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)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
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)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Jewish Home minister threatens to bolt coalition over Trump peace plan-With PM reported to endorse US proposal, Uri Ariel says his National Union faction 'will not remain in a government that recognizes a Palestinian state'-By Raoul Wootliff-toi-nov 19,17
A government minister from the Jewish Home party threatened Saturday to leave the coalition over reports that the Trump administration is ready to recognize a Palestinian state as a central element of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal accepted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.“The National Union will not remain in a government that recognizes a Palestinian state,” Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel said in statement following a Hadashot News (formerly Channel 2) report on the plan, referring to the faction he heads within the nationalist Jewish Home Party.The ruling coalition has a narrow majority of 66 out of 120 MKs, leaving the government vulnerable to threats from junior partners. If the National Union, which is made up of just Ariel and MK Bezalel Smotrich, were to leave the coalition, it would not, however, slash the governments majority and trigger new elections.But Ariel says he and Smotrich are not alone within the coalition and would be joined by other lawmakers in bringing the government down if the reports are true.“There are also Knesset members in the Likud and the Jewish Home who have made clear that they will not agree to transfer swathes of land to the Palestinian Authority,” he said.As co-chairs of the Knesset lobby for the Land of Israel, Smotrich and Likud MK Yoav Kisch echoed Ariel’s words, saying in a statement that, “under no circumstances will we agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state on this side of the Jordan river,”They added: “A diplomatic plan in the spirit of new Oslo accords will be received with strong opposition.”The report said that in additional to the recognition of a Palestinian state, the US would not insist on the evacuation of any settlements or settlers under a permanent accord, and that Washington would back most of Israel’s security demands regarding the West Bank.Netanyahu had reportedly been made aware of the plan and offered his tacit endorsement.Quoting what it said were senior Israelis intimately involved in the ongoing discussions with Trump’s peace team, the report said the US peace plan would see President Donald Trump prepared to offer recognition of Palestinian statehood, with the parameters of that state to include land swaps. The borders, however, would “not necessarily” be based on the pre-1967 lines.Sunni Arab states and others would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in economic assistance for the Palestinians under the plan, to help encourage Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to accept the deal, the report said.The US would recognize most of Israel’s stated security needs, including for the ongoing presence of Israeli forces along the Jordan border, the TV report added. It said Netanyahu, for his part, was pushing for the retention of overall Israeli security control in all Palestinian territory.No settlers or settlements would be evacuated under the US proposal, the TV report said, also noting that no Arabs would be required to relocate.A White House official contacted by The Times of Israel, however, rejected the report as “not an accurate representation” of the peace plan being worked on.“There is constant speculation and guessing about what we are working on and this report is more of the same,” the official said. “It is not an accurate representation, rather it is a mix of possibilities and ideas that have existed for decades.”“What we can say is we are engaged in a productive dialogue with all relevant parties and are taking a different approach than the past to create an enduring peace deal,” the official told The Times of Israel. “We are not going to put an artificial deadline on anything and we have no imminent plans beyond continuing our conversations. As we have always said, our job is to facilitate a deal that works for both Israelis and Palestinians, not to impose anything on them.”The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu similarly stated that “the report is not accurate.” It said Netanyahu’s response to the US proposal would depend on its content and specifically on whether it met “the security needs and national needs of the State of Israel.”The proposal is to be presented within months, but not in the next month, the TV report claimed. It will not deal with the issue of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, or with US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Time of Israel staff contributed to this report.
US, Israel dismiss TV report claiming Trump ready to recognize Palestinian state-Israel's Hadashot news sets out what it says are 'key principles' of emerging US peace plan, including a Palestinian state 'not necessarily' based on 1967 lines-By TOI staff-19 November 2017
American and Israeli officials on Saturday night quickly dismissed an Israeli TV report that claimed the Trump administration is ready to recognize a Palestinian state as a central element of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, that the US will not insist on the evacuation of any settlements or settlers under a permanent accord, and that Washington backs most of Israel’s security demands regarding the West Bank.The Hadashot News (formerly Channel 2) TV report cited these positions as being among the “key principles” of the emerging US peace plan. But a White House official contacted by The Times of Israel rejected the report as “not an accurate representation.”The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu similarly stated that “the report is not accurate.” It said Netanyahu’s response to the US proposal would depend on its content and specifically on whether it met “the security needs and national needs of the State of Israel.”Quoting what it said were senior Israelis intimately involved in the ongoing discussions with Trump’s peace team, the TV report Saturday evening said the US peace plan would see President Donald Trump prepared to offer recognition of Palestinian statehood, with the parameters of that state to include land swaps. The borders, however, would “not necessarily” be based on the pre-1967 lines.Sunni Arab states and others would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in economic assistance for the Palestinians under the plan, to help encourage Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to accept the deal, the report said.The US would recognize most of Israel’s stated security needs, including for the ongoing presence of Israeli forces along the Jordan border, the TV report added. It said Netanyahu, for his part, was pushing for the retention of overall Israeli security control in all Palestinian territory. (This is a position Netanyahu has publicly demanded, and which, if granted, would underline that the Palestinians would not be gaining full sovereignty.) No settlers or settlements would be evacuated under the US proposal, the TV report said, also noting that no Arabs would be required to relocate.The proposal is to be presented within months, but not in the next month, the TV report claimed. It will not deal with the issue of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, or with US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.The proposal will be presented as central to a regional Israeli-Arab peace accord, the TV report said, and there is some hope that it might be presented at some kind of international conference.The TV report quoted Netanyahu telling his ministers that there has been no friendlier US president to Israel than Trump, that Israel will never be offered a better deal than under Trump, and that Israel cannot afford to reject the US proposal when it comes.Furthermore, the TV report said, the emerging US terms would still be open to negotiation, and no terms would be imposed upon the sides.A White House source quoted by Hadashot news, responding to the report, called it “speculative” and “not necessarily accurate,” and noted that “lots of ideas” were being examined. The source said the Trump team was taking “a different approach” to previous efforts, and that no artificial deadline would be set for an accord, and no terms would be imposed.The White House official contacted by The Times of Israel was also dismissive: “There is constant speculation and guessing about what we are working on and this report is more of the same,” the official said. “It is not an accurate representation, rather it is a mix of possibilities and ideas that have existed for decades.”“What we can say is we are engaged in a productive dialogue with all relevant parties and are taking a different approach than the past to create an enduring peace deal,” the official told The Times of Israel. “We are not going to put an artificial deadline on anything and we have no imminent plans beyond continuing our conversations. As we have always said, our job is to facilitate a deal that works for both Israelis and Palestinians, not to impose anything on them.”Israel’s Channel 10 news reported last week that Saudi Arabia has told Abbas he had better accept the Trump plan when it is presented, or resign. That report was denied by PA officials.The New York Times reported a week ago that Trump’s administration had begun drafting its Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal based on a two-state solution.A senior White House adviser told the paper that Trump’s Mideast peace plan would attempt to tackle hot-button issues such as the status of Jerusalem and West Bank settlements.“We have spent a lot of time listening to and engaging with the Israelis, Palestinians and key regional leaders over the past few months to help reach an enduring peace deal,” Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt told The Times. “We are not going to put an artificial timeline on the development or presentation of any specific ideas and will also never impose a deal.”“Our goal is to facilitate, not dictate, a lasting peace agreement to improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians and security across the region,” he said.
