by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) A historic first: Last week, during a special visit to the Temple Mount, the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26) was recited there, for arguably the first time since the 1st-century destruction.
The Blessing is recited daily in synagogues in Israel by descendants of Aaron the Priest, and only on festivals in the Diaspora.
On the Temple Mount: During the Priestly Blessing, the "Kohanim" raise their hands.
www.TempleInstitute.org
The special visit was held to commemorate the 842nd anniversary of Maimonides's famous visit to the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site.  A group of some 25 Jews, organized by the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, marked the special day with a commemorative visit.  Giving extra-special meaning to the occasion was a spontaneous Priestly Blessing delivered to the group by Yehuda Katz, the lead singer of the Reva L'Sheva band, and Eliezer Breuer, originally of the former Soviet Union and now from Kiryat Arba.
Rabbi Chaim Richman, one of the organizers of the trip, said, "This was probably the first time since the destruction of the Temple [1,928 years ago] that the Priestly Blessing was delivered on our holiest site.  At times like these, when there is talk of giving away our ...   more »

A leading Israeli Arab Muslim cleric said at the weekend that the Jewish state will very soon cease to exist and the whole of the country will come under Sharia (strict Islamic) law as another piece in the puzzle to reconstituting the Islamic Caliphate.
In an interview with a local Arabic-language newspaper, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, deputy head of northern Israel's Islamic Movement, insisted that the world is "on the threshold of a new era. The future belongs to Islam and the Muslims."
Khatib said that in preparation for the coming Islamic takeover, Muslims who hold Israeli citizenship like himself should begin to actively rebel against the state by refusing to cooperate with and forming alternatives to the Israeli authorities.
Also at the weekend, Khatib's boss, Sheikh Raed Salah denounced current peace negotiations leading to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict as an "evil Israeli scheme." Salah, who is also an Israeli citizen, has long maintained that that Muslim world must not recognize Israel's right to exist.
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Gunmen attempted to hit prime minister's convoy as it made its way from Jerusalem to West Bank city for meeting with Palestinian President Abbas in August, Shin Bet chief tells cabinet ministers. PA arrests three suspects following incident, but later releases them. Olmert: Assassination attempt shall not be ignored. Fayyad: We'll draw all the possible lessons from the incident
Ronny Sofer
A group of gunmen affiliated with Fatah attempted to hit Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's convoy as it made its way from Jerusalem to Jericho for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on August 6, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told the cabinet ministers Sunday morning.  
Israel learned of the plan from intelligence information received several days before the visit. The attack was eventually thwarted by the Shin Bet and the Palestinian Intelligence Service headed by Tawfik Tirawi.  
Jericho Meeting 
Following the incident, the Palestinians arrested three suspects, who were later released, according to Israeli officials. Two other cell members are being held in Israel.  
On Sunday, Israel filed an official complaint with the Palestinian Authority following the suspects' release.  
Israeli security sources expressed their anger over the release, which took place "after these terrorists' ...   more »

TEL AVIV — Israel is pressing a last-minute diplomatic offensive to stop the Russian sale to Syria of a strategic air defense system.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Russian President Vladimir Putin in a discussion that focused on Moscow's plans to sell strategic military systems to Damascus.
Officials said Olmert urged Putin to halt Russia's plans to deliver the S-300PMU1 air defense system to Syria.
In a three-hour meeting, Olmert was said to have presented intelligence of Syria's strategic programs, including efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Officials said the prime minister provided Putin with details of Israel's strike on a suspected Syrian nuclear facility in September, protected by the Russian-origin Pantsyr-SE1 air defense system. Damascus received its first Pantsyrs in 2007 in a deal financed by Iran.
The official said Olmert had sought a meeting with Putin for several weeks. But Putin stalled until he concluded his visit to Iran on Oct. 17.
"The Russians plan to deliver the S-300 over the next few weeks and this was a desperate attempt by Olmert to stop this," an official said.
In wake of the September strike by Israel, Russia and Syria have concluded that Damascus required the S-300 to protect ...   more »

By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent    
The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies (JIIS), which in the past supported removing Arab neighborhoods from the capital's jurisdiction and placing them in Palestinian hands, will submit to the prime minister and policy makers a detailed document setting out the thorny legal and municipal issues involved in dividing Jerusalem. The institute's researchers now question whether Israel actually stands to "profit" (demographically and economically) from the removal of Arab neighborhoods from East Jerusalem, as the supporters of the city's division had until now assumed.
The experts of JIIS, including Prof. Ruth Lapidot, former Foreign Ministry director general Reuven Merhav, Prof. Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, JIIS Director-General Ora Ahimeir and Dr. Israel Kimhi, drafted various scenarios for dividing Jerusalem that were submitted to the political leadership. JIIS documents served as the foundations of plans presented by then-prime minister Ehud Barak at Camp David in 2000 as well as those currently being discussed by the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams.
In the latest report, former Foreign Ministry legal adviser Dr. Robbie Sabel and Gilad Noam, a J.D. candidate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, note that residents of East Jerusalem will have the option of moving to Israel proper ...   more »

