Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Young Muslims Operating 'Sharia Police' in Germany
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Muslims Praying

Reuters

Police in the German city of Wuppertal are investigating several young men who announced themselves to be “Sharia police”, Russia Today (RT) reports.

According to the report, the group was patrolling the streets, urging people to refrain from various sorts of activities and entertainment.

The young men wearing orange safety vests with the words "Sharia police" written on the back caught both residents' and police attention in Wuppertal in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany earlier this week.

A picture of the so-called “Sharia cops” was posted by a Twitter user:

According to RT, the young men are followers of Salafism, a puritanical form of Islam, one of the world's fastest-growing Islamic movements.

The fundamentalists have been seen in the city's nightlife area, trying to urge people to refrain from alcohol, drugs, gambling, and other activities. They also reportedly distributed leaflets with the same guidelines.

Police reportedly stopped 11 men aged between 19 and 33. An investigation with possible charges of illegal assembly has been launched, the report noted.

The government is considering the Sharia initiative an act of provocation and says it won't tolerate any "parallel law".

"No Sharia laws will be tolerated on German soil. No one has the right to tarnish the good image of the German police," the country's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere reportedly said in an interview to the German magazine Bild.

Germany's Justice Minister Heiko Maas said that "no illegal 'parallel law' will be tolerated," as only the state is responsible for law compliance.

"Intimidation or provocation won't be tolerated," Wuppertal Police Chief Birgitta Rademacher said, as cited by Deutsche Welle, adding that only police appointed and employed by the state have the legitimate right to act as police in Germany.

Although the Sharia guidance to refrain from drinking alcohol or taking drugs might not be of any harm in itself, German authorities fear that the Salafists have also been recruiting young men to join the Islamic State and other such groups, encouraging them to travel to Syria or Iraq in order to do so.

This is not the first case of Muslims trying to impose their laws in Europe.

In recent years, Muslims have become dominant in several neighborhoods in London, to the chagrin of the native locals, and there have been reports that fundamentalists have been trying to enforce Sharia law in the neighborhoods.

Hate preacher Anjem Choudary is reportedly behind the “Sharia neighborhoods”, and has said he plans to flood specific Muslim and non-Muslim communities around the UK and “put the seeds down for an Islamic Emirate in the long term.”

Choudary is the founder of two Muslim groups in Britain that were banned by the British government after being declared terrorist organizations. He has threatened British Jews who support Israel, stating that it is an “Islamic obligation upon Muslims everywhere to support the Jihad against those who fight Muslims anywhere in the world or who occupy Muslim land.”

Police in London recently began investigating a sign telling pet owners to stay out of an east London park because "Muslims do not like dogs."

The sign was branded "unacceptable" and "provocative" by Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick who called in police after being alerted to the sign by a concerned dog walker.

U.S. Military Decline Prevents Globocop Response
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

For many years, the United States of America has enjoyed the privilege of being called “the world’s policeman” or NATO- leading “Globocop”. These positions may hold in theory but less and less in practice or reality, largely due to the aggressive and systematic downgrading of the U.S military spending, seemingly coupled with a weakening of U.S political resolve and support both for pro-active deterrent as well as defensive military action around the world. The end result expected over time is that the U.S will become increasingly weaker than, and more vulnerable to, Russia and China – not to mention ISIS, Al Qaeda and other competing or hostile countries and organizations.

Recent reports provide supporting evidence for these concerns. According to the Trumpet.com,some experts warn that the spending cuts could soon give Russia and China an edge over the U.S. in several advanced military technologies. Total shortfalls in the U.S. defense budget over the next five to 10 years could reach $1 trillion, according to a report by the bipartisan National Defense Panel released July 31. 

How did this state of affairs arise? It is reported that back in 2009, then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates waged a campaign to slash unnecessary or under-performing military programs. By 2011, he had proposed a budget that would have allowed the DOD (Department of Defense) to focus more on modernization programs to sustain the technological advantage of the U.S. military. But later that year, the Budget Control Act and the conditional sequester were both written into law. The National Defense Panel says that the combined effect of those actions slashes the Gates budget by just under $1 trillion over 10 years. 

The consequences are likely to be most evident in three areas:

1. Increased U.S Military vulnerabilities through technological divestiture:

The Trumpet.com further explains that massive spending reductions and shortfalls will ripple across all branches of the U.S. armed forces, having an obvious effect on aircraft, watercraft and tanks. They will also have an impact—less immediately noticeable, but more detrimental—on the advanced military technologies that have granted American forces a critical battlefield edge for many decades. 

These technologies include:

• Space-based targeting and deployment systems;

• Next-generation reconnaissance and navigation methods;

• Robotics for specialized combat;

• Unmanned submarines;

• Specialized fuel;

• “Global strike capability” systems;

• Stealth technology. 

Meanwhile, two of America’s most powerful rivals, Russia and China, are investing ever-larger percentages of their growing gross domestic products into developing advanced military technologies. Langley’s Intelligence Group says that Moscow and Beijing are making strides in these areas that could eventually give them an edge over the United States. “Russia and China … are ramping up their considerable scientific expertise from the ground all the way up into space,” Langley’s wrote on August 13. They are “looking for ways to use new technologies to blunt U.S. hegemony in areas of the world they deem of interest.” 

2. Enhanced Military co-operation between U.S military adversaries and her competitors: 

As the West has sought to isolate Moscow over the Ukrainian crisis, Russia and China have entered into a new era of unprecedented military cooperation. Part of this has been a new willingness on Moscow’s part to share its cutting-edge military technology with the Chinese. One significant example of this came in late March when Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to sell the S-400 Triumf, a new generation anti-aircraft weapons system, to China. Once the deal is finalized, China will be the first foreign nation to use the sophisticated Russian weaponry. 

Another key area of co-operation has been in joint military operations. The Trumpet.com in a separate and more recent edition reported that China’s Inner Mongolia held the biggest military drill ever held by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The training of 7,000 servicemen from five SCO member states was reportedly set to test troops’ effectiveness in fighting terrorism. The so-called Peace Mission-2014 drill was conducted from August 24 to 29 in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The war games attracted a record number of troops and military hardware, never previously gathered in one place before by the SCO member states. Apart from infantry troops and special forces, the international task force has been strengthened with air defense systems, radio-electronic warfare units and aviation. According to the scenario, the international task force will eliminate terrorist groups in various situations and environments.

This kind of training, although being fronted as purely anti-terrorist in focus, could in many ways be easily adapted to standard military warfare that could place the United States at a serious disadvantage at all levels if ever threatened by a joint China and/or Russia-led attack: army infantry, navy, and air force. 

3. Acquisition of newer and more powerful military equipment by Russia and China:

According to a recent report in NationalInterest.org, new advances are bringing the Chinese defense-industrial base ever closer to its counterparts (indeed, in some ways Chinese technology has surpassed Russian). The report examines five pieces of future Chinese military technology that could become “game changers”:

- Aircraft Carriers: China has signaled intentions to develop ships that may carry stealth-style fighters and could possibly launch AEW (airborne early warning) aircraft. 

