ANNAPOLIS A GO! - INVITATIONS GOING OUT, CONFIRMED!

The day after Annapolis

The day after Annapolis


Peace deal impossible at this time; Palestinians no longer one people or entity

Moshe Elad Published: 11.19.07, 18:19 / Israel Opinion


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3473112,00.html

The “day after” syndrome is expected to hit our region the day after the Annapolis conference, and then we shall be discovering, for the who-knows-which-time, what the parties to the conflict and the various mediators have been repressing time and again: A peace agreement between Israel and Palestine is not viable. We’re late, as the Palestinians have not been one people or one entity for a while now.



Recently, and ironically so, Palestinian media outlets made note of their virtual independence day, which was first marked on November 15, 1988. The Palestinians included three pillars in their “declaration of independence”: The PLO is the Palestinian people’s only legitimate representative, Palestinians have a right for self-determination, and they also have the right to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. What is left of all that?



The PLO is not the Palestinian people’s exclusive representative. When Mahmoud Abbas makes his way to Prime Minister Olmert’s Jerusalem residence, or when he hosts Condoleezza Rice, or when he travels to Washington for diplomatic meetings, he represents at most the non-representative population of the “Ramallah enclave.” He is being mocked in the territories, where people are saying that if Bush invites the leader of the village of Walaga to Annapolis he would enjoy broader backing than Abbas’.



At most, Abbas represents the hedonistic and corrupt wing of the Fatah organization, which has become a joke in the face of the slogan it used for many generations: Firm stand. Fatah’s collapse in Gaza vis-à-vis Hamas is the exact opposite of a firm stand. In this regard, what the US, Europe and Israel are attempting to do is a rerun of the “Village Associations” initiative from the 1980s; that is, an attempt to bring to power, by force, collaborators who are convenient but do not represent their population.



The Palestinians are unable to agree on widely accepted self-determination. The radical Hamas faction’s takeover of the organization’s leadership in the territories should not come as a surprise to those who examined the direction in which Palestinian political leaderships have moved to over the past 40 years in the territories.



The trio of Mahmoud al-Zahar, Ahmad Jabari and Said Siam continue the expected line of radicalization and extremism. Residents of the territories, regardless of the body that was leading them, always aspired for a more radical leadership than the one in power. It’s hard to believe, but those are the facts: From a local leadership of dignitaries comprised of traditional families and religious clerics in the end of the 1960s, and on to communists and leaders with a local agenda in the 70s and 80s, Palestinian society in the territories reached a situation whereby it’s being controlled by radical Muslims who view Fatah and even the traditional Hamas, represented by Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal, as too moderate.



Inaction and self-pity
The Palestinians are unable to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. Most residents of the territories, as individuals, may want to achieve independence, receive a national ID card and passport, and travel freely just like any other free person in the world. However, as a people and political entity, these residents never took matters into their own hands.




Palestinians have always expected that their independence will be handed over to them on a silver platter. They aspired for a surrogate Arab nation to get pregnant and deal with the difficult moments of birth, while giving birth to Palestine for them.



The Palestinians have always looked to the outside world, global powers, and Arab nations with self-pity. They never rose up against leaders who misled them. They never were wise enough to give rise to a genuine leftist camp, which will attempt to adopt a different path and build a positive civil society. Instead, they became subjugated to radicalization and belligerence.



This is no longer a Netanyahu-style question of “they will get something if they give something”, or a Barak- and Livni-style question of “let them prove it with actions.” In Gaza we are dealing with a junta of religious clerics that swore to forever live on its sword, and that attempts in every way possible to drag us into the Strip for a war of attrition to the last suicide bomber.



In case Rice and Olmert are unable to see it, the West Bank is also controlled by no more than a Fatah oligarchy headed by Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qureia that espouses the principle of “the depth of peace equals the depth of US grant money.” This is a narrow leadership echelon without backing. Even its few supporters believe that the Oslo process was a disaster for Palestinians.



Hence, the “day after” we shall be facing a difficult and complex reality, where we shall have to seek the optimal solution for the State of Israel based on the real parameters.

This one's for you, Imrik

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3468489,00.html

Rabbis warn Bush: Annapolis will bring destruction to US


Group of right-wing rabbis writes open letter to US president demanding he cancel Annapolis summit or risk provoking 'wrath of the almighty.' Rabbis assert Katrina disaster a result of America's support of 2005 disengagement, say California fires a warning

Neta Sela Published: 11.06.07, 19:57 / Israel Jewish Scene

A fringe group of prominent ultranationalist rabbis issued a harshly-worded letter to United States President George W. Bush earlier this week, warning him that the upcoming Annapolis peace conference would bring destruction upon America.

The rabbis evoke their previous prediction in 2005, when they published an open letter to Bush in the New York Times, demanding the US rescind its support of the disengagement plan.

"We wrote to President Bush, a man who believes in the Bible, to warn him against the terrible danger to which he is exposing his country by hosting such a conference," said Rabbi Meir Druckman, one of signatories to the letter.

"The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. God punishes anyone who coerces Israel to give up its land," he said.

"There is no doubt the New Orleans flood from the Katrina hurricane was God's punishment for evicting the settlements," said Druckman, "with hundreds of thousands left homeless, hundreds killed or wounded and billions of dollars sent down the drain – can we really ignore God's hand collecting an eye for an eye?"

The disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank was completed August 23rd, 2005 – which was also the date Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas.

"Despite those consequences, yet again we find ourselves facing an initiative to expel Jews from Judea and Samaria and cede their cities to terror organizations. And once again the patrons of the event are President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.


"This time the Almighty is warning the US in advance: if the plague of water was not enough now he shall send flames. While hundreds of thousands of families have already fled the terrible fires in California, and we ask you, will you really forge ahead with this malevolent plan?" added Druckman.

The letter was authored by SOS Israel, a right-wing movement which earlier this year distributed citations to IDF soldiers who disobeyed orders and refused to take part in the disengagement.

The rabbis urged Bush's administration to back down from the current direction of the peace process, saying that not an inch of Israeli land should be ceded. "Be merciful to yourselves and the beloved America and its citizens. Lay down the hand you have raised against the Creator in war. Help the people of Israel fight without compromise against the terrorists who rise against it, and then, with a pure heart, you will truly be able to pray: May God bless America," the rabbis said.

Among the rabbis who signed the letter are several leading religious figures, including Rabbis Dov Wolfa, Yekutiel Rap, Gedalia Axelrod as well as the chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba and Hebron, Dov Lior and the son of former Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Yaakov Yosef.

Click to expand...

AFP contributed to this article

QUOTE FROM ARTICLE:
Malki said the Palestinians see the forthcoming conference as a real opportunity to achieve peace in the Middle East. He said the PA was also demanding that a Palestinian state be established within six months after the Annapolis conference or before the end of US President George W. Bush's term in office.
I'm sure dubya is willing to fight to the last Israeli to see this done too!

SouthernGal said:

QUOTE FROM ARTICLE:
Malki said the Palestinians see the forthcoming conference as a real opportunity to achieve peace in the Middle East. He said the PA was also demanding that a Palestinian state be established within six months after the Annapolis conference or before the end of US President George W. Bush's term in office.
I'm sure dubya is willing to fight to the last Israeli to see this done too!

Click to expand...

Israel is standing alone. We are less and less of an ally with each passing day. Go back to WW2, when the State Department refused a ship full of Jewish refugees permission to land on our soil. They went back to Europe and their sure destruction in the crematoriums and camps. The St. Louis was the name of the ship. The name of the POTUS, Franklin Roosevelt.

We voted to recognize Israel as a nation in 1948 because we wanted to beat the Russians to it.

And I am interested in why the Palis are so intent on getting this done before GWB leaves office.....I'll have to noodle that one awhile.

Kozanne,

Check out these pictures from "The Jerry Golden Report". He took these pictures about a week or so ago in Jerusalem.

One of the pictures I've posted below. They show that they have already "walled off" or divided Jerusalem. I guess now they just need to put the deal in writing and give a deed to the palestinians:

http://www.thegoldenreport.com/asp/jerrysnewsmanager/anmviewer.asp?a=1190&z=1

David

dcamp2002 said:

Kozanne,

Check out these pictures from "The Jerry Golden Report". He took these pictures about a week or so ago in Jerusalem.

One of the pictures I've posted below. They show that they have already "walled off" or divided Jerusalem. I guess now they just need to put the deal in writing and give a deed to the palestinians:

http://www.thegoldenreport.com/asp/jerrysnewsmanager/anmviewer.asp?a=1190&z=1

David

Click to expand...

Carp. So this security fence is, in reality, the mechanism to divide the city? Carp.