By Chris Mitchell
JERUSALEM DATELINE:
Will Olmert Divide Jerusalem?
CBNNews.com - Even members of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's own party are upset by Vice Premier Chaim Ramon's call to give up Israeli control over a large part of Jerusalem.
CBN News has learned that the plan, which was revealed while U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was visiting, is based on a plan forwarded by President Bill Clinton seven years ago.
The Ramon proposal would effectively divide Jerusalem in two. Most of East Jerusalem would be given over to the Palestinian Authority, while West Jerusalem would remain under Israeli control.
The plan would put the holy sites like the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher under "special sovereignty" while the Western Wall would remain under Israeli control.
"The moment that we re-divide Jerusalem and divide up the Old City of Jerusalem, we're going to create chaos," said former Israeli U.N. Ambassador Dore Gold.
Gold, author of The Fight for Jerusalem, says dividing the city would trigger a jihadist war.
"Look what's happening in Iraq where mosques are getting blown up and churches are being attacked. Do we really want to put that in the heart ...   more »

(IsraelNN.com) According to Arabic newspapers in Judea and Samaria, Palestinian Authority officials plan to tell United States officials that they followed the US-backed Road Map plan and filled all of their stage-one responsibilities.  PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reportedly made similar statements to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
According to Stage One of the roadmap, the PA must accept Israel’s right to exist, call for an end to terrorism, take concrete steps to fight terrorism, and stop incitement against Israel.  Abbas, who is also head of the terrorist group Fatah, claims he has fulfilled the requirements, and has accused Israel of failing to meet its Road Map obligations
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Khaled Abu Toameh
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is reported to have threatened to resign if the upcoming peace conference in Annapolis fails, paving the way for another round of violence and for the emergence of al-Qaida in the Palestinian territories.
Abbas made the threat during his meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Ramallah last Wednesday.
PA officials in Ramallah would neither confirm nor deny the report.
However, they pointed out that Abbas was "very disappointed" by the results of Rice's last shuttle tour in the region.
Because of the tensions, Abbas and Rice refrained from holding a joint press conference after the meeting, they added.
The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jareeda quoted a top PA official as saying that Abbas also warned that the US and Israel would have to deal with al-Qaida and a third intifada if the conference failed.
"It was a very tough meeting," the official said. "President Abbas threatened to resign and to deliver a public speech that would cause the US political difficulties and earthquakes not only in the Palestinian territories, but among US allies throughout the world as well."
The PA official also quoted Abbas as telling Rice that the absence of ...   more »

Lev Navrozov emigrated from the Soviet Union in 1972 He settled in New York City where he quickly learned that there was no market for his eloquent and powerful English language attacks on the Soviet Union. To this day, he writes without fear or favor or the conventions of polite society. He chaired the "Alternative to the New York Times Committee" in 1980, challenged the editors of the New York Times to a debate (which they declined) and became a columnist for the New York City Tribune. His columns are today read in both English and Russian.
When I mention, say, the development in China of nano super weapons, capable of winning war without waging it (as Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese strategist would have put it), some of my readers ask me in their e-mails—respectfully and good-naturedly—whether I can adduce the proofs of that apocalypse of the West I envisage.
I have been told by a Chinese that the Chinese “Manhattan Projects,” developing post-nuclear super weapons, are located deep in the rocky mountains so that nobody could drill a hole in the walls, in the floor and/or the ceiling to get a glimpse into what is being done within. ...   more »

By MARTHA IRVINE and ROBERT TANNER,
The young teacher hung his head, avoiding eye contact. Yes, he had touched a fifth-grader's breast during recess. "I guess it was just lust of the flesh," he told his boss.
That got Gary C. Lindsey fired from his first teaching job in Oelwein, Iowa. But it didn't end his career. He taught for decades in Illinois and Iowa, fending off at least a half-dozen more abuse accusations.
When he finally surrendered his teaching license in 2004 - 40 years after that first little girl came forward - it wasn't a principal or a state agency that ended his career. It was one persistent victim and her parents.
Lindsey's case is just a small example of a widespread problem in American schools: sexual misconduct by the very teachers who are supposed to be nurturing the nation's children.
Students in America's schools are groped. They're raped. They're pursued, seduced and think they're in love.
An Associated Press investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic.
There are 3 million public school teachers nationwide, most devoted to their work. Yet the number of abusive ...   more »

Millions of Americans have no idea they will need to make a change when television goes digital in 2009.
On Feb. 17, 2009, it could snow all across America. Not outside, but in living rooms, on TV sets. That's the date when broadcasters will switch to digital transmission, rendering millions of standard analog TVs useless. Consumers can avoid this whiteout, but only if they're prepared.
And there's the challenge: How to inform the roughly 20 million households relying exclusively on analog sets that pull in their reception for free, through rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna. Analog TVs that receive cable or satellite will not be affected.
Consumers who own these sets don't necessarily need to know why the federal government is mandating the change (to free up the airwaves for other purposes, such as wireless and public-safety communications – though added benefits are better pictures and more channels). But they do need consistent and unbiased information on what to do and they need to be able to act on it.
With fewer than 18 months to go, though, 56 percent of viewers with analog sets have never even heard of the switch. The General Accountability Office, the government watchdog, ...   more »