- Type 055 Cruiser: China appears to be building its first big cruisers, representing a jump forward for China’s naval capabilities. Analysts have estimated the Type 055 at around 12,000 tons, and have suggested that it could carry up to 128 vertical launch cells. A cruiser of this size could threaten to strike into the deep interior with cruise missiles, or could control the airspace in order to protect a task force. 

- The J-20 Stealth Fighter: This fighter has been undergoing development since 2011 and is certainly a large aircraft, presumably with a long range and a significant weapons load. This presumably makes it capable of threatening US and allied military installations across the Asia-Pacific, especially when armed with air launched cruise missiles. The J-20 could also conduct interception and long-range recon missions. Assisted by other complementary systems, the J-20 could potentially throw the military infrastructure of the United States and its Pacific allies out of balance. The United States has become accustomed to using stealth aircraft, but it has yet to face a serious stealth threat. 

- DF-41: Intercontinental ballistic missiles aren’t new, even for China. But the DF-41 heralds a shift from minimal deterrence to secure second strike. If China begins to build such missiles in large numbers, it can effectively equalize its nuclear relationship with Russia and the United States, as well as neutralize any effective national missile defense fielded by the U.S.

Russia too is working hard at building up military advantages at all levels. According to the Russia and India Report, there are some new top products for the Russian military that have been displayed in public at the Oboronexpo-2014 exhibition, including the following examples: 

- The S-400 Triumf surface to air missile(SAM):

The SAM is designed for destroying aerodynamic targets in the air (tactical and strategic aircraft, jammers, and cruise missiles) including those using stealth technology, as well as ballistic rockets with a range of up to 3500 km, hypersonic targets, and other current and future air attack technologies. This is part of the technology that has been sold to China.

- The BPDM Typhoon-M counter-sabotage combat vehicle:

The BPDM was designed for the benefit of Russia’s Strategic Missile.Its main function is protecting strategic missile systems and engaging with enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

- The heavy IFV ATOM:

The vehicle is designed for transporting motorized infantry units and hauling combat and fire support to dismounted riflemen.

Although these examples have been made public, it is no secret that the most potent and powerful weapons held may well remain classified top secret information until they outlive their competitive edge over potential adversaries. It looks like the United States has a lot to worry about unless she still holds a massive military advantage in ways that have yet to be made public. All indications however are that, with each passing day, she is instead becoming more and more of a sitting duck for all her potential adversaries. 

The Seven Year Cycle of Economic Crashes & the Coming Shemitah Year
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Large numbers of people believe that an economic crash is coming next year based on a seven year cycle of economic crashes that goes all the way back to the Great Depression. What I am about to share with you is very controversial. Some of you will love it, and some of you will think that it is utter rubbish. I will just present this information and let you decide for yourself what you want to think about it. 

In my previous article entitled "If Economic Cycle Theorists Are Correct, 2015 To 2020 Will Be Pure Hell For The United States", I discussed many of the economic cycle theories that all seem to agree that we are on the verge of a major economic downturn in this country. But there is an economic cycle that I did not mention in that article that a lot of people are talking about right now. And if this cycle holds up once again in 2015, it will be really bad news for the U.S. economy.

Looking back, the most recent financial crisis that we experienced was back in 2008. Lehman Brothers collapsed, the stock market crashed and we were plunged into the worst recession that we have experienced as a nation since the Great Depression. 

Prior to that, the last time that the stock market experienced a major decline of that nature was during the bursting of the dotcom bubble seven years earlier. 2001 was a year of recession for the U.S. economy and of big trouble for stocks.

And oh year, a little event known as "9/11" happened that year.

Seven years before that, in 1994, investors experienced the worst bond market of their lifetimes.

The following is how Reuters recalls the carnage...

The 1994 bond market massacre is remembered with horror by those who lived through it. Yields on 30-year Treasuries jumped some 200 basis points in the first nine months of the year, hammering investors and financial firms, not to mention thrusting Mexico into crisis and bankrupting Orange County.
Going back another seven years brings us to 1987.

Anyone that lived through that era remembers "Black Monday" and the horrible stock market crash very well.

The next major economic crash prior to 1987 was in the early 1980s.

In 1980, the S&L crisis was blooming and everyone was talking about the "stagflation" that we were experiencing under Jimmy Carter. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates dramatically to combat inflation, and this helped precipitate the very deep recession that we experienced early in Ronald Reagan's first term.

You can read much more about the "early 1980s recession" right here.

Seven years prior to 1980 brings us to 1973. To many young Americans, that year does not have any significance, but older Americans remember the Arab oil embargo and the super long lines at the gas pumps really well.

In addition, a recession began in 1973 which ended up stretching all the way until 1975.

And those that have studied these things say that the pattern keeps going back all the way to the Great Depression. Many correctly point out that the stock market crash which began the Great Depression was in 1929, but actually the worst year for the stock market during the Great Depression was in 1931. And 1931 fits perfectly into the cycle.

So we have this pattern of economic crashes occurring approximately every seven years.

But there is an additional element to this cycle which makes it even more extraordinary.

As Jonathan Cahn has pointed out, this seven year cycle also lines up with the seven year "Shemitah cycle" that we find in the Bible.

For those not familiar with it, during the Shemitah year the people of Israel were commanded to let their land rest for a full year. It was also supposed to be a time of releasing of debts.

But for the most part the people of Israel did not observe the Shemitah year, and in the Bible that is mentioned as one of the reasons why they were exiled to Babylon for seventy years.

The Shemitah year always begins in the fall, and the upcoming Shemitah year is going to start about a month from now.

Will we see things happen during this Shemitah year that are similar to things that we have seen in past Shemitah years?

For example, on September 17th, 2001 we witnessed the greatest one day stock market crash in U.S. history up until that time. It happened on the 29th of Elul on the Jewish calendar, which is the day right before Rosh Hashanah.

That record stood for seven years until the massive stock market crash of September 29, 2008. That date also corresponded with the 29th of Elul on the Jewish Calendar - the day right before Rosh Hashanah.

Will the pattern hold up in 2015?

Well, the 29th of Elul falls on a Sunday in 2015, so the stock market will be closed. But it is very interesting to note that there will be a solar eclipse on that day.

And as Jonathan Cahn recently told WND, similar solar eclipses in the past have preceded major financial disasters...

In 1931, a solar eclipse took place on Sept. 12 – the end of a “Shemitah” year. Eight days later, England abandoned the gold standard, setting off market crashes and bank failures around the world. It also ushered in the greatest monthlong stock market percentage crash in Wall Street history.

In 1987, a solar eclipse took place Sept. 23 – again the end of a “Shemitah” year. Less than 30 days later came “Black Monday” the greatest percentage crash in Wall Street history.

Is Cahn predicting doom and gloom on Sept. 13, 2015? He’s careful to avoid a prediction, saying, “In the past, this ushered in the worst collapses in Wall Street history. What will it bring this time? Again, as before, the phenomenon does not have to manifest at the next convergence. But, at the same time, and again, it is wise to take note.”

So what should we make of all of this?

I am sure that some of you will dismiss this as pure coincidence and speculation.

Others will find it utterly fascinating.

But one thing is for sure - people are going to be talking about this seven year cycle all over the Internet.