Liberman urges Arab nations to make peace with Israel and confront Iran-Defense minister urges moderate countries to follow the lead of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, the first Arab leader to make peace-By TOI staff-19 November 2017
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Saturday urged moderate Arab nations to make peace with Israel in order to better confront the threat posed by Iran.“After Daesh, Iran,” Liberman tweeted on Saturday, referring to the Islamic State by its Arabic name. “[Late Egyptian President] Anwar Sadat was a brave leader, who went against the stream and paved the way for other Arab leaders to recognize the importance of strategic ties with Israel.”“40 years after his historic visit to Israel, I call on leaders in the region to follow the path of President Sadat, come to Jerusalem and open a new chapter, not just in terms of Israel’s relations with the Arab world, but for the whole region,” Liberman wrote.Sadat famously flew to Jerusalem ahead of signing the Camp David peace deal with Israel, the first Arab leader to do so. Sadat was later assassinated for his actions.“The Middle East today needs, more than anything else, a coalition of moderate states against Iran. The coalition against Daesh has finished its work, after Daesh, Iran,” Liberman wrote in remarks that appeared to be directed in part at Saudi Arabia.Saudi Arabia has in recent days stepped up its efforts to counteract Iran and its proxies in Yemen, and the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.Iran and Saudi Arabia have long been at odds and back feuding Shiite and Sunni forces throughout the region. Although they do not share formal diplomatic ties, Israel has reportedly forged ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states over a shared distrust of Iran.In recent days this has focused on Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned while on a trip to Saudi Arabia and had been there since. On Saturday he arrived in France and vowed to return to Beirut by Wednesday.Hariri’s resignation was widely seen as an escalation of the battle for influence between Saudi Arabia and Iran.Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen who has previously enjoyed Riyadh’s backing, announced his resignation on November 4.He said he feared for his life, accusing Iran and Hezbollah of destabilizing his country.Israel is also concerned that as Islamic State is defeated in Syria and Iraq, Iranian-backed forces are filling the vacuum. Israel also said that a ceasefire deal brokered by the US and Russia does not go far enough in removing Iran from Israel’s border.Israel said Sunday it will not be bound by the deal, with ministers indicating Israel will continue to operate across the border when it deems it necessary. Israel has repeatedly said it will not tolerate an Iranian presence along the Golan nor allow Iran to entrench itself military in Syria.The ceasefire agreement, announced in a US-Russian statement last Saturday, affirms a call for “the reduction, and ultimate elimination” of foreign fighters from southern Syria.The BBC published satellite photos on November 10 said to show the construction of a permanent Iranian military base in Syria.According to the BBC report, the base is situated at a site used by the Syrian army near El-Kiswah, 14 kilometers (8 miles) south of Damascus, and 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Israeli border.
Palestinians warn they will freeze ties if US shuts Washington office-Netanyahu says he respects US move; US acting because PA is seeking legal action against Israel at ICC-By Agencies and TOI staff-19 November 2017
The Palestinians on Saturday warned they would freeze ties with the US if it shuts the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington DC for reportedly running afoul of a US law by calling for Israelis to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.In a video posted on Twitter, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said that Palestinian officials would “put on hold all communication with this administration” if the office is officially shuttered. “This is very unfortunate.”He said the move was the result of pressure by Netanyahu on the Trump administration.The PA leadership is set to meet in the coming days to discuss its response.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied this, but praised the US move.“We respect the decision and look forward to continuing our work with the United States to promote peace and security in the region,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.Netanyahu indicated the move by the US State Department had nothing to do with Israel, saying “its an American law.”Earlier on Saturday, a PLO official said the State Department refused to renew operating permission for its office in Washington for the first time since the 1980s.The PLO, which the international community sees as representing all Palestinians, must have its permission to operate its premises in the American capital renewed every six months.“The Palestinian Authority received a letter from the State Department two days ago saying that the Secretary of State had not found enough reasons to keep the office open,” Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riyad al-Malki told AFP.“This has not happened in the past, and we have demanded clarifications from the State Department and the White House,” he said. “They told us that there would be a meeting of senior legal experts on Monday. Then they would give a clear answer.”He said he had written to the US administration calling the move “unacceptable, an escalatory step and a political decision that threatens to end the US role in the peace process.”A US State Department official cited “certain statements made by Palestinian leaders” about the International Criminal Court as the reason behind the non-renewal.PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ latest speech at the UN General Assembly, in which he suggested taking the issue of Israeli settlements to the ICC, may have been behind the US stance.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had refused to certify on Friday that the Palestinians are complying with a 2015 Congressional mandate, which induces penalties if the PA pursues the prosecution of Israelis at the ICC.The specific penalization, according to a provision in a US law passed in December 2015, is the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s mission to the United States, located in Washington, DC.“We were unable to make a new certification, and have notified the PLO accordingly,” a State Department official told The Times of Israel on Friday evening. “The secretary concluded that the factual record, in particular certain statements made by Palestinian leaders about the ICC, did not permit him to make the factual certification required by the statute.”In 2015 Congress introduced a provision that Palestinians may not try to wield influence over the ICC concerning investigations into Israeli nationals.The declaration does not automatically mean the mission will close. US President Donald Trump now has a 90-day window to decide whether “the Palestinians have entered into direct, meaningful negotiations with Israel” — in which case he can waive the requirement to shutter the office.The notice comes as Trump seeks bargaining chips in his bid to broker the long out-of-reach Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.The official said Washington is hopeful any “closure will be short-lived,” emphasizing that “we are not cutting off relations with the PLO, nor do we intend to stop working with the Palestinian Authority.”“This measure should in no way be seen as a signal that the US is backing off those efforts.”The presence of the office is conditional on permission from the US Secretary of State, renewable every six months.The latest six-month period finished two days ago.
