Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

U.S.: There's not Much Abbas Can Do About Rocket Attacks
Jun 12th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Mahmoud Abbas

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The U.S. State Department condemned on Wednesday the rocket fire from Gaza, but also said that Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas cannot do much to stop the attacks, despite having signed a unity pact with Hamas.

“We condemn all rocket fire from Gaza. It is unprovoked aggression against civilian targets and is totally unacceptable,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, speaking after a Kassam rocket fired by terrorists in Gaza exploded in the Eshkol Regional Council area, causing no physical injuries or damages.

Psaki went on to say that Washington “welcomes” Abbas’s “prompt and outspoken condemnation of this attack”, but then added, “We acknowledge the reality that Hamas currently controls Gaza.”

“We believe that President Abbas must do all in his power to prevent deterioration in the security situation, but we would also note that he has upheld his responsibility to maintain security coordination with Israel and he has publicly stressed his commitment to do that. And so I think he has made every effort to be – continue to be a partner in this regard,” she added.

Asked whether the rocket attack has any bearing on Washington’s decision to work with the Hamas-Fatah unity government, Psaki responded, “It does not. Obviously, we’re concerned about it and we condemn it in the strongest terms. But his – President Abbas’s ability to impact these type of attacks is really severely limited at this point in time.”

Abbas indeed condemned the rocket fire from Gaza, but not because of the threat to human or Israeli lives. Rather, he said, such attacks are a threat to the Hamas-Fatah unity pact and Palestinian Arab security.

The new Hamas-Fatah unity government was sworn in last week. This was followed by announcements from the European Union, the United States and the United Nations, all of which said they were open to working with the new unity government despite the inclusion of Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon expressed doubts last week that Abbas would be able to disarm Hamas and take control of Gaza, despite the much-vaunted PLO/Fatah-Hamas reconciliation.

“Abu Mazen will not rule Gaza,” he said, adding, "If he reconciled with Hamas, we demand that he control the [Gaza] Strip and disarm Hamas. If he does not do this, the reconciliation is a false display, meant to trick the world.”

Turkey Threatens Retaliation If Citizens in Iraq are Harmed
Jun 12th, 2014
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Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu

Reuters

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned on Wednesday that Ankara will retaliate if any of its citizens and diplomats held in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul are harmed.

"Right now we are engaged in calm crisis management, considering our citizens' security. This should not be misunderstood. Any harm to our citizens and staff would be met with the harshest retaliation," Davutoglu was quoted by Reuters as having told reporters in New York.

On Tuesday, Islamists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) captured the city of Mosul, in Iraq’s northern Nineveh Province, prompting some 150,000 panic-stricken refugees to flee to the nearby autonomous Kurdish region.

The Islamists attacked the Turkish embassy in the city, taking at least 49 people hostage.

On Wednesday, ISIS also attacked the central Iraqi city of Tikrit, located in Salaheddin province, just 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad.

In a desperate attempt to fend off the threat posed by the group - who will now surely be eyeing further territorial gains - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called a state of emergency and has offered to arm local tribes and citizens opposed to ISIS.

The Al-Qaeda-linked ISIS also has a presence in Syria, where its jihadist rebels are fighting to oust President Bashar Al-Assad.

Since joining the civil war in Syria, ISIS has been accused of torturing and murdering prisoners, among them children and teenagers, and forcing Druze men to convert to Islam or die.

Senior Journalist: Hamas and Fatah Deal Wont Last
Jun 12th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Hamas Fatah Reconciliation

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Hamas and Fatah have tried numerous times in the past to work together, but the deals never “stuck” - and neither will this one, said journalist Baruch Yedid, who has reported on and has excellent connections with the Palestinian Authority for years.

Speaking to Arutz Sheva, the agreement between Fatah and Hamas last month to join together to run the PA is doomed to failure, if past performance is any indication. The two groups are so far apart ideologically and politically on so many issues, “the likelihood of a true collaboration are less than next to nothing,” he said.

Many of the issues go beyond ideology, and deal with the daily bread and butter issues that truly concern Palestinians. Among them is the question of whether or not Fatah will agree to pay the salaries of workers in Hamas' Gaza government. There are 40,000 such workers, and Fatah does not regard them as legal. Paying them, said Yedid, would constitute a big drain on Fatah's finances (Hamas at this point does not have any substantial income to speak of, after Iran cut off funding last year, he said). In addition, he said, Hamas is demanding the right to recruit members in PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, a move Fatah bitterly opposes.