The Rise of Global Anti - Semitism
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

There is little doubt that anti-Semitism is on the rise globally, based largely on the age-old Arab/Israeli tensions centered on Palestine, Jerusalem and the dispute over other Israeli-controlled territories. More recently, anti-Semitism has been fuelled by the rise of radical Islam, currently exemplified best by ISIS, as well as the ongoing tensions between Hamas and Israel. But beyond these factors, there seem to be an ongoing resentment of Jews globally based on the perception that they disproportionately dominate various key sectors in business, finance, medicine, politics and general society all around the world.

This trend in anti-Semitic view was demonstrated in an article published in the American Free Press, in which writer Pete Papaherakles makes reference to a survey conducted on May 13 by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The reportedly unprecedented “ADL Global 100” was a worldwide study of “anti-Semitic” attitudes, and was conducted in over 102 countries and included 53,100 participants, who represented 88% of the world’s adult population. 

Papaherakles explains that the ADL presented respondents with 11 statements and asked them whether each was “probably true” or “probably false.” If someone answered that six or more of the statements were “probably true,” they were counted as harboring anti-Semitic attitudes. The statements included, “Jews have too much power in international financial markets,” “Jews have too much control over the global media,” “Jews have too much control over the U.S. government” and “Jews have too much control over global affairs.” Papaherakles says that these questions are “no-brainers” since only one out every 514 people in the world (0.19%) is Jewish, yet they dominate in all those areas. He adds: “But to state the obvious is considered anti-Semitic by ADL standards”, inferring that the survey needs to be understood in this context.

According to Papaherakles, Orthodox liturgy is said to have been progressively translated from the original Greek to Latin, Hebrew and then English and other languages. In this process, slightly alterations were made, purportedly always to the benefit of Jews, portraying them in an increasingly better light. He further states that on the “Judaeo-Christian” spectrum, Orthodox Christianity would be on the far right side, followed by Catholicism, then Protestantism, Christian Zionism, Reform Judaism, with Talmudic, Orthodox Jewry at the far left end.

ADL National Director Abe Foxman stated on his part regarding the survey that: “The data from the (ADL) Global 100 Index enables us to look beyond anti-Semitic incidents and rhetoric and quantify the prevalence of anti-Semitic attitudes across the globe. We can now identify hotspots, as well as countries and regions of the world where hatred of Jews is essentially non-existent.”

The survey also ranks countries and territories in numerical order from the least anti-Semitic (Laos, at 0.2 percent of the adult population) to the most (West Bank and Gaza) where anti-Semitic attitudes, at 93 percent, are pervasive throughout society). The margin of error for most countries, where 500 respondents were selected, was +/- 4.4 percent. In various larger countries, where 1,000 interviews were conducted, the margin of error was +/- 3.2 percent.

Highlights of the survey findings published in adl.org included the following:

• One in four adults worldwide harbor anti-Semitic attitudes;

• The nation of Greece is the most anti-Semitic country in Europe by far, with 69% of Greeks labeled anti-Semites. Poland is second with 45% and Bulgaria third with 44%. France scored 37%;

• Eastern Europe (34%) scored more anti-Semitic than Western Europe (24%);

• Christians in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox countries are more likely to harbor anti-Semitic views than those in Protestant countries. In contrast, Protestant countries such as the UK scored 8%, Sweden only 4% and the United States 9%.

• The highest concentration of respondents holding anti-Semitic attitudes was found in Middle East and North African countries (“MENA”), where nearly three-quarters of respondents, 74 percent of those polled, agreed with a majority of the anti-Semitic stereotypes that comprise the 11-question index. Non-MENA countries have an average index score of 23 percent.

• More than one-quarter of those surveyed, 26 percent, harbor anti-Semitic attitudes, representing an estimated 1.09 billion adults around the world;

•Only 54 percent of those polled globally have ever heard of the Holocaust. Two out of three people surveyed have either never heard of the Holocaust, or do not believe historical accounts to be accurate;

• The most widely accepted anti-Semitic stereotype worldwide is: “Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country/the countries they live in.” Overall, 41 percent of those surveyed believe this statement to be “probably true.” This is the most widely accepted stereotype in five out of the seven regions surveyed;

• The second most widely accepted stereotype worldwide is “Jews have too much power in the business world.” Overall, 35 percent of those surveyed believe this statement to be “probably true.” This is also the most widely held stereotype in Eastern Europe;

• Among the 74 percent of those surveyed who indicated they had never met a Jewish person, 25 percent harbor anti-Semitic attitudes. Of the 26 percent overall who harbor anti-Semitic attitudes, 70 percent have never met a Jewish person;

• Three out of 10 respondents, 30 percent, believe Jews make up between 1 to 10 percent of the world’s population. Another 18 percent believe Jews make up more than 10 percent of the world’s population. Sixteen percent (16%) responded less than 1 percent. (The actual number of Jewish people as a percentage of the world’s population is 0.19 percent).

Alarmed about such high anti-Semitism in Greece, ADL National Director Abe Foxman reportedly flew to Greece to pressure the Greek government to do something about the urgent problem. He found that Greece’s nationalist party, Golden Dawn (GD), is greatly responsible for spreading anti-Semitism in Greece, as is the Greek Orthodox Church. Foxman has also appealed to the Orthodox Church to revise its liturgy, something that has never happened in the church’s 1,700-year history: “We call on Orthodox Christian leaders to begin the process now to remove anti-Semitic passages from its liturgy…untold numbers of Jews have suffered throughout the centuries, and today, in some countries where these churches are prominent, Jews are confronted by growing anti-Semitism, because of the failure to address this.” 

According to Bible prophecy, the whole world will, before the return of Jesus Christ, be united in war against Israel and will determine to destroy her, as described in Ezekiel 38 and other scriptures. The stage seems to be getting very rapidly set for this exact end-time scenario with the rapid rise and spread of global anti-Semitism.

Sixty British Women Join is 'Modesty Police'
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Member of ISIS

Reuters

British women and Islamist extremists have joined forces again, international media reported Monday - this time, to suppress women's rights in Islamic State (IS; formerly ISIS) territory in Syria. 

Tens of female jihadists from the UK have joined IS's al-Khaansa Brigade which operates to punish women 'deviating' from strict moral and modesty codes in the IS headquarter city of Raqqah. 

Of those, four women have been positively identified by academics at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization, at King’s College London, according to the Mirror. They are Aqsa Mahmood, 20, from Glasgow; Sixteen year-old twins Salma and Zahra Halane, from Manchester; and convert to Islam Sally Jones, 45, from Chatham, Kent.

ICSR researchers believe as many as sixty women with UK citizenship have joined the "modesty police" forces in Syria, mostly between ages 18-24. 

Little is known about al-Khansaa, but researchers say they may be linked to the same British IS terrorists who likely killed American journalists James Foley and Steve Sotloff. 

“Al-Khanssaa is a sharia law police brigade," Melanie Smith, a research associate at ICSR, told the British Telegraph. "This is IS’s female law enforcement."

"We think it’s a mixture of British and French women but its social media accounts are run by the British and they are written in English," she added. “Given how small the community networks are - we know there are about 500 male British jihadis out there - it is quite likely these women move in the same circles as the British killer of Foley and Sotloff.”

The brigade is tasked with walking through the streets of Raqqa and breaking up 'inappropriate' gatherings between men and women and quashing any connection to Western culture. 

