCLUDES ABORTION)
MATTHEW 18:6
6 But whoso shall offend (HURT) one of these little ones (CHILDREN) which believe in me,(JESUS) it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY FOLKS)
EXODUS 21:12
12 He that smiteth (MURDER)a man,(OR BABY) so that he die, shall be surely put to death.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY PEOPLE)
REVELATION 9:20-21
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils,(OCCULT) and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,(DRUG ADDICTIONS) nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
In Israel, Greek PM brands Turkey a ‘threat to regional peace’-The Times of Israel-Netanyahu, speaking alongside Greek counterpart, refrains from criticizing Ankara as east Mediterranean tensions soar over gas pipeline-By AFP-june 16,20- Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis, both wearing face masks against the coronavirus Covid-19, arrive to deliver joint statements in Jerusalem on June 16, 2020. (DEBBIE HILL / POOL / AFP)
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday accused Turkey of being a “threat to regional peace,” following wide-ranging talks in Jerusalem with his Israeli counterpart.In his first foreign trip since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Mitsotakis condemned “Turkey’s aggressive behavior in the eastern Mediterranean.”“We consider this activity to be a threat to regional peace and stability,” Mitsotakis told journalists after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Along with Cyprus, Israel and Greece signed an agreement in January on building an undersea pipeline to carry gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe.Ankara stands opposed to the deal and has sent ships to search for energy reserves off Cyprus, while last week the Turkish military conducted an air and naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean.“I have raised with the prime minister the recent incidents of illegal and provocative Turkish behavior at our sea and land borders,” the Greek premier said, standing alongside Netanyahu.Mitsotakis also criticized the “destabilizing effects that Turkey has played vis-a-vis its relationship with Libya.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis issue joint statements in Jerusalem on June 16, 2020. (DEBBIE HILL / POOL / AFP)-Ankara backs the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), based in the capital Tripoli, which for more than a year has battled an offensive by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.Turkey has sent air defense systems, drones and Syrian rebel fighters in support of the GNA, reversing earlier defeats to Haftar’s forces.The Turkish government additionally signed a controversial deal last year with the GNA that claimed gas-rich areas of the Mediterranean for Ankara, an agreement deemed “completely null and void” on Tuesday by Mitsotakis.Focusing on two-way ties, Netanyahu held off from criticizing Turkey and was instead upbeat about Israel’s partnership with Athens.“We have common interests, we face common challenges, we have extraordinary common opportunities,” he said.The Greek delegation is the largest to visit Jerusalem in months, with Mitsotakis bringing with him six ministers — including the defense, energy and tourism ministers of Greece.Netanyahu said his government aims to allow Israelis to travel to Greece and Cyprus from August 1, if coronavirus infection rates remain low.An Air Cyprus plane seen at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, on August 4, 2014. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)-Greece started welcoming tourists from around 30 countries on Monday, following closures due to the pandemic, while Israel is yet to lift its ban on visitors, imposed in March.According to Israeli officials, the government is counting on Greece and other “friendly” countries to support it at the EU level.The European Union is currently weighing retaliatory measures as Israel plans to annex parts of the West Bank, a step included in a US peace initiative.The Greek delegation will not travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority officials, who have categorically rejected Washington’s plan.But in an interview published by Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, Mitsotakis said he would speak to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas “once I return to Athens.”“We want to see the Israelis and the Palestinians living alongside one another in peace and security,” he said.The Israeli government says it could start the process of annexing the settlements and the Jordan Valley from July 1, a move which the UN has warned may spark violence.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
mn.
