Israel News from Tsiyon Radio

What is happening in Israel?

Feb 1
2009

You see a lot of news from Israel. However, if you are a Christian or Messianic believer it is not always easy to find out how the news you are seeing is effecting the daily lives of fellow-believers who live in Israel and the Palestinian territories. We hope to remedy that for you here.

Our Tsiyon Radio Correspondent in Israel, Paul Calvert, is producing a series of radio programs, available below, in which he interviews believers in Israel about all sorts of things. The program is called Focus on Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Hear from both Jewish and Arab believers, to get a grasp of both the complexities and joys of life in Israel.

For more about this site, read our full welcome message here.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by all persons in these programs and on this website are not necessarily the opinions of Tsiyon Radio. All such opinions, however, will help you understand what is happening in Israel.

Tags: Arab, Christian, interviews, Israel, Jerusalem, Jewish, Messianic, news, Palestinian, Paul Calvert, radio

Trackback • Posted in introduction

The Middle East Conflict In A Nutshell

Jan 26
2012

Steve Maltz considers the history

How many times have you been approached by someone and asked the question, “so what do you think about what’s happening in Israel/Palestine?” Hopefully this may help.

Let’s first go back to the 19th Century and look at the ‘lie of the land’. Palestine, as it was called then was a poor country, ruled by absentee Turkish landlords, as part of the crumbling and corrupt Ottoman empire.

By all accounts the land was largely barren and uninhabited, its population was either nomadic or largely involved with agriculture, despite the poor environment. Sir John William Dawson, writing in 1888, said, “The motley impoverished tribes which have occupied it have held it as mere tenants at will, temporary landowners.”

Thanks to the Turks, the land had been totally neglected. Hundreds of years of abuse had turned the country into a treeless waste, with malaria-ridden swamps and a sprinkling of towns. This was the position in 1880, and this is incontestable fact.

Palestine was not a country or a state, it was simply a collection of villages. Although many Arabs did own their own homes, the majority were the poor “fellahin”, who worked as hired hands for the landowners. There was no nationalism in the land, no feeling of belonging to a “people”, loyalty was to the local clan or village.

Jews had lived in the land from Biblical times, though, in the 19th century, they were very much the minority. The first major wave of Jewish immigration started in the 1880s and they slowly transformed the land. They worked on the swamps and the undrained rivers and soon Jewish villages were springing up all over.

Media sources today give the impression that Israel “occupies” land once owned by people living in a “Palestinian state”. But evidence is to the contrary. When the First congress of Muslim-Christian Associations met in Jerusalem in February 1919, the agreement was that “we consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria”. The only people who considered themselves “Palestinians” then were the Jewish inhabitants! Even the Jewish national newspaper was called “The Palestine Post”.

Did Jewish immigrants seize the land or was the land acquired legally? Land first settled was bought from the absentee Turkish landlords, who were eager for the extra cash – it was uncultivated swamps and empty land. Later on they bought cultivated land, some of it at exorbitant prices.

In the 20th century, Arabs as well as Jews were immigrating into Palestine. The Hope Simpson Report acknowledged in 1930 that there was “uncontrolled influx of illegal immigrants from Egypt, TransJordan and Syria”. The rate of immigration increased during the early 1930s. In 1939, Winston Churchill said “Far from being persecuted, the Arabs have crowded into the country and multiplied”. This is an important point, because it dispels the myth that the Palestinian people have lived there for generations.

So now we reach that magic date, 1948, the formation of the State of Israel. And the major point of contention – the Palestinian refugees.

This is where objectivity flies out of the window and we get the sharpest divide in people’s perceptions of actual historic events. In a nutshell, what happened was that the day after Israel became a country, it was invaded. Within 2 weeks, against all odds, Israel was victorious, resulting in an expansion of territory and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Arabs who had been living in Palestine.

As a result of these events not one but two refugee situations were created.

Just under 750,000 Arabs lost their homes and became the ‘Palestinian’ refugees. Some were driven out by the Israeli army, others fled after being told to do so by Arab army commanders, expecting an eventual victory.

From 1947 hundreds of Jews in Arab lands were massacred, leaving thousands injured and millions of dollars in property destroyed. In 1948 Jews were forcibly ejected from Arab countries and of the 820,000 Jewish refugees created by this situation, 590,000 were absorbed by Israel.

Palestinian refugees still exist, in camps, on the West Bank, in Lebanon and elsewhere. Have you ever wondered why?

The 820,000 Jewish refugees who were forcibly ejected from Arab countries where they had often lived for thousands of years were all integrated into Israel or the Jewish world elsewhere. There are no Jewish refugee camps.

The 750,000 Arab refugees who were displaced in 1948, were placed into squalid refugee camps by fellow Arabs who had just gone to war (and lost) but were unwilling to pay for the consequences. Incredibly over a million of these poor people are still in these camps, despite billions of dollars of relief. Where has this money gone and why are they still in camps and not integrated into Arab society?

Palestinians were never allowed to be “ordinary” refugees. They have been kept in a form of forced captivity for a sinister purpose, that has transformed a peace-loving gentle people into terrorist pariahs. Let’s be honest here and consider who is really responsible for this tragedy. It is not Israel or the Palestinians. Can’t they see who their real enemy is?

And what of the “occupied” West Bank? It is true that Israel “occupy” the land, since gaining it as a result of the victory in the Six Day War in 1967, but who did they occupy it from? Well, it was actually illegally seized by Jordan after 1948. Before then it was part of the area administered by the British. Before that, the West Bank was just the eastern part of Palestine, occupied by whoever happened to live there.

The crisis in the Middle East is over a strip of land the size of Wales, a hoped-for safe haven for a people with historical links to the land going back over 4000 years, a people who have not been welcome anywhere else. The fact that this land is surrounded by over a dozen hostile nations is one of those tragedies of history that make you realize that there’s more here than meets the eye.

Tags: Arab, Israel, jew, middle east, Palestine

Trackback • Posted in Uncategorized

Freiends of Israel

Jan 24
2012

Just last week i went to an event by the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus , It was a wonderful event mainly because it was recognising what Evangelical Christians are doing for the nation of Israel.
It is wonderful in this day and age of Anti semetism to see that Christians are standing against the tide and supporting this great nation .
The Christian history is a very bleak one when it comes to the Jewish people , we have done so many very bad things , But we pray that the tide is turning , the church will wake up to their Jewish roots ,
Their book , the bible is a Jewish book , Their Messiah and savior is Jewish , We have so much to be thankful in the Jewish people for .
Israel exists today because of the prophecies of God , And what God ordaines i have no right to argue against .
If the nations and the world , if the UN and the Arab world have a problem with Israel and the Jewish people then don’t come to me and complain Go to God himself because it was him that said to Abraham , Issac and Jacob that the promice of the land is an eternal one , Eternal to me sounds like a long time .
Believers of the world unite and do what it says Psalm 122v6
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem”
and Bless the Jewish people , May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed .

Tags: allies, Christristian, friends, Israel, jew

Trackback • Posted in Uncategorized

Blessings from heaven

Jan 22
2012

Israel today amongst all other days is Blessed , Why ?
Because it is Raining .
Its hard for me to say they are blessed by the rain being an English man , Its also sometimes very hard to pray for rain , Perhaps my prayer should be send the rain Lorn when i am in Bed at night .
Today i have seen many Umbrella’s abandoned by the wayside , mine included , But this does show the way that God is blessing the nation in season .
The rain is very much needed as i was up in the Galilee a few days ago and the sea is so low .
This of course is Israel’s drinking water.
The summer sun comes and scourches the greenery on the mountainside , but at this time of year you can see the green reapearing again .
Surely this nation is blessed , Evenmore so when you see all the fruit and vegetables in the market place .
Lord bring more rain and bless this land .

Tags: blessing, heaven, Israel, Palestine, rain

Trackback • Posted in Uncategorized

War Clouds Multiply Over Middle East

Jan 10
2012

War Clouds Multiply Over Middle East

Israel Update for December 2011
David Dolan
The already tense Middle East raced closer to a major conflict in December as news reports said Iran is probably on the brink of building a nuclear warhead. This news came after Iran intercepted an American intelligence spy drone that was reportedly gathering real time intelligence information on Iran’s burgeoning nuclear facilities. In Washington, the US Defense Secretary declared that the Obama Administration might be forced to take military action to halt Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. Israeli officials continued to warn that they would have little choice but to launch an attack upon the extremist Iranian regime’s nuclear production facilities if no one else-meaning the United States and/or possibly Great Britain or France-takes military action to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Saudi Arabian leaders held urgent consultations with their regional Arab counterparts as the race toward a new Middle East conflict gained steam.

Near the end of the month, Iranian leaders threatened once again to halt all oil shipments out of the Straight of Hormuz, even though this would further harm Iran’s own weak economy. The oil rich country ships most of its crude by sea via the strategic outlet, much of it headed to China. The Straight of Hormuz is bordered on the north by Iran and on the south by the United Arab Emirates. The United States said that the threatened Iranian closure would be “intolerable” and warned Tehran that it would provoke an international military response. Iran held major war exercises near the Persian Gulf outlet in late December, prompting the United States to send an aircraft carrier and its support ships into the area. Iranian leaders characterized the action as a deliberate attempt to ratchet up tensions in the region-as if Iran’s militant moves and war threats were not what prompted the relatively timid Obama Administration to react in such an unusually strong fashion.

Meanwhile copious amounts of blood continued to run onto the streets of Iran’s closest regional ally, Syria, as the uprising there became more pronounced during December. This came as the Arab League tried to calm the situation by sending monitors to help insure that more Syrian Sunni Muslim protestors were not slaughtered by the brutal Assad regime. However the move did not halt the deadly bloodshed. The number of defectors from Syrian army and police forces continued to grow during the month, producing an upsurge in highly organized armed assaults upon the regime’s security forces led by some of the former military and police commanders. Syrian opposition leaders said a major massacre took place in the middle of December when Syrian army forces opened fire at close range on around 70 Syrian army deserters in the northwestern province of Idlib, killing all of them.

Russian leaders faced charges of vote fraud at home while reinforcing their military protection of the embattled Syrian Assad family regime. Arab news reports said that Moscow sent advanced shore to sea missiles to Damascus to fend off a possible NATO naval attack along Syria’s western Mediterranean coast. A Russian naval strike force was also stationed off of the Syrian coast in what analysts said was a clear message to officials in Washington, London and Paris not to intervene in the Syrian crisis. This came as the Kremlin shipped some three million protective gas masks to Syria, which were reportedly distributed mainly to loyal members and supporters of the barbaric Syrian regime. Israeli analysts said the ominous move might indicate that besieged Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and his cronies are prepared to deploy such non-conventional weapons against any foreign forces trying to halt the internal bloodshed that left tens of thousands of Syrians either dead or wounded during 2011. Soon after the gas masks arrived at Damascus international airport, the Syrian Vice President flew to Moscow to hold urgent consultations with Russian governmental leaders.

Israeli media reports said NATO member Turkey’s armed forces were placed on a full war footing during the month. This came as senior American officials held urgent consultation with their Turkish counterparts over the deteriorating regional situation. Meanwhile press reports revealed that controversial Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is undergoing medical treatment for cancer, although it is not thought to be life threatening at this point. Despite the rift in diplomatic relations between Israel and Turkey provoked by Edogan’s nearly endless verbal blasts against the Jewish state in recent years, indications are growing that the pro-western Turkish military will stand with Israel and its allies if any military attack is launched against Iran’s nuclear facilities, especially if such dramatic action directly involves the United States.

Israeli leaders and the general public have been discussing the growing role that the Middle East crisis has been playing in the prolonged American Republican Party presidential race. In particular, controversial comments by Texas Congressman Ron Paul saying that Iran’s nuclear ambitions pose no threat to Israel and the world made headlines in Israel. A later statement by a former top aid to the Republican candidate maintaining that Congressman Paul is anti-semitic and wants to see Israel erased from the regional map were naturally widely reported in Israel as well. The prospect that America’s next president might be a practicing Mormon has also gained attention in Israel. The powerful and wealthy Salt Lake-based religious group runs an extension college campus located just above Jerusalem’s ancient walled Old City.

Nuclear Bomb On The Way?

Israeli media outlets reported the third week of December that an unnamed senior American official had told their Israeli counterparts that they have obtained hard evidence that Iran has embarked on what were termed “activities related to possible nuclear weaponization.” If so, this would be crossing the important red line that the Obama administration has publicly laid down as impassable for the Shiite Islamic regime, which frequently vows to destroy Israel. The unidentified US official reportedly added that the “activities” could leave Iran with a nuclear warhead in a relatively short period of time. Media reports have quoted Israeli intelligence agents as predicting that such a bomb could be ready for deployment sometime later this year.

The ominous media reports about a possible pending nuclear weapon in Iranian hands came as new American Secretary of State Leon Panetta said that the US may be forced to take military action if Iran actually begins producing nuclear weapons. “If they proceed, and we get intelligence that they’re proceeding in developing a nuclear weapon, then we will take whatever steps are necessary to stop it,” Panetta said in a televised interview he gave to CBS News. The comments-the clearest yet by a high level US government official indicating that the Americans themselves might be forced to react militarily to such a development-were subsequently reinforced by the Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, indicating that the American military establishment is ready to take action against Iran if that dramatic move is deemed necessary by the Obama administration.

Citing intelligence reports, Secretary of Defense Panetta added that, “it would be some time in around a year” when the Iranian regime would be technically able to build a nuclear weapon. However, he issued a caveat by echoing some Israeli officials who have suggested it might be possible for Iran to construct such a weapon in far less time. Panetta admitted that was a possibility, saying the potential timeline might depend on whether or not Iran has an unknown hidden nuclear facility located somewhere in the country, as some Israeli leaders say they suspect is indeed the case. Officials at the Pentagon later clarified that the US would quickly know if a final decision to build a bomb had been taken by the Iranian regime since international nuclear inspectors who regularly visit the Shiite Muslim country would detect that its centrifuges were enriching uranium up to weapons-grade levels.

