JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
ISAIAH 41:11
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
LETS SEE ASSAD BOMBS A HOSPITAL IN SYRIA.KILLING LOTS.IRAN HATES THEIR PEACE PARTNER USA AND ISRAEL.BUT YET IRAN GETS BILLIONS FROM AMERICA IN THIS FAKE PEACE NUKE DEAL.DOES THIS NOT SOUND LIKE THE WAY THOSE PEACE LOVING ARABS TALK AGAINST ISRAEL.EVEN THOUGH THEY CLAIM TO BE A PEACE PARTNER OF ISRAELS.SEE ALL ISLAMIC-MUSLIMS ARE ALIKE.THEY HATE THEIR PEACE PARTNERS.BUT CAN LIE AND MAKE A DEAL WITH THEM-TILL THEY GET STRONG ENOUGH TO DESTROY THE SO CALLED PEACE PARTNER.
Khamenei: US is main enemy, ‘Zionist regime’ a close second-In meeting with Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief, Iranian supreme leader says ‘defending Palestine’ is ‘defending Islam’-By Times of Israel staff May 1, 2016, 10:21 pm
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday that the United States is the Middle East’s main enemy, with the “Zionist regime” a close second.Speaking at a meeting in Tehran on Sunday with the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Ramadan Abdullah, Khamenei said that looking at the turmoil in the region in a “macro” sense, the US was clearly to blame, with Israel following closely behind. PIJ is an Islamist terrorist organization.In comments carried by Iranian websites, some of which were then posted to Khamenei’s Twitter page, the Iranian leader unleashed a series of anti-US and anti-Israel remarks.Khamenei, said Iran’s Mehr News agency, “reaffirmed that with this perspective in regional issues, Iran sees the United States as main enemy with the Zionist regime standing behind it. He pointed to extensive, unprecedented sanctions of US and its followers against the Islamic establishment in recent years and dubbed the objective of them as discouraging Iran from continuing its path; ‘but they failed to achieve their goals and will fail in future as well’.”The ongoing unrest in the Middle East, Khamenei alleged, is a continuance of the “war” waged on Iran by US-led Western governments since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 “and the Palestine issue is the key issue,” Khamenei tweeted. Huge ongoing war in region is continuance of the war waged against Islamic Republic of Iran 37 years ago& #Palestine issue is its key issue.— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 1, 2016-The Iranian leader said Iran was backing embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad “because those standing against Syria are in fact enemies to core of Islam and serve the interests of the US and Zionist regime.”-Because those standing against #Syria are in fact enemies to core of Islam and serve interests of the US and Zionist regime. 2/2- Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 1, 2016-In yet another swipe at the US, the Iranian supreme leader said an “arrogance front” has tried to portray the unrest in the region as a power play between Shia and Sunni Islam but that “clash is a colonialist, US plot.”The supreme leader further said that “defending Palestine” was an Iranian duty that also symbolized “defending Islam,” and vowed to keep supporting the Palestinian cause.Defending #Palestine is symbol of defending #Islam.— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 1, 2016-As from the beginning Islamic Republic of #Iran has considered support for #Palestine as its duty, it will fulfill this duty in future, too.— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 1, 2016-“From the beginning, the Islamic Republic of Iran has considered support for Palestine as its duty, it will fulfill this duty in future, too,” Khamenei tweeted.Khamenei also praised Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, whose forces have been fighting alongside Assad’s military in neighboring Syria, saying surely Israel was “scared of Hezbollah more than in the past.”For his part, Abdullah thanked Khamenei for Iran’s support of the “Palestinian resistance” and congratulated the Iranian leader on the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which was marked in February.Khamenei and Abdullah last met two years ago, several months after the end of the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas and other Gaza-based terror groups. PIJ publicly thanked Iran for its support during that war.The US and Iran are in the process of implementing an historic nuclear deal signed last year between Tehran and the US-led P5+1 world powers which would see Iran curb its atomic ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.
Iran sues US at Int’l Court of Justice over order to pay terror victims’ families-Senior official says legal procedures underway to reclaim some $2 billion in frozen Iranian funds held by US-By AFP and Times of Israel staff May 1, 2016, 7:21 pm
A senior Iranian official said Sunday that Iran has filed a lawsuit against Washington at the International Court of Justice over a US Supreme Court ruling which would transfer over $2 billion in frozen Iranian funds to American victims of terror attacks.“The government has powerfully stood against the practice of this ruling because these assets belong to the [Iranian] nation and should be spent for its welfare,” Iranian Vice President for Legal Affairs Elham Aminzadeh said on Sunday, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.Aminzadeh added that Iran “has filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice and is pursuing” legal procedures to reclaim the funds.Iran threatened last week to turn to the ICJ in The Hague, claiming that the US Supreme Court’s decision amounted to theft.“We hold the US administration responsible for preservation of Iranian funds and if they are plundered, we will lodge a complaint with the ICJ for reparation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said last week at a joint news conference with his visiting Macedonian counterpart Nicolas Poposki.The US Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that Iran must hand over nearly $2 billion in frozen assets to survivors and relatives of those killed in attacks attributed to the Islamic Republic.These included the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.The decision affects more than 1,000 Americans.The official IRNA news agency on Monday cited Zarif as saying in English that if such a ruling were applied, it would be “misappropriation” of Iranian funds.“We have announced since the beginning that the Iranian government does not recognize the US extraterritorial law and considers the US court ruling to blockade Iranian funds null and void and in gross violation of international law,” he said.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also blasted the ruling, vowing to fight the decision.“That a court or judiciary in a corner of the world wants to decide about the Iranian nation’s rights and properties is fully illegal and against international law and the central banks’ legal immunity,” Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting in Tehran, according to Fars.“The Iranian nation will stand against this incorrect ruling, and the Islamic Republic and its government will use all their power to restore the Iranian nation’s rights,” he added.