US nuclear commander would resist ‘illegal’ order for strike-Top Strategic Command officer says he would not allow President Trump to carry out attack that didn't follow legal protocol-By AP-nov 19,17-toi
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — The top officer at US Strategic Command says an order from President Donald Trump or any of his successors to launch nuclear weapons can be refused if that order is determined to be illegal.Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of Strategic Command, told a panel at the Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday that he and Trump have had conversations about such a scenario and that he would tell Trump he couldn’t carry out an illegal strike.In the event that Trump decided to launch a nuclear attack, Hyten would provide him with strike options that are legal. The command would control nuclear forces in a war.The comments come as the threat of nuclear attack from North Korea remains a serious concern and Trump’s critics question his temperament.Trump has urged to adopt a united front against the threat posed by isolated North Korea, which has sparked global alarm with its nuclear and missile tests in recent months.Last week he warned world leaders gathered in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang that the Asia-Pacific region “must not be held hostage to a dictator’s twisted fantasies.”Pyongyang issued a retort branding Trump’s Asia tour a “warmonger’s visit for confrontation to rid the DPRK of its self-defensive nuclear deterrence,” in the first comments on the trip by a North Korean official.It said Trump’s warnings “can never frighten us or put a stop to our advance,” according to the foreign ministry spokesman.Tensions over the North’s weapons program have surged in recent months, as Pyongyang carried out a sixth nuclear test — by far its largest to date — and test-fired dozens of missiles, some capable of reaching the US mainland.Times of Israel staff have contributed to this report.
Tennessee imam says ‘Zionist terrorists’ stole Temple Mount from Muslims-AhmedulHadi Sharif warns followers 'the enemies of Allah will come and try to destroy' Mecca holy site-By TOI staff-19 November 2017
A Somali-American Imam told followers at the Islamic Center of Tennessee over the summer that “Zionist terrorists” stole Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque from Muslims.“The Zionists, the number one terrorists in the world, had occupied and kidnapped that land long ago,” AhmedulHadi Sharif said in a Friday sermon in July, newly translated and posted by watchdog group MEMRI this week. “And now they want to add Al-Aqsa to their occupations. They kidnapped it.”“If we lose Jerusalem, know that it is not going to stop there… The enemies of Allah will come and try to destroy the Kaaba,” he said, referring to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca.He clarified that “we do not hate the ethnic Jewish people, but we do hate the Zionist oppressors.”His sermon, first uploaded to the internet on July 24, came amid a spate of unrest in Jerusalem and the West Bank over the Temple Mount holy site that is home to Al-Aqsa mosque.Earlier that month, the holy site became the focus of a major crisis between Israeli authorities, Palestinians, and Jordan over security measures taken at the entrances to the compound.Metal detectors and cameras had been installed following a deadly attack in which three Arab Israelis emerged from the site and shot dead two Israeli police officers using weapons that had been smuggled onto the Temple Mount.The implementation of the measures set off daily unrest and clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police in and around East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The upgraded security measures were all ultimately removed.
Israeli journalist describes reporting from Syria and Iraq, hiding his secret-British-Israeli Jonathan Spyer knows he's been gambling with his life, but says getting the story is worth it-By Dov Lieber-nov 19,17-toi
Jonathan Spyer had been behind enemy lines many times before, carefully guarding his dangerous secret. But on a fine Spring day in Aleppo this year, in an area controlled by the Syrian regime, he thought his cover might have finally been blown — not by government intelligence agents or Islamist rebels, but by a fellow Brit just trying to have a nice chat over coffee.Spyer, a veteran analyst and Jerusalem-based journalist, has been covering the rumble and crumble of Iraq and Syria into vast territories of stateless chaos for the past six years.Those two conflicts have been responsible for the deaths of a great number of journalists, but for Spyer, there was an extra layer of danger: he’s British-born, but is also an Israeli.“Who wants to think that because of your citizenship, you can’t cover what you regard as the most important story of the 21st century,” said Spyer, in an interview with The Times of Israel.Spyer’s work has appeared in Foreign Policy, Janes Intelligence Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and The Atlantic, among others.In his most recent trip to Syria, he managed to get into the regime-controlled area by joining a propaganda trip sponsored by the government, where he was even able to interview a few ministers.Spyer used somewhat of a false identity to get onto the trip, and agreed that it was “gross incompetence” on the part of the Syrian authorities that his real identity was not uncovered at any point.The closest moment came when his fellow Brit, one of a number of Assad-supporting internationals invited to Damascus by the regime, leaned in and said, “There are rumors of Zionist infiltrators on this trip.”“Oh f***, is this guy toying with me,” Spyer said he thought at the time, and considered making a quick dash for nearby Kurdish-held territory.Turns out that it was just polite chatter.Spyer understands, however, that should someone have thought he was an Israeli agent, he may have disappeared in a Syrian jail cell.Spyer agreed that he was taking a gamble with his life.“If you put it into the cold logic of the gamble, getting published in The Wall Street Journal versus death, well, that’s obviously stupid,” he said.But he noted that all war reporters risk their lives, Israeli or not.“I did it. People do it. On some kind of level, it is worth it, because I think the Syria story is the major news story of the century so far, and we’ve got a ringside seat at it,” he said.Spyer said he has been to Syria about eight to nine times and Iraq five to six times in recent years, generally for around two-week periods. Half of that time he said he was in the Kurdish-held areas, where being an Israeli is acceptable.The British-Israeli said there is a big difference between reporting as an Israeli in Iraq or in Syria.“When you’re in Iraq, people don’t think about Israel that much. It doesn’t concern them very much,” Spyer said.When interviewing an officer of an Iranian-backed militia in Baghdad, he said they just viewed him as a British journalist for a Western outlet, and didn’t think more about it.On the other hand, in Syria, a direct neighbor of Israel, fear of infiltration from the Jewish state is palpable, he said.“In that pro-regime, pro-Hezbollah world, they are so busy talking about [Israeli] infiltrators,” Spyer said, referring to the Iranian-backed terror group in Lebanon, which is fighting on the side of the regime in Syria.He added with a chuckle, “They’re talking about it so much that they didn’t realize the ‘infiltrator’ sitting next to them.”However, he noted, when sneaking into Syria to work among the rebels, there was no need to create a fake identity. “It was so chaotic, you just turn up,” he said.“On the regime side it’s quite different. They are obsessed with intelligence organizations. There you have to be smart, careful and have a water-tight backstory,” he said.Spyer said he finds the fact that other non-Israelis might more safely cover the same issues a moral matter. “Practicalities aside, it’s deeply wrong that a person can’t cover this stuff and have Israeli citizenship,” he said.He noted that Arab journalists can freely work in Israel for Arabic media, but the reciprocal courtesy is not extended to their Israeli counterparts.While working in enemy territory, Spyer said he doesn’t reveal his Israeli identity even to other journalist colleagues for fear it may endanger them. He also said that’s not really an issue because he prefers to work solo.In his new book, “Days of the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars,” published recently by Routledge, Spyer takes the reader on his personal journey through the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, zooming in and out of scenes he lived through, relaying the gritty details of how militants, soldiers, terrorists and citizens, talked, dressed and acted, while always providing the analysis to put the scenes into the larger context.It’s an up-close and visceral account of key events of the conflicts — such as the opening of the battle for Aleppo, the fall of Mount Sinjar where the Yazidi minority was massacred and enslaved by ISIS.A constant source of drama and tension throughout the narrative is that fact of Spyer’s dual British-Israeli citizenship.Will his dark, Jewish secret be discovered by Shiite militants in Iraq, Sunni Islamists in Syria, or perhaps by the Syrian government while he participates in a state-sponsored tour of Damascus? Through a mix of caution, deception, and beard-growing, Spyer manages to navigate two conflicts that have claimed the lives of many journalists.The conflicts in Iraq and Syria, said Spyer, are likely to remain “frozen” — similar to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine — in the coming years, with dug-in factions competing for more control.Spyer said his book will be something akin to a “first draft of history,” which one day he hopes historians will use to help explain how Syria and Iraq, once pillars of the region, came apart at the seams. If so, his high-risk gamble will have been all the more worthwhile.