Gantz: Iran’s ‘blatant’ nuclear violations threaten Israel and global stability-The Times of Israel-Defense minister hails IAEA resolution criticizing Tehran for blocking inspector’s access to suspect sites; vows Iran will never get atomic weapons-By TOI staff and AFP-june 19,20-Today, 5:03 pm
Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Friday hailed the UN nuclear watchdog’s passing of a resolution criticizing Iran for not granting access to suspicious sites, saying that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions threatened Israel and global stability.The resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, the first of its kind since 2012, calls on Iran to grant inspectors access to two sites to determine whether undeclared nuclear activity took place there in the early 2000s.In a statement applauding the move, Gantz accused Iran of violating the 2015 agreement between Tehran and world powers that curbed its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.“We’ve known for years that Iran is concealing blatant violations of the nuclear deal with the intention of threatening both Israel and global stability,” Gantz said in a statement. “Israel will not allow Iran to achieve nuclear capability and the international community is doing the right thing by insisting on effective inspections.”Top Israeli officials have long accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge denied by Iranian leaders, who insist their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.Iran has been blocking access to the sites flagged by the IAEA for months, prompting a growing diplomatic row.Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Gharib Abadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, November 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)The resolution was carried by 25 votes in favor versus two against, with seven abstentions. Russia and China, both of which had spoken out against the prospect of a resolution earlier this week, voted against.It had been put forward by France, Germany and Britain and supported by the United States, even though the American ambassador to the UN in Vienna had said “the text could be strengthened.”Iran’s Ambassador to the UN in Vienna Kazem Gharib Abadi told Friday’s meeting that the resolution will not “encourage Iran to grant access to the Agency based on fabricated and unfounded allegations.”“Iran categorically deplores this resolution and will take appropriate action in response, the repercussions of which would be upon the sponsors of this resolution,” he added.Even though the sites in question are not thought to be directly relevant to Iran’s current nuclear program, the agency says it needs to know if activities going back almost two decades have been properly declared and all materials accounted for.Despite the row over the two sites, the IAEA says it still has the access it needs to inspect Iran’s declared nuclear facilities, as per its mandate under the 2015 nuclear accord.However, the latest dispute comes as that deal further unravels, with Iran continuing to breach its limits on nuclear activity in retaliation to a US withdrawal from the accord in 2018 and renewed sanctions.Iran has previously hinted that a resolution along the lines of the one passed Friday could cause “complication and difficulties” for the future of the 2015 accord, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).In his statement, Gharib Abadi warned the IAEA against actions that could lead to “the destruction of the JCPOA.”Director-general of International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, speaks before the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, March 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)Speaking to reporters after the resolution was passed, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said it would be “absolutely unacceptable” if an example were to be set that states can be selective in their implementation of agreements with the UN agency.“There are no exceptions. There is no Additional Protocol a la carte,” Grossi said, referring to the agreement under which the IAEA requested access to the sites.“I intend to sit down with Iran very soon and to try to solve this as soon as possible,” he said, adding that Gharib Abadi would be his first port of call.Iran this week argued that the IAEA’s access requests were based on allegations from Israel, which has flagged at least one site as a “secret atomic warehouse” and pressed the IAEA to investigate.Additional information provided by the IAEA to back up its requests “were merely some commercial satellite imageries that contained no convincing underlying reason” to provide access, Tehran argued.Also on Friday, the British Foreign Office said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab would be meeting French and German counterparts in Berlin to discuss “a diplomatic solution to Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East.”
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 11:21-2321 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
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.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)
Envoy to US: Annexation will help cure Ramallah of ‘illusions,’ accept 2 states-The Times of Israel-Envoy to US: Annexation will help cure Ramallah of ‘illusions,’ accept 2 states-Ron Dermer, in op-ed for Washington Post, says world has helped foster false Palestinian hopes of ending Israeli state, asserts Jerusalem’s plan will help them accept reality-By TOI staff-june 20,20-Today, 7:20 pm
Israel’s plan to annex large swaths of the West Bank will help, not hurt, the prospects of peace with the Palestinians, by convincing them to abandon their “illusion” of ending the Jewish state project and agree to a true two-state solution, Israel’s Ambassador to the US said in an op-ed published Saturday.Ron Dermer argued, in his opinion piece (paywall) for The Washington Post, that the international community’s policies have inadvertently helped the Palestinians foster false hopes of one day overthrowing the Jewish state.