Germany denies reconsidering Israel support, says policy unchanged-Berlin official rejects claims by Der Spiegel of deteriorating ties with Jewish state over Merkel’s ‘frustration’ with Netanyahu-By Times of Israel staff May 1, 2016, 11:30 pm
A German official denied on Sunday a report published last week claiming that Germany was reconsidering its strong support for Israel amid Chancellor Angela Merkel’s growing frustrations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies.“The guidelines of German Middle East policy have not changed,” the unnamed German official told Reuters when asked to comment on the report published in the latest edition of Der Spiegel magazine.The report claimed Merkel’s camp was “furious” at a leak of confidential consultations between Jerusalem and Berlin in the German capital in February, which subsequently appeared in the free Israel Hayom daily, owned by staunch Netanyahu supporter Sheldon Adelson.Furthermore, the magazine said, the leaked details of Merkel’s remarks were “twisted” to give the impression that she supported Netanyahu’s position that a two-state solution with the Palestinians was currently unfeasible, whereas the chancellor had actually said that Israeli settlement construction “makes it unlikely that a viable Palestinian state can be established in accordance with plans aimed at a two-state solution.”(The Times of Israel reported at the time that the German government was displeased with Netanyahu for asserting that Merkel had changed her stance on a two-state solution, and that it dispatched emissaries to Jerusalem clarify Berlin’s position.)-The German response came a day after a senior official in Netanyahu’s government dismissed the report, saying that German-Israeli ties were on track.“Ties between Israel and Germany are close and good, and they will continue to be,” the official said on Saturday, adding that the statements in the report published by Der Spiegel were “most likely an internal German attempt to bash Merkel over her close relationship with Netanyahu.”The Der Spiegel report claimed that Netanyahu was having a deleterious effect on Israeli-German relations, to the extent that “many, particularly in the Berlin Foreign Ministry, have begun wondering if Germany sent the wrong signals in the past.” The magazine in particular points to a speech by Merkel in the Knesset in 2008 during which she said that Israel’s security is part of Germany’s “raison d’état.”The report carried comments by government officials criticizing Netanyahu and questioning Germany’s automatic support for Israel.“Israel’s current policies are not contributing to the country remaining Jewish and democratic,” a member of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Norbert Roettgen, was quoted as saying. “We must express this concern more clearly to Israel.”Rolf Muetzenich, a member of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) told the magazine:”The perception has been growing in the German government that Netanyahu is instrumentalizing our friendship.”This shift by Berlin, Der Spiegel said, could be seen in Germany’s vote in a January 2016 resolution by the European Union on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prior to the vote, Netanyahu called German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to seek reassurance over a paragraph in the draft resolution criticizing settlement construction.“I’m counting on you,” Netanyahu told Steinmeier, the report said. But the foreign minister voted in favor of the draft, with the wording condemning settlement expansion unchanged.According to Der Spiegel, the Merkel government has “lost hope that the peace process can be revived so long as Netanyahu remains in office.”Another manifestation of this view came when Merkel met with Abbas in Berlin some two weeks ago. The chancellor, the report said, “was demonstrative in her support.”“I understand why President Abbas continually seeks out the Security Council,” Merkel said, according to the report. The magazine added that, “Even accusations from Netanyahu that EU labeling rules for products made in the settlements are akin to an anti-Jewish boycott are no longer taken seriously.”
IDF: Private security guards killed knife-wielding Palestinian siblings-Military Police drops probe into fatal shooting at Qalandiya last week, says officer acted appropriately; Israel Police reportedly won’t look into it either-By Tamar Pileggi May 1, 2016, 8:54 pm-the times of israel
The Palestinian siblings shot dead during an attempted attack on Israeli border guards at the Qalandiya crossing in the West Bank last week were killed by civilian security guards and not Israeli forces, an army investigation determined.Since security forces did not fire the fatal shots at Maram Hassan Abu Ismail, 23, and her brother Ibrahim Saleh Taha, 16, the Military Police’s investigations unit on Sunday announced the defense establishment would drop its investigations into the incident. Abu Ismail had hurled a knife at Israeli forces before she was shot, according to the Israeli military.According to initial reports, the April 27 incident was to be probed by investigators from the Jerusalem District Police. However, later Sunday, according to Army Radio, the police said it would not be probing the incident either, since the shots that killed Abu Ismail and Taha were fired moments by a guard from a privately contracted security firm.The Military Police said the Border Police officer guarding the busy West Bank crossing at the time complied with army protocol and arrest procedures by firing warning shots into the air as the siblings approached guards at the checkpoint in a suspicious manner. The private guard fired seconds later.Last week, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said security forces at the checkpoint spotted Abu Ismail walking towards guards with her hand concealed inside her purse and Taha’s hand behind his back, holding something.“The officers called them to stop a number of times,” she said in a statement last week.“The female terrorist stopped a short distance from the officers, then walked the other way with the man, when she suddenly turned around to face the officers again, pulled a knife that was in her purse and threw it at an officer near her,” Samri said.A kitchen knife was recovered from Abu Ismail’s purse, while an identical knife and a Leatherman-style multi-tool were discovered in Taha’s belt, she added.Both were said to be residents of Beit Surif, a village in the central West Bank.The Defense Ministry often contracts guards from private companies to bolster its security presence at major checkpoint crossings between Israel and Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank.Its guards are legally and professionally subordinate to the police.The private guards don’t usually come into contact with Palestinians crossing through the checkpoints, and are frequently stationed behind concrete barriers to generally reinforce Israeli security in the area.Qalandiya and the adjacent crossing between the West Bank and Israel has been a flashpoint of conflict in the recent wave of violence that has rocked Israel since September of last year.The shooting is the latest in a wave of Palestinian stabbing and car-ramming attacks that has killed 29 Israelis and four foreign nationals since last October.Some 203 Palestinians have been killed during the same period, most while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks against Israelis, army officials say.Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.