Iran Captures US Spy Drone

American government officials reluctantly admitted in early December that Iran had taken possession of a highly sophisticated US stealth drone aircraft that was apparently in the middle of an information gathering flight over Iranian territory when it was intercepted. The US initially claimed that the drone had fallen into Iranian hands due to a “technical malfunction” on board. However according to an Iranian engineer who was interviewed by the American Christian Science Monitor newspaper later in the month, Iran was able to hack into the spy drone’s GPS navigational system in order to redirect it to land at an Iranian air base. If so (and most experts said this was probably the case), an electronic interception would be an extremely serious development that demonstrated Iran might be a more formidable opponent than previously anticipated if a full blown war develops as a result of any attack upon Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Known as the RQ-170 Sentinel, the pilot-less aircraft was subsequently closely inspected by Iranian officials. US defense experts said it was highly likely that Iran will share whatever information it gleans from the inspections with its Chinese allies, and possibly also with Russia as well. The Sentinel drones have been heavily deployed in recent years in Afghanistan, Pakistan and in Iraq, which is now empty of US ground forces after the last American soldiers were pulled out in December.

According to the report relayed by the Iranian engineer, Iranian specialists somehow figured out that the RQ-170 Sentinels weakest point is its GPS. They apparently acquired this vital information by examining previously downed American drones in September. “By putting noise (i.e. jamming) on the communications, you force the bird into auto-pilot. This is where the bird loses its brain,” the engineer told the American newspaper. He maintained that the Iranian scientific team then simply programmed the drone to “land on its own where they wanted it to.” American defense experts said the Pentagon has known since 2003 that the GPS system on the high flying drones is vulnerable to outside manipulation. The intercepted Sentinel’s base was reportedly in next door Afghanistan. Earlier last year, an entire fleet of drones was infected by a computer virus, while two years ago, live drone video transmissions to American ground communications stations were successfully intercepted by Iraqi insurgents.

Israeli media reports said that the captured drone was one of the subjects discussed between American President Barrack Obama and visiting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak when they met at Camp David in Maryland the middle of December. However the main focus was said to be the evidence mentioned by the unnamed senior American source indicating Iran has actually begun to assemble a nuclear bomb, or is at least on the verge of doing so. Also indicating that stepped up discussions about the situation in Iran and the region are now underway, a series of mid-level American officials paraded to Israel the second half of the month, including Lt. General Frank Gorenc, who commands a wing of the US Air Force. Media reports said he had come to the region to organize one of the largest ever shared military exercises between the United States and Israel. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s main lieutenant, Wendy Sherman, also traveled unexpectedly to Jerusalem in December, as did Robert Einhorn, the State Department’s expert on nuclear weapons and nonproliferation issues. The two diplomats reportedly flew to Israel in order to “tie up” some strings dangling from the President’s earlier meeting with Ehud Barak.
The situation in Iran was also thought to be a major topic when Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta flew to Ankara to meet with Turkish leaders during the month. This came amid Israeli press reports that Turkey’s troops had been placed on full war footing in order to deal with the possible spillover effects of any action in Iran and with the deteriorating situation in Syria, located due south of Turkey. Middle East military analysts say they expect that Turkish air bases would probably be used as a base of operations if American warplanes are ordered by the Obama administration to attack Iran’s nuclear production facilities.

Iran Holds Major War Exercises

Iranian military units began what was billed as a ten day war drill on the last day of December. Iranian Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi told the Iranian FARS news agency that the exercises will end with the test firing of long range missiles that are capable of hitting many regional countries, including Israel. “The firing of missiles is the final part of the navy drill,” said Mousavi, adding that, “The final phase of the drill is to prepare the navy for confronting the enemy in war situations.” The drill came just a couple weeks after Iranian leaders threatened to shut down all international oil shipments through the Straight of Hormuz, through which about 40% of the world’s oil supplies passes each day. Experts say it would be relatively easy to chock off the pass by simply sinking a couple of the dozens of large oil tankers that transit the narrow Persian Gulf outlet each day. The heavy tankers travel along narrow channels that were long ago dug into the fairly shallow waterway to accommodate them. Since Iran has major naval and ground forces in the area, it should be theoretically easy for Iranian military forces to keep rescue crews from removing any seriously damaged petroleum vessels. America’s main regional naval base is in nearby Bahrain, meaning its ships also need to transit the passageway when leaving Gulf waters.

Israeli leaders again publicly called on the international community to band together in order to deal with the Iranian nuclear production programme. IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz told Knesset members in late December that the Iranian threat can be neutralized if both Israel and the international community take what he called “a responsible stance” on the explosive issue. He added, “Iran is working on a nuclear programme for its military. This warrants concern from us, but the threat is not only directed towards Israel. The countries in our immediate proximity, and indeed beyond, are all at risk.”

Grantz also took the opportunity to warn Palestinian Hamas leaders that a major IDF ground operation might be unleashed if frequent rocket firings from the Gaza Strip at Israeli targets does not quickly cease and desist. As during most of 2011, a series of Kassam rockets landed inside Israeli territory during December, some striking the cities of Beersheva and Ashkelon. This followed the firing of three rockets the end of November at northern Israel from southern Lebanon. Allied with Hamas, the Shiite Lebanese Hizbullah militia denied that its forces had been involved. The Lebanese Defense Minister actually claimed in late December that Israel itself had fired the rockets at its own soil in order to stir up tensions in Lebanon. His highly unusual contention was deemed totally absurd by officials in Jerusalem.

US Jets For Saudi Arabia

Among other Middle East countries that have expressed grave concern about Iran’s actions and intentions is the oil-rich nation of Saudi Arabia. Saudi King Abdullah held a series of urgent consultations with other regional Arab leaders during December as additional war clouds gathered in the area. This came as the Obama administration finalized the sale of 84 advanced F-15 combat jets to Saudi Arabia. The huge transaction, approved by Congress after it was first proposed in 2010, is worth 30 billion US dollars. The combat jets are produced by the American Boeing aircraft conglomerate.
John Earnest, the deputy White House press secretary, said the large weapons sale “will positively impact the U.S. economy, and further advances the President’s commitment to create jobs by increasing exports.” According to industry experts, this agreement will support more than 50,000 American jobs, engaging 600 suppliers in 44 states and providing $3.5 billion in annual economic impact to the U.S. economy.” Along with the F-15s, the package includes the supply of 70 Apache attack helicopters and 72 Black Hawk choppers. Israeli officials have not publicly opposed the weapons transfers, although they reportedly continue to worry that the advanced aircraft might eventually be used in a future Islamic war against the small Jewish State.

Arab Monitors In Syria

As domestic upheaval continued to rock the Arab country of Syria, Israeli Defense Minister Barak told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committee on January 2 that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad will be toppled from power within a few weeks time. The veteran Israeli political leader and former armed forces chief said that the increasing defection of thousands of Syrian military personnel to the increasingly powerful anti-government opposition spells the end of the Assad family dynasty which has ruled Syria for since the 1970s. Barak added that anarchy will probably follow the overthrow of the brutal regime, warning this could easily spill over into the Israeli-ruled Golan Heights, which was captured by IDF forces from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War. He confirmed press reports that Iran and Hizbullah have both been aiding the Assad regime in its fight to remain in power, which cost the lives of over 5,000 Syrians during 2011, most of them opposition protestors.

After imposing economic sanctions on the Assad regime, the Arab League was reluctantly allowed by it to send monitors into the troubled country in December. Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said the monitors would remain in place for the time being in an effort to halt the fierce attacks upon anti-regime protestors, who are mainly Sunni Muslims as are most Arab League member states. In another major concession that began in late December, Bashar Assad ordered his security forces to retreat from most of his country’s besieged cities and towns, where street battles have raged since last March. However press reports revealed that military forces were merely moved to the outskirts of the cities and towns, and therefore could be easily moved back into urban areas very quickly.