Egypt warns Ethiopia Nile dam dispute is ‘life or death’-Ethiopia is finalizing construction of its first major dam on the Blue Nile to power the Africa's largest hydroelectric dam; Egypt fears it will choke off water-By Samy Magdy-TOI-18 November 2017
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, for the second time in as many days, delivered on Saturday a stern warning to Ethiopia over a dam it is building after the two countries along with Sudan failed to approve a study on its potential effects.Ethiopia is finalizing construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, its first major dam on the Blue Nile, and will eventually start filling the giant reservoir behind it to power the Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam.Egypt fears that will cut into its water supply, destroying parts of its precious farmland and squeezing its population of 94 million people, who already face water shortages.Dam construction on international rivers often causes disputes over the downstream impact.Cairo said last week that the three countries had failed to approve an initial study by a consultancy firm on the dam’s potential effects on Egypt and Sudan.Ethiopia says the dam is essential to its development and has repeatedly sought to reassure Egypt. But Cairo’s efforts to persuade Addis Ababa to engage in closer coordination over the dam appear to have made little headway.El-Sissi sought to reassure Egyptians in televised comments while attending the inauguration a fish farm in the Nile Delta province of Kafr el-Sheikh, but stressed that “water is a matter of life or death.”“No one can touch Egypt’s share of water,” he said.The Nile provides over 90 percent of Egypt’s water supply. It already receives the lion’s share of Nile waters — more than 55 billion of the around 88 billion cubic meters of water that flow down the river each year.El-Sissi used a news conference at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Nov. 8 to deliver the same message to Ethiopia.“We view positively the developmental needs of our friends and brothers in Ethiopia,” he said, then added “We are capable of protecting our national security and water to us is a question of national security. Full stop.”The Egyptian leader did not say how Egypt intended to proceed. The government has publicly ruled out military action, but top Egyptian officials have in recent months been sharpening their rhetoric on Ethiopia.El-Sissi has sought to foster better ties with sub-Saharan Africa, especially fellow Nile basin countries, insisting that while his country needs its full share of the river’s waters, it is ready to help them with their economic development.
Spanish police shoot Frenchman who ‘shouted Allahu akbar’-Officers mistakenly suspected the man, of Moroccan origin, was carrying a weapon; his life is not in danger and he is being treated in hospital-By AFP-TOI-18 November 2017
BARCELONA, Spain — Police in Spain shot and injured an unarmed Frenchman on Saturday at a toll station near the French border, who officers said was shouting ‘Allahu akbar.’The officers mistakenly suspected he had a weapon, a police statement said, adding that they do not expect to open a terrorism investigation.The man, of Moroccan origin, was travelling with a woman in a vehicle registered in France and approached the toll by the border town of La Jonquera in the north of the country in the early hours of Saturday morning.Police said a Guardia Civil patrol was alerted because the man had a “strange” attitude and “seemed to be manipulating something inside the vehicle”.“The police asked him to get out. He finally got out with something in his hands and he moved towards the officers,” said a spokesperson for the Catalan police.The spokesperson said that, according to the policemen present, the man “shouted ‘Allahu akbar'(God is greatest)”.“The police officers repeatedly asked him to stop, shot in the air to intimidate him but as he continued to move forward, they shot him in the hip,” he said.The man “then undressed” and “appeared to suffer from mental problems”.According to the Guardia Civil his life “is not in danger” and he is being cared for in a hospital in Gerone.Police say an investigation is underway to establish the facts about what happened.