Fatah is also demanding that Hamas disband its “security forces” in Gaza, and that the PA become the official security body in Gaza. In recent days, Hamas Gaza chief Ismail Haniyeh said that he not only would disband the groups – he was going on a recruiting campaign to increase their members, and establish a “Jerusalem Brigade” to operate in the city.

While the two sides have tried to maintain public peace for the sake of the deal's image, said Yedid, behind the scenes a bitter debate, rife with threats and incitement by both sides, has developed. Hamas members accuse Fatah officials of acting like “mobsters,” trying to intimidate them to toe the line, while Fatah members say that Hamas' real aim is to foment an Islamist revolution in the PA.

Considering all this, Yedid said, “the situation is far from one that would enhance cooperation.” For now, he said, Hamas was happy to let PA chief Mahmoud Abbas in order to use the unity government to extract more money from the West – but sooner or later, he said, things were going to fall apart, probably in a most violent manner.

Report: Israel Wont Build New Homes, After All
Jun 12th, 2014
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Construction site

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Israel is rolling back its decision from last week to build 1,800 new homes in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem, after European countries applied pressure to the government, according to reports Thursday. The report in Ha'aretz said that five European countries – Britain, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy – have been applying various forms of pressure in recent days, and as a result Israel has decided to postpone moving forward with the projects.

The Housing Ministry and the Israel Lands Administration on Wednesday night issued tenders for 1,500 new homes in Judea and Samaria, and in Jerusalem. The tenders were issued as part of Israel's response to the establishment of the Hamas-Fatah Palestinian Authority government. Another 300 homes were subsequently announced as well. The announcement comes amid Israeli anger the Obama administration's decision to work with the Palestinian Authority's "unity government" consisting of the PLO and Hamas.

But the report Thursday said that in recent days, and after joint consultations, the European countries told Israeli officials that there would be a “response” if construction proceeded. Ambassadors from each of the countries plan to file official protests with the Israeli government, as well.

The postponement was announced Wednesday in a meeting of the Civil Administration's Planning Committee, the body that would approve most such construction, Ha'aretz said. The government has not commented on the report.

Poroshenko Wants to Talk - If Rebels will Drop Weapons
Jun 12th, 2014
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Newly elected Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that he would be ready to hold talks with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine an agreement to disarm could be reached.

The rebel forces show no sign of adhering to the President’s request to disarm in favor of talks, but opening talks would be a great step towards peace.

Pakistan: Airport Attack Signals Shift in Taliban Strategy
Jun 12th, 2014
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10 Taliban militants attacked Pakistan's airport in Karachi on Sunday night, which led to a five-hour shooting match that killed at least 34 people, including all 10 militants, who were shot down by the security forces or blown up by their own suicide vests.

Reports indicate that the Taliban failed in its main objective - to hijack an aircraft and hold its passengers hostage. A senior Taliban member told the Reuters news agency that attacks involving aircraft were part of a new strategy to counter the a full-scale government operation against Taliban forces. "We decided to change our strategy and hit their main economic centers," he said. "They will kill innocent people by their bombs and we will hit their nerve-centers in major cities."

PA: 'Immediate Action Against Israel' Over Hunger StrikesA
Jun 12th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Jail (illustration)

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A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official has called for "international action" against Israel Wednesday, claiming that more than 100 Palestinian Arab terrorists who have been on a long-term hunger strike are being held without trial.

"I am writing on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization and president Mahmud Abbas to request your immediate intervention on behalf of the approximately 130 Palestinian detainees and prisoners currently on hunger strike in Israeli prisons," Saeb Erakat said in a letter obtained by AFP Wednesday.

"We call on you to call on Israel to annul the policy of administrative detention and to condition deepening your bilateral ties with Israel pending Israel's fulfillment of all its obligations," he wrote in English.

Administrative detention is a procedure dating back to the pre-1948 British mandate under which military courts can hold suspects without charge for periods of up to six months, which can be renewed indefinitely.