Well, all I can say is that the Bible says the son of perdition will sit himself IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD, showing himself to be god. So at least we know the Temple will be rebuilt, wall or no wall. But how? Gog-Magog? Some other event?

Or, highly unlikely, will the Israelis demand a temple in exchange for dividing the city?

I wish I could see an aerial map of this wall and the full length of where it is supposed to go....

kozanne said:

All hell will break loose if Jerusalem is divided. I guarantee it.

I'd say "God help this planet", but that will NOT be the case if Jerusalem is divided. All bets will be off.

And the United States will answer for the part they are playing in it. Please don't misunderstand me, I say that with dread, not pleasure at some kind of man-induced race toward Armageddon.

Click to expand...

deleted - I answerd my own question by reading the rest of the posts.

I think this might be a bit more appropriate, especially as the holiday season is almost upon us; you know, as in "...who stole Christmas"...

Has anyone been to Jill's site lately. This looks like a honken big dot to me.

www.homelandsecurityus.net




Norma

I believe GWB is going to go out with a bang, literally. He and Condi don't appear to consider God's promise of judgment against the US and any nations' involvement in breaking up His covenant land, it's GWB's legacy that they're concerned with.

And yet I'm reminded that God Himself allowed Bush, Ohlmert and the others to be in power at this time in history and ancient Biblical prophecies are happening before our eyes. I seem to recall God's Plan eventually trumps the plans of the NWO types.

Sleeping Cobra said:

I wonder what God "has planned"?

Click to expand...

The destruction of America. Those who help or assist in taking away Gods land will be cut to pieces.

Warthog said:

The destruction of America. Those who help or assist in taking away Gods land will be cut to pieces.

Click to expand...

And that verse is my signature!

David

I tremble for America if she continues to pursue this path.

God was VERY clear as to who received His promise of the land. He has expressed His displeasure in scripture already for those who would divide His land.

I take Him at His word. We had all better do the same.

IMO,

Woolly

See this thread:
http://70.97.123.22/vb/showthread.php?t=265332

A fictional accounting of what will happen should Israel be divided at this Annapolis thing. Chilling.
(If you cant get there from here, its in Religion and called R U Ready?)

Comet Holmes and the Annapolis "Peace" Talks

I posted this last night on UNEX re: Comet Holmes, but think I need to repeat
it here. (Hope this is OK).

The research links the appearance of Comet Holmes (in 1892 and now) with
the development of Israel/U.N. and possible current talks.

Food for thought,

Parkhurst



OK, so I have been TRACKING THIS COMET almost since it first exploded over
ONE MILLION TIMES ITS SIZE IN 24 HOURS.

So many of your comments are what I too have been sensing/feeling, so I will
not repeat that here, except that this is DEFINITELY a SIGN IN THE HEAVENS.

Where it will go or what it will do or if it will ever, in any form, have any impact
on Planet Earth, only our Lord knows.

BUT, just one more fact to consider here: (3, really!)

1. The year that the comet was first discovered by Edwin Holmes in London --
1892 -- was the first time the word 'Zionist" or "Zioinism" was coined by a man
in Austria. One year later, Theodore Herzel picked this up; the World Zionist
Organization was born; and the movement to regather the Jews to their homeland was officially born. They began their return; and in 1947, became a
state -- just as the Bible stated would happen.

2. NOW, there are forces at work in the world that want to divide not only the
land, but also Jerusalem itself -- at which point, Zech. 12 states, that Jerusalem
will become a "burdensome stone" to all nations that seek to divide it, and they
will be "cut in pieces." In other words, things are coming full cycle.

3. And the finale: The United Nations has been spearheading the talks next
week in Annapolis (Along with Rice and Bush.) The U.N. Charter was signed on
OCTOBER 24TH -- THE EXACT DATE THAT THIS COMET BLEW UP AGAIN THIS YEAR!

OK, just some thoughts on timing. I do not wish to move this thread into a
discussion of Zionism or the peace talks . . . just found that linkage to be of
great interest.

Blessings,

Parkhurst

kozanne said:

Carp. So this security fence is, in reality, the mechanism to divide the city? Carp.

Well, all I can say is that the Bible says the son of perdition will sit himself IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD, showing himself to be god. So at least we know the Temple will be rebuilt, wall or no wall. But how? Gog-Magog? Some other event?

Or, highly unlikely, will the Israelis demand a temple in exchange for dividing the city?

I wish I could see an aerial map of this wall and the full length of where it is supposed to go....

Click to expand...

---------------------------------------------

I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the alter, and count the worshipers there. But exclude the outer court, do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.

REVELATION 11: 1-2 (NIV)

I've always wondered if the verses above meant the city would be divided with the Palistinians.

Jaded

Could be why US is not in Revelation...

The decision to reduce the summit to one day was a disappointing

The Annapolis summit
November 21, 2007


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.summit20nov21,0,6338998.story


Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Post Comment Text size: It won't be a one-day wonder. But if supporters of next Tuesday's peace summit in Annapolis can keep Israeli and Palestinian leaders talking and committed to resolving the core issues that divide them, then the conference won't be a waste of time. Without talks, there can be no negotiated settlement and the preferred resolution to this conflict - a secure Israel, an independent Palestine - will remain no more than an ideal.

The decision to reduce the summit to one day was a disappointing acknowledgment of the difficulty in staging these talks and finding agreement on substantive issues. It takes time to develop the conditions to produce breakthroughs, and President Bush has ignored the Israeli-Palestinian problem until recently. But the two sides have been meeting for months now, and they should be encouraged and supported.

A few outside developments could readily improve conditions for continued talks: Mideast envoy Tony Blair announced this week a series of economic development projects to benefit Palestinians, and efforts are under way to establish a professional Palestinian police force that can deliver. The latter must be in place and tested before Israel would pull out of the West Bank.



The Annapolis summit has much to overcome. There hasn't been a viable peace process since 2000, and the political and physical landscape at issue has drastically changed since then: Israel no longer occupies the Gaza Strip, which is now the fiefdom of the Islamic militant group Hamas, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is overseeing a government-in-exile in the West Bank since a coalition with Hamas violently broke apart earlier this year. The latter made the summit possible.

Israel has taken steps to move the process forward, such as the recent promise to release more than 400 Palestinian prisoners. But Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's pledge not to build new settlements didn't go far enough; all settlement construction should stop.

The recent past has complicated the prospects for significant developments at a 24-hour summit. It also means that progress will depend on input from more than Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The RSVPs aren't in yet, but prominent Arab neighbors and European leaders must attend and be willing to contribute to an overall agreement. And the Bush administration has to exert some leadership to push the dialogue and goodwill commitments forward.

I find this thread very interesting......and scary! A lot of good information here......as well as a lot of 'food for thought.'

As much as I don't want to see this, I DO think that we are seeing 'signs in the heavens' as well as maybe the beginning of end ......literally!

Right now, this is the 'hottest' thread on TB2K.......

Jaded said:

---------------------------------------------

I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the alter, and count the worshipers there. But exclude the outer court, do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.

REVELATION 11: 1-2 (NIV)

I've always wondered if the verses above meant the city would be divided with the Palistinians.

Jaded

Click to expand...

3.5 years....if that length of time is mentioned during Annapolis I will

Palestinian state and its capital East Jerusalem,

Palestinian state and its capital East Jerusalem,



http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/20/mideast.summit/


Israel, Palestinians eye two-state solution at Maryland summitStory Highlights
Summit in Maryland is to restart Mideast peace process

More than 100 countries, organizations are expected to attend

Abbas, Olmert, Rice have publicly spoken of the possibility of a Palestinian state

Summit touted as predecessor to actual negotiations on peace deal






JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will travel to Annapolis, Maryland, next week where they hope to jump-start the long-dormant Mideast peace process.


Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Ehud Olmert met in Jerusalem on Monday.

Both leaders received their invitations Tuesday to the November 27 summit.

Few details have been given about the summit, and a State Department spokesman said he was not ready to say who had been invited. Several media reports this week said the United States was trying to garner the support and attendance of Arab nations, which are considered critical to any peace talks.

Invitations will be sent to dozens of countries and organizations and more than 100 people are expected to attend, spokesman Sean McCormack said.

McCormack would not discuss the date for the meeting or its agenda, but Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the summit will begin November 27.

Events in Washington are expected before and after the summit.

Condoleezza Rice spoke on the telephone with Israeli and Palestinian officials Tuesday, McCormack said.


Both sides were working on a statement of principles before the summit and on "what happens after Annapolis." That document has not materialized, McCormack said.