Syrian raids on rebel-held region kill 14 civilians: monitor-Fighting between Assad forces and the Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham near Damascus-By AFP-TOI-18 November 2017
BEIRUT, Lebanon — At least 14 civilians including a young girl were killed by Syrian regime bombardment of the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus on Saturday, a monitor said.Ten of the victims were killed by air strikes and another four died in rocket fire, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.It said another 40 people were wounded and the death toll was likely to rise.At a medical centre near the town of Hazza, an AFP photographer saw wounded children and a child’s body wrapped in plastic.Saturday’s government raids come after an attack on Tuesday by the Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham on a military base near the town of Harasta.On Friday, regime bombardments killed at least 19 people, including six children, mostly in the city of Douma.The deaths came amid an escalation in tit-for-tat attacks between regime forces and rebels holding the enclave on the capital’s eastern outskirts.Retaliatory shelling of Damascus on Thursday and Friday by rebels killed nine people.The official SANA news agency said on Saturday rebel shelling of the city killed one person and wounded 20.Eastern Ghouta is supposed to be part of a “de-escalation zone” under a deal between Russia, Iran and Turkey aimed at reducing the level of violence.President Bashar Assad’s forces have besieged Eastern Ghouta since 2013, and humanitarian conditions in the area, where some 400,000 people live, are dire.More than 330,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the Syrian war, which began in 2011 as the regime brutally crushed anti-government protests. Millions have been displaced.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
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)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Jewish Home minister threatens to bolt coalition over Trump peace plan-With PM reported to endorse US proposal, Uri Ariel says his National Union faction 'will not remain in a government that recognizes a Palestinian state'-By Raoul Wootliff-toi-nov 19,17
A government minister from the Jewish Home party threatened Saturday to leave the coalition over reports that the Trump administration is ready to recognize a Palestinian state as a central element of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal accepted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.“The National Union will not remain in a government that recognizes a Palestinian state,” Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel said in statement following a Hadashot News (formerly Channel 2) report on the plan, referring to the faction he heads within the nationalist Jewish Home Party.The ruling coalition has a narrow majority of 66 out of 120 MKs, leaving the government vulnerable to threats from junior partners. If the National Union, which is made up of just Ariel and MK Bezalel Smotrich, were to leave the coalition, it would not, however, slash the governments majority and trigger new elections.But Ariel says he and Smotrich are not alone within the coalition and would be joined by other lawmakers in bringing the government down if the reports are true.“There are also Knesset members in the Likud and the Jewish Home who have made clear that they will not agree to transfer swathes of land to the Palestinian Authority,” he said.As co-chairs of the Knesset lobby for the Land of Israel, Smotrich and Likud MK Yoav Kisch echoed Ariel’s words, saying in a statement that, “under no circumstances will we agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state on this side of the Jordan river,”They added: “A diplomatic plan in the spirit of new Oslo accords will be received with strong opposition.”The report said that in additional to the recognition of a Palestinian state, the US would not insist on the evacuation of any settlements or settlers under a permanent accord, and that Washington would back most of Israel’s security demands regarding the West Bank.Netanyahu had reportedly been made aware of the plan and offered his tacit endorsement.Quoting what it said were senior Israelis intimately involved in the ongoing discussions with Trump’s peace team, the report said the US peace plan would see President Donald Trump prepared to offer recognition of Palestinian statehood, with the parameters of that state to include land swaps. The borders, however, would “not necessarily” be based on the pre-1967 lines.Sunni Arab states and others would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in economic assistance for the Palestinians under the plan, to help encourage Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to accept the deal, the report said.The US would recognize most of Israel’s stated security needs, including for the ongoing presence of Israeli forces along the Jordan border, the TV report added. It said Netanyahu, for his part, was pushing for the retention of overall Israeli security control in all Palestinian territory.No settlers or settlements would be evacuated under the US proposal, the TV report said, also noting that no Arabs would be required to relocate.A White House official contacted by The Times of Israel, however, rejected the report as “not an accurate representation” of the peace plan being worked on.“There is constant speculation and guessing about what we are working on and this report is more of the same,” the official said. “It is not an accurate representation, rather it is a mix of possibilities and ideas that have existed for decades.”“What we can say is we are engaged in a productive dialogue with all relevant parties and are taking a different approach than the past to create an enduring peace deal,” the official told The Times of Israel. “We are not going to put an artificial deadline on anything and we have no imminent plans beyond continuing our conversations. As we have always said, our job is to facilitate a deal that works for both Israelis and Palestinians, not to impose anything on them.”The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu similarly stated that “the report is not accurate.” It said Netanyahu’s response to the US proposal would depend on its content and specifically on whether it met “the security needs and national needs of the State of Israel.”The proposal is to be presented within months, but not in the next month, the TV report claimed. It will not deal with the issue of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, or with US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Time of Israel staff contributed to this report.
US, Israel dismiss TV report claiming Trump ready to recognize Palestinian state-Israel's Hadashot news sets out what it says are 'key principles' of emerging US peace plan, including a Palestinian state 'not necessarily' based on 1967 lines-By TOI staff-19 November 2017
American and Israeli officials on Saturday night quickly dismissed an Israeli TV report that claimed the Trump administration is ready to recognize a Palestinian state as a central element of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, that the US will not insist on the evacuation of any settlements or settlers under a permanent accord, and that Washington backs most of Israel’s security demands regarding the West Bank.The Hadashot News (formerly Channel 2) TV report cited these positions as being among the “key principles” of the emerging US peace plan. But a White House official contacted by The Times of Israel rejected the report as “not an accurate representation.”The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu similarly stated that “the report is not accurate.” It said Netanyahu’s response to the US proposal would depend on its content and specifically on whether it met “the security needs and national needs of the State of Israel.”Quoting what it said were senior Israelis intimately involved in the ongoing discussions with Trump’s peace team, the TV report Saturday evening said the US peace plan would see President Donald Trump prepared to offer recognition of Palestinian statehood, with the parameters of that state to include land swaps. The borders, however, would “not necessarily” be based on the pre-1967 lines.Sunni Arab states and others would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in economic assistance for the Palestinians under the plan, to help encourage Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to accept the deal, the report said.The US would recognize most of Israel’s stated security needs, including for the ongoing presence of Israeli forces along the Jordan border, the TV report added. It said Netanyahu, for his part, was pushing for the retention of overall Israeli security control in all Palestinian territory. (This is a position Netanyahu has publicly demanded, and which, if granted, would underline that the Palestinians would not be gaining full sovereignty.) No settlers or settlements would be evacuated under the US proposal, the TV report said, also noting that no Arabs would be required to relocate.The proposal is to be presented within months, but not in the next month, the TV report claimed. It will not deal with the issue of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, or with US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.The proposal will be presented as central to a regional Israeli-Arab peace accord, the TV report said, and there is some hope that it might be presented at some kind of international conference.The TV report quoted Netanyahu telling his ministers that there has been no friendlier US president to Israel than Trump, that Israel will never be offered a better deal than under Trump, and that Israel cannot afford to reject the US proposal when it comes.Furthermore, the TV report said, the emerging US terms would still be open to negotiation, and no terms would be imposed upon the sides.A White House source quoted by Hadashot news, responding to the report, called it “speculative” and “not necessarily accurate,” and noted that “lots of ideas” were being examined. The source said the Trump team was taking “a different approach” to previous efforts, and that no artificial deadline would be set for an accord, and no terms would be imposed.The White House official contacted by The Times of Israel was also dismissive: “There is constant speculation and guessing about what we are working on and this report is more of the same,” the official said. “It is not an accurate representation, rather it is a mix of possibilities and ideas that have existed for decades.”“What we can say is we are engaged in a productive dialogue with all relevant parties and are taking a different approach than the past to create an enduring peace deal,” the official told The Times of Israel. “We are not going to put an artificial deadline on anything and we have no imminent plans beyond continuing our conversations. As we have always said, our job is to facilitate a deal that works for both Israelis and Palestinians, not to impose anything on them.”Israel’s Channel 10 news reported last week that Saudi Arabia has told Abbas he had better accept the Trump plan when it is presented, or resign. That report was denied by PA officials.The New York Times reported a week ago that Trump’s administration had begun drafting its Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal based on a two-state solution.A senior White House adviser told the paper that Trump’s Mideast peace plan would attempt to tackle hot-button issues such as the status of Jerusalem and West Bank settlements.“We have spent a lot of time listening to and engaging with the Israelis, Palestinians and key regional leaders over the past few months to help reach an enduring peace deal,” Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt told The Times. “We are not going to put an artificial timeline on the development or presentation of any specific ideas and will also never impose a deal.”“Our goal is to facilitate, not dictate, a lasting peace agreement to improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians and security across the region,” he said.