The letter, issued on Tuesday, was sent the European Union's member states, Brazil, South Africa and India.

It was also sent to UN Security Council members, but not to non-permanent member Australia, which recently said it would no longer refer to Jerusalem as "occupied," infuriating the Palestinian Authority, who vowed unspecified revenge. 

Israel Prisons Service told AFP there were currently 250 inmates refusing food, 90 of them for over six weeks of whom 75 had been hospitalized.

IPS spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said this was the longest-ever mass hunger strike of Palestinian Arab terrorists in Israeli prisons. 

Meanwhile, Israel pushed forward with plans for a life-saving bill to enable doctors to feed hunger strikers against their will.

The Knesset on Monday approved the bill in its first reading, ahead of a series of debates in a committee and two further plenum votes before it passes into law.

But the draft legislation, composed by the internal security ministry, has raised objections not only among leftist and Arab lawmakers, but also from the Israel Medical Association which has urged Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (HaTnua) to block the bill.

In a letter to Livni, the IMA warned the move would be "in total contradiction to internationally-accepted medical ethics" and Israel's medical ethical code.

Despite the move - which is designed to save lives - the IMA insists that force-feeding poses a "danger" to the health of those on hunger strike "and is against the non-maleficence principle." The letter was signed by IMA head Doctor Leonid Edelman and Professor Avinoam Reches, chairman of its ethics bureau.

"The proposed law is wrong ethically and professionally, it won't only damage the patients and their medical condition, but also Israel's world standing," they wrote. "We can't accept a law that places doctors in a battle they should have no part of, in total contrast to their professional and ethical duties."

Hunger strikes are a common tactic by Palestinian Arab terrorists to gain political visibility for their cause in the international community. 

Several weeks ago, hundreds of Palestinian Arab terrorist prisoners declared a hunger strike in "solidarity" with a Hamas prisoner's solitary confinement. After a media brouhaha, the terrorists ended the hunger strike just hours after it began. 

Some 1,550 Palestinian Arabs imprisoned in Israel ended a hunger strike in May 2012, in exchange for a package of measures which would allow visits from relatives in Gaza and the transfer of detainees out of solitary confinement.

PA: 'Immediate Action Against Israel' Over Hunger Strikes
Jun 12th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Jail (illustration)

Thinkstock

A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official has called for "international action" against Israel Wednesday, claiming that more than 100 Palestinian Arab terrorists who have been on a long-term hunger strike are being held without trial.

"I am writing on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization and president Mahmud Abbas to request your immediate intervention on behalf of the approximately 130 Palestinian detainees and prisoners currently on hunger strike in Israeli prisons," Saeb Erakat said in a letter obtained by AFP Wednesday.

"We call on you to call on Israel to annul the policy of administrative detention and to condition deepening your bilateral ties with Israel pending Israel's fulfillment of all its obligations," he wrote in English.

Administrative detention is a procedure dating back to the pre-1948 British mandate under which military courts can hold suspects without charge for periods of up to six months, which can be renewed indefinitely.

The letter, issued on Tuesday, was sent the European Union's member states, Brazil, South Africa and India.

It was also sent to UN Security Council members, but not to non-permanent member Australia, which recently said it would no longer refer to Jerusalem as "occupied," infuriating the Palestinian Authority, who vowed unspecified revenge. 

Israel Prisons Service told AFP there were currently 250 inmates refusing food, 90 of them for over six weeks of whom 75 had been hospitalized.

IPS spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said this was the longest-ever mass hunger strike of Palestinian Arab terrorists in Israeli prisons. 

Meanwhile, Israel pushed forward with plans for a life-saving bill to enable doctors to feed hunger strikers against their will.

The Knesset on Monday approved the bill in its first reading, ahead of a series of debates in a committee and two further plenum votes before it passes into law.

But the draft legislation, composed by the internal security ministry, has raised objections not only among leftist and Arab lawmakers, but also from the Israel Medical Association which has urged Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (HaTnua) to block the bill.

In a letter to Livni, the IMA warned the move would be "in total contradiction to internationally-accepted medical ethics" and Israel's medical ethical code.