Watchdog seeks to keep chemical weapons out of terrorist hands-Hague-based group trying to woo last 4 countries — Egypt, Israel, North Korea and South Sudan — to join Chemical Weapons Convention-By AP and Times of Israel staff May 1, 2016, 5:06 pm-the times of israel
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — With about 92 percent of the world’s declared chemical weapons stockpiles destroyed, the watchdog agency overseeing the elimination of poison gas and nerve agents is looking now to counter emerging threats from extremist groups while still dealing with unfinished business in Syria.The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is marking the April 29, 1997, entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention with a three-day conference starting Monday focusing on chemical safety and security.It appears, in the future, extremists and criminals seem more likely than nations to launch chemical attacks.“We want to capture the current security threats in regard to chemical weapons, especially from non-state actors,” OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu told The Associated Press at the organization’s headquarters in The Hague.The OPCW, however, is still working to bring on board four remaining countries that have not joined the chemical weapons convention — Egypt, Israel, North Korea and South Sudan.Uzumcu believes it is only a “matter of time” before South Sudan joins and says the change in the Mideast security landscape brought about by the Syrian war may ultimately lead to Israel and Egypt joining.Israel signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993, but when it was put into force in 1997, the Jewish state refrained from ratifying the treaty. State parties that sign the convention undertake the obligation to prohibit producing and using chemical weapons, as well as to destroy all weapons and facilities they have.Little is known about Israel’s chemical capabilities, and Jerusalem does not comment on the matter, preferring to maintain a policy of strategic ambiguity.Avner Cohen, professor of Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, told The Times of Israel last year that he “strongly doubts” Israel currently has deployable chemical weapons.The reclusive regime in North Korea has so far ignored all attempts by Uzumcu to open a dialogue.Ralf Trapp, a former OPCW staffer who is now an independent disarmament and non-proliferation consultant, says getting Pyongyang on board will be tough because of the nuclear issue that dominates the disarmament agenda.“Can you isolate the chemical weapons issue from the rest of the security situation on the Korean peninsula?” he said. “If you could do that, you could talk to the Koreans and try to get a process going. If you can’t separate it from the rest, it becomes a ball in a much bigger game and you get the nuclear issue and a couple of other things and it becomes very complicated.”There have been repeated reports of chemical attacks in Syria’s devastating civil war and a UN-mandated investigation is underway aimed at apportioning blame for nine cases in 2014 and 2015. A final report is expected shortly before the team’s mandate ends in September.In some of the cases, it’s believed that chlorine was used in the attacks. The widely available substance is sold the world over for legitimate purposes such as water purification, but chlorine gas also was used in the first large-scale chemical weapons attack by German forces in World War I.“The challenge will remain to prevent the use of toxic substances as a weapon,” said Uzumcu, whose organization won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize for its disarmament efforts.The issue is not new. The OPCW has been considering it since the 9/11 attacks in the United States, but it has been brought into sharper focus by the attacks in Syria.At the conference starting Monday, experts will discuss how to use the existing chemical weapons convention to tackle the problem and whether the OCPW needs to adapt to the new reality.Trapp says protecting people from attacks using readily available chemicals is a difficult balancing act.“You always will have the dilemma that some of these chemicals are in very wide use,” he said in a telephone interview. “If you over-regulate them or control them to the point where they can no longer be properly used, you’re actually slowing down economic use. It’s not going to work.”Trapp warned that finding a way to deal with extremists has taken on new urgency with the rise of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.“Over time, you could expect that if they do decide to go for a chemical weapons program that they will in fact have the capability of investing time and money into it and develop something that would be much more sophisticated than what we see today,” he said.Meanwhile, the OPCW has yet to complete its work in Syria, which joined the organization in 2013 amid international outrage at a nerve gas attack on the outskirts of Damascus.Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government declared a 1,300-ton chemical weapons stockpile and 14 production facilities, triggering an unprecedented international operation to remove weapons and chemicals from the war-torn country and destroy them.The weapons have been destroyed, as have 11 of the production plants, Uzumcu said, but member states of the OPCW have repeatedly questioned whether Assad declared everything in 2013.“We are not yet there,” Uzumcu said. “There are still questions. I am not able to say whether Syria has declared everything or whether Syria continues to possess some chemical weapons or some munitions. I hope that we will be able to clarify the remaining questions.”He said Syrian officials are expected to visit The Hague in coming weeks to continue talks aimed at clarifying the situation.Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
Rome opens Jewish catacombs to public-Viewable until May 5, ancient burial site of notable Italian Jews consists of extensive underground tunnels-By Times of Israel staff April 30, 2016, 10:06 pm
The city of Rome will open up the Jewish catacombs to the public on Sunday, a first in over a decade.The ancient burial site at Vigna Randanini will be available for viewing to the general public until May 5.The complex, found beneath a former vineyard in 1859, consists of a maze of tunnels that cover nearly 18,500 square meters at a depth of five to 16 meters beneath the surface.It is said to date back to the period between the second and third centuries and could have been in use up until the fifth century.Unlike the Christian catacombs, of which there are 40 and which attract thousands of visitors per year, the Jewish catacombs were off-limits, with only private parties permitted to view them in pre-arranged visits.Visitors to the catacombs, which lie outside the walls that encircles ancient Rome, will be able to see inscriptions in Hebrew, Latin and Greek that indicate family connections, status and line of work, according to The Catholic Register.“While the catacombs have been sacked over the centuries, visitors can still see many colorful frescoes and tablets with depictions of the traditional Jewish candelabra,” read the report.“The walls of family ‘cubicles’ or tombs are covered in dancing maidens, birds, grapevines and floral tributes, and there are also pockets of kokhim, a type of Jewish burial chambers,” it added.The initiative is one of several by the Italian culture minister, Dario Franceschini, to mark Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy.The cultural councilor for the Jewish Community of Rome, Giorgia Calo, welcomed the move, saying that Jews “have always been a part of the history of the capital.”Speaking to The Catholic Register, Calo said: “We have tried to create a suitable itinerary to help people understand how much the Jewish people have been part of Rome.”