At least one report, from the US-based Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, states that each woman receives just $120 per month for her services in the Brigades, and are forced to wear back robes.  

The dress code, at least, has been corroborated by Twitter photos from alleged members of the modesty squad - and show women fully clad in dark robes and burqas.

Sisi Offered Abbas: Create Palestinian State in Sinai
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

Reuters

Egyptian president General Abdel Fatah A-Sisi has offered Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas to cede 160 square kilometers of the Sinai Peninsula adjoining Gaza to the PA, thus creating a Palestinian state five times the present size of Gaza. In return, the PA would stop demanding that Israel return to the 1967 borders.

The offer was revealed on IDF Radio.

A-Sisi reportedly suggested that Palestinian "refugees" be allowed to settle in the new, much enlarged Gaza, which would be demilitarized.

The Palestinian cities in Judea and Samaria would enjoy autonomy and be fully run by the PA, according to the plan, which would leave the PA with even more territory than it would have if Israel ceded all of Judea and Samaria.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was aware of the offer and the United States gave a green light, according to the military radio station's sources.

A similar idea was floated years ago by Israeli academicians and by Major General (ret.) Giora Eiland, but was rejected by Egypt at the time.

Report: Israel Helping U.S. Build Int'l Coalition Against IS
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Jihadis from ISIS in Mosul, Iraq

Reuters

Israel is providing intelligence, including satellite photos and classified information, to support the efforts of the US-led coalition against the organization "Islamic State" (IS; formerly known as ISIS) in Iraq, a Western diplomat stated to Walla! News Monday. 

The diplomat stated to the Israeli daily on condition of anonymity that, once the information has been processed and corroborated, it would be transferred to Washington and its regional allies, including neighboring Turkey.

The source added that once data is transferred from Israel, "the Pentagon can complete the information gaps and gain a better appreciation of the battle picture" in Iraq and its IS targets. 

Israeli officials have declined to comment on the report. 

Earlier Monday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki stated that "forty countries have expressed a desire to participate in the regional coalition to help Iraq face the Islamist threat."

Psaki also said that the Secretary of State of the United States, John Kerry, will travel to the Middle East on Tuesday to promote the coalition efforts.

Kerry will tour Amman, Jordan and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he will meet with his counterparts to discuss the international plan to battle IS. 

"During his stay in the region, Kerry will consult with key partners and allies on how to support the security and stability of the Iraqi government to fight the threat of ISIS," the State Department said in a statement.

Also Monday, the new head of the UN's Human Rights Council, Jordan's Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, urged the world to make halting the "increasingly conjoined conflicts in Iraq and Syria" an "immediate and urgent priority."  

IS "has demonstrated absolute and deliberate disregard for human rights," Zaid said, stressing that "the scale of its use of brute violence against ethnic and religious groups is unprecedented in recent times."

He warned that attacks by the group motivated by ethnic background or religious beliefs may constitute "a crime against humanity, for which those responsible must be held accountable."

The international community is scrambling to battle IS after the group broadcast a video earlier this month showing the brutal decapitation of American journalist Steve Sotloff, and vowed continued beheadings until the US stopped its airstrikes. 

The tape, entitled "A Second Message to America," not only vows death on another journalist - British civilian David Haines - but also threatens the US over its action against the terrorists. 

The incident has sparked a worldwide scramble to suppress terrorism in Syria and Iraq, where IS has been taking large swaths of land over the past several months and committing genocide against thousands of ethnic minorities.

Preparing the Way for the 2nd Beast
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Former Israeli President Shimon Peres met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday to discuss a number of proposals on forming a united front against terrorism, including the idea to create a “United Religions” organization to combat religious extremism.

In his meeting, Peres told the pontiff that the Arab world recognizes the growing threat of terrorism that is being carried out by groups like the Islamic State. He said the Arab world “can join forces with Israel, the United States, and the European Union in the united front against terror in which religious leaders play a pivotal role, led by Your Holiness.”

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Famiglia Cristiana, Peres continued his call for world religious leaders to come together, proposing a de facto “United Nations of religions.”

“The U.N. has had its day,” Peres said. “What we need is an organization of religions, a United Nations of religions. 

Francis promised the Vatican's attention to the proposal.

Such events have led many to dig deeper into the question of "Who is the false prophet of the end times?"

The false prophet of the end times is described in Revelation 13:11-15. He is also referred to as the “second beast” (Revelation 16:13, 19:20, 20:10). Together with the Antichrist and Satan, who empowers both of them, the false prophet is the third party in the unholy trinity.

The apostle John describes this person and gives us clues to identifying him when he shows up. First, he comes out of the earth. This could mean he comes up from the pit of hell with all the demonic powers of hell at his command. It could also mean he comes from lowly circumstances, secret and unknown until he bursts on the world stage at the right hand of the Antichrist. He is depicted as having horns like a lamb, while speaking like a dragon. The horns on lambs are merely small bumps on their heads until the lamb grows into a ram. Rather than having the Antichrist’s multiplicity of heads and horns, showing his power and might and fierceness, the false prophet comes like a lamb, winsomely, with persuasive words that elicit sympathy and good will from others. He may be an extraordinary preacher or orator whose demonically empowered words will deceive the multitudes. But he speaks like a dragon, which means his message is the message of a dragon. Revelation 12:9 identifies the dragon as the devil and Satan.

Verse 12 gives us the false prophet’s mission on earth, which is to force humanity to worship the Antichrist. He has all the authority of the Antichrist because, like him, the false prophet is empowered by Satan. It is not clear whether people are forced to worship the Antichrist or whether they are so enamored of these powerful beings that they fall for the deception and worship him willingly. The fact that the second beast uses miraculous signs and wonders, including fire from heaven, to establish the credibility of both of them would seem to indicate that people will fall before them in adoration of their power and message. Verse 14 goes on to say the deception will be so great that the people will set up an idol to the Antichrist and worship it. This is reminiscent of the huge golden image of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3) before which all were to bow down and pay homage. Revelation 14:9-11, however, describes the ghastly fate that awaits those who worship the image of the Antichrist.

Those who survive the terrors of the Tribulation to this point will be faced with two hard choices. Those who refuse to worship the image of the beast will be subject to death (v. 15), but those who do worship him will incur the wrath of God. The image will be extraordinary in that it will be able to “speak.” This doesn’t mean it will come to life—the Greek word here is pneuma meaning “breath” or “current” of air, not the word bios (“life”)—but it does mean that it will have some kind of ability to breathe forth the message of the Antichrist and the false prophet. Some have speculated this image may be a hologram which is now being used by several world leaders to address large gatherings.  Along with being the spokesman for them, the image will also condemn to death those who refuse to worship the unholy pair. In our technological world, it is not hard to imagine such a scenario.

Whoever the false prophet turns out to be, the final world deception and the final apostasy will be great, and the whole world will be caught up in it. 

Obama: U.S. Military to Provide Equipment, Resources to Battle Ebola Epidemic in Africa
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Washington Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Health workers wearing Personal Protective Equipment work inside the high-risk area at ELWA Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. (Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images)

President Obama said Sunday that the U.S. military will begin aiding what has been a chaotic and ineffective response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, arguing that it represents a serious national security concern.