Despite the move - which is designed to save lives - the IMA insists that force-feeding poses a "danger" to the health of those on hunger strike "and is against the non-maleficence principle." The letter was signed by IMA head Doctor Leonid Edelman and Professor Avinoam Reches, chairman of its ethics bureau.

"The proposed law is wrong ethically and professionally, it won't only damage the patients and their medical condition, but also Israel's world standing," they wrote. "We can't accept a law that places doctors in a battle they should have no part of, in total contrast to their professional and ethical duties."

Hunger strikes are a common tactic by Palestinian Arab terrorists to gain political visibility for their cause in the international community. 

Several weeks ago, hundreds of Palestinian Arab terrorist prisoners declared a hunger strike in "solidarity" with a Hamas prisoner's solitary confinement. After a media brouhaha, the terrorists ended the hunger strike just hours after it began. 

Some 1,550 Palestinian Arabs imprisoned in Israel ended a hunger strike in May 2012, in exchange for a package of measures which would allow visits from relatives in Gaza and the transfer of detainees out of solitary confinement.

Obama Supports Training for Syrian Opposition, Says Official
Jun 12th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Syrian rebels take aim near Damascus

Reuters

The Obama administration supports a plan to provide military training to the moderate Syrian opposition, an official said Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Dana Shell Smith, President Barack Obama's nominee to be ambassador to Qatar, made the comments at her Senate confirmation hearing. According to the report, she said that the administration supported language in a Senate defense bill that would allow such overt military training.

"It's my understanding that the administration does support the ... language in the (defense bill) to authorize training and equipment of the moderate opposition," Smith was quoted by Reuters as having said.

Smith, currently a State Department senior adviser, was responding to a question about language included in the National Defense Authorization Act making its way through the Senate that would allow an overt, “Title 10” military training program for the moderate Syrian opposition, led by U.S. Special Operations forces.

Over the last few weeks there has been increased speculation that the United States would indeed provide military training and perhaps even weapons to the moderate rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

Small-scale weapons aid and some military training has already been supplied to select rebel groups, along with "non-lethal" aid such as medical supplies and other equipment, but both Congressional caution and a hesitant White House have prevented anything further, mainly due to fear that the jihadist rebel groups would get their hands on any weapons.

A leading Syrian opposition figure recently said that western states could send desperately-needed arms to rebel groups in Syria "within weeks" and a recent report indicated that Obama is close to authorizing a military-led mission to train moderate Syrian rebels to fight the regime and Al-Qaeda-linked groups.

Obama’s National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, hinted last week that the United States was sending weapons to the Syrian rebels, though she did not say so directly, saying only that Washington was offering both "lethal and non-lethal" aid to the moderate opposition.

In May, Syrian opposition chief Ahmad Jarba said that rebels fighting to oust Assad need "efficient weapons to face these attacks including air raids, so we can change the balance of power on the ground."

He later met with Secretary of State John Kerry, who said Washington supports the Syrian opposition but made no mention of the rebels' plea for heavy weapons to help end the war.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 12th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

2 consecutive quakes hit Vietnam’s hydropower plant
Two earthquakes struck the site of a hydropower plant located in central Vietnam’s Quang Nam Province two minutes apart on Thursday, the Earthquake Information and Tsunami Warning Center (EITWC) reported.  

Orion Project: NASA Spacecraft That Could Provide Path to Mars Readying for Launch
NASA’s Orion project is getting closer to the testing phase, as engineers work on moving the spacecraft into the correct configuration for launch. The spacecraft is slated to launch 3,600 miles into space in December. The module will be unmanned but the four-hour flight will help engineers to ready the craft and similar models for future trips further into space, including to Mars.  

Education earthquake: California judge strikes down teacher tenure
In a ruling that sent shock waves through education circles nationwide, a California judge ruled Tuesday in favor of nine students who sought to overturn that state's teacher tenure laws, arguing that the laws robbed them of their right to a quality education under the California constitution.  

The Pope and the EU Earthquake: Standing vs. Succumbing
Standing or succumbing to Islamist pressures? The Vatican said the Pope's visit was non-political, but his embrace of Islam is in sharp contrast to the growing strength of Euroskeptics.  