UK Labour chief Corbyn rejects call to denounce Hamas, Hezbollah-As senior party members said to mull resignation over handling of anti-Semitism row, leader says he will continue to engage Palestinian groups, declares Labour ‘absolutely against anti-Semitism’-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies May 2, 2016, 1:57 am
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn rebuffed calls Sunday to denounce contacts with terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah, while declaring that his party is against anti-Semitism, amid a roiling scandal over accusations of widespread anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiments among Labourites.Corbyn used a May Day rally to say the party “is absolutely against anti-Semitism in any form” after a tumultuous week that focused attention on the party’s attitude toward Jews instead of its campaigning efforts ahead of London’s mayoral race.But as Labour attempted to push back against efforts to label it anti-Semitic, it also came under fire for Corbyn’s past contacts with Hamas and Hezbollah, both sworn to Israel’s destruction.A statement from Corbyn’s spokesperson said he would continue to engage such groups, while denying that doing so was tantamount to an endorsement.“Jeremy Corbyn has been a longstanding supporter of Palestinian rights and the pursuit of peace and justice in the Middle East through dialogue and negotiation,” the statement read, according to the Telegraph newspaper. “He has met many people with whom he profoundly disagrees in order to promote peace and reconciliation processes, including in South Africa, Latin American, Ireland and the Middle East. He believes it is essential to speak to people with whom there is disagreement, particularly when they have large-scale support or democratic mandates.”Earlier in the day, Israel’s newly installed ambassador to the UK Mark Regev slammed many of Britain’s self-proclaimed progressive politicians for “embracing Hamas.” Corbyn has himself talked of Hezbollah as his “friends” and encouraged dialogue with Hamas.“You’ve had too many people on the progressive side of politics who have embraced Hamas and Hezbollah,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr. “Both of them are anti-Semitic organizations; you just have to read Hamas’s charter and it’s like chapters straight out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Yet some progressive politicians have embraced Hamas. Now, I’d ask the following question: If you’re progressive, you’re embracing an organization which is homophobic, which is misogynistic, which is openly anti-Semitic. What’s progressive about that?”The party is also being criticized because of Corbyn’s past links to Interpal, a controversial British charity said by US officials to be backing extremist causes.In April, Interpal helped sponsor a festival in Gaza in which students presented a skit that showed a young Palestinian pretending to stab two Israeli soldiers.Conservative Party legislator Eric Pickles, Britain’s special envoy for post-Holocaust matters, told the Daily Mail that Corbyn has failed to renounce the “repugnant” group.Corbyn’s office released a statement Sunday defending his involvement with the group, which he said was recognized by the UN Relief Agency and the British Charities Commission.The statement said Corbyn has supported Interpal’s humanitarian work and in 2013 toured Gaza on an “Interpal backed” humanitarian trip that included a Conservative and a Liberal Democrat legislator.The issue of anti-Semitism within Labour flared up in the last week when Labour legislator Naz Shah was suspended for posting anti-Israel material before she was elected to Parliament. That prompted former London Mayor Ken Livingstone to defend her by saying that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had been a Zionist early in his political career.Livingstone was quickly suspended from his role on the party’s executive council, but his provocative comments led Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn to set up an independent review of anti-Semitism and other racism within the party, which was soundly defeated in last year’s general election by Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives.The row is continuing to threaten to snowball into a full grown crisis, with grumblings beginning to be heard of a possible party mutiny over Corbyn’s leadership.The Times newspaper reported late Sunday that some top Labour politicians were discussing whether to resign in the coming weeks in protest over Corbyn’s handling of the anti-Semitism crisis.But Labour legislator Diane Abbott, a close ally of Corbyn, said Sunday the party is being unfairly attacked by its political enemies.“It is a smear to say that the Labour Party has a problem with anti-Semitism. It is not fair on ordinary Labour Party members,” Abbott told the BBC’s Marr. “Two hundred thousand people have joined the Labour Party. Are you saying that because there have been 12 reported incidents of hate speech online, that the Labour Party is somehow intrinsically anti-Semitic?”Abbott, who helps set the party’s international development policies, made her comments as debate on whether the frequent criticism of Israeli government policies from Labour members had crossed over into anti-Semitism overshadowed last-minute electioneering for a mayoral race for London slated for Thursday.Labour Party mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan, who is leading in pre-election polls against Conservative Jewish candidate Zac Goldsmith, said Livingstone’s comments had made his path to victory tougher.“I accept that the comments that Ken Livingstone has made make it more difficult for Londoners of Jewish faith to feel that the Labour party is a place for them,” he told The Observer newspaper.