Meanwhile, a web site linked to the Assad regime called the Damas Post reported in early January that the Syrian dictator will soon announce his intention to form a new government which will include prominent members of the opposition. The report added that Assad was briefed by senior government negotiators who are quietly meeting with leading members of the anti-government Sunni opposition. This came as Assad continued to publicly justify his army’s repressive actions, which have been widely condemned in most Arab countries and elsewhere around the world.

Russian leaders expanded their military support for the embattled Assad regime during December, sending a naval strike force to dock at the Syrian seaport of Tartus. This came after the Kremlin reportedly rushed over 70 shore to sea Yakhont SSN-26 missiles to Damascus. The missiles have been deployed along the Syrian Mediterranean coast where the Assad regime is keeping a wary eye on American, British and other NATO naval forces that regularly patrol the international waterway between Cyprus and Syria. Both the United States and the European Union have called upon Assad to quickly step down from power. Israeli media outlets said the delivery by the Kremlin in December of over three million protective face masks to Syria was raising new concern in Jerusalem. Syria is known to possess one of the world’s largest chemical weapons stockpiles, initially developed with the active aid of the Communist Soviet Union in the 1970s. Bashar Assad has hinted at the possible use of such perilous weapons in the past. Syrian Vice President Farouk Al-Shara flew to Moscow for crisis consultations soon after the naval strike force arrived at Tartus, apparently in an attempt to seek more aid to help keep the repressive regime in power.

With the Middle East spinning around like a Hannukah dreidel in motion, the year ahead looks likely to be one of the most dramatic ones ever experienced in the tumultuous region. This apparent reality should give us all a renewed mandate to obey King David’s ancient admonition to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” knowing that the Eternal One will “prosper all who love her” (Psalm 122:6).

Trackback • Posted in Uncategorized

The Church Of The Nativity, Bethlehem

Dec 23
2011

Paul Calvert looks at it’s history and current use

Bethlehem is the town the Prophets talked about; it’s the place where Jesus the Messiah was born. Many believe Jesus’ birth place was on the site of the Church of the Nativity. With Christmas approaching Paul Calvert decided to find out more of the history of this famous church, so caught up with Jerius Contolini, a local tour guide.

Jerius: Bethlehem is a very important town; I’m happy to be living in Bethlehem as one of the Christian families. It’s very important to us because it’s the most important place in the Holy Land because it’s the place where Jesus was born. To me its a special place, it carries a very special meaning and most of the people from all over the world every day they come here and we are happy here and most of the people are friendly here.

Paul: Is there a special feeling Christmas time when tourists come from around the world? What’s it like at Christmas time here?

Jerius: When people come here at Christmas we feel like we share together the birth of Jesus. It’s a very nice occasion. You can see people from all over the world and they come to the Church of the Nativity. They come looking for forgiveness, they ask for peace for all over the world because in the whole world we miss peace.

Nativity Manger
This for me as a Christian is the exact place where Jesus was born. The church was built in 326 ad by Helena the mother of Constantine. She built it because she found the place where Jesus was born and because of that she decided to build a church over the holy place. After that there was a Samaritan revolt in 529ad, unfortunately the church was burned with fire and after that it was rebuilt again between 531 and 539 ad by Justinian; Justinian was the grandson of Helena. The church is around 1500 years old; it’s the most important place because it’s where the Lord Jesus Christ was born and at the same time the oldest church in the Holy Land. Now in the year 614 ad there was a Persian invasion. The Persians at that time destroyed all the churches in the Holy Land; they burned monastery and the only church that was not destroyed was Nativity Church, for that reason we tell people that this is the oldest church in the Holy Land. The reason why this church was not destroyed is because there was a piece of mosaic at the front of the church; on the mosaic was a picture of the three wise men – the Kings that came from the East. So one of them was from Persia, one from India and one from Arabia. There were Persian people and when they saw the Persian guy and they saw he was in the traditional clothes of the Persians, then this was something holy for them and they said don’t touch it just leave it. So that piece of Mosaic saved the church from destruction.

Today the church has three churches in one. The main part belongs to the Greek Orthodox, another belongs to the Armenian and then we have the Roman Catholic Church and this is the only church where we celebrate Christmas three times because of a different calendar. The 24th of December we have Christmas for the Catholics, the 7th of January for the Greek Orthodox and 18th of January for the Armenian.

We have many things inside the church; you can see the original floors, its mosaic made by Queen Helena in 326 ad and then you find the pillars inside the church. The pillars are red limestone from Bethlehem, six metres and one piece of stone. Then you will find lots of mosaics on the wall. These mosaics were made by the Crusaders in the 12th Century when they came to the Holy Land.

Now the most important thing inside the church is the birth place which is the Holy Cave, the Grotto. That is where you will see a star; the star marks the exact place where Jesus was born. The star has 14 points on it. These represent the 14 generations of Jesus Christ from Abraham to David, then from David to the Babylonian captivity and after that from the Babylonian captivity to Jesus Christ.

Stone Pillars
Another thing about the 14 points, we believe that they represent the 14 stations of the cross; Jesus carrying the cross in the Old City of Jerusalem, we call it the Via Delarosa, it has writing written on it which translated says “here Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary”. Opposite the star we can see the manger; the Holy Manger is where the Virgin Mary laid the baby Jesus. After she gave birth she wrapped him in swadling clothes and laid him in the manger. Opposite the manger we see the Holy Alter; this belonged to the three wise men where the three Kings put their presents, the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.

Paul: In one area of the church there are a lot of human bones, where are they from?

Jerius: These bones and skulls belong to the holy innocent children and families. We consider them Christian Martyrs who were killed by Herod the Great about 2000 years ago. When Jesus was born here, we remember the story; the holy family came from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census registration. They knocked on many doors and they found no help open for them because there was no room. After that they found the holy cave, this place used to be a stable for animals. When they came to Bethlehem they found no place, the Virgin Mary was pregnant and when the hour came she went down into the cave and she gave birth to Jesus. After that Helena came and decided to build a Church over the holy cave. Now at that time Herod the Great wanted to kill the baby Jesus, but he didn’t know which one was Jesus, so he gave an order to kill all baby boys two years and under and also the mothers and pregnant women. About 1400 baby boys with mothers and pregnant women were killed by Herod and his soldiers. Those bodies were buried in the whole surrounding area. When Helena the Mother of Constantine decided to build the Church over the site where Jesus was born, at that moment she ordered to bring all these bones and collect them, to bring them beside the birth place. For that reason you will find them in the church and we call the place the Holy Innocent Cave.

Paul: I understand that Jerome came here and translated the Bible here, is that true?

14 Pointed Star
Jerius: Jerome lived in Italy. He started his work in Italy to translate the Bible. After that he was sent to Bethlehem in the year 384 ad. He came to continue his work; his work was to translate the Bible. He chose a cave and lived inside the monastery under ground. He lived here for 30 years and translated the Old Testament from Hebrew into Latin and the New Testament from Greek into Latin. This is a very special place for the Catholics and also for all Christians. Why? Because we believe from that spot the Bible was spread to the whole world. People started to read and learn more about the life of Jesus and understand more about Christianity and that has helped many people to believe in Jesus and become Christians because they translated the Bible into a different language.