Taqiyya, Vatican-Style
A Muslim imam invited to participate in last weekend’s “prayer for peace” event at the Vatican went off-script and asked Allah to vaticanummahhelp him gain victory over the unbelievers. To Counterjihad activists this news is no big surprise. Anyone who has delved into Islamic theology and liturgical practice knows that Muslims always insert a call for Allah to defeat the infidel into their prayers. It’s as much a part of praying as “Amen” is to a Christian.  

INCOMING CME
Yesterday's double X-flare may have produced a geoeffective CME after all. At first it appeared that Earth was outside the line of fire, but a closer look at the CME reveals an Earth-directed component.  

ANOTHER X-FLARE
Solar activity remains high. Active sunspot AR2087 unleashed another X-flare on June 11th (X1.0), following two X-flares (X2.1 and X1.5) on June 10th.  

Could Friday the 13th wreak havoc with mobile phone signals? Impact of massive solar flare is expected to hit Earth tomorrow - and it could disrupt sa
Three large solar flares over the last two days have released a huge cloud of particles from the sun which could knock out satellites and communication systems on Earth. A 'coronal mass ejection' (CME), a huge cloud of irradiated particles and a magnetic shockwave, could strike the planet on Friday, damaging satellites and knocking out communications. The three solar flares already caused brief disruptions to high frequency communications, such as radio broadcasts and aircraft communications, when they struck yesterday and twice on Tuesday.  

Philippines Earthquake Today 2014 Strikes Placer
Officials tell news that a 5.0 magnitude Philippines earthquake today has hit just after 5:08 pm local time. The quake was shallow. Reps tell news that the quake started only twenty-eight miles below sea level. As a result the quake could be felt across the vicinity.  

3.3 magnitude quake startles Utahns along Wasatch Front
The University of Utah Seismograph Stations reported the quake happened at 10:34 p.m. hit about 10 miles east of Bountiful, at a hypocentral depth of about 6 miles. The Davis County Sheriff's Office said dispatchers hadn't received any calls about earthquake damage as of 11 p.m., and the Centerville Police Department reported officers were conducting a "rapid damage assessment" as a precaution.  

China's Christians fend off church demolition crew amid latest Communist Party crackdown on faith
Demolition workers were forced to abandon attempts to strip a cross from a church in a city known as 'China’s Jerusalem’ after angry Christians forced their way through a blockade of armed guards. The scuffles broke out as security guards carrying black batons and riot shields tried to stop members of Wenzhou’s Guantou church from entering their place of worship to stop the cross’s removal...  

American scientists controversially recreate deadly Spanish Flu virus
The extinct influenza virus that caused the worst flu pandemic in history has been recreated from fragments of avian flu found in wild ducks...to show how easy it would be for the deadly flu strain to reemerge today. Scientists said the study involved infecting laboratory ferrets with close copies of the 1918 virus – which was responsible for the Spanish Flu pandemic that killed an estimated 50 million people...  

Solar Flares Disrupt Communications on Earth, Could Send Shockwave on Friday the 13th
The sun has had three major solar flares on its surface in the past two days that have affected communications on Earth and could send a shockwave through Earth this Friday... The “solar events” caused brief blackouts in high frequency communications...twice on Tuesday morning and once this morning... between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. EDT.  

Google’s New All-Seeing Satellites Have Huge Potential—For Good and Evil
The reach of Google’s online empire is hard to overstate. ...Now, with the $500 million purchase of Skybox, a startup that shoots high-res photos and video with low-cost satellites, Google can extend its reach far across the offline world. ...Skybox can take photos from 500 miles up with a sub-one-meter resolution of the ground below. That isn’t likely to sit well with privacy activists who already don’t trust Google.  

Ex-border agents: Immigrant flood 'orchestrated'
An organization of former Border Patrol agents...charged that the federal government, under the administration of President Obama, is deliberately arranging for a flood of immigrant children to arrive in America... “This is not a humanitarian crisis. It is a predictable, orchestrated and contrived assault...by her political leaders that...puts minor illegal alien children at risk for purely political purposes...  

Recession 'led to 10,000 suicides'
The economic crisis in Europe and North America led to more than 10,000 extra suicides, according to figures from UK researchers. A study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, showed "suicides have risen markedly". The research group said some deaths may have been avoidable as some countries showed no increase in suicide rate.  