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
ISAIAH 41:11
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
LETS SEE ASSAD BOMBS A HOSPITAL IN SYRIA.KILLING LOTS.IRAN HATES THEIR PEACE PARTNER USA AND ISRAEL.BUT YET IRAN GETS BILLIONS FROM AMERICA IN THIS FAKE PEACE NUKE DEAL.DOES THIS NOT SOUND LIKE THE WAY THOSE PEACE LOVING ARABS TALK AGAINST ISRAEL.EVEN THOUGH THEY CLAIM TO BE A PEACE PARTNER OF ISRAELS.SEE ALL ISLAMIC-MUSLIMS ARE ALIKE.THEY HATE THEIR PEACE PARTNERS.BUT CAN LIE AND MAKE A DEAL WITH THEM-TILL THEY GET STRONG ENOUGH TO DESTROY THE SO CALLED PEACE PARTNER.
Khamenei: US is main enemy, ‘Zionist regime’ a close second-In meeting with Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief, Iranian supreme leader says ‘defending Palestine’ is ‘defending Islam’-By Times of Israel staff May 1, 2016, 10:21 pm
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday that the United States is the Middle East’s main enemy, with the “Zionist regime” a close second.Speaking at a meeting in Tehran on Sunday with the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Ramadan Abdullah, Khamenei said that looking at the turmoil in the region in a “macro” sense, the US was clearly to blame, with Israel following closely behind. PIJ is an Islamist terrorist organization.In comments carried by Iranian websites, some of which were then posted to Khamenei’s Twitter page, the Iranian leader unleashed a series of anti-US and anti-Israel remarks.Khamenei, said Iran’s Mehr News agency, “reaffirmed that with this perspective in regional issues, Iran sees the United States as main enemy with the Zionist regime standing behind it. He pointed to extensive, unprecedented sanctions of US and its followers against the Islamic establishment in recent years and dubbed the objective of them as discouraging Iran from continuing its path; ‘but they failed to achieve their goals and will fail in future as well’.”The ongoing unrest in the Middle East, Khamenei alleged, is a continuance of the “war” waged on Iran by US-led Western governments since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 “and the Palestine issue is the key issue,” Khamenei tweeted. Huge ongoing war in region is continuance of the war waged against Islamic Republic of Iran 37 years ago& #Palestine issue is its key issue.— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 1, 2016-The Iranian leader said Iran was backing embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad “because those standing against Syria are in fact enemies to core of Islam and serve the interests of the US and Zionist regime.”-Because those standing against #Syria are in fact enemies to core of Islam and serve interests of the US and Zionist regime. 2/2- Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 1, 2016-In yet another swipe at the US, the Iranian supreme leader said an “arrogance front” has tried to portray the unrest in the region as a power play between Shia and Sunni Islam but that “clash is a colonialist, US plot.”The supreme leader further said that “defending Palestine” was an Iranian duty that also symbolized “defending Islam,” and vowed to keep supporting the Palestinian cause.Defending #Palestine is symbol of defending #Islam.— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 1, 2016-As from the beginning Islamic Republic of #Iran has considered support for #Palestine as its duty, it will fulfill this duty in future, too.— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 1, 2016-“From the beginning, the Islamic Republic of Iran has considered support for Palestine as its duty, it will fulfill this duty in future, too,” Khamenei tweeted.Khamenei also praised Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, whose forces have been fighting alongside Assad’s military in neighboring Syria, saying surely Israel was “scared of Hezbollah more than in the past.”For his part, Abdullah thanked Khamenei for Iran’s support of the “Palestinian resistance” and congratulated the Iranian leader on the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which was marked in February.Khamenei and Abdullah last met two years ago, several months after the end of the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas and other Gaza-based terror groups. PIJ publicly thanked Iran for its support during that war.The US and Iran are in the process of implementing an historic nuclear deal signed last year between Tehran and the US-led P5+1 world powers which would see Iran curb its atomic ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.
Iran sues US at Int’l Court of Justice over order to pay terror victims’ families-Senior official says legal procedures underway to reclaim some $2 billion in frozen Iranian funds held by US-By AFP and Times of Israel staff May 1, 2016, 7:21 pm
A senior Iranian official said Sunday that Iran has filed a lawsuit against Washington at the International Court of Justice over a US Supreme Court ruling which would transfer over $2 billion in frozen Iranian funds to American victims of terror attacks.“The government has powerfully stood against the practice of this ruling because these assets belong to the [Iranian] nation and should be spent for its welfare,” Iranian Vice President for Legal Affairs Elham Aminzadeh said on Sunday, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.Aminzadeh added that Iran “has filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice and is pursuing” legal procedures to reclaim the funds.Iran threatened last week to turn to the ICJ in The Hague, claiming that the US Supreme Court’s decision amounted to theft.“We hold the US administration responsible for preservation of Iranian funds and if they are plundered, we will lodge a complaint with the ICJ for reparation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said last week at a joint news conference with his visiting Macedonian counterpart Nicolas Poposki.The US Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that Iran must hand over nearly $2 billion in frozen assets to survivors and relatives of those killed in attacks attributed to the Islamic Republic.These included the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.The decision affects more than 1,000 Americans.The official IRNA news agency on Monday cited Zarif as saying in English that if such a ruling were applied, it would be “misappropriation” of Iranian funds.“We have announced since the beginning that the Iranian government does not recognize the US extraterritorial law and considers the US court ruling to blockade Iranian funds null and void and in gross violation of international law,” he said.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also blasted the ruling, vowing to fight the decision.“That a court or judiciary in a corner of the world wants to decide about the Iranian nation’s rights and properties is fully illegal and against international law and the central banks’ legal immunity,” Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting in Tehran, according to Fars.“The Iranian nation will stand against this incorrect ruling, and the Islamic Republic and its government will use all their power to restore the Iranian nation’s rights,” he added.