The move significantly ramps up the U.S. response and comes as the already strained military is likely to be called upon further to address militant threats in the Middle East. The decision to involve the military in providing equipment and other assistance for international health workers in Africa comes after mounting calls from some unlikely groups — most prominently the international medical organization Doctors Without Borders — demonstrating to the White House the urgency of the issue.

The epidemic, which has killed at least 2,100 people in five African countries, is unlikely to spread to the United States in the short term, Obama said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” But if the United States and other countries do not send needed equipment, public health workers and other supplies to the region, that situation could change and the virus could mutate to become more transmissible, he said.

“And then it could be a serious danger to the United States,” Obama said.

“We’re going to have to get U.S. military assets just to set up, for example, isolation units and equipment there,” he said, “to provide security for public health workers surging from around the world.”

Even so, he warned that it would still take months to control the epidemic.

Last week, leading international health officials said the window for getting the epidemic under control is closing. Doctors Without Borders, one of the groups most active since the outbreak began months ago, faulted world leaders with failing to recognize the severity of the crisis sooner and said charities and West African governments alone do not have the capacity to stem the epidemic. The U.S. military, with its enormous logistical capacity and extensive air operations, could address gaps in the response quickly.

The medical group has long ­opposed military involvement by governments, but its international president, Joanne Liu, said the situation had become so desperate that it was now appealing for military assets to provide critical logistical and operational support. Priorities include the mass expansion of isolation centers, air bridges to move personnel and equipment to and within the most affected countries, mobile laboratories for testing and diagnosis, and building a regional network of field hospitals to treat suspected or infected medical personnel.

Only the military, Liu said in an interview Friday, has the rapid- deployment capability and chain-of-command structure necessary now. “Because the response has been so slow, we now have to switch to a mass-casualty response,” she said.

Ghana, for example, has agreed to make the international airport in Accra an air bridge for Ebola responses. Experts say the U.S. Air Force would be well suited to supply transport flights and personnel, as well as warehousing and logistics support at the airport.

The United Nations said last week that $600 million will be needed to fight the epidemic and deal with the broader economic and social devastation suffered by the hardest-hit countries — Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The U.S. government has spent more than $100 million in the region, according to Ned Price, a spokesman at the National Security Council. Last week, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced plans to make an additional $75 million available. More than 100 experts, most of them from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are deployed to the region in an effort to prevent, detect and halt the virus’s spread.

The Obama administration has also asked Congress for an additional $88 million to send more CDC personnel and lab supplies and equipment, Price said. The United States is providing logistical and operational support, including hundreds of thousands of units of personal protective equipment, mobile labs, water-treatment units, disinfectant, basic supplies and food assistance, he said. If Congress approves the additional funding, it will bring the U.S. total commitment to more than $250 million.

U.S. officials have been in talks with international organizations and aid groups. They declined to provide details of the military involvement outlined by the president. The Defense Department has already provided lab equipment, supplies and staff in Liberia. Military planners are also on the ground in the region to assess “how their unique capabilities can be used to improve logistics, provide lift capacity and increase treatment options,” said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because planning is still underway.

A senior Defense Department official who was not authorized to comment publicly said the Pentagon has been supporting U.S. aid efforts and international organizations since the outbreak began. The department is “now working to fulfill a request to provide rapidly deployable medical treatment facilities that will help increase the capacity of the aid workers in West Africa,” he said.

Such facilities are akin to field hospitals that can treat several dozen people. At the moment, the defense official said, there are no requests to provide guns.

Outside experts have also been calling for an increased military effort and welcomed Obama’s announcement. “For several weeks there has been cross-talk, off the record, in Washington, and health advocates have urged the military to commit its resources to the Ebola crisis,” Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a statement Sunday. She is the author of “The Coming Plague,” which described the original Ebola outbreak in 1976 in Zaire, now known as Congo.

“The logistics and medical capacities of the U.S. Armed Forces are the best any military in the world has to offer — battle-tested, highly professional, extremely skilled,” she said. Detailed decisions have not yet been made, Garrett said.

But she said Obama’s comment signals “that — at last — we’re moving from ‘should we’ to ‘how much, where, and doing what’ — and this could be a game-changer.”

In its most recent update, on Friday, the World Health Organization said the death toll from the outbreak had soared past 2,000, with nearly 4,000 reported infected in West Africa. Those numbers are widely believed to represent only a portion of total cases. The fatality rate has varied widely — from 39 percent in Sierra Leone to 64 percent in Guinea — but averages more than 50 percent overall.

Whatever help arrives will not come too soon. Infections have mounted rapidly in recent days, and the situation in many places in West Africa has grown more uncertain, chaotic and desperate. Authorities in Sierra Leone said over the weekend that they would require people there to stay home for several days later this month to slow the disease’s spread. Health workers have raised concerns about that approach, saying it could prevent them from identifying and treating victims.

There was some confusion Sunday about Obama’s comments regarding the use of military assets to “provide security for public health workers surging from around the world.”

In an interview Sunday, Brice de le Vingne, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders, said he welcomed the increased U.S. response but was concerned about the security reference. Doctors Without Borders is not asking for military personnel to help with security, only logistics support, he said. It has 2,000 staffers working in the three countries. “We don’t have any security problems or constraints,” he said.

But the need for beds in isolation units is dire. In Monrovia, Liberia, where the disease is escalating exponentially daily, the group needs 800 to 1,000 isolation beds, de le Vingne said. The group’s current capacity there is between 150 and 180 beds.

“In the city, it is a catastrophe today,” he said. “We have people dying at our doorsteps at our treatment centers.”

New ISIS Threat: America's Electric Grid; Blackout Could Kill 9 of 10
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Former top government officials who have been warning Washington about the vulnerability of the nation’s largely unprotected electric grid are raising new fears that troops from the jihadist Islamic State are poised to attack the system, leading to a power crisis that could kill millions.

“Inadequate grid security, a porous U.S.-Mexico border, and fragile transmission systems make the electric grid a target for ISIS,” said Peter Pry, one of the nation’s leading experts on the grid.

Others joining Pry at a press conference later Wednesday to draw attention to the potential threat said that if just a handful of the nation’s high voltage transformers were knocked out, blackouts would occur across the country.

“By one estimate, should the power go out and stay out for over a year, nine out of 10 Americans would likely perish,” said Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the Center for Security Policy in Washington.

At the afternoon press conference, Gaffney dubbed the potential crisis the "grid jihad."

A lack of electricity would shut off water systems, impact city transportation services and shutdown hospitals and other big facilities. Fresh and frozen foods also would be impacted as would banks, financial institutions and utilities.

Pry provided details of recent attacks on electricity systems and said that ISIS could easily team with Mexican drug cartels to ravage America.

He told Secrets, for example, that the Knights Templar drug gang blacked out the electric grid of the Mexican state of Michoacan in 2013 to provide cover for killing those fighting the drug trade.

“The Knights Templars and other criminal gangs in Mexico will do anything for money, and ISIS, the richest terrorist organization in history, has hundreds of millions of dollars at its disposal,” said Pry.