Liberman urges Arab nations to make peace with Israel and confront Iran-Defense minister urges moderate countries to follow the lead of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, the first Arab leader to make peace-By TOI staff-19 November 2017
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Saturday urged moderate Arab nations to make peace with Israel in order to better confront the threat posed by Iran.“After Daesh, Iran,” Liberman tweeted on Saturday, referring to the Islamic State by its Arabic name. “[Late Egyptian President] Anwar Sadat was a brave leader, who went against the stream and paved the way for other Arab leaders to recognize the importance of strategic ties with Israel.”“40 years after his historic visit to Israel, I call on leaders in the region to follow the path of President Sadat, come to Jerusalem and open a new chapter, not just in terms of Israel’s relations with the Arab world, but for the whole region,” Liberman wrote.Sadat famously flew to Jerusalem ahead of signing the Camp David peace deal with Israel, the first Arab leader to do so. Sadat was later assassinated for his actions.“The Middle East today needs, more than anything else, a coalition of moderate states against Iran. The coalition against Daesh has finished its work, after Daesh, Iran,” Liberman wrote in remarks that appeared to be directed in part at Saudi Arabia.Saudi Arabia has in recent days stepped up its efforts to counteract Iran and its proxies in Yemen, and the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.Iran and Saudi Arabia have long been at odds and back feuding Shiite and Sunni forces throughout the region. Although they do not share formal diplomatic ties, Israel has reportedly forged ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states over a shared distrust of Iran.In recent days this has focused on Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned while on a trip to Saudi Arabia and had been there since. On Saturday he arrived in France and vowed to return to Beirut by Wednesday.Hariri’s resignation was widely seen as an escalation of the battle for influence between Saudi Arabia and Iran.Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen who has previously enjoyed Riyadh’s backing, announced his resignation on November 4.He said he feared for his life, accusing Iran and Hezbollah of destabilizing his country.Israel is also concerned that as Islamic State is defeated in Syria and Iraq, Iranian-backed forces are filling the vacuum. Israel also said that a ceasefire deal brokered by the US and Russia does not go far enough in removing Iran from Israel’s border.Israel said Sunday it will not be bound by the deal, with ministers indicating Israel will continue to operate across the border when it deems it necessary. Israel has repeatedly said it will not tolerate an Iranian presence along the Golan nor allow Iran to entrench itself military in Syria.The ceasefire agreement, announced in a US-Russian statement last Saturday, affirms a call for “the reduction, and ultimate elimination” of foreign fighters from southern Syria.The BBC published satellite photos on November 10 said to show the construction of a permanent Iranian military base in Syria.According to the BBC report, the base is situated at a site used by the Syrian army near El-Kiswah, 14 kilometers (8 miles) south of Damascus, and 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Israeli border.
Palestinians warn they will freeze ties if US shuts Washington office-Netanyahu says he respects US move; US acting because PA is seeking legal action against Israel at ICC-By Agencies and TOI staff-19 November 2017
The Palestinians on Saturday warned they would freeze ties with the US if it shuts the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington DC for reportedly running afoul of a US law by calling for Israelis to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.In a video posted on Twitter, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said that Palestinian officials would “put on hold all communication with this administration” if the office is officially shuttered. “This is very unfortunate.”He said the move was the result of pressure by Netanyahu on the Trump administration.The PA leadership is set to meet in the coming days to discuss its response.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied this, but praised the US move.“We respect the decision and look forward to continuing our work with the United States to promote peace and security in the region,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.Netanyahu indicated the move by the US State Department had nothing to do with Israel, saying “its an American law.”Earlier on Saturday, a PLO official said the State Department refused to renew operating permission for its office in Washington for the first time since the 1980s.The PLO, which the international community sees as representing all Palestinians, must have its permission to operate its premises in the American capital renewed every six months.“The Palestinian Authority received a letter from the State Department two days ago saying that the Secretary of State had not found enough reasons to keep the office open,” Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riyad al-Malki told AFP.“This has not happened in the past, and we have demanded clarifications from the State Department and the White House,” he said. “They told us that there would be a meeting of senior legal experts on Monday. Then they would give a clear answer.”He said he had written to the US administration calling the move “unacceptable, an escalatory step and a political decision that threatens to end the US role in the peace process.”A US State Department official cited “certain statements made by Palestinian leaders” about the International Criminal Court as the reason behind the non-renewal.PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ latest speech at the UN General Assembly, in which he suggested taking the issue of Israeli settlements to the ICC, may have been behind the US stance.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had refused to certify on Friday that the Palestinians are complying with a 2015 Congressional mandate, which induces penalties if the PA pursues the prosecution of Israelis at the ICC.The specific penalization, according to a provision in a US law passed in December 2015, is the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s mission to the United States, located in Washington, DC.“We were unable to make a new certification, and have notified the PLO accordingly,” a State Department official told The Times of Israel on Friday evening. “The secretary concluded that the factual record, in particular certain statements made by Palestinian leaders about the ICC, did not permit him to make the factual certification required by the statute.”In 2015 Congress introduced a provision that Palestinians may not try to wield influence over the ICC concerning investigations into Israeli nationals.The declaration does not automatically mean the mission will close. US President Donald Trump now has a 90-day window to decide whether “the Palestinians have entered into direct, meaningful negotiations with Israel” — in which case he can waive the requirement to shutter the office.The notice comes as Trump seeks bargaining chips in his bid to broker the long out-of-reach Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.The official said Washington is hopeful any “closure will be short-lived,” emphasizing that “we are not cutting off relations with the PLO, nor do we intend to stop working with the Palestinian Authority.”“This measure should in no way be seen as a signal that the US is backing off those efforts.”The presence of the office is conditional on permission from the US Secretary of State, renewable every six months.The latest six-month period finished two days ago.