“The extension of Israeli sovereignty to certain territories in Judea and Samaria will not, as many critics suggest, destroy the two-state solution. But it will shatter the two-state illusion. And in doing so, it will open the door to a realistic two-state solution and get the peace process out of the cul-de-sac it has been stuck in for two decades,” Dermer wrote.He added, “Palestinian leaders have rejected every Israeli peace overture while systematically promoting a culture that rejects peace and glorifies terrorism, including by providing a lifetime of financial support for terrorists who murder Jews.”The conflict “has never been about establishing a Palestinian state. It has always been about rejecting the Jewish state,” he argued.And international leaders, by ignoring “the root cause of the conflict” and “doubling down on a failed strategy,” have continuously moved the goalposts closer to the Palestinian position in an attempt to bring them to agree to a resolution, he asserted.Palestinians riot by the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, east of Gaza City, on October 11, 2019. (Said Khatib/AFP)-The result, he said, was a “two-state illusion” that has “proved disastrous for peace,” maintaining Palestinian refusal to generous offers from Israel over the years while losing the Israeli public as each overture was met with more and more terrorism.The Trump peace plan, Dermer argued, offered a true course to peace by demanding Palestinian recognition of Israel’s legitimacy and addressing its security concerns, while seeking realistic solutions to the situation on the ground.Israel’s annexation plan, he stated, will relate only to “territories that will remain part of Israel in any realistic peace agreement.” This, Israel hopes, “will convince the Palestinians that another century of rejectionism is a losing strategy and that the Jewish state is here to stay.”Earlier this week coalition whip Miki Zohar said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised his Likud faction that no government he leads will ever recognize a Palestinian state, even in principle.“The prime minister announced yesterday at the faction meeting that in no constellation will the government or the Knesset recognize the principle of establishing a Palestinian state,” Zohar tweeted.Palestinians attend a Hamas rally in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 16, 2019. (Fadi Fahd/Flash90 )-Some settler leaders have also heavily criticized Netanyahu’s push for annexation, saying it will pave the way, under the Trump plan, for a Palestinian state.Under a coalition deal between Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, signed last month, the government can pursue annexation of all the settlements and the Jordan Valley — the 30 percent of the West Bank allocated to Israel under the Trump administration peace plan — from July 1.The Palestinians have rejected the US plan, and earlier this month said they had submitted a counter-proposal for a demilitarized Palestinian state to the Middle East peacemaking Quartet — the US, EU, UN and Russia.The Trump administration has indicated it will not oppose Netanyahu’s declared plans to do so, but has lately signaled ambivalence about the timing of such a move. And according to recent Hebrew media reports, the US administration wants Gantz to be on board with any annexation move.View of the Israeli settlement of Efrat, in the West Bank, on January 6, 2020. (Hadas Parush//Flash90)-While Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, a member of Blue and White, have backed Trump’s peace plan, they have signaled opposition to annexing lands unilaterally and endangering the peace deal with Jordan.Jordan’s King Abdullah deemed unilateral annexation “unacceptable” in briefings this week to American lawmakers, and is expected to withdraw his ambassador, downgrade ties with Israel and reconsider the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty if Netanyahu goes ahead. Abdullah also said he was trying to persuade Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to enter negotiations with Israel, however, and Jordan’s foreign minister this week reportedly told Abbas in Ramallah to telephone US President Donald Trump to explain his opposition to unilateral Israeli annexation.Channel 13 reported Friday that Netanyahu and Gantz held further talks on annexation, but did not make any progress toward reaching an agreement. The two have met several times in recent days to discuss the matter, including for talks attended by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.According to a Channel 12 report Friday, Netanyahu has drawn up four scenarios for annexation in which Israel would extend territory over most of the settlements and a total of anywhere from 12% to 30% of the West Bank.The issue has also threatened to upend years of diplomatic work forging quiet ties between Israel and Gulf states. Last Friday, the United Arab Emirates’ influential ambassador to the US, Yousef al-Otaiba, warned in a Hebrew op-ed published in an Israeli paper that Abu Dhabi would freeze normalization if annexation moves ahead.Interview-EU’s elder statesman: Annexation flouts biblical tenet ‘Thou shalt not steal’-Luxembourg FM Jean Asselborn warns move would ‘make it very difficult’ for the EU to sign future agreements with Israel, explains why his country would recognize Palestinian state-By Raphael Ahren-june 19,20-Today, 11:19 amJean Asselborn is the closest thing Europe has to an elder statesman. He is the continent’s longest-serving top diplomat, having been Luxembourg’s foreign minister for the last 16 years; and he is widely respected in the European Union’s foreign affairs milieu, with an influence over its international relations in inverse proportion to his tiny country’s size.He has long been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, and in recent weeks assumed the role of one of the EU’s most vocal opponents of Israel’s plan to unilaterally annex parts of the West Bank — second perhaps only to the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.Asselborn, 71, was behind an unsuccessful effort to issue a joint EU statement warning Israel against such a move, and has reportedly urged his colleagues to recognize a Palestinian state if Israel goes ahead with its plan to apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and all settlements across the West Bank — the 30 percent of territory allocated to Israel under the Trump administration peace plan.He has also been a fixture in the media speaking out against annexation, including taking his case straight to the Israeli people with interviews in the Israeli press.“An annexation would be contrary to the security interests of the whole region, including Israel,” Asselborn said Monday at a virtual meeting of EU foreign ministers with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “Now is the time for urgent concerted action to preserve the prospect of peace.”In an interview with German news magazine Der Spiegel earlier this month, Asselborn didn’t just warn that annexation constitutes a violation of international law, but suggested that it may well be a violation of divine law.Luxembourg FM Jean Asselborn (courtesy)-“In the Middle East, which is strongly shaped by religion, one could also say that an annexation violates the seventh of the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not steal. An annexation of parts of the West Bank would be just that: stealing,” he said.Asked by The Times of Israel this week if he truly believes Israel would be violating the Ten Commandments by asserting sovereignty over the Jewish people’s biblical homeland, Asselborn did not back down.