The Annapolis summit, he said, should be viewed as "a beginning of a negotiation" that the United States hopes will result in Israel existing alongside a Palestinian state.

On Monday, as Olmert prepared to meet with Abbas in Jerusalem, the Israeli Cabinet voted to release 441 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture toward Abbas.

Olmert told his Cabinet that he would be traveling to Annapolis next week with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He stressed that the summit "is not a conference for negotiations."

The meeting will lay the foundation for future talks, which "will deal with all the substantive issues that are an inseparable part of the process, which must lead to a solution of national states for two people," Olmert said.

Olmert traveled to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Tuesday to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Earlier this month, Rice spoke with Abbas and Olmert and emerged saying that a Palestinian state was within reach. She said the Annapolis summit could be a "launching pad" for a two-state solution.

"We appear to be on course to prepare seriously for continuous ongoing negotiations," Rice said, appearing at that time with Abbas at a news briefing in the West Bank.

Rice added there were "very clear signs" that Arab states were supporting negotiations and "I can really say without fear of contradiction that everybody's goal is the creation."

Abbas said at the briefing that he, too, was encouraged.

"We are serious to use this opportunity to reach this historical peace which would lead to the establishment of the Palestinian state and its capital East Jerusalem, that will live side by side with the state of Israel," said Abbas

A view from the other side.

The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily

http://arabnews.com/services/print/...US%20and%20UK%20Discuss%20Israel%92s%20Nukes?

Wednesday 21 November 2007 (11 Dhul Qa`dah 1428)


When Will US and UK Discuss Israel’s Nukes?
George Monbiot, The Guardian —


George Bush and Gordon Brown are right: there should be no nuclear weapons in the Middle East. The risk of a nuclear conflagration could be greater there than anywhere else. Any nation developing them should expect a firm diplomatic response. So when will they impose sanctions on Israel?

Like them, I believe that Iran is trying to acquire the bomb. I also believe it should be discouraged, by a combination of economic pressure and bribery, from doing so (a military response would, of course, be disastrous). I believe that Bush and Brown — who maintain their nuclear arsenals in defiance of the nonproliferation treaty — are in no position to lecture anyone else. But if, as Bush claims, the proliferation of such weapons “would be a dangerous threat to world peace”, why does neither man mention the fact that Israel, according to a secret briefing by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, possesses between 60 and 80 of them?

Officially, the Israeli government maintains a position of “nuclear ambiguity”: neither confirming nor denying its possession of nuclear weapons. But everyone who has studied the issue knows that this is a formula with a simple purpose: to give the United States an excuse to keep breaking its own laws, which forbid it to grant aid to a country with unauthorized weapons of mass destruction. The fiction of ambiguity is fiercely guarded. In 1986, when the nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu handed photographs of Israel’s bomb factory to the Sunday Times, he was lured from Britain to Rome, drugged and kidnapped by Mossad agents, tried in secret, and sentenced to 18 years in prison. He served 12 of them in solitary confinement and was banged up again — for six months — soon after he was released.

However, in December last year, the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, accidentally let slip that Israel, like “America, France and Russia”, had nuclear weapons. Opposition politicians were furious. They attacked Olmert for “a lack of caution bordering on irresponsibility”. But US aid continues to flow without impediment.

As the fascinating papers released last year by the National Security Archive show, the US government was aware in 1968 that Israel was developing a nuclear device (what it didn’t know is that the first one had already been built by then). The contrast to the efforts now being made to prevent Iran from acquiring the bomb could scarcely be starker.

At first, US diplomats urged Washington to make its sale of 50 F4 Phantom jets conditional on Israel’s abandonment of its nuclear program. As a note sent from the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs to the secretary of state in October 1968 reveals, the order would make the US “the principal supplier of Israel’s military needs” for the first time. In return, it should require “commitments that would make it more difficult for Israel to take the critical decision to go nuclear”. Such pressure, the memo suggested, was urgently required: France had just delivered the first of a consignment of medium-range missiles, and Israel intended to equip them with nuclear warheads.

Twenty days later, on Nov. 4 1968, when the assistant defense secretary met Yitzhak Rabin (then the Israeli ambassador to Washington), Rabin “did not dispute in any way our information on Israel’s nuclear or missile capability”. He simply refused to discuss it. Four days after that, Rabin announced that the proposal was “completely unacceptable to us”. On Nov. 27, Lyndon Johnson’s administration accepted Israel’s assurance that “it will not be the first power in the Middle East to introduce nuclear weapons”.

As the memos show, US officials knew that this assurance had been broken even before it was made. A record of a phone conversation between Henry Kissinger and another official in July 1969 reveals that Richard Nixon was “very leery of cutting off the Phantoms”, despite Israel’s blatant disregard of the agreement. The deal went ahead, and from then on the US administration sought to bamboozle its own officials in order to defend Israel’s lie. In August 1969, US officials were sent to “inspect” Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant. But a memo from the State Department reveals that “the US government is not prepared to support a ‘real’ inspection effort in which the team members can feel authorized to ask directly pertinent questions and/or insist on being allowed to look at records, logs, materials and the like. The team has in many subtle ways been cautioned to avoid controversy, “be gentlemen” and not take issue with the obvious will of the hosts”.

Nixon refused to pass the minutes of the conversation he’d had with the Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, to the US ambassador to Israel, Wally Barbour. Meir and Nixon appear to have agreed that the Israeli program could go ahead, as long as it was kept secret.

The US government has continued to protect it. Every six months, the intelligence agencies provide Congress with a report on technology acquired by foreign states that’s “useful for the development or production of weapons of mass destruction”. These reports discuss the programs in India, Pakistan, North Korea, Iran and other nations, but not in Israel. Whenever other states have tried to press Israel to join the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, the US and European governments have blocked them. Israel has also exempted itself from the biological and chemical weapons conventions.

By refusing to sign these treaties, Israel ensures it needs never be inspected. While the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors crawl round Iran’s factories, put seals on its uranium tanks and blow the whistle when it fails to cooperate, they have no legal authority to inspect facilities in Israel. So when the Israeli government complains, as it did last week, that the head of the IAEA is “sticking his head in the sand over Iran’s nuclear program”, you can only gape at its chutzpah. Israel is constantly racking up the pressure for action against Iran, aware that no powerful state will press for action against Israel.

Yes, Iran under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a dangerous and unpredictable state involved in acts of terror abroad. The president is a Holocaust denier opposed to the existence of Israel. During the Iran-Iraq war, Iran responded to Saddam Hussein’s toxic bombardments with chemical weapons of its own.

But Israel under Olmert is also a dangerous and unpredictable state involved in acts of terror abroad. Two months ago it bombed a site in Syria (whose function is fiercely disputed). Last year, it launched a war of aggression against Lebanon. It remains in occupation of Palestinian lands. In February 2001, according to the BBC, it used chemical weapons in Gaza: 180 people were admitted to hospital with severe convulsions. Nuclear weapons in Israel’s hands are surely just as dangerous as nuclear weapons in Iran’s.

So when will our governments speak up? When will they acknowledge that there is already a nuclear power in the Middle East, and that it presents an existential threat to its neighbors? When will they admit that Iran is not starting a nuclear arms race, but joining one? When will they demand that the rules they impose on Iran should also apply to Israel?

The importance of who attends Annapolis from Arab states

ANALYSIS: The importance of who attends Annapolis from Arab states

By Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz Correspondent

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/926540.html

Tags: Israel, Arab delegations

The pessimism barometer surrounding the Annapolis summit now includes a new measure: in addition to the question that has yet to be answered - which Arab states will attend - everyone is waiting for Thursday to hear about the level of the delegations the Arab states will send. Will the Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo tomorrow select themselves, signaling their desire to give real Arab backing to the summit? Or will they only dispatch ambassadors, by which Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will understand that the Arab support he enjoys is limited and that those dignitaries' presence is merely an attempt to contain the insult to U.S. President George W. Bush?

The Arab states may be encouraged by the fact that the United States and Israel have stepped back from their initial positions on Syria, and Damascus was invited to participate in the summit. This has eroded significantly the distinction made between "moderate states" and recalcitrant ones. But the Arab aegis provided to Syria, and the need to adopt her, is not only due to the Golan Heights and negotiations with Israel. More urgently, it is to gain Syria's agreement to the appointment of a new president in Lebanon.

This does not contribute to bolster Abbas, who is already facing serious domestic pressures, with calls for him to boycott Annapolis. Abbas will find it difficult to present a conciliatory stance if around the table he sees Arab ambassadors. This will not only be an insult - it will ensure that he does not diverge one iota from the historical principles of the Palestinian struggle and insist on discussing the conflict's core issues.