Germany denies reconsidering Israel support, says policy unchanged-Berlin official rejects claims by Der Spiegel of deteriorating ties with Jewish state over Merkel’s ‘frustration’ with Netanyahu-By Times of Israel staff May 1, 2016, 11:30 pm
A German official denied on Sunday a report published last week claiming that Germany was reconsidering its strong support for Israel amid Chancellor Angela Merkel’s growing frustrations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies.“The guidelines of German Middle East policy have not changed,” the unnamed German official told Reuters when asked to comment on the report published in the latest edition of Der Spiegel magazine.The report claimed Merkel’s camp was “furious” at a leak of confidential consultations between Jerusalem and Berlin in the German capital in February, which subsequently appeared in the free Israel Hayom daily, owned by staunch Netanyahu supporter Sheldon Adelson.Furthermore, the magazine said, the leaked details of Merkel’s remarks were “twisted” to give the impression that she supported Netanyahu’s position that a two-state solution with the Palestinians was currently unfeasible, whereas the chancellor had actually said that Israeli settlement construction “makes it unlikely that a viable Palestinian state can be established in accordance with plans aimed at a two-state solution.”(The Times of Israel reported at the time that the German government was displeased with Netanyahu for asserting that Merkel had changed her stance on a two-state solution, and that it dispatched emissaries to Jerusalem clarify Berlin’s position.)-The German response came a day after a senior official in Netanyahu’s government dismissed the report, saying that German-Israeli ties were on track.“Ties between Israel and Germany are close and good, and they will continue to be,” the official said on Saturday, adding that the statements in the report published by Der Spiegel were “most likely an internal German attempt to bash Merkel over her close relationship with Netanyahu.”The Der Spiegel report claimed that Netanyahu was having a deleterious effect on Israeli-German relations, to the extent that “many, particularly in the Berlin Foreign Ministry, have begun wondering if Germany sent the wrong signals in the past.” The magazine in particular points to a speech by Merkel in the Knesset in 2008 during which she said that Israel’s security is part of Germany’s “raison d’état.”The report carried comments by government officials criticizing Netanyahu and questioning Germany’s automatic support for Israel.“Israel’s current policies are not contributing to the country remaining Jewish and democratic,” a member of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Norbert Roettgen, was quoted as saying. “We must express this concern more clearly to Israel.”Rolf Muetzenich, a member of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) told the magazine:”The perception has been growing in the German government that Netanyahu is instrumentalizing our friendship.”This shift by Berlin, Der Spiegel said, could be seen in Germany’s vote in a January 2016 resolution by the European Union on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prior to the vote, Netanyahu called German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to seek reassurance over a paragraph in the draft resolution criticizing settlement construction.“I’m counting on you,” Netanyahu told Steinmeier, the report said. But the foreign minister voted in favor of the draft, with the wording condemning settlement expansion unchanged.According to Der Spiegel, the Merkel government has “lost hope that the peace process can be revived so long as Netanyahu remains in office.”Another manifestation of this view came when Merkel met with Abbas in Berlin some two weeks ago. The chancellor, the report said, “was demonstrative in her support.”“I understand why President Abbas continually seeks out the Security Council,” Merkel said, according to the report. The magazine added that, “Even accusations from Netanyahu that EU labeling rules for products made in the settlements are akin to an anti-Jewish boycott are no longer taken seriously.”
IDF: Private security guards killed knife-wielding Palestinian siblings-Military Police drops probe into fatal shooting at Qalandiya last week, says officer acted appropriately; Israel Police reportedly won’t look into it either-By Tamar Pileggi May 1, 2016, 8:54 pm-the times of israel
The Palestinian siblings shot dead during an attempted attack on Israeli border guards at the Qalandiya crossing in the West Bank last week were killed by civilian security guards and not Israeli forces, an army investigation determined.Since security forces did not fire the fatal shots at Maram Hassan Abu Ismail, 23, and her brother Ibrahim Saleh Taha, 16, the Military Police’s investigations unit on Sunday announced the defense establishment would drop its investigations into the incident. Abu Ismail had hurled a knife at Israeli forces before she was shot, according to the Israeli military.According to initial reports, the April 27 incident was to be probed by investigators from the Jerusalem District Police. However, later Sunday, according to Army Radio, the police said it would not be probing the incident either, since the shots that killed Abu Ismail and Taha were fired moments by a guard from a privately contracted security firm.The Military Police said the Border Police officer guarding the busy West Bank crossing at the time complied with army protocol and arrest procedures by firing warning shots into the air as the siblings approached guards at the checkpoint in a suspicious manner. The private guard fired seconds later.Last week, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said security forces at the checkpoint spotted Abu Ismail walking towards guards with her hand concealed inside her purse and Taha’s hand behind his back, holding something.“The officers called them to stop a number of times,” she said in a statement last week.“The female terrorist stopped a short distance from the officers, then walked the other way with the man, when she suddenly turned around to face the officers again, pulled a knife that was in her purse and threw it at an officer near her,” Samri said.A kitchen knife was recovered from Abu Ismail’s purse, while an identical knife and a Leatherman-style multi-tool were discovered in Taha’s belt, she added.Both were said to be residents of Beit Surif, a village in the central West Bank.The Defense Ministry often contracts guards from private companies to bolster its security presence at major checkpoint crossings between Israel and Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank.Its guards are legally and professionally subordinate to the police.The private guards don’t usually come into contact with Palestinians crossing through the checkpoints, and are frequently stationed behind concrete barriers to generally reinforce Israeli security in the area.Qalandiya and the adjacent crossing between the West Bank and Israel has been a flashpoint of conflict in the recent wave of violence that has rocked Israel since September of last year.The shooting is the latest in a wave of Palestinian stabbing and car-ramming attacks that has killed 29 Israelis and four foreign nationals since last October.Some 203 Palestinians have been killed during the same period, most while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks against Israelis, army officials say.Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.