You can also see the cave of St Joseph. We call it St Joseph’s Chapel. It is also a very important place. It goes back to the first Century. It’s very important to us as Christians because according to the Bible and according to Christian tradition we believe that that spot is where St Joseph used to sleep. At the same time we believe this is the place where the angel appeared to St Joseph and told him he should take the baby and the Virgin Mary and go to Egypt because Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus. So from that spot the holy family started their flight into Egypt, so it is a very important place.

Over the holy caves was built the Church of St Catherine which belongs to the Catholics. It was built in the year 1881 and St Catherine’s Church is very important because we consider that Church the most famous Church here, because this Church is where people from all over the world come and celebrate Christmas mass on the 24th of December. From that spot they televise the whole mass. It is also the place where the Pope took mass in the year 2000, President Clinton and Chairman Arafat had mass in St Catherine’s church too.

Tags: Bethlehem, church, Israel, nativity, Palestine

Trackback • Posted in Uncategorized

Israel update

Dec 8
2011

UN Confirms Iran Going Nuclear

Israel Update for November 2011
David Dolan
In a report issued in early November, the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed for the first time that the rogue Muslim country of Iran, whose leaders frequently vow to destroy Israel, is indeed developing deadly nuclear weapons. The UN agency pointed to what it termed ‘credible intelligence’ evidence that the Shiite clerical regime which has governed Iran since 1979 is engaged in various activities known to be essential to the development of powerful nuclear weapons, including high explosives testing, nuclear blast simulation, and production of a trigger used to detonate atomic bombs.

Israeli leaders had consistently warned the world over the past decade that Iran is actively developing nuclear weapons, indicating that they would act to interrupt the programme if nobody else was willing to undertake that difficult task. At the start of his first term in office, former President George W. Bush labeled Iran as part of an ‘axis of evil’ nations that also included Communist North Korea and Iraq. However the American focus shifted almost entirely to Iraq after US forces, aided by Great Britain and other allied countries, invaded Saddam Hussein’s country in early 2003. Several years later, the CIA issued a report maintaining that while Iran had indeed been working on a nuclear weapons programme, it had been completely halted following the US led Iraqi invasion.

Israeli leaders expressed strong disagreement with the CIA report, revealing that they possessed overwhelming intelligence evidence that the Shiite Iranian regime had restarted its nuclear weapons programme soon after it was temporarily halted in the wake of the Iraqi invasion. Now, that contention has proven to be true, ratcheting up media speculation during November that the Israeli government may launch a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear targets before the end of this year. This came after PM Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that Iran is in the last stages of producing nuclear weapons. American President Barack Obama reacted to the UN report by stating that, ‘We are not taking any options off the table. Iran with nuclear weapons would pose a threat not only to the region but to the United States.’ It was the first time the US leader has characterized a nuclear Iran as a threat to the United States.

Meanwhile the crisis in Syria escalated dramatically during the month, with defections from the regime’s security forces taking place in many areas. The opposition movement demanding the immediate ousting of the Assad regime from power is now being led by former military commanders, meaning that the level of clashes between the protestors and the regime’s loyalists has increased substantially in recent weeks. Meanwhile the Arab League formally suspended the Assad regime from membership in the Arab body after calling upon President Bashar Assad to immediately step down. However the dictator told a British newspaper that, ‘Syria will not bow down, and it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it’.

The Shiite Lebanese Hizbullah militia added its voice to the growing fray, threatening to carpet Tel Aviv with missile blasts if any foreign military action is taken against the Syrian regime. The tense situation took another step toward all out war during the month when Russia sent warships to patrol off of the Syrian Mediterranean coast. Analysts said the move was a clear warning from the Kremlin that it will not stand idly by if any Western and/or Arab military action is launched against the Assad regime, which has long been Russia’s closest Arab ally in the turbulent oil-rich Middle East.

During the month, the Palestinian Authority continued to demand that the United Nations formally recognize ‘Palestine’ as a full-fledged UN member state. The issue was brought before the 15 country UN Security Council during November. However PA leaders admitted that the chances the measure would pass in the Security Council were very low, prompting them to again state that they will take the issue to the General Assembly where it is expected to pass by a wide margin. Meantime PA leaders held further negotiations with the militant Islamic Hamas movement to form a ‘unity’ government. The moves were bolstered when the current PA Prime Minister said he might step aside if this would aid the formation of such a government.

Israel Not Crying Wolf

Israeli government authorities have been complaining for many years that the United Nations has vastly underestimated the destabilizing impact of a nuclear armed Iran. As they did so, Israeli leaders were routinely charged with overstating the Iranian regime’s determined drive to become a nuclear weapons regional superpower. However with the release of the UN Atomic Agency report on November 11th detailing that Iran’s Shiite leaders are in fact far along in a nuclear weapons development programme, Israeli officials have been publicly vindicated for their longstanding attempts to prompt the world to deal with the ominous Iranian nuclear threat, warning all along that if the nations do not act, Israel may be forced to take military action on its own. Middle East analysts say the likelihood of that taking place has increased significantly in recent weeks as Iran has begun to move its uranium enrichment programme to underground hardened bunkers constructed inside a hill to protect the centrifuges from air force or missile strikes.

The UN report confirmed earlier accounts coming from Western diplomats working with the world body that the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) possesses ‘compelling evidence’ that the Iranian regime has been clandestinely and studiously working to produce nuclear warheads for some time now. The diplomats revealed that computer simulations of powerful nuclear explosions and related tests have been conducted at the Parchin army base located over twenty miles away from the Iranian capital city, Tehran. One unidentified envoy said that Iran is in what he called, ‘the final stages for producing nuclear warheads.’ The UN report said that all of the available evidence strongly suggests that Iran is preparing to build nuclear weapons, with some Israeli media accounts saying experts believe that four nuclear bombs could be built and ready to fire by the end of next March.

In typical fashion, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi strongly denounced the Atomic Energy Agency report, as did other senior Iranian officials, characterizing it as a ‘fabrication’ produced by the United States and other governments allied with the detested Jewish state of Israel. Salehi maintained that Iran will ‘defend its interests’ in defiance of UN and other sanctions imposed upon the extremist regime.

The issuing of the UN agency report sparked off new threats by various Iranian officials to wipe Israel off of the world map. A writer known to be close to supreme Iranian clerical leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini wrote an article for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards news agency FARS published on November 6th which maintained that a million Israeli citizens could be slaughtered by no more than four Iranian missiles striking heavily populated targets. Military analysts pointed out that the writer was apparently referring to nuclear warheads, given that it would take thousands of conventional explosive warheads such as the SCUDS Saddam Hussein fired at Israel in 1991 to seriously damage the country. Some Western intelligence agents have pointed to disturbing indications that the Shiite regime was able to purchase several nuclear cruise missiles from the former Soviet republics of Belarus and Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.

Three days after the antagonistic article was published, the deputy commander of Iran’s armed forces, General Masoud Jazyeri, said that any NATO or Israeli attack upon Iran’s nuclear targets would end with the ‘extinction’ of what he termed the ‘Zionist enemy state.’ He issued a threat to attack Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant near the Negev Desert city of Beersheva, calling it ‘the most accessible target.’ As other Iranian officials have done before, the deputy commander also warned that Iran’s military response to an attack upon its nuclear facilities ‘would not be limited to the Middle East.’ This came as several American media outlets reported that US officials fear Iran may be planning to strike American coastal cities from boats it plans to position off of both the eastern and western seaboards.