The Arab misgivings and fundamental question of whether to attend the summit also reflect the degree to which Washington's standing has been eroded. In July, when Bush announced his initiative, he still believed that at least those "moderate states" will be automatic partners to any American initiative. It now turns out that even an invitation to a conference that is only a get-together - a ceremony of declarations - has become a bargaining chip for Arab states that have so far been unable to resolve a single conflict. Not only are they bridesmaids, they are active actors in the negotiations.

As a result, the United States and Israel are holding two sets of negotiations: one with Abbas, the real guest of honor, and the other with the Arab leaders, in an effort to convince them to show up and support the talks with Abbas. As such, the Arab leaders are given the legitimacy to present their own preconditions for actually holding a meeting.

It is hard to be critical of these leaders when Bush himself linked the Annapolis initiative to the decisions of the Arab League during its Beirut summit in 2002, where the Arab states adopted the Saudi initiative and turned it into an Arab initiative. The Arab League countries see themselves as being obligated to ensure that the Annapolis summit will not diverge from the League's decision. This time it is not merely the Palestinian question, but also the Golan Heights that are on the agenda. Without this, Syria had made it clear that it will not show up.

Could Saudi Arabia, for example, permit itself to appear at the summit - not to mention send its foreign minister - if Syria refuses to participate? Will Bush agree to include the Golan Heights on the agenda so that Saudi Arabia will participate? These questions hint at the diplomatic leverage that the declaratory summit at Annapolis can exercise on the Middle East. As such, Israel, which lowered expectations for the summit to a ceremony for mid-term report cards, may return from the conference with things it had not ordered, such as conditions for moving forward on the real process, the one with the Palestinians.

Related articles: Go to link above

Saudis to announce Thursday whether coming to summit

Arab League to meet on summit stance as Syria mulls participation

Land That Arab Countries Have Taken Off Jews.

"Jewish ownership of a total area of 100,000 square kilometers - 3.5 times larger than the State of Israel, including the Golan, Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Most of the properties are located in Iraq, Egypt and Morocco."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124327

With Annapolis Approaching, Jewish Refugees Speak Up

by Hillel Fendel


(IsraelNN.com) Two organizations representing Jews originally from Arab countries demand to be heard at Annapolis - particularly in light of documents from the UN archives revealing official Arab collusion and laws against Jews back in 1947. Violence, arrests and confiscation of property were part of official policy towards Jews in several Arab countries, the papers show.

In addition, it is estimated that the 850,000 Jews who fled Arab countries after Israel's founding in 1948 left behind assets currently worth more than $300 billion.

Heskel M. Haddad, president of the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries, said last week that when the Palestinian Authority negotiators at Annapolis raise the issue of Arab refugees, the Israelis must remind them of the hundreds of thousands of Jews who left their homes and property in Arab countries.

In addition, Stanley Urman, executive director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), says that justice cannot be served unless the forced exodus of Jewish refugees, and the conditions under which they left, are included on the agenda at the upcoming conference.

The JJAC recently released a report entitled, "Justice for Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries: The Case for Rights and Redress." Without explaining how it found them, it quotes recently discovered documents of the United Nations archives revealing Arab League laws designed specifically to harass and mistreat the Jews of its member states.

The report quotes an Arab League draft law saying that Jews living in Arab countries would be considered citizens or members of Israel, referred to as the 'minority state of Palestine.' As such, the Jews' bank accounts would be frozen and used against 'Zionist ambitions in Palestine.' In addition, active Zionist Jews would be jailed as political prisoners, while only Jews who join Arab armies would receive full Arab rights.

Arab League Sanctioned Oppression of Jews
The UN documents reveal "a pattern of state-sanctioned oppression of Jewish refugees from Arab countries - including Nuremberg-like laws," Irwin Cotler told CNS' Julie Stahl. Kotler is an international human rights lawyer, Canadian parliamentarian and former Canadian justice minister.

Rabbi Avraham Hamra, a former spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Syria who now lives in Israel said, "There were always restrictive laws against the Jews of Syria. In addition, all the Jews who left between 1947 and 1991 have never received any compensation for their homes. The same is true for all the Jews of Arab countries who were forced to run away. Israel received Jews from the Arab countries, and the Arab countries received Palestinians."

The latter, however, consciously refused to accept them. Haddad told the Jerusalem Post that the entire Arab refugee problem rests on a resolution by the Arab League in the 1950s, which states that no Arab government would grant citizenship to the refugees. Many of the festering Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza, Lebanon, and elsewhere have turned into breeding grounds for terrorists.

The information on the Arab League's official persecution of Jews has been long-known, even if not well-publicized. On May 16, 1948, the New York Times reported, "Already in some Moslem states such as Syria and Lebanon there is a tendency to regard all Jews as Zionist agents and 'fifth columnists.' There have been violent incidents with feeling running high. There are indications that the stage is being set for a tragedy of incalculable proportions. In Syria a policy of economic discrimination is in effect against Jews. 'Virtually all' Jewish civil servants in the employ of the Syrian Government have been discharged. Freedom of movement has been 'practically abolished.' Special frontier posts have been established to control movements of Jews. In Iraq no Jew is permitted to leave the country unless he deposits £5,000 ($20,000) with the Government to guarantee his return. No foreign Jew is allowed to enter Iraq even in transit. In Lebanon Jews have been forced to contribute financially to the fight against the United Nations partition resolution on Palestine. Acts of violence against Jews are openly admitted by the press, which accuses Jews of 'poisoning wells,' etc. Conditions... are worst in Yemen and Afghanistan, whence many Jews have fled in terror to India. Conditions in most of the countries have deteriorated in recent months, this being particularly true of Lebanon, Iran and Egypt."

100,000 Square Kilometers of Jewish-Owned Property
Haddad said his organization has property deeds of Jews from Arab countries from decades ago, proving Jewish ownership of a total area of 100,000 square kilometers - 3.5 times larger than the State of Israel, including the Golan, Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Most of the properties are located in Iraq, Egypt and Morocco.

The 850,000 Jews who left, or were forced out of, Arab countries following the creation of the State of Israel are even more numerous than Arabs who left Israel at that time. No precise number of the latter is known, but it is most widely estimated to be somewhat more than a half-million. However, the Arabs now demand the "right of return" for them and their descendants, now numbering in the millions.

Israel Must Counter Refugee Demands
Both Haddad and Urman agree that Israel must be sure to raise the various issues associated with the Jewish refugees from Arab lands at Annapolis - particularly in light of the PA's deal-breaking demand that Israel agree to allow hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions, of Arab refugees to "return" to Israel.

Egypt to host Arab leaders in Red Sea resort ahead of key talks

Egypt to host Arab leaders in Red Sea resort ahead of key talks
The Associated PressPublished: November 21, 2007

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/21/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-Mideast-Peace.php

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt: In a flurry of diplomatic activity ahead of a key U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Wednesday he will be holding talks with the leaders of Jordan and the Palestinians in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheik.

Efforts to bring Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar Assad to the Thursday gathering to make an Arab mini-summit failed apparently due to the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon in which the two countries back opposing sides.

Mubarak was organizing the gathering ahead of an important Arab League ministerial meeting in Cairo in which Arab countries are expected to announce whether they will attend Monday's conference in Annapolis, Maryland.

For its part, Egypt confirmed its attendance to the Annapolis meeting in a statement Wednesday saying Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit would attend "within the framework of Egypt's enduring keenness to extend any possible support for the Palestinian cause."

The Israelis and Palestinians are expected to present a joint statement on resuming peace talks at Annapolis, yet less than a week before their delegations are to arrive in the United States, the document exists only in vague form.

Today in Africa & Middle East

Improved security brings some normalcy to Baghdad

U.S.will try to close Israeli-Palestinian peace deal in the next year

Ian Smith, 88, white supremacist and former leader of Rhodesia

Following talks in Amman, Jordan on Wednesday with King Abdullah II, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters that there is a document under discussion which could be finalized later "especially, that we are in the last hour of the negotiations, and it is normal that we face some problems and obstacles."

For his part, the king urged Israel to adopt positive positions which would lead to a lasting and comprehensive solution in the region and called on the Jewish state to deal with the Syrian and Lebanese tracks, especially the issue of the Golan Heights, and seize the opportunity to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In the Arab world, there has been great suspicion of the conference, with many nations questioning the Bush administration's ability to forge peace, particularly between two leaders weakened by internal political turmoil.

After initially expressing skepticism over the conference, Mubarak has since endorsed it and worked on hammering out an Arab consensus ahead of the talks. Mubarak's spokesman Suleiman Awad said Mubarak would meet Thursday with the Jordanian monarch and Abbas in Sharm. He would likely hold separate talks with each, though there could be a three-way summit, Awad said, dismissing earlier reports that Syria and Saudi Arabia would attend as well.