Watchdog seeks to keep chemical weapons out of terrorist hands-Hague-based group trying to woo last 4 countries — Egypt, Israel, North Korea and South Sudan — to join Chemical Weapons Convention-By AP and Times of Israel staff May 1, 2016, 5:06 pm-the times of israel
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — With about 92 percent of the world’s declared chemical weapons stockpiles destroyed, the watchdog agency overseeing the elimination of poison gas and nerve agents is looking now to counter emerging threats from extremist groups while still dealing with unfinished business in Syria.The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is marking the April 29, 1997, entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention with a three-day conference starting Monday focusing on chemical safety and security.It appears, in the future, extremists and criminals seem more likely than nations to launch chemical attacks.“We want to capture the current security threats in regard to chemical weapons, especially from non-state actors,” OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu told The Associated Press at the organization’s headquarters in The Hague.The OPCW, however, is still working to bring on board four remaining countries that have not joined the chemical weapons convention — Egypt, Israel, North Korea and South Sudan.Uzumcu believes it is only a “matter of time” before South Sudan joins and says the change in the Mideast security landscape brought about by the Syrian war may ultimately lead to Israel and Egypt joining.Israel signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993, but when it was put into force in 1997, the Jewish state refrained from ratifying the treaty. State parties that sign the convention undertake the obligation to prohibit producing and using chemical weapons, as well as to destroy all weapons and facilities they have.Little is known about Israel’s chemical capabilities, and Jerusalem does not comment on the matter, preferring to maintain a policy of strategic ambiguity.Avner Cohen, professor of Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, told The Times of Israel last year that he “strongly doubts” Israel currently has deployable chemical weapons.The reclusive regime in North Korea has so far ignored all attempts by Uzumcu to open a dialogue.Ralf Trapp, a former OPCW staffer who is now an independent disarmament and non-proliferation consultant, says getting Pyongyang on board will be tough because of the nuclear issue that dominates the disarmament agenda.“Can you isolate the chemical weapons issue from the rest of the security situation on the Korean peninsula?” he said. “If you could do that, you could talk to the Koreans and try to get a process going. If you can’t separate it from the rest, it becomes a ball in a much bigger game and you get the nuclear issue and a couple of other things and it becomes very complicated.”There have been repeated reports of chemical attacks in Syria’s devastating civil war and a UN-mandated investigation is underway aimed at apportioning blame for nine cases in 2014 and 2015. A final report is expected shortly before the team’s mandate ends in September.In some of the cases, it’s believed that chlorine was used in the attacks. The widely available substance is sold the world over for legitimate purposes such as water purification, but chlorine gas also was used in the first large-scale chemical weapons attack by German forces in World War I.“The challenge will remain to prevent the use of toxic substances as a weapon,” said Uzumcu, whose organization won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize for its disarmament efforts.The issue is not new. The OPCW has been considering it since the 9/11 attacks in the United States, but it has been brought into sharper focus by the attacks in Syria.At the conference starting Monday, experts will discuss how to use the existing chemical weapons convention to tackle the problem and whether the OCPW needs to adapt to the new reality.Trapp says protecting people from attacks using readily available chemicals is a difficult balancing act.“You always will have the dilemma that some of these chemicals are in very wide use,” he said in a telephone interview. “If you over-regulate them or control them to the point where they can no longer be properly used, you’re actually slowing down economic use. It’s not going to work.”Trapp warned that finding a way to deal with extremists has taken on new urgency with the rise of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.“Over time, you could expect that if they do decide to go for a chemical weapons program that they will in fact have the capability of investing time and money into it and develop something that would be much more sophisticated than what we see today,” he said.Meanwhile, the OPCW has yet to complete its work in Syria, which joined the organization in 2013 amid international outrage at a nerve gas attack on the outskirts of Damascus.Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government declared a 1,300-ton chemical weapons stockpile and 14 production facilities, triggering an unprecedented international operation to remove weapons and chemicals from the war-torn country and destroy them.The weapons have been destroyed, as have 11 of the production plants, Uzumcu said, but member states of the OPCW have repeatedly questioned whether Assad declared everything in 2013.“We are not yet there,” Uzumcu said. “There are still questions. I am not able to say whether Syria has declared everything or whether Syria continues to possess some chemical weapons or some munitions. I hope that we will be able to clarify the remaining questions.”He said Syrian officials are expected to visit The Hague in coming weeks to continue talks aimed at clarifying the situation.Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
Rome opens Jewish catacombs to public-Viewable until May 5, ancient burial site of notable Italian Jews consists of extensive underground tunnels-By Times of Israel staff April 30, 2016, 10:06 pm
The city of Rome will open up the Jewish catacombs to the public on Sunday, a first in over a decade.The ancient burial site at Vigna Randanini will be available for viewing to the general public until May 5.The complex, found beneath a former vineyard in 1859, consists of a maze of tunnels that cover nearly 18,500 square meters at a depth of five to 16 meters beneath the surface.It is said to date back to the period between the second and third centuries and could have been in use up until the fifth century.Unlike the Christian catacombs, of which there are 40 and which attract thousands of visitors per year, the Jewish catacombs were off-limits, with only private parties permitted to view them in pre-arranged visits.Visitors to the catacombs, which lie outside the walls that encircles ancient Rome, will be able to see inscriptions in Hebrew, Latin and Greek that indicate family connections, status and line of work, according to The Catholic Register.“While the catacombs have been sacked over the centuries, visitors can still see many colorful frescoes and tablets with depictions of the traditional Jewish candelabra,” read the report.“The walls of family ‘cubicles’ or tombs are covered in dancing maidens, birds, grapevines and floral tributes, and there are also pockets of kokhim, a type of Jewish burial chambers,” it added.The initiative is one of several by the Italian culture minister, Dario Franceschini, to mark Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy.The cultural councilor for the Jewish Community of Rome, Giorgia Calo, welcomed the move, saying that Jews “have always been a part of the history of the capital.”Speaking to The Catholic Register, Calo said: “We have tried to create a suitable itinerary to help people understand how much the Jewish people have been part of Rome.”