Spokesman: 'It's not a place to post things or make displays'
Members of the U.S. military have been vilified for their service and have faced criminal charges for battlefield decisions and congressional accusations of rampant "hate crimes." Now a California post office also has banned photographs of local soldiers who are defending their country.
"It's an emotional issue and people look at their post office as a hub of the community, but the post office is there to do postal business and it's not a place to post things or make displays,” postal spokesman Richard Maher told the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
The newspaper reported that "a customer" had complained that the display, which over the years has featured dozens of photos of troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, including many whose relatives use the Paso Robles Post Office, was pro-war.
The "complaint" made its way to the regional post center, where officials asked Paso Robles postmaster Mike Milby to remove them, for being in violation of a rule against displays of non-postal business material.  
Signs at the countor this week said: "We are being forced to remove the pictures from our wall of our boys and girls in ...   more »

By Michael Stott Reuters - Thursday, October 18 06:17 pmMOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Thursday for a powerful parliament, his likely future power base, and unchanged policies after he leaves the Kremlin.(A
Putin's intentions after his second presidential term ends next year have attracted intense interest following his decision to head the candidates' list of United Russia, the biggest political party, and consider becoming a future prime minister.
"In 2007 and 2008 we have parliamentary and presidential elections and there will be a different person in the Kremlin," Putin said in a three-hour question-and-answer session with citizens televised live.
"In these conditions it is extremely important to preserve a stable path of development for our state and the continuity of decisions taken in the past few years... It is vital that parliament is effective."
Putin spent most of the session talking about domestic, bread-and-butter issues such as pensions, wages, schools, prices and investment in Russia's crumbling infrastructure.
With an eye on a parliamentary election in December, Putin repeatedly hailed Russia's strong economic growth and improved living standards. He promised higher pensions to help fight runaway inflation, which is heading for double digits this year.
Speaking to ...   more »

By News Agencies    
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will hold talks with
Iran's new nuclear negotiator Saeid Jalili next week in Rome, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema confirmed Saturday.
Iran's nuclear head Ali Larijani resigned Saturday and was replaced by Deputy Foreign Minister Jalili.
"My information is that despite the resignation of Ali Larijani ... he will come to Rome with his successor to attend the meeting," D'Alema said during a press conference in Beirut along with his French and Spanish counterparts.
The meeting is expected to take place in Rome Tuesday.
Solana had held three rounds of talks with Larijani, aiming to help solve dispute over Iran's nuclear programme. Solana last met with Larijani in June in Lisbon.
An Iranian Government spokesman, Gholam Hossein Elham, did not give a specific reason for Larijani's resignation other than to say he wanted to focus on other political activities.
"Larijani had resigned repeatedly. Finally, the president accepted his resignation," Elham told reporters.
The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the claim, saying its program is for peaceful purposes including generating electricity.
Elham stressed that Iran's nuclear policy ...   more »

Warns that 'enemy bases' would be targeted after any possible attack
 Other side of Iran
Sept. 13: NBC’s Richard Engel gives a glimpse of Iran many Americans never see.  
 Unseen Iran
27 years after the revolution, conservatives rule Iran. But Western culture still seeps in. Click to see images. 
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran is capable of firing 11,000 rockets into enemy bases within the first minute after any possible attack, state-run television quoted a top Revolutionary Guards Corps commander as saying Saturday.
Gen. Mahmoud Chaharbaghi, the missile commander of the Guards, said Iran has identified all enemy positions and was prepared to respond in less than a minute to any possible attack.
"Enemy bases and positions have been identified. ... The Guards ground force will fire 11,000 rockets into identified enemy positions within the first minute of any aggression against the Iranian territory," the television quoted Chaharbaghi as saying.
Chaharbaghi did not specifically identify the bases or the enemy and did not refer to arch foes Israel or the United States by name. But the U.S. has 40,000 troops on various U.S. bases in other Persian Gulf countries and 20,000 in Mideast waters. Another 160,000 U.S. troops are in neighboring ...   more »

Celebrating 'winter' year after controversial tree removal
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport installing "winter trees" this Christmas season (Courtesy Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
After unceremoniously removing all of its Christmas trees in the middle of the night last year, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport this season will dispense with any religious symbols and just celebrate "winter."
A panel that formed after the Port of Seattle Commission removed the airport's 17 red-ribboned trees, decided the new decorations will feature a grove of birches in Dacron snow, hung with crystals and mirrors to reflect low-energy lights, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
The port drew international attention last year when its five elected commissioners reacted to a lawsuit threat by a rabbi who wanted to erect a menorah alongside the largest of Christmas trees.
As WND reported, Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky said, contrary to widespread news reports, that he never intended to have the trees removed. The Jewish leader said he was horrified by the decision, which spurred anti-Semitism and angry accusations. The port returned the trees about a week later after Bogomilsky told officials his organization, the Northwest Friends of Chabad-Lubavitch, a Hasidic Orthodox group, was not going to sue.
This year, however, the port is taking no chances. ...   more »