An Arab diplomat said Egypt had sought to bring in the Saudi and Syrian leaders as well, but the two were too involved in Lebanon's presidential succession crisis to journey to Sharm el-Sheik. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

So far, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinians are the only Mideast players that have announced their attendance at the U.S. conference in Annapolis, though Jordan is also sure to attend. The two main question marks are Saudi Arabia and Syria.

The kingdom, under intense U.S. pressure to attend, has not committed to sending a high-level delegation, holding out for a promise that the conference will set a timetable for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to tackle the toughest issues of the conflict.

Syria has said it will only attend if the conference also addresses its track of the peace process with Israel, centered on its demands for the return of the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau seized by Israel in 1967.

Well, it may be just me, but things seem tense today, and it seems (as usual) to be reflected by the forum, imho. Anyway, you know how I call this Annapolis Conference the "1 Thessalonians 5:3" Conference? Well, check this news item out. It seems that the COUNCIL FOR PEACE & SECURITY is in favor of the Conference too.

1 Thess. 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and Safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

"safety" Strongs G803 asphaleia:
1. firmness, stability
2. certainty, undoubted truth
3. SECURITY from enemies and dangers, safety

"sudden" Strongs G160 aiphnidios:
1. unexpected, sudden unforeseen, unawares

Anyway, check this Council out. I'll post their website in a minute:

Council for Peace and Security: Annapolis is an opportunity

Published: 11.21.07, 12:15 / Israel News

The Council for Peace and Security, headed by Maj-Gen (res.) Danny Rothschild has expressed its support for the Annapolis peace conference, saying that it was an opportunity which must not be missed.

"The current window of opportunities, in light of the conflict in Gaza, the tension with Syria and the Iranian threat, forces us to take brave steps which will provide the two people with a diplomatic horizon, alongside the possibility to achieve regional security and stability," the council said in a statement. (Roni Sofer)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3474004,00.html
-----------------------------------------------------

EXCERPT FROM THE PEACE & SECURITY COUNCIL'S WEBPAGE:

http://www.peace-security-council.org/

PROFILE:

The Council for Peace and Security is a voluntary body with no party political affiliation, bringing together some thousand members, each with a rich background in fields associated with security and diplomacy. Members include former high-ranking officers of the Israel Defence Force (IDF), former holders of equivalent positions in the Mossad and Shin Beth Security Services, the Israel Police, retired diplomats, directors of Government Ministries and academics from various fields. It is a membership that has rich experience of security, politics, economics and problems of society. It considers the support of the Middle East Peace Process to be a necessary component of National Security.

The Council for Peace and Security was established in 1988 by a group of reserve officers led by the late Gen Aharon Yariv who was the Head of the Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. The notion that security is a field requiring experience and professional knowledge was the motivation for establishing the Council.

A major aim is to bring members’ experience and knowledge to the public, thereby enabling the public to form knowledgeable opinions on security-related issues, particularly in connection with the Peace Process.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

PEACE IS ACHIEVED BY COMPROMISE Peace and a strong army are the essential ingredients for Israel’s security. The army must at all cost retain its deterrent ability. It should however be borne in mind that peace is not achievable without compromise and willingness to make sacrifices.

THE OCCUPATION IS CAUSING DAMAGE Continued occupation of the Territories and control over the Palestinians is damaging the democratic character of the State of Israel. It is weakening the army, undermining its ability and its preparedness to respond to military threats.

A PALESTINIAN STATE IS NOT A THREAT The establishment of a Palestinian State in the major part of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip – with necessary security provisions – does not constitute a threat to Israel. On the contrary, it is essential in order to maintain a Jewish majority in Israel. A realistic permanent boundary between Israel and a Palestinian State should be that of the Green Line (Israel’s provisional border before the Six Day War in 1967), with certain adjustments in Jerusalem and in other places. The large Jewish settled domains on the eastern side of the Green Line should be annexed to Israel.

JERUSALEM, THE CAPITAL OF ISRAEL Israel has a deep interest in retaining the character of Jerusalem, her capital. A peace agreement must ensure Israeli control over a Greater Jerusalem, not including Palestinian neighborhoods. (These neighborhoods were annexed to Jerusalem in 1967, and today are populated by nearly a quarter of a million Palestinians.) Special provisions will be necessary for the Old City of Jerusalem and its Holy Places in order to ensure the rights of believers of the three faiths.

THE “RIGHT OF RETURN” MUST BE OPPOSED The Council considers that the giving of “Right of Return” to Palestinians is a threat to the very existence of Israel, and strongly opposes an agreement that would allow any of them to return to Israeli territory.

ISRAEL MUST REMOVE PROBLEMATIC SETTLEMENTS Now, after the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza has been completed, there is an immediate need to remove those settlements in Judea and Samaria which are causing friction and blood-letting, thereby undermining the Peace Process. These settle ments do not contribute to Israel’s security. On the contrary, they serve the Palestinians tactically and propaganda-wise.

ISRAEL MUST RESIST PROVOCATION The Peace Process is liable to be long and fraught with crises. Armed groups are trying to achieve political gains, and extreme elements are trying to derail the Peace Process completely. Israel must resist provocation aimed at wearing away her staying power, and calling into question her regional and international role. In these times of crisis efforts should be made to keep open channels of communication between the parties, thereby holding out hope for a return to the negotiating table.

PEACE WITH SYRIA IS A STRATEGIC NECESSITY The Council considers a settlement with Syria to be a strategic necessity for Israel. So long as peace has not been achieved in that Northern Sector there exists a danger of regional conflagration.

THREAT OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION Countries arming themselves with weapons of mass destruction and with missiles constitute a serious threat to the region. To meet this threat Israel must retain her deterrent power and strive to recruit international forces (under the leadership of the United states of America) to combat it. Israel’s willingness to persevere with the Peace Process will assist in this endeavor. Every agreement or treaty that takes yet another neighboring country out of the circle of hostility increases the stability of the region.


MORE: http://www.peace-security-council.org/about.us.asp

Soon i do expect a "7 Year Peace Treaty" to be signed BUT 1 Thessalonians 5:3 "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape".

Sleeping Cobra said:

I wonder what God "has planned"?

Click to expand...

Let's see, Severe Cold Weather, Severe Ice Storms, Record Number Of F-5 Tornadoes. Major Earth Quakes In The United States. Anything can happen but EXPECT IT.
A thought last night: "Divide JERUSALEM And The United States Will Be Divided". Isn't there an Earth Quake Fault that goes down the Mississippi River or something like that? The United States can be split in two. Scary isn't it?

Sleeping Cobra said:

Let's see, Severe Cold Weather, Severe Ice Storms, Record Number Of F-5 Tornadoes. Major Earth Quakes In The United States. Anything can happen but EXPECT IT.
A thought last night: "Divide JERUSALEM And The United States Will Be Divided". Isn't there an Earth Quake Fault that goes down the Mississippi River or something like that? The United States can be split in two. Scary isn't it?

Click to expand...

Amazing that you would say that! I believe the Lord gave me that a couple of days ago. That an earthquake would split this country.

When I began this thread after hearing of the earthquake who's epicenter was under the Dead Sea, it was as if that were confirmation.

You know the Dead Sea covers the ruins of Soddam and Gormorrah. We are like those places now. I believe God was giving a message.

Will it happen in conjunction with the conference or when they go home and start forcing the settlers off their land in Judea/Samaria -Jerusalem?

When the soldiers were forcing the settlers from the Gaza, that is when Katrina formed in the Caribbean.

David

And this is not even God's furry mentioned in Revelation where God pours out like 100 pound hail Stones to those Countries that come to attack Israel. Nope, you do not mess with the Jews, man or divide their land that God gave them. I too respect God and His Word very highly.

The United States will be split down the middle, hence New Madrid has really been acting up lately..

Going to be a 50 mile wide pond dividing the East and West Coast of America


Hannah

Here's a REAL wicked photo:

Click to expand...

hey kozanne, either thats photo shopped or abbas has two right hands?

Well, we didn't have long to wait to find out. Looks like soon as they go home they are going to start:


Israel: Jews to be uprooted at Abraham's resting place

Planned evacuation part of deals for upcoming Annapolis summit

By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
November 21, 2007

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58812

Hebron
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office informed the Palestinians that Israel would uproot Jews from a building in the oldest Jewish city as part of agreements to be announced at next week's U.S.-sponsored Mideast summit in Annapolis, senior Palestinian negotiators told WND.