“ISIS could hire one of the Mexican cartels, or one of their criminal gangs already in the U.S., or activate jihadist terror cells already in the U.S., and inflict a multi-state blackout immediately, within days or weeks. Perhaps even a nationwide blackout,” Pry explained to Secrets.

“I am not saying it is likely they will do so. But given the capabilities and objectives of ISIS and our obvious vulnerabilities, it would be foolish to ignore the threat to the grid, to regard the threat as unlikely. Our planning should be based on imminent asymmetrical threats, and not assume that another 9/11 large-scale attack is years away,” he added.

The Texas Department of Public Safety recently said they believe there is evidence that ISIS plans an attack.

Pry, Gaffney and others have been pushing Congress to protect the electric grid from attacks including terrorists, assaults by U.S. foes like North Korea and even sun spots that can zap unprotected transformers with electromagnetic pulse.

Congress is looking at legislation to protect the grid via the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act.

Editors Note....We are living on the threshold of catastrophic events which will actually destroy our civilization as the tribulation period unfolds. Today there are multiple threats to civilizations survival, threats that have never existed in previous days.The only escape is to come to Christ for salvation and be assured of escaping the coming judgment on the world. Choose this world or the world to come.

Netanyahu, Norwegian Foreign Minister Focus on IS Threat
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Netanyahu meets with Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende

Flash90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende on Monday, focusing mostly on the regional threats to the Middle East from Islamic State (IS; formerly known as ISIS). 

"You came here during a turbulent time," Netanyahu began. "Among the international community there is a growing awareness to the threat of terrorism and Islamic fanaticism. Organizations like IS, Hamas, Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab and Hezbollah (supported by Iran) pose a clear and substantial threat to our culture, our way of life, [and] our values​​." 

Netanyahu emphasized that the Western world must nip terrorism in the bud. 

"Those who do not [fight terrorism] will find on their doorstep tomorrow the Islamic terrorism that is here [in the Middle East - ed.] today," he said. "I know you understand this, and I look forward to talking to you about it and the search for peace."

Brende first responded with acknowledging Operation Protective Edge, which ended last month after a fifty-day self-defense operation in Gaza.

"I send condolences from Norway," he said. "I know it has been a very hard time for Israel." 

Regarding terrorism, Brende responded with confidence.

"I arrived just now from the NATO Conference in Wales, where there was a broad discussion of how to join forces against extremism, especially now with the rise of IS in Syria and Iraq." 

"I myself visited Iraq last week and saw the terrible situation in Irbil," he continued. "I thought [about the fact] that, just 20 kilometers (12 miles - ed.) away is the front for a radical organization that is taking more and more control."

"I look forward to discussing the upcoming donors conference in New York as well as our cooperation," he added. 

IS has been gaining ground in the Middle East for months, but has sparked a worldwide scramble to suppress terrorism in Syria and Iraq after the brutal murder of American journalists James Foley and Steve Sotloff over the past month.

The group has been actively engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against hundreds - if not thousands - of Shi'ite Muslims and minorities, including Bedouin and ethnic Yazidi.

MKs Hail Sisi's Offer of Palestinian State in Sinai Peninsula
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

MK Ayelet Shaked

Hillel Maeir

Jewish Home party chairwoman MK Ayelet Shaked responded Monday morning to reports that the Egyptian government had offered the Palestinian Authority a state extending from Gaza through the Sinai Peninsula, and called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to take it seriously.

Aiming a barb at the Israeli Left, she said the initiative proved how out of touch they were.

"If the report is indeed correct, the president of Egypt has managed to understand what the Left in Israel has refused to understand for decades."

She asserted that the solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian "needs to be regional, and cannot fall solely on Israel's shoulders. I call on the prime minister to meet with the Egyptian president to examine the feasibility of the initiative."

According to IDF Radio, Egyptian president General Abdel Fatah Sisi offered Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas to cede 160 square kilometers of the Sinai Peninsula adjoining Gaza to the PA, thus creating a Palestinian state five times the present size of Gaza. In return, the PA would stop demanding that Israel return to the 1967 borders.

Sisi reportedly suggested that Palestinian "refugees" be allowed to settle in the new, much enlarged Gaza, which would be demilitarized.

The Palestinian cities in Judea and Samaria would enjoy autonomy and be fully run by the PA, according to the plan, which would leave the PA with even more territory than it would have if Israel ceded all of Judea and Samaria.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) also responded to the reports, taking to Facebook to praise the "amazing offer of the President of Egypt."

"To give the Palestinians territory in Sinai (5 times the size of Gaza) [to] establish a Palestinian state there. In Judea and Samaria: The Palestinian cities will attain autonomy. In return the Palestinians will renounce their demands for an Israeli withdrawal to the [pre-]'67 lines," he described the plan.

He lauded as "a vision of the end of days" the fact that the proposal had reportedly gained US approval as well, and noting that "all that's left is to persuade Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas]."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is reportedly aware of the offer, according to IDF Radio,

Minister Says Abbas Proposing 'Collective Suicide' for Israel
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Mahmoud Abbas

Flash 90

Knesset Ministers on Monday expressed opposing views on Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his plans to have the UN set a timeline demanding Israel withdraw from the 1949 Armistice lines.

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) warned that Abbas's plans pose a threat to the existence of Israel, in comments at the World Summit for Counter-Terrorism, held by IDC Herzliya's International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT).

"What Abbas is proposing to Israel is a framework for collective suicide, we must be aware that our very existence is at stake," warned Steinitz.

Many have noted that if Israel gave in to Abbas's demands, the current state of Gaza as a terror base for attacks on Israel would serve as a prologue for what can be expected from Judea and Samaria. That danger was clearly illustrated after it was revealed Hamas recently made a failed coup attempt against Abbas in the region.

However, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnua) appeared not to share Steinitz's tactical appraisal while speaking at the same conference.

Commenting on Operation Protective Edge, Livni claimed Israel made a mistake by not finishing the operation with a peace agreement.

"Our military force weakened Hamas, but we need to weaken them even more, and a resolving act of diplomacy is what is supposed to replace them from the government," stated Livni, adding "we must complete the work we started in Gaza."

Livni, who served as Israel's negotiator in the nine-month peace talks with the PA that were torpedoed in April when Abbas signed a unity deal with Hamas, echoed the words of Opposition Head Yitzhak Herzog (Labor), who met with Abbas last Friday and called for a resumption of peace talks.

The call was likewise taken up by Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), who supported peace talks at the conference saying "the operation must not end with a temporary ceasefire, during which we will sit and wait for the next time they fire on us."

While the ministers clashed on whether or not to return to peace talks with the PA, which recently has stepped up rhetoric over a return to terrorism, reports on Monday indicated the Egyptian government offered the PA a state in a large section of Sinai during truce talks.

MKs on the political right embraced the reports on Monday. It is worth noting that while the offer would call on the PA give up its demands for the 1949 Armistice lines, it would also give the PA full autonomy in its cities in Judea and Samaria.

Leaders of South Say Renewed Tunnel Digging Means War
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

IDF soldiers in Hamas terror tunnel (file)

Flash 90

Leaders and residents of the south expressed frustration at the government, after a senior diplomatic source revealed assessments on Sunday showing that despite the ceasefire Hamas has restarted construction of rockets and terror tunnels to attack Israeli civilians in the region.