US drones 'hit militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan'
The US has resumed its drones programme in Pakistan, with two strikes on militant strongholds in the North Waziristan tribal region overnight. Reports say at least 16 suspected militants were killed in the strikes. They come days after a militant attack on Karachi airport - 39 people were killed, including the 10 attackers.  

West Africa should decriminalise drugs - Obasanjo commission
Low-level drug offences should be decriminalised in West Africa, according to a high-level report. The West Africa Commission on Drugs says drug cartels are undermining the region by using it to transit cocaine. The commission, headed by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, says the cartels should be tackled but that punishing the personal use of drugs does not work.  

Sunni Islamist rebels surge towards Baghdad as Iraqi army loses control of north
Iraqi Kurds seized control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk on Thursday, while surging Sunni Islamist rebels advanced towards Baghdad, as the central government's army abandoned its posts in a rapid collapse that has lost it control of the north. Peshmerga fighters, the security forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish north, swept into Kirkuk after the army abandoned its posts there, a peshmerga spokesman said.  

Iran to cut plutonium creation capability in attempt to reach deal with West
Iran is "busy redesigning" a planned research reactor to sharply cut its potential output of plutonium - a potential nuclear bomb fuel, a senior Iranian official said... The future of the Arak plant is among several issues that negotiators...need to resolve if they are to reach a deal by late July on curbing the country's nuclear program in exchange for an end to sanctions.  

Iraqi Rebels Intend on Marching on Baghdad, and More
Jun 12th, 2014
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A spokesperson for the “Islamic State in Iraq and Levant” announced that the organization intends to march on Baghdad after taking control over two other cities currently under Shiite rule in Iraq.

The spokesperson added that the organization’s warriors will also seize the cities of Karbala and Najaf, home to two of the country’s most venerated Shiite temples.

Erekat: Abbas a 'Coward' for not Standing Up for 'Palestine'
Jun 12th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Mahmoud Abbas and Saeb Erekat

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Former Palestinian Authority Chief Negotiator is in hot water with his boss, PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, after Erekat was caught on tape calling Abbas a “coward” who was afraid to take on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the West. The comments were videotaped at a closed event in Ramallah earlier this week, and have been circulating on Arabic-language video sites.

Erekat said that the comments were taken out of context.

In the video, Erekat is seen slamming Abbas for refusing to apply to more UN organizations, furthering the PA's efforts to enroll “Palestine” into as many international organizations as possible. Erekat said in the video that Abbas was mistaken if he thought he would be able to make a deal with Netanyahu. The only way to get Israel to concede to the PA's demands, he said, was to continue and enhance its campaign of applying to UN and international groups for Palestine membership.

Last April, PA chief Mahmoud Abbas started the process of applying to 15 different UN organizations. Israel slammed the PA's decision in April to seek membership as a country in the UN groups. The move was a violation of the Oslo Accords, Israeli officials said. "The PA has breached its obligations [in peace talks] by applying to the UN," Justice Minister Tzipi Livni stated. "If they want a state they need to understand that it will only be established on the negotiating table [with Israel]." The PA claimed that the move was in response to Israel's cancellation of a group of the release of 26 terrorists in April, a position that US Secretary of State John Kerry concurred with.

In the video, Erekat said he had discussed the matter numerous times with Abbas, but the latter said he could not do as his chief negotiator suggested, because he had promised the US that he would hold off on further unilateral actions. Erekat angrily slammed Abbas, saying that “Palestine is our homeland and what the Americans say is of no consequence. You have political cards and tactics – use them,” Erekat said of Abbas.

A report Thursday said that the Palestinian Authority was considering its next steps in applying for membership in UN organizations under the name “Palestine.” The PA has set up a committee to consider which groups to apply to, to be headed by PA Foreign Minister Riyadh al-Maliki. The report did not specify which groups the PA was considering applying to. This past week, “Palestine” was admitted to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Tensions have apparently been rising between Abbas and Erekat in recent days. According to tapes leaked earlier this week by the Awrak news agency, Erekat also slammed Abbas' "soft" policies in the new "unity" government with Hamas. In the tapes, Erekat makes a series of furious remarks over Abbas's decisions, saying that Abbas views the government as his "personal property." According to Erekat, Abbas rejected a PLO majority vote Wednesday night that would have seen the PA turn to the International Criminal Court over Israel's actions over the past several days.