Israeli Cabinet On Board

The issuing of the alarming IAEA UN report produced a flood of Israeli press speculation that a well planned armed attack upon Iran’s nuclear targets may be launched in the coming weeks or months. The reports increased after the Obama administration in Washington had no comment on various calls from Israeli officials to move toward an active plan to attack Iran’s nuclear targets. Indeed, President Obama stated for the first time that a nuclear armed Iran was against US interests-a comment that was deemed by some Israeli pundits as both obvious and long overdue.

The US President’s remarks came after Israeli PM Netanyahu told his cabinet the Sunday after the UN report was issued that Iranian leaders are ready to produce nuclear warheads. In a prepared statement he read out at the beginning of the cabinet meeting, the Israeli leader said that ‘the international community must stop Iran’s race to arm itself with nuclear weapons-a race that endangers the peace of the entire world.’ He added that the Iranian regime is closer to the nuclear threshold than had been previously thought. In what some saw as an arrow aimed at President Obama, Netanyahu warned that ‘any responsible government in the world needs to draw the obvious conclusions from the IAEA report.’ Analysts said this was a thinly veiled appeal to allied countries like the United States, Great Britain and France to take up the military gauntlet being thrown down by Iran’s militant leaders. At the same time, the new American Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, told reporters in the wake of the UN report that the US commitment to Israel’s security remains ‘unshakable’.

On the same day, the Fox News Network reported that in light of the UN report, several Israeli cabinet ministers who were previously either against authorizing a military strike on Iranian nuclear targets or had been leaning in that direction had changed their positions. The network said Netanyahu can now expect to receive unanimous cabinet backing for any final decision to attack Iranian targets. Meanwhile the Washington Post newspaper reported that scientists from the former Soviet Union, North Korea and nuclear-armed Pakistan have been assisting Iran in its nuclear weapons development programme.

Many Middle East analysts say that Israel has already been quite active in launching clandestine assaults upon Iran’s nuclear programme and personnel connected to it. In the latest chapter, Iranian media reports said Israel might have been behind the mysterious death of 16 Revolutionary Guard members, including Brigadier General Hassan Maqaddam, the man thought to be the architect of Iran’s missile development programme. The deaths were the result of a powerful explosion at a rocket base located near Tehran. Later, Time magazine quoted a Western intelligence source saying that Israeli Mossad agents were involved in the incident. The blast was said to be designed to warn Iranian officials that they may be personally targeted if warfare breaks out between the two countries. Earlier it was reported that another computer software virus had infected some of Iran’s nuclear programme computers. Dubbed the ‘Duqu malware’, the virus is now under control one unnamed official told an Iranian media outlet. Israeli agents are suspected of being behind the cyber attacks.

With the international media suddenly filled with stories about the Iranian nuclear threat, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon is responding to growing fears of Iranian intentions from nearby Gulf Arab countries. The US will reportedly sell thousands of powerful ‘bunker buster’ bombs designed to strike targets buried deep inside the earth.

The report came as several Saudi leaders were quoted as saying that the Arab League might be forced to eventually take military action against Iran if Western or Israeli forces do not do so. In neighboring Bahrain, scene of clashes between the Sunni royal government and Shiite protestors earlier this year, police said they had arrested a Shiite terrorist cell that was sent by Iran to attack government instillations.

Although a nuclear armed Iran is an existential threat to Israel’s very survival, the scriptures make clear that Israel’s Sovereign Lord will not allow His ancient chosen people to be destroyed. ‘The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble. He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake. The Lord is great in Zion, and He is exalted above all the peoples’ (Psalm 99:1-2).

Tags: david dolan, Iran, Israel

Trackback • Posted in Uncategorized

Iran

Nov 29
2011

It is a difficult subject to deal with but one that the world can’t close their eyes to .
America could deal with Iran but it would look like america interfearing in Muslim affairs again , America is already in Afghanistan and Iraq , would the world be happy if it inter feared with Iran too.?
Israel could go in and possibly will in the end but that could inflame the situation .
Iran hates Israel and has promiced many times to wipe Israel off the map , Proving to the whole world why Iran shouldn’t have nuclear weapons .
Their own leader has proved to the world that he cannot be trusted , I don’t think these are empty threats , Iran does need dealing with , Which country will have the courage and leadership to do it ?
Or will they just leave it to Israel to do it then criticize her for doing so .
Only time will tell.

Tags: Iran, Israel, terror

Trackback • Posted in Uncategorized

Rain

Nov 19
2011

Today it is raining in Jerusalem , It has been raining with vengeance.
But it is so good for the Land , The bible talks about if you will follow him he will send you the rain at the right time .
Today the Dead Sea is getting lower and lower and also the sea of Galilee, The country desperately needs rain .
It will be so nice in a few weeks time when we see the mountains changing from that burned brown to blooming green .
Pray for the Nation that this winter the rain comes , but more importantly that the Jewish and Arab people see the rain of |God in their lives .

Tags: Arab, Israel, jew, Jewish, Palestine, rain

Trackback • Posted in Uncategorized

David Dolan Israel update for October

Nov 1
2011

For a good part of this year, many people in Israel worried that the month of October might be marked by violent Palestinian protests in the wake of an expected United Nations Security Council rejection of the unilateral statehood bid made in late September by the Palestinian Authority. As reported earlier, Israeli security forces were preparing for this distinct possibility, which could obviously still occur in the coming weeks as the Quartet partners attempt to restart peace negotiations between Israel and the PA, along with the pending Security Council vote expected to finally take place around mid-November.

Instead of renewed violence on the streets, the Israeli public and media were suddenly gripped by a story that had been in and out of the headlines for over five years-the ongoing captivity of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, abducted by Muslim terrorists along the Israeli border fence with the Gaza Strip in June, 2006. The Israeli government unexpectedly announced on Tuesday, October 11th that the now 26 year old Israeli-soldier would be handed over by Hamas in one week’s time in a deal involving the release of over one thousand Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, many for terrorist attacks which left scores of Israeli civilians and soldiers dead or wounded.

While Israeli Jews were naturally jubilant over the pending release of the young soldier held captive for nearly 2,000 days and nights by his Palestinian kidnappers, there were very mixed feelings over the high price demanded by Hamas for Shalit’s freedom. The Iranian-backed militant Muslim group, which violently seized control over the Palestinian coastal zone in 2007, insisted that the Netanyahu government hand over some of the most notorious terrorists held in Israeli jails, many with ‘blood on their hands’, meaning they had directly participated in the killing and maiming of Israeli citizens. With many bereaved families speaking out against the lopsided swap, it became painfully evident that general Israeli joy over Shalit’s overdue freedom was blended with deep pain and remorse over what many termed an extortionist cost.

Coming during the annual Succot Feast of Tabernacles celebration, the Shalit deal almost eclipsed news that the Palestinian Authority had rejected an offer by the Quartet powers-the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia-to meet with their Israeli counterparts on October 23rd in Amman to begin face to face peace talks, with the goal being to reach a final status accord by the end of 2012. Indirect talks are still expected to begin on October 26th, but expectations remain low they will actually carry the peace process forward. The Israeli government offered to freeze some public building in the disputed territories in order help get frozen negotiations rolling again.