The building in question, purchased by Jews with the approval of the Israel Defense Forces, is situated at a strategic, elevated area that afford Jews in Hebron a lookout post to protect their vulnerable community from Palestinian attacks.

Hebron is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the second holiest site in Judaism. The tomb is believed to be the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah.

In March, Hebron's Jewish community purchased a 37,600-square-foot building it later titled Beit HaShalom, or House of Peace, from local Arabs for $700,000 in cash, according to documentation. Eight families moved in to the structure, which the Jews heavily renovated.

The building's purchase papers were immediately transferred to the Israeli police and IDF. The police confirmed during an initial investigation the purchase was legitimate. Israel heavily restricts the expansion of Hebron's Jewish community, located in the West Bank, for fear of upsetting the Palestinians, who control most of the biblical territory.

A few weeks after the purchase went through, the former Arab owners of the Hebron house were arrested by the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, since selling land to Jews violates Palestinian law.

Upon interrogation, the former owners claimed the sale did not take place in spite of a video recorded by Hebron Jewish leaders and provided to Israeli police showing one of the former Arab owners counting $700,000 in cash handed to him purportedly for the purchase of Beit Hashalom.

Last month, the former Arab owners, released from PA and Jordanian detention, filed a complaint with Israel's Supreme Court claiming their property was stolen. The court ordered the Israeli police to investigate, but the police have not yet released the results of any investigation.

Earlier this month, Israel's attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, ordered the police to evacuate Beit Hashalom's Jewish residents, taking advantage of a law that allows the Israeli court system to evict any occupant of a building within 30 days of a dispute in the structure's ownership. The occupants cannot return until the dispute is resolved.

David Wilder, a spokesperson for Hebron's Jewish community, told WND he was "confident" once the court reviews the case, it would determine the purchase of Beit Hashalom was "completely legitimate and legal."

"We spent a substantial amount of money to purchase and fix up the building. We only do these things carefully, with every stage scrutinized by lawyers and coordinated with the proper Israeli authorities," said Wilder.

But senior Palestinian negotiators told WND they received a list of what they termed "illegal Jewish outposts" in the West Bank that Olmert pledged to evacuate, including the Beit Hashalom building.

The Palestinian negotiators said they were told by Olmert's office that Beit Hashalom was on the top of Olmert's list of pending evacuations.

Olmert's pledges were part of negotiations leading up to next week's Annapolis summit at which the Israeli prime minister is widely expected to outline a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, ultimately handing the strategic territory to the Palestinians.

Wilder speculated any planned evictions from Hebron would "demonstrate this area [and all of the West Bank] is on the chopping block and might be given up by Israel. This is not about the building itself."

Jews have lived in Hebron almost continuously for over 2,500 years. There are accounts of the trials of the city's Jewish community throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman periods.

In 1929, as a result of an Arab pogrom in which 67 Jews were murdered, the entire Jewish community fled the city, with Hebron becoming temporarily devoid of Jews. The Jewish community returned when Israel recaptured the area in 1967, after the Jewish state won a war launched by Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

David

dcamp2002 said:

Well, we didn't have long to wait to find out. Looks like soon as they go home they are going to start:


Israel: Jews to be uprooted at Abraham's resting place

Planned evacuation part of deals for upcoming Annapolis summit

By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
November 21, 2007

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58812

Hebron
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office informed the Palestinians that Israel would uproot Jews from a building in the oldest Jewish city as part of agreements to be announced at next week's U.S.-sponsored Mideast summit in Annapolis, senior Palestinian negotiators told WND.

The building in question, purchased by Jews with the approval of the Israel Defense Forces, is situated at a strategic, elevated area that afford Jews in Hebron a lookout post to protect their vulnerable community from Palestinian attacks.

Hebron is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the second holiest site in Judaism. The tomb is believed to be the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah.

In March, Hebron's Jewish community purchased a 37,600-square-foot building it later titled Beit HaShalom, or House of Peace, from local Arabs for $700,000 in cash, according to documentation. Eight families moved in to the structure, which the Jews heavily renovated.

The building's purchase papers were immediately transferred to the Israeli police and IDF. The police confirmed during an initial investigation the purchase was legitimate. Israel heavily restricts the expansion of Hebron's Jewish community, located in the West Bank, for fear of upsetting the Palestinians, who control most of the biblical territory.

A few weeks after the purchase went through, the former Arab owners of the Hebron house were arrested by the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, since selling land to Jews violates Palestinian law.

Upon interrogation, the former owners claimed the sale did not take place in spite of a video recorded by Hebron Jewish leaders and provided to Israeli police showing one of the former Arab owners counting $700,000 in cash handed to him purportedly for the purchase of Beit Hashalom.

Last month, the former Arab owners, released from PA and Jordanian detention, filed a complaint with Israel's Supreme Court claiming their property was stolen. The court ordered the Israeli police to investigate, but the police have not yet released the results of any investigation.

Earlier this month, Israel's attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, ordered the police to evacuate Beit Hashalom's Jewish residents, taking advantage of a law that allows the Israeli court system to evict any occupant of a building within 30 days of a dispute in the structure's ownership. The occupants cannot return until the dispute is resolved.

David Wilder, a spokesperson for Hebron's Jewish community, told WND he was "confident" once the court reviews the case, it would determine the purchase of Beit Hashalom was "completely legitimate and legal."

"We spent a substantial amount of money to purchase and fix up the building. We only do these things carefully, with every stage scrutinized by lawyers and coordinated with the proper Israeli authorities," said Wilder.

But senior Palestinian negotiators told WND they received a list of what they termed "illegal Jewish outposts" in the West Bank that Olmert pledged to evacuate, including the Beit Hashalom building.

The Palestinian negotiators said they were told by Olmert's office that Beit Hashalom was on the top of Olmert's list of pending evacuations.

Olmert's pledges were part of negotiations leading up to next week's Annapolis summit at which the Israeli prime minister is widely expected to outline a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, ultimately handing the strategic territory to the Palestinians.

Wilder speculated any planned evictions from Hebron would "demonstrate this area [and all of the West Bank] is on the chopping block and might be given up by Israel. This is not about the building itself."

Jews have lived in Hebron almost continuously for over 2,500 years. There are accounts of the trials of the city's Jewish community throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman periods.

In 1929, as a result of an Arab pogrom in which 67 Jews were murdered, the entire Jewish community fled the city, with Hebron becoming temporarily devoid of Jews. The Jewish community returned when Israel recaptured the area in 1967, after the Jewish state won a war launched by Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

David

Click to expand...

I would hate to see God's furry on this. He is probably MAJORLY pissed off right now.

Parkhurst said:

I posted this last night on UNEX re: Comet Holmes, but think I need to repeat
it here. (Hope this is OK).

The research links the appearance of Comet Holmes (in 1892 and now) with
the development of Israel/U.N. and possible current talks.

Food for thought,

Parkhurst



OK, so I have been TRACKING THIS COMET almost since it first exploded over
ONE MILLION TIMES ITS SIZE IN 24 HOURS.

So many of your comments are what I too have been sensing/feeling, so I will
not repeat that here, except that this is DEFINITELY a SIGN IN THE HEAVENS.

Where it will go or what it will do or if it will ever, in any form, have any impact
on Planet Earth, only our Lord knows.

BUT, just one more fact to consider here: (3, really!)

1. The year that the comet was first discovered by Edwin Holmes in London --
1892 -- was the first time the word 'Zionist" or "Zioinism" was coined by a man
in Austria. One year later, Theodore Herzel picked this up; the World Zionist
Organization was born; and the movement to regather the Jews to their homeland was officially born. They began their return; and in 1947, became a
state -- just as the Bible stated would happen.

2. NOW, there are forces at work in the world that want to divide not only the
land, but also Jerusalem itself -- at which point, Zech. 12 states, that Jerusalem
will become a "burdensome stone" to all nations that seek to divide it, and they
will be "cut in pieces." In other words, things are coming full cycle.

3. And the finale: The United Nations has been spearheading the talks next
week in Annapolis (Along with Rice and Bush.) The U.N. Charter was signed on
OCTOBER 24TH -- THE EXACT DATE THAT THIS COMET BLEW UP AGAIN THIS YEAR!

OK, just some thoughts on timing. I do not wish to move this thread into a
discussion of Zionism or the peace talks . . . just found that linkage to be of
great interest.

Blessings,

Parkhurst

Click to expand...

Parkhurst, do you have any link about the U.N. Charter being signed on October 24th? thanks

It's early in the morning of Thanksgiving day.
The words of Acts 28:27 suddenly appear very relevant at this time? It is a most unsettling feeling.