"Continued tunnel digging towards our communities is a cause for war," Hof Ashkelon Regional Council head Yair Farjoun told Yedioth Aharonoth, calling on the government to take decisive action against the threat on his constituents. 

The talk of war comes after a controversial ceasefire was reached on August 26 by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu despite opposition in the Security Cabinet. Polls after the ceasefire found 54% of the public opposed it, and further found Netanyahu's approval had sunk from 82% at the height of the operation to a paltry 32%.

Residents of the Gaza Belt region told Yedioth Aharonoth about the fears they have knowing that even after 50-day Operation Protective Edge their security still has not been returned, and the Hamas terrorist group remains a looming threat.

"We weren't surprised. We knew they didn't do the job. What, we don't know Hamas? Even the children know what's happening," remarked Daniel Matari of Kerem Shalom. "We are preparing for the worst and staying vigilant. ...We rely on the army, not so much on the government."

Danny Cohen of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha conferred with the negative assessment of the government, adding "there's a great disappointment in how they treated the residents during the operation."

Many have complained over the repeated ceasefires reached with Hamas throughout the operation. MK Danny Danon (Likud) noted "on July 15, the Cabinet gambled and agreed to a ceasefire without damaging the terror tunnels," pointing out how the government was willing to seal ceasefires even while leaving its citizens under a lethal threat - or possibly worse, was unaware of the threat.

Another resident of the south who spoke to the Israeli news source was Batya Holin, a resident of Kibbutz Kfar Aza and a worker at the "Or" movement for construction in the Negev.

Holin noted that the revelation of renewed terrorist activity "can push out those who had doubts whether to stay and live in (the Gaza) Belt or not to. It will be impossible to convince citizens to stay in their communities when the threat of the tunnels is still floating in the air."

"The 'Or' movement in these very days is advancing a project to build 40 new housing units in Kibbutz Nahal Oz," added Holin, noting the town where a four-year-old boy was tragically killed in the operation. "I don't see how we'll bring families there in a situation like this."

While over 30 terror tunnels were destroyed in the operation, more may remain as yet undiscovered, and with renewed construction the return of the threat appears to be a matter of time.

The tunnels were used lethally against the IDF in the operation, and it was revealed that Hamas planned to use them to launch a massive massacre on Gaza Belt communities on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

Jordan will not Join U.S. - Led Coalition Fighting IS. Arabs Have Own Strategy
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Jordan’s minister of state for media affairs Muhammad Momani said Sunday that Jordan will not be part of any coalition for battling the IS, but would continue to coordinate with all countries on how to face terrorism and terrorist organizations. The Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo Sunday also agreed to act jointly against extremist groups, particularly the Islamic state, but fell short of embracing coordination with the US. DEBKAfile: This was a mortal setback for Barack Obama’s plans to co-opt Egypt and Saudi Arabia to his coalition against IS. Instead, the Arab ministers opted for “national and regional strategies against terrorism.

Frmr. Israeli Ambassador Urges Withdrawal from Judea - Samaria
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: ;The Nation Of Israel

Michael Oren (illustrative)

Flash90

The efficacy and threat level of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel has heightened after Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Dr. Michael Oren stated Monday - and allegedly justifies a withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. 

Israel's economic, political, and cultural status has already been damaged existentially across the globe, Oren warned, due to the constant campaigns for "Israel Apartheid Week" on college campuses and European divestment from the Jewish state.

Speaking at the fourteenth International Conference of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Oren noted that BDS is merely the beginning of the global campaign to isolate Israel - which is the ultimate goal of both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority's ruling party, Fatah. 

"The danger intensified after Operation Protective Edge, whereby Hamas has used the civilian population in order to produce a harsh portrayal of Israel to the world," Oren noted.

Hamas consciously declared victory in its PR campaign against Israel several weeks ago, after it encouraged ordinary Gazans to become human shields, then peddled false information on 'civilian casualties' to the international media. 

Oren insisted, however, that the PA has placed Israel's political credibility far more at stake, via the highly cited, but inaccurate, assumption that a criminal trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel would harm Israel more than it harms the Palestinian leadership itself. 

"Whereas against Hamas they say that we drew a tie, with the Palestinian Authority, we might suffer a heavy loss with Mr. [PA Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas's desire to appeal to the International [Criminal] Court in The Hague to bring about sanctions and isolation," he stated. 

Oren also sharply criticized the Israel's government's failure to handle the global BDS movement, in his words, naming it "a failure and a very real abandonment" of its own people. 

The solution to all of the above, he claimed, is for the political right to present its own "peace plan." 

"The time has come for the ideological Right to mature, and lay on the table its own diplomatic initiative," Oren said, "an initiative to end Israel's control over the Palestinian population [in Judea and Samaria]." 

"It is upon us to set borders which would include the maximum number of Israelis and holy places, as well as to maximize security arrangements," he continued. "Israel's leadership must make this courageous decision." 

Oren's urging surfaces just weeks after Operation Protective Edge - which many have noted stemmed directly from the last wide-scale land withdrawal, the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza - resulted in over 3,600 rockets being launched at millions of Israeli civilians. 

The statement also surfaces amid ample evidence that Hamas is gaining significant political ground in Judea and Samaria, meaning that any wide-scale withdrawal from the area is likely to see the terror group take power - and see rockets being rained on Israelis just outside of the Gaza leadership's rocket range.

Christians in Lebanon Prepare for Invasion By ISIS
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsBreitbart
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Lebanese Christians are taking precautions as the Islamic State (ISIS) continues to terrorize Iraq and Syria. Men grabbed weapons and set out for the hills to prepare for an eventual attack by the terrorist group.

“We all know that if they come, they will slit our throats for no reason,” said one resident.

It is the first time civilians have picked up weapons in the nation since the end of the Lebanon civil war. The majority of these weapons come from communist militias and Hezbollah, the Associated Press notes, but Christians say they do not care if the weapons raise tensions in the country. They believe the threat is real and need to rely on self-defense.

Samir Geagea, a Lebanese politician running for president, spoke out against ISIS and urged everyone in Lebanon to unite.

“ISIS is a cancerous tumor that surfaced at first in parts of Iraq and Syria and it's still contained to a certain point and this can be removed only if we join our efforts via an international Arab alliance,” he said. “If they're trying to intimidate us then do not fear them. ... Those who faced major challenges and the likes of ISIS throughout history should not fear those today.”

ISIS does not have a strong presence in Lebanon, but the terrorist group pops up around the country. They attacked Arsal in August. It is a border town with 40,000 residents, but is also a city for Syrians who fled their civil war. The United Nations said over 1.1 million people registered as refugees in Arsal. One man said shelling burned down one refugee camp. The Lebanese Army fought off the terrorists, but ISIS managed to escape with Lebanon weapons and vehicles.

In Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city, two black ISIS flags appeared in shops. From Lebanon’s The Daily Star :

While the first Islamist flag, or al-raya, is a ubiquitous sight in Tripoli – where it is hung from street posts and across storefronts to show piety and Sunni pride – the second is far less common.

Yet the ISIS-affiliated insignia is increasingly appearing outside some shops around Tripoli and is being donned by protesters at Islamist rallies in the city, a potential signal of the radical group’s growing reach and level of support in Lebanon’s second-biggest city. Others, however, insist it is merely a symbol of Sunni unity and pride.