US nuclear commander would resist ‘illegal’ order for strike-Top Strategic Command officer says he would not allow President Trump to carry out attack that didn't follow legal protocol-By AP-nov 19,17-toi
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — The top officer at US Strategic Command says an order from President Donald Trump or any of his successors to launch nuclear weapons can be refused if that order is determined to be illegal.Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of Strategic Command, told a panel at the Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday that he and Trump have had conversations about such a scenario and that he would tell Trump he couldn’t carry out an illegal strike.In the event that Trump decided to launch a nuclear attack, Hyten would provide him with strike options that are legal. The command would control nuclear forces in a war.The comments come as the threat of nuclear attack from North Korea remains a serious concern and Trump’s critics question his temperament.Trump has urged to adopt a united front against the threat posed by isolated North Korea, which has sparked global alarm with its nuclear and missile tests in recent months.Last week he warned world leaders gathered in the Vietnamese resort city of Danang that the Asia-Pacific region “must not be held hostage to a dictator’s twisted fantasies.”Pyongyang issued a retort branding Trump’s Asia tour a “warmonger’s visit for confrontation to rid the DPRK of its self-defensive nuclear deterrence,” in the first comments on the trip by a North Korean official.It said Trump’s warnings “can never frighten us or put a stop to our advance,” according to the foreign ministry spokesman.Tensions over the North’s weapons program have surged in recent months, as Pyongyang carried out a sixth nuclear test — by far its largest to date — and test-fired dozens of missiles, some capable of reaching the US mainland.Times of Israel staff have contributed to this report.
Tennessee imam says ‘Zionist terrorists’ stole Temple Mount from Muslims-AhmedulHadi Sharif warns followers 'the enemies of Allah will come and try to destroy' Mecca holy site-By TOI staff-19 November 2017
A Somali-American Imam told followers at the Islamic Center of Tennessee over the summer that “Zionist terrorists” stole Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque from Muslims.“The Zionists, the number one terrorists in the world, had occupied and kidnapped that land long ago,” AhmedulHadi Sharif said in a Friday sermon in July, newly translated and posted by watchdog group MEMRI this week. “And now they want to add Al-Aqsa to their occupations. They kidnapped it.”“If we lose Jerusalem, know that it is not going to stop there… The enemies of Allah will come and try to destroy the Kaaba,” he said, referring to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca.He clarified that “we do not hate the ethnic Jewish people, but we do hate the Zionist oppressors.”His sermon, first uploaded to the internet on July 24, came amid a spate of unrest in Jerusalem and the West Bank over the Temple Mount holy site that is home to Al-Aqsa mosque.Earlier that month, the holy site became the focus of a major crisis between Israeli authorities, Palestinians, and Jordan over security measures taken at the entrances to the compound.Metal detectors and cameras had been installed following a deadly attack in which three Arab Israelis emerged from the site and shot dead two Israeli police officers using weapons that had been smuggled onto the Temple Mount.The implementation of the measures set off daily unrest and clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police in and around East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The upgraded security measures were all ultimately removed.
Israeli journalist describes reporting from Syria and Iraq, hiding his secret-British-Israeli Jonathan Spyer knows he's been gambling with his life, but says getting the story is worth it-By Dov Lieber-nov 19,17-toi
Jonathan Spyer had been behind enemy lines many times before, carefully guarding his dangerous secret. But on a fine Spring day in Aleppo this year, in an area controlled by the Syrian regime, he thought his cover might have finally been blown — not by government intelligence agents or Islamist rebels, but by a fellow Brit just trying to have a nice chat over coffee.Spyer, a veteran analyst and Jerusalem-based journalist, has been covering the rumble and crumble of Iraq and Syria into vast territories of stateless chaos for the past six years.Those two conflicts have been responsible for the deaths of a great number of journalists, but for Spyer, there was an extra layer of danger: he’s British-born, but is also an Israeli.“Who wants to think that because of your citizenship, you can’t cover what you regard as the most important story of the 21st century,” said Spyer, in an interview with The Times of Israel.Spyer’s work has appeared in Foreign Policy, Janes Intelligence Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and The Atlantic, among others.In his most recent trip to Syria, he managed to get into the regime-controlled area by joining a propaganda trip sponsored by the government, where he was even able to interview a few ministers.Spyer used somewhat of a false identity to get onto the trip, and agreed that it was “gross incompetence” on the part of the Syrian authorities that his real identity was not uncovered at any point.The closest moment came when his fellow Brit, one of a number of Assad-supporting internationals invited to Damascus by the regime, leaned in and said, “There are rumors of Zionist infiltrators on this trip.”“Oh f***, is this guy toying with me,” Spyer said he thought at the time, and considered making a quick dash for nearby Kurdish-held territory.Turns out that it was just polite chatter.Spyer understands, however, that should someone have thought he was an Israeli agent, he may have disappeared in a Syrian jail cell.Spyer agreed that he was taking a gamble with his life.“If you put it into the cold logic of the gamble, getting published in The Wall Street Journal versus death, well, that’s obviously stupid,” he said.But he noted that all war reporters risk their lives, Israeli or not.“I did it. People do it. On some kind of level, it is worth it, because I think the Syria story is the major news story of the century so far, and we’ve got a ringside seat at it,” he said.Spyer said he has been to Syria about eight to nine times and Iraq five to six times in recent years, generally for around two-week periods. Half of that time he said he was in the Kurdish-held areas, where being an Israeli is acceptable.The British-Israeli said there is a big difference between reporting as an Israeli in Iraq or in Syria.“When you’re in Iraq, people don’t think about Israel that much. It doesn’t concern them very much,” Spyer said.When interviewing an officer of an Iranian-backed militia in Baghdad, he said they just viewed him as a British journalist for a Western outlet, and didn’t think more about it.On the other hand, in Syria, a direct neighbor of Israel, fear of infiltration from the Jewish state is palpable, he said.“In that pro-regime, pro-Hezbollah world, they are so busy talking about [Israeli] infiltrators,” Spyer said, referring to the Iranian-backed terror group in Lebanon, which is fighting on the side of the regime in Syria.He added with a chuckle, “They’re talking about it so much that they didn’t realize the ‘infiltrator’ sitting next to them.”However, he noted, when sneaking into Syria to work among the rebels, there was no need to create a fake identity. “It was so chaotic, you just turn up,” he said.“On the regime side it’s quite different. They are obsessed with intelligence organizations. There you have to be smart, careful and have a water-tight backstory,” he said.Spyer said he finds the fact that other non-Israelis might more safely cover the same issues a moral matter. “Practicalities aside, it’s deeply wrong that a person can’t cover this stuff and have Israeli citizenship,” he said.He noted that Arab journalists can freely work in Israel for Arabic media, but the reciprocal courtesy is not extended to their Israeli counterparts.While working in enemy territory, Spyer said he doesn’t reveal his Israeli identity even to other journalist colleagues for fear it may endanger them. He also said that’s not really an issue because he prefers to work solo.In his new book, “Days of the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars,” published recently by Routledge, Spyer takes the reader on his personal journey through the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, zooming in and out of scenes he lived through, relaying the gritty details of how militants, soldiers, terrorists and citizens, talked, dressed and acted, while always providing the analysis to put the scenes into the larger context.It’s an up-close and visceral account of key events of the conflicts — such as the opening of the battle for Aleppo, the fall of Mount Sinjar where the Yazidi minority was massacred and enslaved by ISIS.A constant source of drama and tension throughout the narrative is that fact of Spyer’s dual British-Israeli citizenship.Will his dark, Jewish secret be discovered by Shiite militants in Iraq, Sunni Islamists in Syria, or perhaps by the Syrian government while he participates in a state-sponsored tour of Damascus? Through a mix of caution, deception, and beard-growing, Spyer manages to navigate two conflicts that have claimed the lives of many journalists.The conflicts in Iraq and Syria, said Spyer, are likely to remain “frozen” — similar to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine — in the coming years, with dug-in factions competing for more control.Spyer said his book will be something akin to a “first draft of history,” which one day he hopes historians will use to help explain how Syria and Iraq, once pillars of the region, came apart at the seams. If so, his high-risk gamble will have been all the more worthwhile.