UK Labour chief Corbyn rejects call to denounce Hamas, Hezbollah-As senior party members said to mull resignation over handling of anti-Semitism row, leader says he will continue to engage Palestinian groups, declares Labour ‘absolutely against anti-Semitism’-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies May 2, 2016, 1:57 am
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn rebuffed calls Sunday to denounce contacts with terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah, while declaring that his party is against anti-Semitism, amid a roiling scandal over accusations of widespread anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiments among Labourites.Corbyn used a May Day rally to say the party “is absolutely against anti-Semitism in any form” after a tumultuous week that focused attention on the party’s attitude toward Jews instead of its campaigning efforts ahead of London’s mayoral race.But as Labour attempted to push back against efforts to label it anti-Semitic, it also came under fire for Corbyn’s past contacts with Hamas and Hezbollah, both sworn to Israel’s destruction.A statement from Corbyn’s spokesperson said he would continue to engage such groups, while denying that doing so was tantamount to an endorsement.“Jeremy Corbyn has been a longstanding supporter of Palestinian rights and the pursuit of peace and justice in the Middle East through dialogue and negotiation,” the statement read, according to the Telegraph newspaper. “He has met many people with whom he profoundly disagrees in order to promote peace and reconciliation processes, including in South Africa, Latin American, Ireland and the Middle East. He believes it is essential to speak to people with whom there is disagreement, particularly when they have large-scale support or democratic mandates.”Earlier in the day, Israel’s newly installed ambassador to the UK Mark Regev slammed many of Britain’s self-proclaimed progressive politicians for “embracing Hamas.” Corbyn has himself talked of Hezbollah as his “friends” and encouraged dialogue with Hamas.“You’ve had too many people on the progressive side of politics who have embraced Hamas and Hezbollah,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr. “Both of them are anti-Semitic organizations; you just have to read Hamas’s charter and it’s like chapters straight out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Yet some progressive politicians have embraced Hamas. Now, I’d ask the following question: If you’re progressive, you’re embracing an organization which is homophobic, which is misogynistic, which is openly anti-Semitic. What’s progressive about that?”The party is also being criticized because of Corbyn’s past links to Interpal, a controversial British charity said by US officials to be backing extremist causes.In April, Interpal helped sponsor a festival in Gaza in which students presented a skit that showed a young Palestinian pretending to stab two Israeli soldiers.Conservative Party legislator Eric Pickles, Britain’s special envoy for post-Holocaust matters, told the Daily Mail that Corbyn has failed to renounce the “repugnant” group.Corbyn’s office released a statement Sunday defending his involvement with the group, which he said was recognized by the UN Relief Agency and the British Charities Commission.The statement said Corbyn has supported Interpal’s humanitarian work and in 2013 toured Gaza on an “Interpal backed” humanitarian trip that included a Conservative and a Liberal Democrat legislator.The issue of anti-Semitism within Labour flared up in the last week when Labour legislator Naz Shah was suspended for posting anti-Israel material before she was elected to Parliament. That prompted former London Mayor Ken Livingstone to defend her by saying that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had been a Zionist early in his political career.Livingstone was quickly suspended from his role on the party’s executive council, but his provocative comments led Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn to set up an independent review of anti-Semitism and other racism within the party, which was soundly defeated in last year’s general election by Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives.The row is continuing to threaten to snowball into a full grown crisis, with grumblings beginning to be heard of a possible party mutiny over Corbyn’s leadership.The Times newspaper reported late Sunday that some top Labour politicians were discussing whether to resign in the coming weeks in protest over Corbyn’s handling of the anti-Semitism crisis.But Labour legislator Diane Abbott, a close ally of Corbyn, said Sunday the party is being unfairly attacked by its political enemies.“It is a smear to say that the Labour Party has a problem with anti-Semitism. It is not fair on ordinary Labour Party members,” Abbott told the BBC’s Marr. “Two hundred thousand people have joined the Labour Party. Are you saying that because there have been 12 reported incidents of hate speech online, that the Labour Party is somehow intrinsically anti-Semitic?”Abbott, who helps set the party’s international development policies, made her comments as debate on whether the frequent criticism of Israeli government policies from Labour members had crossed over into anti-Semitism overshadowed last-minute electioneering for a mayoral race for London slated for Thursday.Labour Party mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan, who is leading in pre-election polls against Conservative Jewish candidate Zac Goldsmith, said Livingstone’s comments had made his path to victory tougher.“I accept that the comments that Ken Livingstone has made make it more difficult for Londoners of Jewish faith to feel that the Labour party is a place for them,” he told The Observer newspaper.
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