The looming danger of Annapolis

The looming danger of Annapolis
By SHMUEL KATZ


http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195546692380&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull


The Jewish state is in greater danger than anytime since the 1948 War of Independence. The danger stems not from current Arab violence, nor the threat of future violence. It lies in the convocation of the Annapolis conference conceived and promoted with almost frenetic enthusiasm by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Today, Arab League foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Cairo to decide which countries will send representatives to Annapolis besides Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority/Palestine Liberation Organization. An unknown number of delegates from various Arab states together with representatives of the Quartet - US, Russia, the UN and the European Union - will presumably turn up for the conference opening at Annapolis, Maryland, on November 27.

WHOEVER THEY are, an analysis of their respective outlooks shows that all the delegates are committed to the diminution of Israel and some, frankly, to her consequent extinction.

They will be faced by a single delegation from Israel, headed by Ehud Olmert. He has already announced (on November 4) that there will be no "negotiations" at the conference, only a "jumping-off ground for continued serious and in-depth negotiations, which will not avoid any issue or ignore any division which has clouded our relations with the Palestinian people for many years."

And among them he mentioned "refugees." Coming even from the notably unprincipled Ehud Olmert, his inclusion of the "refugees" is most disturbing. This is a subject which, as all Israeli governments have repeatedly made clear, they are not prepared to discuss, for very good reason. It is simply not arguable. To discuss it is to flout the will of the people. Now it touches the outer edge of Olmert's irresponsibility.

The "refugee problem" was created by the Arabs, who led the 1948 invasion of Israel, and it was created deliberately to bring about what president Gamal Nasser of Egypt called the "end of Israel." Olmert's loose-tongued talk raises acutely the serious question of the very legitimacy of all his representations on behalf of Israel.

No less significant are his and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's frequent references to the Road Map as the basis for Israel's policy at the projected conference. This is outright deception.

The Road Map is dead. It died stillborn - when Abbas refused to implement its first clause: the surrender of arms. "I do not intend," he said, "to have a civil war on my hands."

That first clause was manifestly the only potential safeguard of Israel's security.

MORE THAN that, when and how did the Israeli government accept the Road Map? Do Olmert and Livni forget the Road Map's reverberating slaps in Israel's face? The Road Map was concocted by the Quartet as a means of foisting on Israel a plan for creating a Palestinian state. It was drawn up in consultation with, and perhaps by the inspiration of, one of Israel's most virulent and most active enemies - Saudi Arabia. Then it was submitted for approval by the Arab League. Israel was kept in the dark.

Israel was handed the Road Map in the same way, weirdly enough, as the Munich Pact was handed to the betrayed Czechs in 1938, by its authors Britain, France, Germany and Italy. When a shocked prime minister Ariel Sharon ventured to say that there were 14 amendments (which he presumably felt could make the repugnant diktat acceptable to Israel), he was told tersely and without qualification by US secretary of state Colin Powell that no amendments would be considered (exactly what the Czechs were told in 1938).

Sharon kept on trying.

It is important to read at least the first, and most important, of these proposed amendments:

"The Palestinians will dismantle the existing security organizations and implement security reforms during the course of which new organizations will be formed and act to combat terror, violence and incitement (incitement must cease immediately and the Palestinian Authority must educate for peace). These organizations will engage in genuine prevention of terror and violence through arrests, interrogations, prevention and the enforcement of the legal groundwork for investigations, prosecution and punishment.

"In the first phase of the plan and as a condition for progress to the second phase, the Palestinians will complete the dismantling of terrorist organizations (Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front, al-Aksa Brigades and other apparatuses) and their infrastructure, collection of all illegal weapons and their transfer to a third party for the sake of being removed from the area and destroyed; cessation of weapons smuggling and weapons production inside the Palestinian Authority, activation of the full prevention apparatus and cessation of incitement. There will be no progress to the second phase without the fulfillment of all the above mentioned conditions relating to the war against terror."

MANIFESTLY NONE of this was implemented, and the Road Map was quietly buried. But Washington, feeling the need for some achievement in the Middle East as a counterweight to the widespread criticism of its performance in Iraq, then gave birth to an alternative means of producing a quick-fix Palestinian state. That, it seems, is how the idea of an international conference was born.

Meantime, however, the political map of the Israel- Arab dispute changed radically.

Not that the demonization of Israel throughout the Arab world - and the world at large - has decreased. The imams continue to blare forth their incendiary messages from the mosques every Friday, the children in the schools continue to be indoctrinated daily with hate and contempt for Israel and the Jewish people. A revolution, however, has taken place in the Palestinian arena. By a democratic election in January 2006 the Hamas terrorist organization became the governing power in the Palestinian Authority. And by June 2007 Hamas had ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip.

Abbas still heads the Palestinian Authority on the "West Bank," so in fact there now exist two conflicting governing bodies; and it is Hamas that provides most of the terror - though bizarrely, Abbas's own Fatah Aksa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the murder of Ido Zoldan, a 29-year-old father of two from Shavei Shomron, on Monday night. It carried out the attack as "a protest against the Annapolis conference and a response to Israel's crimes against the Palestinians."


So it turns out that Abbas doesn't (or won't) control all armed factions of his own Fatah movement.

STILL HE'S considered a "moderate," and is now widely courted. Abbas has been received at the White House, and he is the Chosen Partner of Olmert and Livni. They, under the tutelage of Condoleezza Rice - and, as they claim, the inspiration of the Road Map - will help to bring about peace and the Palestinian state.

To smooth the path toward negotiations and boost Abbas' popularity, Israel is told to make concessions. Any difficulties that arise are met by cries from Washington: "The conference must not fail."

And so comes the pressure for concession after concession by Israel to "help Abu Mazen": almost 500 security prisoners are to be released on top of the hundreds already freed; Abbas's forces in Nablus are to receive 25 Russian-made armored vehicles; blockades in Judea and Samaria have been lifted (making drive-by shootings easier), and future cessions of territory are dangled before the Arabs. All this on top of Jerusalem's promise that every claim and demand ever made on Israel by the "Palestinians" will be on the table.

PERHAPS Ms. Rice simply does not understand that in the situation thus created, Abbas, his hold threatened by a more belligerent Hamas, dares not claim and demand from Israel any less than Hamas, and so Olmert, willy-nilly, will find himself, in effect, negotiating in Annapolis on terms laid down by Hamas.

Thus Israel has reached an unprecedented nadir in the dispute with the Palestinian Arabs. An examination of each step down into the depths proves how every Israeli government has failed to assert itself in confronting the deadly Arab purpose. There is only one way to stop the descent. Israel must effect a complete reversal of policy.

Interestingly enough, Tzipi Livni, in the course of a recent lecture published in the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, unwittingly laid down two vital truths on which Israel must base its policy. In the title of her lecture she describes Israel's present situation as being at a "crossroads," and in the body of the lecture she says "Absolutely the last thing that Israel can afford and the last thing the world needs is the establishment of another terror state in the Middle East."

Absolutely, indeed; and as neither she nor Olmert - nor, if you were to press them, Rice and President George W. Bush himself - can provide a smidgen of evidence to suggest that a Palestinian state will not be a terror state, "the last thing that Israel can afford and the last thing the world needs is a conference to establish a Palestinian state."

The writer, who co-founded the Herut Party with Menachem Begin and was a member of the first Knesset, is a biographer, essayist and veteran Post contributor.

Bush, like Clinton, makes twilight Mideast push

ANALYSIS-Bush, like Clinton, makes twilight Mideast push
Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:08am EST

http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSN21228107

WASHINGTON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush's twilight effort to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians faces far more challenges than his predecessor Bill Clinton's failed attempt in 2000.

In his waning months in office, Bush is trying to resolve the intractable conflict when the Palestinians are divided, Israel's prime minister is unpopular and the U.S. president's own credibility has been eroded by the Iraq war.

Diplomats, former negotiators and regional analysts said they welcomed Bush's decision to host a conference on Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland, that he hopes will trigger formal negotiations on creating a Palestinian state.

But given the realities of weak leaders on all sides, none saw much chance of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before the Republican president leaves office in January 2009.

"When Clinton tried ... both sides actually felt they could do it and both sides felt the other side could do it," said an Arab diplomat. "Now, neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians believe that the other side wants to do it or can do it."

The Palestinian leadership, and territory, is split between President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement, which rules the West Bank, and the Islamist Hamas faction, which forcibly took control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah in July.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert presides over a delicate and fragmented coalition and his personal popularity plunged following Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, undercutting his ability to pursue peace.