“I am not an expert in theology, but I think that in all cultures and religions, there is a well-established norm against theft. This is one of the basic norms of human coexistence and a fundamental principle of international law. The acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible,” he said.“Notwithstanding the Ten Commandments,” he added, “seizing territory by force is a violation of Israel’s obligations under the UN Charter as well as the Geneva Conventions, and goes against a host of UN Security Council resolutions.”I am not an expert in theology, but I think that in all cultures and religions, there is a well-established norm against theftAsselborn, who also served as Luxembourg’s deputy prime minister between 2004 and 2013, confirmed that his country would recognize a Palestinian state if Israel went ahead with annexation. Recognition of Palestinian statehood “would send a strong signal in defense of international law, and would contribute to creating a slightly less unequal situation between the two parties,” he said.While declining to discuss possible sanctions against Israel, the senior diplomat warned that annexation would create a situation in which it would become increasingly difficult to distinguish between Israel proper and areas the international community does not recognize as part of sovereign Israel. And this would “make it very difficult for the EU and Israel to enter into future agreements and implement existing ones,” he said ominously.Annexation may also result in a “one-state reality, made of unequal rights and perpetual conflict” replacing the two-state solution, Asselborn said. “A struggle for statehood would then evolve into an anti-apartheid-like struggle. Regardless of what comes next, this cannot be the answer.”A Palestinian throws a stone during clashes with Israeli forces following Friday prayers at the al-Aroub refugee camp, north of Hebron in the West Bank, on February 7, 2020. (Hazem Bader/AFP)-The Luxembourg foreign minister’s office had agreed with The Times of Israel to a telephone interview for Thursday morning but asked to be sent the questions in advance. Upon receiving them, his office decided to cancel the scheduled conversation on short notice and submitted Asselborn’s “personal answers to the questions” instead.What follows is the entire Q&A.The Times of Israel: You have said several times that Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank is a violation of international law, and indeed “theft.” Some pro-Israel advocates take great offense to such an assertion, arguing that the Jewish people have a legal right to the territory, based, inter alia, on the 1920 San Remo Conference. Could you please explain how exactly applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank amounts to theft? What international law or treaty makes the West Bank “Palestinian territory” that Israel can be accused of stealing? Jean Asselborn: I believe theft is generally defined as taking something from someone by force, and against his will. Applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank — which is another way of saying annexation — is exactly this: it is taking from the Palestinian people a territory that Israel has occupied by force.According to international law, the UN Charter and relevant UN resolutions, in particular UN Security Council resolutions 242 of 1967 and 338 of 1973, the West Bank remains under Israeli occupation and the acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible.In a recent interview, you went as far as citing the Ten Commandments. Do you really think that Israel would be violating one of the Ten Commandments by asserting sovereignty over the Jewish people’s biblical heartland, to which it has undeniable historic links?I am not an expert in theology, but I think that in all cultures and religions, there is a well-established norm against theft. This is one of the basic norms of human coexistence and a fundamental principle of international law. The acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible.Notwithstanding the Ten Commandments, seizing territory by force is a violation of Israel’s obligations under the UN Charter as well as the Geneva Conventions, and goes against a host of UN Security Council resolutions.You have been comparing the possible annexation of the West Bank with Russia’s annexation of Crimea. But even Josep Borrell acknowledged the other day that the two situations cannot be compared, because no one currently has sovereignty over the West Bank, as opposed to Crimea, which everyone agrees (except Russia of course) belongs to Ukraine. Luxembourg does not currently recognize a Palestinian state, so how can you argue that Israel applying sovereignty over this territory is comparable to the Crimea situation? Annexation is not a matter of legal, theological or philosophical debate. It is a matter of principle. I use the example of Crimea to illustrate this principle: annexation is against international law and must be opposed, whenever and wherever it occurs. While Luxembourg recognized Israel in 1949, it is true that Luxembourg does not currently recognize a Palestinian state.However, we firmly believe in the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to live in peace and dignity in their own sovereign and viable state. By opposing annexation, we are defending this right. It is also important to acknowledge what the Palestinians think about occupation and annexation. Their political rights will not disappear miraculously in case of annexation.The EU responded to Russia’s annexation with sanctions. Are you in favor of sanctions, or other less dramatic punitive measures, against Israel if annexation takes place? What kind of steps do you think would be appropriate for an annexation of the Jordan Valley and all other settlements across the West Bank, as PM Netanyahu currently says he plans on doing?As I have said many times, I do not want to speak about sanctions. On the contrary: we in the European Union have an interest in maintaining and further developing the longstanding friendship between Israel and the EU. Then-foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, left, hosts Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, February 23, 2011. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)-However, this has already been made difficult by the ongoing occupation and illegal settlement activities, and I fear this will be even more difficult in case of annexation. Our relationship will be put under severe strain if Israel decides to go ahead with annexation.Would your view on sanctions/punitive measures change if Israel were to opt for a partial annexation, for example of only the Jordan Valley or one or several settlement blocs (which everyone agrees will be part of Israel in any conceivable future peace agreement)? As I said before, we oppose annexation as being contrary to international law. A partial annexation is still an annexation and therefore not somehow more acceptable. The Palestinians have repeatedly stated that they are open to minor border modifications and the exchange of territory equivalent in size, volume and value.The UN Security Council underlined in its resolution 2334 of December 23, 2016, that it will not recognize any changes to the June 4, 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations. And I don’t think what we are currently witnessing is in any way agreed or based on negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.The Security Council votes on Resolution 2334, December 23, 2016. (UN Photo/Manuel Elias)-According to some, any substantial EU countermeasures against Israel would be blocked by Brussels’ requirement for unanimity. Can the EU theoretically exclude Israel from next year’s Horizon Europe program, or change the preferential tariff treatment for Israeli imports, or ban the import of settlement goods, if one or several countries oppose such steps? If so, what could Brussels do that does not require consensus of all 27 member states?Again, as I said before: I want to further develop our relationship with Israel, but international law, as reflected in UN Security Council resolution 2334, requires states to distinguish in their dealings with Israel between the territory of the State of Israel and the territory occupied since 1967.One could say that a creeping annexation is already taking place. De jure annexation will make it very difficult for the EU and Israel to enter into future agreements and implement existing ones.Our own EU guidelines say that any agreement with Israel must clearly stipulate its inapplicability to the territories occupied since 1967. What we are seeing is that the continuation of the illegal settlement policy by the Israeli government is making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between the two.One could say that a creeping annexation is already taking place. De jure annexation will make it virtually impossible to make such a territorial distinction and thereby make it very difficult for the EU and Israel to enter into future agreements and implement existing ones. This would create a “lose-lose” situation that is in nobody’s interest.One possible response to annexation would be recognition of Palestine as a state by individual EU member states. I believe you already said that Luxembourg would take such a step. How do you think such a mostly symbolic move would contribute to peace? Shouldn’t the recognition or non-recognition of a state depend on objective criteria regarding the requirements of statehood and not on what another state is or is not doing? The recognition of the State of Palestine in the 1967 borders would send a strong signal in defense of international law, and would contribute to creating a slightly less unequal situation between the two parties. It would also demonstrate our support for the two-state solution, which we believe is the only just and sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Palestinians wave their national flag during a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 29, 2012 to support Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas who is heading to the United Nations General Assembly today with huge backing for his bid for UN recognition of statehood despite strong US and Israeli opposition. Abbas will make the case for Palestine to become a UN "non-member observer state" and indicate his conditions for talks with Israel in a key speech to the 193-member assembly. (photo credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)-Palestinians wave their national flag during a rally in Ramallah on November 29, 2012, to support Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s bid for UN recognition of statehood. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90)-Will Luxembourg encourage other EU countries to follow its example and recognize a Palestinian state? This is something that every state must decide on its own, in accordance with its own national procedures. However, it is clear to me that recognition by a single member state would not make much of a difference. Our national parliament voiced its support for the recognition of the State of Palestine in December 2014 and invited the government to go ahead with recognition at the time deemed most appropriate.In my view, the most appropriate time would be when a group of EU member states would be ready to take the step to recognize the State of Palestine. This would send a strong signal of support for the two-state solution.Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn, right, meets President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem, September 7, 2015 (Mark Neyman/GPO)-You recently said in a statement that annexation “would deal a fatal blow to the two-state solution.” Indeed, more and more actors in the international community believe that such a move would make impossible the future creation of a viable Palestinian state and kill once and for all the two-state paradigm. Do you envision your country, and others in Europe, ever dropping the two-state solution and replacing it with the notion of one unitary state between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean, with equal rights for all?The two-state solution based on the internationally agreed-upon parameters is the only solution that can provide a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. These parameters cannot simply be abandoned or replaced unilaterally. They are the result of political negotiations that led to an international consensus.However, over the past decades we have seen the physical feasibility of the two-state solution and the viability of a Palestinian state being eroded by Israel through construction and expansion of settlements, demolitions, confiscations and forced displacement, which are all illegal under international law, especially the fourth Geneva Convention.In this February 18, 2020, photo, a view of the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Efraim on the hills of the Jordan Valley. (AP/Ariel Schalit)-The international community has collectively failed to prevent this, while the Palestinians are unable to oppose those developments that undermine their future state.Now there is a serious risk that the two-state solution could be replaced with a one-state reality, made of unequal rights and perpetual conflict. A struggle for statehood would then evolve into an anti-apartheid-like struggle. Regardless of what comes next, this cannot be the answer.Such a one-state solution would spell the end of the Zionist dream of a Jewish state, but many European countries have never formally endorsed Israel’s desire to be recognized as a Jewish state. Do you recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people in which all citizens have equal rights, regardless of religion and ethnicity?How Israel wishes to define itself is for the Israeli government and the Israeli citizens to decide. In a democracy, all citizens should have the same rights, regardless of ethnicity or belief.