This past week, two separate ISIS messages appeared on Christian churches in Tripoli. “The Islamic State will break the cross” was spray painted on the Mar Elias Church in Minieh. Another person spray painted “We came to slaughter you, you worshipers of the cross” on the March Elias Church in Mina.

ISIS destroyed Christian towns and expelled Christians in Syria and Iraq. Many of them escaped to Lebanon since the country has the most Christians in the Middle East. Muslims also reached out to help the Christians. Dar al-Fatwa, the highest Sunni religious authority in Lebanon, provided food boxes for Christians at the Assyrian Diocese in Sadd al-Boushrieh. Archdeacon Yatroun Colliana and representatives from Dar al-Fatwa “presided over the distribution of aid” and “said the aid would continue as a signal of unity between Christians and Muslims, so long as the ‘tragedies’ facing Christians in Iraq and Syria continued.”

But it is not just Christians on ISIS’s radar. The terrorist group told Turkish news Agency Anadolu they beheaded a second Lebanese soldier. Medlej allegedly tried to escape the group. ISIS captured Medlej and Ali Sayyed during the clashes in Arsal. Lebanese officials believe ISIS has more than 27 Lebanese soldiers.

Christian Writers Trained to Write for the Left
Sep 8th, 2014
CommentaryWND _ Jim Fletcher
Categories: Contemporary Issues;Warning

British Women Join ISIS Police Force Responsible for Punishing Muslims Who Break Strict Sharia Law
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Vancouver Sun
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Bank Database Presents Target for Hackers and Hostile Powers
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Telegraph
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Twenty-year veteran of GCHQ fears global information-sharing is vulnerable to attack

Brian Lord was the former deputy director for intelligence and cyber operations at GCHQ Photo: PA

After Gaza War, Palestinian Infighting Flares
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Hamas riding high on popular support

Flash 90

The war with Israel may be over, but now the fight is turning inward with bitter rivalry between Fatah and Hamas threatening to shatter a fragile Palestinian unity deal. 

In the latest spat between the factions, Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas accused Hamas of running a "shadow government" in Gaza, prompting the Islamist movement to accuse him of trying to "destroy" the unity agreement they signed in April.

The deal ended seven years of rival Palestinian administrations - with Abbas's Fatah party which dominates the Palestinian Authority, ruling areas of Judea-Samaria under its control, and Hamas's own government ruling Gaza.

Under the deal, the two sides agreed on the formation of a national consensus government of technocrats which took office on June 2.

But after just over a month in office, everything was put on hold as Israel and Hamas fought a deadly 50-day war in and around Gaza.  

Throughout the conflict, Hamas and Fatah put up a united front, working side-by-side in indirect truce talks with Israel in Cairo, which resulted in an open-ended ceasefire that took effect on August 26. But any illusion of harmony has quickly evaporated.

"Hamas has taken us back to square one, to the days of division," a Fatah official based in Gaza told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.  

'War of words'

Gaza-based political analyst Talal Awkel said: "We're now seeing a war of words and mutual accusations being exchanged between Fatah and Hamas."

The latest face-off has likely scuppered elections that were supposed to take place by the end of the year, under the terms of the April agreement.

In a statement last week, Fatah accused Hamas of placing 300 of its members in Gaza under house arrest during the seven-week conflict, and wounding dozens who dared challenge it.  

It also accused the Islamist movement of "stealing" aid bound for ordinary people in Gaza in order to "distribute it to its supporters or sell it on the black market."

Hamas dismissed the statement as a smear campaign organised by a movement whose popularity in Judea and Samaria has slumped since the war.

A recent opinion poll found that if a presidential election were held now, Hamas's former premier Ismail Haniyeh would easily win, taking 61 percent of the votes compared with 32 percent for Abbas.

During the fighting, Hamas was seen as the only Palestinian faction willing to fight Israel, squaring up to its military might and firing rockets on Israeli civilian population centers, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Fatah, by comparison, has been increasingly associated with the PA security forces who engage in security cooperation with Israel.

In order to redress the balance, Abbas is hoping to secure a UN Security Council resolution calling for a three-year timeline for Israel to withdraw to the "pre-1967 lines".

In the likely event of a US veto, officials say Abbas will consider fast-tracking an application to become party to the International Criminal Court with a view to possible prosecution of Israel.

But such a diplomatic initiative is unlikely to offset the political gains chalked up by Hamas during the war.  

'Shadow government'

"After the victory in Gaza, the forces of the Palestinian Authority must change their attitude and come back into the arms of their people, instead of the arms of the occupation," Hamas said last week.

And it denounced a ban on demonstrations and a wave of arrests in Judea and Samaria, that has seen hundreds of its members detained.

The Gaza war was a chance for Hamas to show through its military prowess that it was still relevant, Awkel said, following charges it had signed the reconciliation deal "from a position of weakness."

In the months leading up to the unity deal, Hamas was so broke that it could not even pay its own 45,000 employees.

Israel's eight-year blockade of the territory, compounded by an Egyptian lockdown on its southern border, has sparked a major economic crisis.

A dispute over who should pay Hamas employees after Haniyeh's government stood down in June proved to be the first crack in the unity deal.

Fights broke out at banks after the Palestinian Authority's Gaza-based staff were paid but Hamas employees were not.

Abbas Denies 'Fabricated' Reports of Sinai State Offer
Sep 8th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Mahmoud Abbas

Flash 90

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's office wasted no time on Monday denying reports that Egypt had offered the PA a state in the Sinai Peninsula, in return for the PA agreeing to forego demands on the 1949 Armistice lines as borders.

Al-Tayyib Abd Al-Rahim, Secretary-General of Abbas's office, told the Palestinian Arab Ma'an News Agency that the reports were "fabricated."

Al-Rahim added that Abbas would not accept any alternative to a "Palestinian state" on the 1949 Armistice lines with eastern Jerusalem as its capital.

"This news is completely false and the proposal is an old one suggested by former head of the Israeli National Security Council Giora Eiland, who suggested to establish a Palestinian state in Gaza and parts of Sinai with autonomy in the West Bank," al-Rahim said.

Abbas's representative further claimed that Egypt shares the PA's position calling for a "two state solution" based on the 1949 Armistice lines.

According to the reports released earlier on Monday by IDF Radio, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi offered Abbas 160 square kilometers of the Sinai Peninsula adjoining Gaza to the PA, thus creating a Palestinian state five times the present size of Gaza.

The area, which would be demilitarized according to the proposal, would absorb Palestinian "refugees," while the PA would gain full autonomy and a de facto state in its Judea and Samaria cities as well.

According to the report, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was aware of the offer and the United States had already approved. It was noted, as al-Rahim commented, that Israeli academicians and Major General (ret.) Giora Eiland had raised the idea years ago only to have it rejected by Egypt.

Several MKs embraced the reports quickly on Monday, with MK Ayelet Shaked calling on Netanyahu to seriously pursue the proposal, saying "if the report is indeed correct, the president of Egypt has managed to understand what the Left in Israel has refused to understand for decades."

Likewise Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) called the offer a "vision of the end of days," saying "all that's left is to persuade Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas)."