At the Camp David summit that Clinton hosted in July 2000, the Palestinians were led by Yasser Arafat, the icon of the Palestinian struggle, and the Israelis by Ehud Barak, a former general elected on a peace platform.

'EXTREMELY UNPOPULAR'

"Arafat had a legitimacy and an ability to sell things to his people that no Palestinian leader today has," said Rob Malley, a Clinton aide who took part in the 2000 peace talks and is now at the International Crisis Group think tank.

"On the Israeli side, you have a leadership that is extremely unpopular and that may not have the capacity to make the ... concessions that are going to be required," he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged that both leaders are widely viewed as politically weak, but said Abbas was committed to a negotiated solution and Olmert may benefit from wider Arab support for the peace effort.

Analysts said Bush's approach may have two advantages over Clinton's: he is starting his peace push roughly eight months earlier than Clinton convened the Camp David summit and he may have secured greater backing from Arab states.

Bush administration officials have privately faulted Clinton for not including major Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Syria, which have no diplomatic relations with Israel but whose support could make it easier for Abbas to compromise.

Neither Syria nor Saudi Arabia has said whether they will come to Annapolis.

Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at Washington's conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank, suggested that their attendance might not mean much in the end.

"I have never believed that Arab buy-in is the key to peace," Pletka said. "Every single other would-be peace maker has desperately attempted to bring the Arabs on board. ... But bringing them on board and getting them to drink cocktails at the party does not mean getting them to deliver."

While critics accuse Bush of having neglected the conflict, he will take center stage when he welcomes Olmert and Abbas to the White House for separate meetings on Monday and then delivers the main speech at Annapolis on Tuesday.

Asked if it would be an irony for Bush's more hands-off approach to succeed where Clinton's deeply personal effort failed, Malley said: "It would be a welcome irony and we could all hope for it, but I think it will be extremely difficult for them to get a final status agreement by the end of the term." (Additional reporting by Sue Pleming)

Syria likely to forego Annapolis summit

Nov 22, 2007 1:06 | Updated Nov 22, 2007 13:19
Syria likely to forego Annapolis summit
By HERB KEINON AND JPOST.COM STAFF



http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195546693949&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull




Syria has tentatively decided not to attend the upcoming Annapolis conference, the London-based Arab daily al-Hayat reported Thursday. The reason is reportedly due to the omission of the Golan Heights issue from the summit's agenda.



The al-Hayat report comes despite clear US signals in recent days that if Syria wants, it can raise the Golan Heights issue at the meeting, reversing the earlier-held American position that the Annapolis conference will deal exclusively with the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters Wednesday that other disputed issues could be raised at Annapolis, including the Golan Heights. Indeed, one of the three sessions to be held at the conference's plenary session on Tuesday will deal with "comprehensive peace." Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch said at a press briefing in Washington on Tuesday that Syria had been invited to the conference and "if they come... we will not turn off the microphone for anyone."

Syria, as well as Saudi Arabia, were expected to make official announcements on Thursday regarding their participation, while Syria's final decision to skip the parley is expected to be dependent on backing from the Arab League, which will gather Thursday in Cairo to discuss the Arab position vis-à-vis Annapolis.


Welch said that the Annapolis meeting "represented an opportunity for all those who would like to make meaningful steps toward peace to come and represent their views. You know, we're the United States, we're affording a platform here for responsible opinion, and they're entitled to express their views and their national interests as they see them."

Israeli officials, meanwhile, reiterated Jerusalem's position that the meeting was about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, one official said Annapolis "could lead to other things. This isn't about Syrian-Israel relations, and if they come, they are coming to a meeting about an initiative with the Palestinians. But we also hope that the process leads to a process with the Syrians."


Channel 1 reported Wednesday night that Jordan's King Abdullah II, who made a rare visit to Damascus on Sunday and met with Syrian President Bashar Assad, delivered a message to Assad from the US and France that if he would send a representative to Annapolis, not hinder the Israeli-Palestinian process, and not stand in the way of the election of a president in Lebanon, then the US and France would neither work to isolate Syria and bring down the Assad regime nor press to appoint an anti-Syrian president in Lebanon.

The security cabinet, meanwhile, met Wednesday for its last meeting before Annapolis and heard various assessments from the security establishment regarding what would happen afterwards.

The bottom line assessment was that the Annapolis meeting was important, but that any agreement thereafter must be negotiated carefully, and that implementation should not be carried out until the Palestinians assert true security control over the West Bank and Gaza as called for under the road map - a process that could take years.

The security cabinet ministers reportedly heard assessments stating that a failure to go to Annapolis would strengthen Hamas and quite possibly lead to the downfall of PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayad. This would also lead to an increased call around the world to abandon the two-state vision, which would - with the failure to pull off Annapolis - seem impossible to reach, in favor of looking at a one-state solution with the Palestinians incorporated into a binational state.

Vice Premier Haim Ramon, who locked horns Monday with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, exchanged harsh words with a colleague again on Wednesday - this time, Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

In an apparent reference to criticism Ramon had voiced that Israel was not willing to make enough concessions to the Palestinians before the Annapolis summit, Barak said that Israel could not be blamed for any possible failure of the talks on grounds that it hadn't come far enough in the Palestinians' direction.

There are those, he said, "even around this table, contributing to a situation where we will be blamed for being obstinate because we didn't give the Palestinians enough."

Ramon responded that if Israel offered the Palestinians "half of what we offered at Camp David [in 2000, with Barak as prime minister], but in a calculated and responsible way, we would be able to come to the conference with an agreement on the 'core issues' already in hand."

While the security cabinet, which meets every Wednesday, will not meet again before the conference, Olmert is holding intensive meetings with his aides and top security officials to prepare for the conference that will include two private meetings with US President George W. Bush, and a trilateral meeting together with Bush and Abbas.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiation teams continued to work Wednesday evening on drawing up a joint statement that would be read out after the trilateral meeting in Annapolis next Tuesday, but as of press time there was no announcement that they had made any headway.

After that Bush-Olmert-Abbas meeting next Tuesday morning, the representatives from all countries present at the conference (the US invited the foreign ministers from 40 states) will meet in three sessions and discuss "economic development in the PA," "institutional reform and capacity building," and, finally, "comprehensive peace."

Olmert and Abbas are both due to meet privately with Bush the day before the actual meeting in Annapolis, as well as the day after. A meeting of the Quartet - the US, EU, Russia and the UN - will be held Monday, followed by a dinner, where Bush is expected to deliver some brief remarks, hosted by Rice.

In addition to meeting with Bush and Rice, Olmert is also expected to meet Vice President Dick Cheney in a meeting that will likely focus on Iran.

The US is currently waiting to see which countries will attend the conference, and at what level. Sixteen countries with whom Israel has no diplomatic ties were invited. Those countries are Algeria, Bahrain, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

One senior official in the Prime Minister's Office said the inclusion of these countries in the conference is highly significant because by attending they will show open support for a bilateral Israel-Palestinian track, and send a strong message that they oppose "the extremists" who don't want to see any such negotiations get off the ground, let alone succeed.


Olmert is scheduled to fly to Washington Saturday night, and Livni is expected to join him on his flight. Barak, however, is prevented by law from flying on the same plane - the prime minister and defense minister cannot fly together - and is slated to fly to the US separately.

Divide and Conquor

Hannah said:

The United States will be split down the middle, hence New Madrid has really been acting up lately..

Going to be a 50 mile wide pond dividing the East and West Coast of America


Hannah

Click to expand...

Very close Hanna... It may be an act of God, but I'll bet it's going to be something (kinda parallel) that our own government will bring onto us. Also an interesting parallel, is that it's "W" who precipitated the current Jerusalem situation, he's also responsible for NASCO. ... Hmmmmm....

Ususally when God responds to something like this, he responds in kind. e.g. the gaza evacuation, and the Katrina evacuation; People 2 years later, unable to return to their homes.

The Jerusalem Wall is a man-made structure, and a considerable one at that. Comparable to China's Great wall, by the photos. The only way to cross the Jerusalem Wall is to pass thru tunnels... which will be check-points.

The US is currently (http://www.nascocorridor.com/pages/projects/ttc-35.html) constructing the NASCO Superhighway. The NASCO Superhighway will split the USA in half. and it's a no-brainer to see that the bridges/tunnels to cross the NASCO Superhighway will become check-points (probably originally used as tolls

You can see the Greta China Wall from Space... I'm going to guess you're going to be able to see the Great Jerusalem Wall from space... and It sould be a certain bet that the NASCO Superhighway will be visible from space... Hmmmmm....

But then if you want to bias towards pure acts of God, Yellowstone has been acting up this past week... http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/