High tensions continued to plague the disputed territories north and south of Jerusalem for other reasons beyond the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners into the areas. Following the controversial dismantling of Jewish homes in an officially unauthorized settlement community in the Binyamin area north of Israel’s capital city, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced the establishment of a panel to examine the legality of other homes on contested territory. Right wing politicians questioned the move, while left wing opposition groups and the PA charged the panel was designed to eventually legalize ‘land theft’ by settler groups.

Most Israelis welcomed the dramatic news of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi’s sudden demise on October 20th. However, as violence continued to grip neighboring Syria during the month, many feared the dictator’s bloody end could serve to stiffen the Assad regime’s apparent resolve to do anything necessary to cling to power, including authorizing a possible military attack upon Israel. This came as Syrian Sunni Muslim opposition groups announced they were forming an umbrella organization to fight for the ouster of the Assad regime, which has governed the Arab country for almost four decades. The Cairo-based Arab League said it was giving Syrian leaders 15 days to end their brutal suppression of anti-government demonstrations or face possible sanctions from the 22 country body. Elsewhere in the Egyptian capital, over two dozen young Coptic Christian protestors were killed in clashes with security forces in central Cairo, the centre of anti-Mubarak demonstrations last February. They were attacked by security forces while demonstrating against growing street violence upon members of their minority community by Islamic Egyptians linked to the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Difficult Deal To Free Kidnapped Soldier

Numerous times over the past five years, these monthly Israel news updates have reported that a prisoner exchange was in the works to release the now world famous Israeli soldier kidnapped by Islamic infiltrators along the Gaza Strip border fence on June 25, 2006. That quiet Saturday morning, terrorists linked to the so-called ‘Popular Resistance Committees,’ dominated by the Hamas movement, employed a secretly dug tunnel under the border fence to enter Israeli territory, where they quickly surrounded and attacked an Israeli army squad patrolling in tanks along the border near the Kerem Shalom crossing gate.

Two IDF soldiers who popped out of a tank to engage the armed attackers were killed in an exchange of fire with the terrorists. Five other soldiers were wounded. The Palestinian gunmen then seized Gilad Shalit, a tank gunner, who was among the wounded, and dragged him across the border into the then PA-ruled zone. Israeli army reinforcements quickly arrived at the scene, but not in time to rescue the kidnapped soldier. The Popular Resistance Committees (which took responsibility for last August’s cross border terrorist assaults into southern Israel from Egypt, which left eight Israelis dead), said they were behind the infiltration assault and immediately demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the abducted Shalit.

In September of that year, Hamas took full control of the kidnapped soldier, releasing its first list of prisoners they demanded be set free in exchange for the lone IDF soldier. To the astonishment of many Israelis, the Iranian-backed group insisted that no less than 1,000 Palestinian criminals and terrorists be released from Israeli jails in exchange for the lone soldier’s freedom. Later the list was further inflated to 1,500 prisoners, prompting then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to state in January 2007 that Israel could not agree to such an extremely lopsided deal. In June of that year, soon after Hamas seized full control over the entire Gaza Strip after winning a short but deadly battle with PA security forces, a videotape was released with Shalit stating that his health was deteriorating under Hamas detention, adding further pressure on the Olmert government to arrange a quick deal to secure his release.

Media reports swirled the following February that a swap deal was imminent, but they proved to be premature. In June 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked Hamas to free the soldier who holds duo French-Israeli citizenship. After that, nothing was heard from Gilad Shalit for more than one year despite the fact that under international law, he should have at least been visited by the Red Cross. However Hamas-among the most notorious terrorist organizations on earth-would not allow this humanitarian gesture to take place. A second video recording was finally released in September 2009 in exchange for Israel’s freeing of 19 female Palestinian prisoners. The captive soldier appeared to be in fair condition, but most analysts said his halting words had apparently been coached by his Hamas handlers.

The various reports of Shalit’s imminent release had been based on factual information. Still, the previous Israeli government headed by Kadima leader Ehud Olmert and the current Likud-led Netanyahu administration simply could not meet the extremely stiff demands made by Hamas leaders for his long sought freedom, especially the release of hundreds of convicted Palestinian terrorist prisoners with ‘blood on their hands’. However the pressure on the current government to do almost anything demanded of it was constant. It gained significant steam after his determined parents, Noam and Aviva Shalit, set up a reception tent near the Prime Minister’s official Jerusalem residence (Netanyahu and his family actually reside most of the time several blocks away in their private home on a street ironically named Azza Road, or Gaza Road in English). Thousands of Israelis and many foreign visitors in the capital city would stop by every month to talk with the struggling couple and to show their support for their unjustly imprisoned son, adding pressure on the government to secure a deal for his release.

In the end, the cabinet-approved exchange agreement was enormously tough for many Israelis to swallow. In fact, three right wing ministers voted to nix the deal, all of them arguing that the release of so many Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one man was simply too high a price to pay, even though all felt the pain of the Shalit family and of course, wanted to see Gilad come home. One of those who strongly opposed the swap was veteran Likud party leader and cabinet minister Uzi Landau, who has served under several Likud party premiers. He termed the agreement ‘a victory for terror’ that would harm Israel’s ability to deter additional terrorist kidnappings in the future and strengthen the hand of the radical Hamas group, which opposes all efforts to make peace with Israel. A similar position was taken by former Mossad chief Meir Dagan who termed the deal ‘a grave mistake’ that will come back to haunt Israel. He revealed that he opposed an almost identical pact when he served as head of the foreign intelligence spy agency in 2009. Public opinion surveys taken in the wake of the prisoner exchange showed around half of the Israelis surveyed expressed fears that many of the freed prisoners would become active terrorists once again. This came as several of the released Palestinian prisoners told reporters they intend to participate in future armed attacks upon Jewish Israeli citizens.

How It Was Carried Out
The details of the Shalit deal were released by the government several days after it was first announced. The plan featured the freeing of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in several stages. One third of them had been serving life sentences, most with ‘blood on their hands’. In the initial stage, carried out on October 18th, Gilad Shalit was driven to the Gaza Strip border with Egypt and handed over to Egyptian intelligence officials, who had participated for several years in the German-mediated negotiations to secure his repatriation. After his safe transfer to Egyptian control and following an initial medical check to make sure he was in relatively good health, 477 Palestinian prisoners were set free from Israeli prisons. Another 550 prisoners will gradually be sent back to their family homes before the end of December.

Of the 477 Palestinians freed from jail in the initial stage, 131 were returned to their homes in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. In addition to this, another 17 prisoners from Israel, Judea and Samaria were sent to the Hamas-ruled coastal zone for a period of at least three years since they were deemed very likely to return to the terrorist path given their past actions and pronouncements. Another 144 prisoners not originally from the Gaza Strip were sent to the fenced off Palestinian zone for an indefinite period of time. Five Arab-Israeli prisoners were set free to return to their towns and villages, mostly in the Galilee region.

A total of 54 male prisoners were released to Judea, Samaria or the eastern half of Jerusalem with various ‘legal restrictions’ placed on their future movements within those areas. Thirty nine prisoners deemed by Israeli security officials as too dangerous to remain in the region were transferred to several countries abroad. Many Israeli commentators touted this as a major concession on the part of reluctant Hamas leaders. Twenty six female prisoners, some directly involved in terrorist actions that took Israeli civilians lives, were sent to their home areas in Judea, Samaria and several Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods. One woman deemed too dangerous to remain anywhere near Israeli citizens was sent away to nearby Jordan, with orders that she can never cross back over into Israeli-controlled territory.