Egypt warns Ethiopia Nile dam dispute is ‘life or death’-Ethiopia is finalizing construction of its first major dam on the Blue Nile to power the Africa's largest hydroelectric dam; Egypt fears it will choke off water-By Samy Magdy-TOI-18 November 2017
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, for the second time in as many days, delivered on Saturday a stern warning to Ethiopia over a dam it is building after the two countries along with Sudan failed to approve a study on its potential effects.Ethiopia is finalizing construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, its first major dam on the Blue Nile, and will eventually start filling the giant reservoir behind it to power the Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam.Egypt fears that will cut into its water supply, destroying parts of its precious farmland and squeezing its population of 94 million people, who already face water shortages.Dam construction on international rivers often causes disputes over the downstream impact.Cairo said last week that the three countries had failed to approve an initial study by a consultancy firm on the dam’s potential effects on Egypt and Sudan.Ethiopia says the dam is essential to its development and has repeatedly sought to reassure Egypt. But Cairo’s efforts to persuade Addis Ababa to engage in closer coordination over the dam appear to have made little headway.El-Sissi sought to reassure Egyptians in televised comments while attending the inauguration a fish farm in the Nile Delta province of Kafr el-Sheikh, but stressed that “water is a matter of life or death.”“No one can touch Egypt’s share of water,” he said.The Nile provides over 90 percent of Egypt’s water supply. It already receives the lion’s share of Nile waters — more than 55 billion of the around 88 billion cubic meters of water that flow down the river each year.El-Sissi used a news conference at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Nov. 8 to deliver the same message to Ethiopia.“We view positively the developmental needs of our friends and brothers in Ethiopia,” he said, then added “We are capable of protecting our national security and water to us is a question of national security. Full stop.”The Egyptian leader did not say how Egypt intended to proceed. The government has publicly ruled out military action, but top Egyptian officials have in recent months been sharpening their rhetoric on Ethiopia.El-Sissi has sought to foster better ties with sub-Saharan Africa, especially fellow Nile basin countries, insisting that while his country needs its full share of the river’s waters, it is ready to help them with their economic development.
Spanish police shoot Frenchman who ‘shouted Allahu akbar’-Officers mistakenly suspected the man, of Moroccan origin, was carrying a weapon; his life is not in danger and he is being treated in hospital-By AFP-TOI-18 November 2017
BARCELONA, Spain — Police in Spain shot and injured an unarmed Frenchman on Saturday at a toll station near the French border, who officers said was shouting ‘Allahu akbar.’The officers mistakenly suspected he had a weapon, a police statement said, adding that they do not expect to open a terrorism investigation.The man, of Moroccan origin, was travelling with a woman in a vehicle registered in France and approached the toll by the border town of La Jonquera in the north of the country in the early hours of Saturday morning.Police said a Guardia Civil patrol was alerted because the man had a “strange” attitude and “seemed to be manipulating something inside the vehicle”.“The police asked him to get out. He finally got out with something in his hands and he moved towards the officers,” said a spokesperson for the Catalan police.The spokesperson said that, according to the policemen present, the man “shouted ‘Allahu akbar'(God is greatest)”.“The police officers repeatedly asked him to stop, shot in the air to intimidate him but as he continued to move forward, they shot him in the hip,” he said.The man “then undressed” and “appeared to suffer from mental problems”.According to the Guardia Civil his life “is not in danger” and he is being cared for in a hospital in Gerone.Police say an investigation is underway to establish the facts about what happened.
Syrian raids on rebel-held region kill 14 civilians: monitor-Fighting between Assad forces and the Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham near Damascus-By AFP-TOI-18 November 2017
BEIRUT, Lebanon — At least 14 civilians including a young girl were killed by Syrian regime bombardment of the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus on Saturday, a monitor said.Ten of the victims were killed by air strikes and another four died in rocket fire, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.It said another 40 people were wounded and the death toll was likely to rise.At a medical centre near the town of Hazza, an AFP photographer saw wounded children and a child’s body wrapped in plastic.Saturday’s government raids come after an attack on Tuesday by the Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham on a military base near the town of Harasta.On Friday, regime bombardments killed at least 19 people, including six children, mostly in the city of Douma.The deaths came amid an escalation in tit-for-tat attacks between regime forces and rebels holding the enclave on the capital’s eastern outskirts.Retaliatory shelling of Damascus on Thursday and Friday by rebels killed nine people.The official SANA news agency said on Saturday rebel shelling of the city killed one person and wounded 20.Eastern Ghouta is supposed to be part of a “de-escalation zone” under a deal between Russia, Iran and Turkey aimed at reducing the level of violence.President Bashar Assad’s forces have besieged Eastern Ghouta since 2013, and humanitarian conditions in the area, where some 400,000 people live, are dire.More than 330,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the Syrian war, which began in 2011 as the regime brutally crushed anti-government protests. Millions have been displaced.
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