Erekat claimed that Mahmoud Abbas' decision is a "mistake," stating that the vote would have labelled Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as a "war criminal" - preventing him from leaving Israel - and taken IDF commanders to trial for alleged "war crimes." Erekat further implied that Abbas's actions, in his words, cost the PA their sovereignty, as such drastic moves could see the Arab-occupied Judea and Samaria recognized as a state by the international community.

"Palestine is not just for the Palestinians or people who live there, but it belongs to all Muslim Arabs," he added. He also said that Israel is "deliberately humiliating" Abbas, and urged the PA to take a "more aggressive stand."

E.U, Arab League to Cooperate in Fight Against Terror
Jun 12th, 2014
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B - 2 Bombers Deployed to Europe in 'Message to Putin'
Jun 12th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

B-2 bomber

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Two U.S. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers are being deployed to Europe for the first time, reports the International Business Times (IBT). The advanced aircraft are scheduled for a “short term deployment” at Fairford, a Royal Air Force base in England — just three hours' flight from Russia.

The B-2s are the most sophisticated warplanes ever employed in combat by the U.S. They have been used against targets in Europe – during the Kosovo crisis – but have never been stationed there.

The U.S. Air Force news release announcing the deployment, which began on Monday, makes no mention of the Ukraine crisis. However, Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, is quoted in it as saying that this training mission “demonstrates to our nation's leaders and our allies that we have the right mix of aircraft and expertise to respond to a variety of potential threats and situations."

“It’s not hard to read in the statement an indirect message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that, even after the withdrawal of most U.S. forces from Europe after the end of the Cold War, Washington has the ability to send advanced military hardware to the continent in support of its NATO allies,” writes IBT.

The stealth bombers have been employed in Europe before, when they attacked targets in Serbia during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, but they were operating at the time from their base in Missouri, on round-trip missions that averaged 30 hours in duration.

The U.S. has 20 B-2As, made by Northrop Grumman CorporationWith a crew of two, they have a range of about 6,000 miles or 10,000 kilometers without in-flight refueling and can carry up to 50,000 lbs (23 metric tons) of bombs and missiles, both conventional and nuclear. The stealth bombers rely on their unconventional, flying-wing tailless design and special coatings to appear largely invisible to radar, which makes them ideally suited to penetrating the airspace of countries with advanced air defenses.

'Only a Unified National Camp Can Keep Israel Jewish
Jun 12th, 2014
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Yoni Chetboun

Flash90

Jewish Home (Bayit Yehudi) MK Yoni Chetboun called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to change the coaltion government on Wednesday, asking to replace left-leaning Yesh Atid with the hareidi parties. 

"Only a unified national camp will keep the state's Jewish identity intact," Chetboun said. "Yesh Atid is a movement looking to challenge Israel's Jewish identity and transform it into a universalist state."

Chetboun added that Tuesday's election results proved that hope remains for the unification of the national-religious and hareidi parties, which have experienced tensions relating to the Equal Burden of Service (hareidi draft) law passed earlier this year.

"The hareidi MKs' support for [President Reuven] Rivlin proves that it is possible to reformulate the national camp," Chetboun said. "The most significant battle today is for the identity of the State of Israel, and only a unified national camp can keep Israel Jewish."

Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid threatened to leave the coalition at the Herzliya Conference Sunday if Israel annexed large settlement blocs, a plan pushed forward by Economics Minister and Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett.

Following the controversial remarks, several MKs have suggested that Yesh Atid leave the coalition - whether to cause early elections or to unite the nationalist camp.

Chetboun is not the first MK to suggest that hareidi parties replace Yesh Atid; on Sunday, Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel stated that most of the Jewish Home wants to see just that. 

"We want to have a future where there is an option for Yesh Atid to leave and for the Prime Minister to allow the hareidi parties to enter," Ariel stated. 

"There are rifts and there is anger, but at the same time, the national-Religious and hareidi communities have a great interest in joining together and strengthening Torah values, both in the World and in Israel," he said.

He rejected claims that the hareidi leadership would rather see the coalition break down and the country go to elections instead of simply replacing Yesh Atid in the coalition.