Palestinians in Jordan Valley fear annexation heralds displacement-The Times of Israel-Many of the region’s lands have already been taken over by settlements or fenced off by the IDF; residents, analysts believe process could accelerate under Israeli sovereignty-By Joseph Krauss-june 19,20-Today, 9:49 am
FASAYIL, West Bank (AP) — For generations, the people of Fasayil herded animals on the desert bluffs and palm-shaded lowlands of the Jordan Valley. Today, nearly every man in the Palestinian village works for Jewish settlers in the sprawling modern farms to the north and south.The grazing lands to the west and east, leading down to the banks of the biblical Jordan River, have been swallowed up by the settlements or fenced off by the Israeli military. So instead of leading sheep out to pasture, the men rise before dawn to work in the settlements for around $3 an hour — or they move away.“Everyone here works in the settlements, there’s nothing else,” said Iyad Taamra, a member of the village council who runs a small grocery store. “If you have some money you go somewhere else where there is a future.”Palestinians fear communities across the Jordan Valley will meet a similar fate if Israel proceeds with its plans to annex the territory, which accounts for around a quarter of the West Bank and was once seen as the bread basket of a future Palestinian state.In this Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 file photo, a Palestinian demonstrator covers his face from tear gas fired by Israeli forces as he holds a poster of US President Donald Trump during a protest against Trump’s Mideast initiative, in yjr Jordan Valley in the West Bank (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex the valley and all of Israel’s far-flung West Bank settlements, in line with US President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan, which has been rejected by the Palestinians as overwhelmingly favoring Israel. The process could begin as soon as July 1.Netanyahu has said Israel will annex the land but not the people who rely on it, telling an Israeli newspaper they will remain in an “enclave” under limited self-rule, with Israel maintaining security control.Few, if any, Palestinians would be given citizenship, leaving their legal status uncertain. In a region that heavily relies on agriculture, the loss of farm and grazing land could force many to relocate.Shaul Arieli, a retired Israeli military commander who worked on border demarcation during the peace process in the 1990s, estimates that the Palestinians would lose up to 70,000 acres (280 square kilometers) of private land. He expects Israel will carve out a new 200-kilometer (124-mile) border between the Jordan Valley and the rest of the West Bank, and a 60-kilometer (37-mile) border around the Palestinian city of Jericho.He based his conclusions on maps presented by Netanyahu and the White House, which show Israel extending sovereignty over large swaths of land while leaving most populated areas outside its borders.In this Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 file photo, Jewish settlers stand at a view point overlooking the West Bank city of Jericho from the Jewish settlement of Mitzpe Yeriho (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)-Itay Epshtain, a special adviser to the Norwegian Refugee Council, said Palestinians would lose some of the limited protections they have, once Israeli courts are no longer formally obliged to consider international laws related to military occupation.“Palestinians void of civil status in Israel, and not coming under the authority of the military commander, would neither have standing in the High Court nor the ability to challenge decisions of the government,” he said.The Jordan Valley is home to around 60,000 Palestinians, according to the UN, but nearly 90 percent of the land is part of what is known as Area C, the three-fifths of the West Bank that is under complete Israeli control. In the Jordan Valley, it includes closed military areas and around 50 agricultural settlements housing some 12,000 Israelis.Palestinians are barred from those areas, and even on the lands they own, are forbidden from digging wells or building any kind of infrastructure without hard-to-get military permits. From 2009 until 2016, less than 2% of more than 3,300 permit applications in Area C were successful, according to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement group, citing official statistics.In this Monday, Feb. 10, 2020 file photo Palestinian farmers harvest onions in Jordan Valley in the West Bank (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)-Anything built without a permit, from home extensions to tents, animal pens and irrigation networks, is at risk of demolition by the Israeli military.“If you dig a well they will come the next day and fill it with concrete,” said Hani Saida, a farmer from the town of al-Auja. “They may annex this area, but they will never give us equal rights. They’ll keep trying to drive us away.”COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees civilian affairs in the West Bank, declined to comment.Abdul-Malik al-Jaber, a Canadian-Palestinian businessman and the chairman of a large company that exports dates from the Jordan Valley, says the process of obtaining permits is a “nightmare,” even for big investors.“There’s no way on earth a normal, simple farmer can afford the cost and the complications,” he said.Al-Jaber said his company has spent the last two months and around $35,000 trying to secure a permit to build a modern date-packing plant on land he owns. He was told the Israeli military considers it a training area, even though farmers live there and work the land.He fears annexation will only make things more difficult, by cutting off workers from the company’s fields and factories and further complicating the export process.This Feb. 18, 2020 file photo shows a view of the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Efraim on the hills of the Jordan Valley (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)-Israel’s annexation plans have sparked an international outcry, with European and Arab countries warning that it would violate international law and threaten any remaining hopes for a two-state solution.But in the Jordan Valley and elsewhere in the West Bank, the response has been more muted.