Dancing In The Streets

After being reunited with his grateful parents in the presence of PM Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials, Gilad Shalit was taken to his family home in northern Israel. Several senior army officers and Christopher Bigot, the French ambassador to Israel, visited the home in the following days, the latter to convey a message from Nicolas Sarkozy. An Israeli medical examination determined that the freed soldier was suffering from general weakness and a lack of sunshine, but was otherwise in fair condition.

Scenes of jubilation greeted the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners reunited with their families and friends. In a televised speech from his headquarters in Damascus, overall Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal hailed the lopsided exchange deal as a ‘historic victory’ for his extremist group and ‘for all of the Palestinian people’. However he admitted his ‘happiness was mixed with sorrow because we were not able to gain the freedom of all the prisoners’ originally demanded by the Muslim terrorist group.

Israeli political commentators all agreed that the swap deal boosted the radical Hamas movement while concurrently weakening the more moderate Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas, therefore also harming the already dim prospects that peace talks will resume anytime soon with the reluctant PA. Writing in the Jerusalem Post newspaper one day after the prisoner exchange was announced, analyst Yaakov Lappin stated that ‘The Hamas regime in Gaza will be significantly fortified by the Shalit deal, and see its standing in the Palestinian street, and the wider Arab-Muslim world, boosted’. He added the deal ‘lessened the prospects’ that Palestinians living under Hamas’ harsh rule in the Gaza Strip would rise up and demand greater political and cultural freedoms, as has occurred in many Arab countries this year. Although Iran’s anti-Semitic leaders indicated they opposed the prisoner exchange, since it involved indirect Palestinian negotiations with the hated ‘Zionist entity’, they were nevertheless said to be glad to see the fundamentalist Muslim movement strengthened against the less religious PA.

Opinions varied in Israel as to whether Gilad Shalit’s freedom would help or harm PM Netanyahu’s chances of winning the next Israeli elections, currently scheduled for early 2013. Many analysts opined if a major terrorist assault were launched by any of the freed Palestinian prisoners, this would undoubtedly hurt his electoral prospects. The prediction came as many families of murdered terrorist victims decried the uneven deal as ‘dancing on the blood’ of their slain relatives. Netanyahu had earlier told his cabinet that ‘the Jewish people is a special people, responsible for one another’ in justifying the lopsided swap. This did not stop many from pointing out that he himself had warned against exchanging convicted terrorists for kidnapped IDF soldiers in his best-selling 1995 book, Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and International Terrorism. In the book, Netanyahu wrote that releasing scores of terrorists in exchange for Israeli citizens was ‘a mistake that Israel made over and over again’.

Building And Voting

Soon after the Shalit agreement was finalized, PM Netanyahu offered to freeze all government public construction in dozens of Jewish communities located in Judea and Samaria (most home construction there is privately funded). His office said the move was designed to encourage the Palestinian Authority to return to the negotiating table. This came as Quartet peace envoy Tony Blair and other western officials continued their intensive efforts to get the two sides to resume face to face peace talks, which were broken off by the PA in 2008. The background to this effort is the pending UN Security Council vote to approve or reject the PA’s unilateral statehood bid, made by Mahmoud Abbas at UN headquarters in New York City in September. Media reports said a vote on the controversial issue is now expected to take place on or around November 11th.

Meanwhile one of the 15 Security Council member countries, Columbia, has launched its own bid to get the opposing sides to negotiate peace terms once again. In fact, the Netanyahu government’s public building freeze proposal, which was quickly rejected as inadequate by PA leaders, was delivered to Abbas by Columbia’s visiting Foreign Minister. This came as a group of French and Italian lawmakers announced they opposed upgrading the PA’s official status in any EU body, saying the Abbas autonomy government does not enforce child labor laws, represses the Palestinian media and engages in other egregious human rights abuses.

A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeina, announced that the PA leader wishes to hold long overdue Palestinian elections this coming January, which would be the first time they took place since February 2006. The spokesman said the presidential and parliamentary ballots would be held in coordination with the opposition Hamas movement which won the 2006 round even though it strongly opposed the 1990s Oslo peace accords that the Palestinian electoral process was based upon. Some Israeli analysts said the move indicated Abbas expects to win statehood endorsement by the UN General Assembly before then, if not in the Security Council. The Obama administration continues to work feverishly to secure the opposition or neutrality of at least nine nations currently sitting on the 15 member Security Council in order to avoid vetoing the statehood bid, which Iranian leader Ahmad Ahmadinejad insisted would unleash a ‘new wave of hatred’ for the ‘detested’ United States in the Muslim world.

War On Tel Aviv

Diplomatic sources told international journalists in October that Iran will soon begin moving its outlawed uranium enrichment programme to an underground facility in Fordow, near to the Iranian Shiite Muslim holy city of Qom. Built inside of a mountain, the facility would be extremely difficult for Israeli or other bombs to destroy in any attack upon Iran’s rogue nuclear development programme. Currently the regime’s main enrichment facility is located near the central town of Natanz.

Meanwhile Ahmadinejad told CNN his country had not deliberately misled the UN’s Atomic Energy Agency about the scope and aims of its nuclear programme, calling such UN charges ‘lies’. He also condemned the violent killing of Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi in late October, implying it was part of a Western plot to dominate the Arab world. This came as Israeli leaders continued to express serious concerns that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and his repressive regime might lash out at the Jewish state militarily as the internal Sunni Muslim Arab revolt against his minority Alawite regime gains further steam. Assad told reporters in early October that he would attack Israel if NATO forces took any action to halt his brutal crackdown against mostly peaceful protestors in his fractured country, where human rights groups say over 3,000 protestors have been killed since the mass revolt began last March.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the notorious Shiite Lebanese Hizbullah militia leader, threatened to ‘smash the bones of Israeli soldiers’ if war breaks out in the near future, as many analysts warn is a distinct possibility given the fierce upheaval raging in nearby Syria and other parts of the turbulent Middle East. Speaking to supporters in Beirut, the clerical leader warned the next war ‘will begin in Tel Aviv’ adding that his Syrian and Iranian-backed forces ‘will cross all red lines’ and have ‘many surprises that will change the face of the region’ if a new Israel-Hizbullah conflict rocks the area. Israeli officials admit they are worried that Hizbullah might have acquired chemical weapons, or possibly even nuclear warheads, to launch at Israeli population centres like Tel Aviv. Just before the Hizbullah leader uttered his latest war threats, Israeli Home Front Minister Matan Vilna’i warned that production of gas masks will soon be suspended if the Finance Ministry does not allocate an additional one billion shekels to keep the production lines working. He added that currently there are only enough gas masks available to protect half of the Israeli civilian population.

In these tumultuous days of regional violence, chaos and wars and rumors of wars, it is most reassuring to recall that the Hebrew Prophet Daniel, exiled to Babylon with his Jewish brethren, wrote of a future time when ‘One like a Son of Man was coming with the clouds of heaven, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom; that all peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed’ (Daniel 7:13-14).

Tags: david dolan, gilad shalit, Israel

Trackback • Posted in Uncategorized

Christians and Messianic Jews Report from Israel and the Palestinian Territories

Pages

Emailed Updates

Meta

From Israel Photos Page

Tag Cloud

Recent Comments

Archives

Links

Last 5 Posts

Archives