“From 1967 until today, water for drinking, water for agriculture, the border, the crossings, the roads, the government lands in Area C between the villages and the cities, the entrances to the towns — all of them are under Israeli control,” said Mohannad Saida, a cousin of Hani.In this Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 file photo, a Palestinian demonstrator hurls back a tear gas canister fired by Israeli forces during clashes as they protest against US President Donald Trump’s Mideast initiative, in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)“Nothing is going to change,” he said.He said his family owns around 750 acres (3 square kilometers) north of al-Auja, stretching to the banks of the Jordan River. They fled during the 1967 war, when Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and their land was sealed off as a military zone.Over the years, they would drive into the hills to look down over the land. About 15 years ago, they noticed rows of freshly planted date trees, an extension of a nearby settlement.A few years later, a relative who worked as a bulldozer driver was able to enter the area for an Israeli construction project. He took pictures of the mud-brick homes where their ancestors had been born and raised.“We saw our mud houses,” Saida said. “They are still standing.”Archaeologists unearth Galilee Christian town sacked by Persians in 7th century-The Times of Israel-Archaeology-Remains of affluent, rural community discovered at Pi Mazuva in 2007 include crosses, pagan-inspired mosaic; new publication illuminates the Christians who lived there-By Luke Tress-june 19,20-Today, 3:53 pmIsraeli archaeologists have published a 360-degree analysis of a rural, affluent Christian town in the Galilee that was most likely destroyed by Persian invaders in 613 CE.Unearthed in 2007 in a salvage excavation before roadworks near Shlomi and Kibbutz Hanita, the remains of the Byzantine settlement at Pi Mazuva are located in modern Israel’s northwest corner on the border with Lebanon. The finds include Christian iconography, a large house and a colorful, high-quality, partially preserved mosaic floor.The findings were published in June’s edition of Atiqot, a research journal produced by the Israel Antiquities Authority, and initially reported on in Haaretz. The lead researchers were Gilad Cinamon, Yoav Lerer, Gabriela Bijovsky and Rina Talgam.According to the open-source Hebrew-language publication, the settlement was mentioned in the 4th-5th century Jerusalem Talmud as being part of “forbidden territories,” and according to Jewish law (halacha), were not considered part of Jewish territory. At the same time, certain commandments for Jews located in the Land of Israel were still enforced.“While for now we have no documents from Christian sources about this settlement, all the evidence points to an almost entirely Christian population,” Cinamon told Haaretz.In addition to the colorful mosaic, researchers also found pottery, a bronze cross, Arab-Byzantine coins, a rare sixth-century bronze weight and stones with crosses carved into them. Four structures were excavated in two seasons, which straddled narrow alleys. The researchers write that the bronze weight “teaches about the economic well-being of the rural community.”Rare Byzantine-era bronze weight found at Pi Metzuba in 2007. (IAA)-The 5-by-5-meter (16-by-16 foot) mosaic portrays floral motifs, animal and human figures, and fragments of Greek inscriptions, which have not been deciphered over a decade after their reveal. The researchers said it was probably made by experienced artists and adorned the floor of a local villa. It was removed to a local archaeology museum at Kibbutz Ein Dor, near Nazareth, where it is currently on display, according to Haaretz.The pastoral illustrations include images of cats, a rabbit eating grapes, a goblet, birds, a young man, fruit plants and a woman who seems to personify abundance and agricultural fertility.The motifs are eclectic, pointing to a continuity of classical traditions, on the one hand, and turning away from them, on the other,” the researchers wrote. “This mosaic joins many other mosaic floors that were created after the Muslim conquest, attesting that local Byzantine traditions continued throughout the 7th–8th centuries CE.”An archaeological excavation in northern Israel at the Pi Mazuva dig site in 2007. (Courtesy/Israel Antiquities Authority)-The room contained Christian objects but did not appear to be a chapel, but a hall used to entertain guests in an affluent family’s farmhouse.The coins found at the site date to the Byzantine and early Islamic periods, except for one, which was minted in Lyon, France, in 314 or 315 CE.The site was first discovered in 2007 during road construction and has only been partially excavated. Most of the site was backfilled, awaiting future archaeologists.A community near the site today preserves the Byzantine-era name and is called Kibbutz Metzuba.The Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Persian Empire went to war between 602 and 628 CE, the last of a series of conflicts between the two powers. The Persians invaded modern-day Israel and conquered Jerusalem in 614, with the help of some Jewish allies who had been persecuted by the Byzantines.According to the researchers, there were about 140 Christian settlements in the region during this era, including 63 churches or monasteries. Another 13 settlements had a mixed population. Many of these Christian sites in the Galilee were destroyed in the Persian invasion.UN nuclear watchdog passes resolution criticizing Iran, in first since 2012-The Times of Israel-Agency chief says selective adherence to deal 'unacceptable'-Motion calls on Tehran to provide IAEA inspectors with access to two sites suspected of undeclared nuclear activity in the early 2000s; Iran has blocked access for months-By AFP and TOI staff-june 19,20-Today, 1:00 pmThe board of governors at the UN’s nuclear watchdog has passed a resolution critical of Iran, diplomatic sources said Friday, the first of its kind since 2012.The resolution calls on Tehran to provide inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with access to two sites in Iran in order to clarify whether undeclared nuclear activity took place there in the early 2000s.It “calls on Iran to fully cooperate with the Agency and satisfy the Agency’s requests without any further delay, including by providing prompt access to the locations specified by the Agency.”Iran has been blocking access to the sites for months, prompting a growing diplomatic row.The resolution was carried by 25 votes in favor versus two against, with seven abstentions. Russia and China, both of which had spoken out against the prospect of a resolution earlier this week, voted against.t had been put forward by France, Germany and Britain and supported by the United States, even though the American ambassador to the UN in Vienna had said “the text could be strengthened.”General view of the board of governors meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, August 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)Earlier this week Iran warned that such a resolution would be “counterproductive” and that it would take “appropriate measures” in response.Russia’s Ambassador to the UN in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov echoed that position after the resolution was passed on Friday.“While stressing the need for Tehran and IAEA to settle this problem without delay, we believe that the resolution can be counterproductive,” he tweeted.Even though the sites in question are not thought to be directly relevant to Iran’s current nuclear program, the agency says it needs to know if activities going back almost two decades have been properly declared and all materials accounted for.Speaking to reporters after the resolution was passed on Friday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said it would be “absolutely unacceptable” if an example were to be set that states can be selective in their implementation of agreements with the UN agency.“There are no exceptions. There is no Additional Protocol a la carte,” Grossi said, referring to the agreement under which the IAEA requested access to the sites.“I intend to sit down with Iran very soon and to try to solve this as soon as possible,” he said, adding that Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Vienna Kazem Gharib Abadi would be his first port of call.Earlier this week Gharib Abadi argued in a statement that the IAEA’s access requests were based on allegations from Iran’s arch-enemy Israel.Iran this week argued that the IAEA’s access requests were based on allegations from Israel, which has flagged at least one site as a “secret atomic warehouse” and pressed the IAEA to investigate.Iran’s alleged atomic warehouse in Turquzabad, Tehran. (YouTube screenshot)-Despite the row over the two sites, the IAEA says it still has the access it needs to inspect Iran’s declared nuclear facilities, as the agency is mandated to do under the landmark deal between Iran and world powers reached in 2015.However the latest row comes as that deal continues to unravel, with Iran continuing to breach the limits on nuclear activity in the accord in retaliation for the United States’ withdrawal from it and reimposition of sanctions.At the start of this week’s meeting on Monday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi repeated his appeal to Iran to “cooperate immediately and fully” and grant access.While the new resolution is largely symbolic in character, it could be a prelude for the dispute being referred to the UN Security Council, the only UN body that can impose sanctions.US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal two years ago and went on to re-impose tough economic sanctions on Iran. In retaliation, Iran has been slowly abandoning limits on its activities set out under the deal, including on the size and enrichment level of its uranium stockpile.Iran has accused the European parties to the deal — France, the UK and Germany — of not doing enough to mitigate the impact of American sanctions.
SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.
GENESIS 1:5,145 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)
SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS-CHEMICAL WEAPONS
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL/NUCLEAR) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
REVELATION 16:21 80-120LB HAIL ON HUMANS
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent:(80-120 LBS) and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
Iran's currency hits lowest value ever against the dollar-[Associated Press]-june 20, 2020
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s currency has dropped to its lowest value ever at 190,000 rial for each dollar amid severe U.S. sanctions against the country.The Iranian currency has tumbled from a rate of 32,000 rials to $1 at the time of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.The rial unexpectedly rallied after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the nuclear deal and reimpose crippling trade sanctions over two years ago.U.S. sanctions have caused Iran’s oil exports, the country’s main source of income, to fall sharply.Last week, Senior Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said that Iran’s oil revenues have plummeted to $8 billion from $100 billion in 2011.Iran recently sent five tankers with at least $45.5 million worth of gasoline and similar products to Venezuela.It was a way to bring money into its cash-starved Iran and put its own pressure on the U.S., which under Trump has pursued maximalist campaigns against both nations.
