Moscow, May 30, Interfax - The Middle East expects a powerful earthquake that endangers not only dozen thousands of human lives, but also world famous shrines such as the Church of the Holly Sepulcher, the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Wailing Wall, the scientists warn.
Minor shakes on the territory of Israel become more frequent and it gives nother reason for anxiety. They don't measure more than three-five balls aren't dangerous for people, the MK.ru website has reported to Interfax-Religion on Friday.
However, according to Israel seismologists, a 7.00 earthquake may happen any time.
"The country is located in the earthquake region near the Syrian-African rift and earthquake measuring 6.00-7.00 on the Richter scale may kill not less than 16,000 people, injure over 90, 000 people and cause material damage to the whole country," Chairman of the Construction engineers and infrastructure association Dr. Serna said.
According to the experts, about 17 per cent of buildings constructed before establishing of the Israeli state and in its first years are to be destroyed by the upcoming earthquake in Jerusalem only. Considerable damage will be inflicted to 11 per cent of modern buildings with average construction quality and 6 per cent of modern ...   more »

 By Patrick Goodenough
(CNSNews.com) - With a venue and date set for a United Nations conference on racism, organizations hoping to avoid a repeat of the problems that plagued the 2001 gathering are going to have to be "very aggressive to see that Israel and her Zionist supporters around the world are not demonized," a leading Jewish human rights groups said Wednesday.
The U.N. announced this week that the conference will be held in Geneva over five days next April.
The gathering is meant to review progress made in the battle against racism and xenophobia since the World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa in 2001.
The Durban U.N. meeting and a parallel non-governmental organization (NGO) forum were characterized by repeated attacks on Israel, including accusations of racism and apartheid-like policies. The United States and Israel withdrew their delegations in protest, and some of the language targeting Israel in the conference draft documents was subsequently changed.
Plans for a review conference -- dubbed "Durban II" by critics, although it won't be held in the South African port city this time round -- have raised fears that Israel once again will find itself in the dock.
Canada and Israel ...   more »

Liberation Theology proponent and Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu Thursday departed the Gaza Strip after a two-day "fact-finding" mission, as a result of which he reportedly plans to condemn Israel for a 2006 "massacre" of Arabs by the IDF.
A South African national who holds the rank of archbishop in the Anglican Church, and who has for years nurtured a pro-Arab position, Tutu was invited by the "Palestinians" to investigate the alleged Israeli shelling of a Beit Hanoun home in which 18 members of a family were killed.
Israel's refusal to grant him a "transit" visa forced the cleric to enter Gaza via the Egyptian border into the Strip.
Speaking at a news conference, the self-proclaimed judge said he would be presenting a report on Israel's behavior to the United Nations so-called Human Rights Council in Geneva come September.
"We are at the stage of shock... by what we subsequently heard from the survivors of the November (2006) Beit Hanoun massacre," Tutu said, according to Ynetnews.
He intended to "make recommendations to protect Palestinian civilians from further Israeli assaults [sic]."
Israel maintains that, while firing in response to unrelenting rocket attacks on its civilians in the Negev, a number of ...   more »

A week after announcing the opening of a door to negotiations with Syria that could endanger Israel's hold on the Golan Heights, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is battling for his political life.
And while he has been cherishing the prospect of making his mark by securing some form of a lasting agreement with the PLO that, too, appears an increasingly futile hope as pressure mounts for the prime minister to resign.
Olmert is being investigated by police for having allegedly accepted bribes or laundered money received from an American businessman.
Addressing journalists in Jerusalem Thursday Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni - Olmert's number two - said their Kadima Party needed to prepare for "every eventuality, including early elections."
"The reality changed after yesterday," she said, referring to an announcement made by Defense Minister and Labor Party leader Ehud Barak.
Barak set the ball rolling at a lunch-time press conference in Tel Aviv when he declared that the country could not be run by a man who is struggling to keep his own personal affairs in order.
With Hamas rockets in the south, Hizb'allah consolidating its position in the north, Syria indicating it wants to discuss the future of the Golan Heights, ...   more »

By Jonathan Tobin      
Sharansky reminds us democracies can't defend themselves without 'identity'
 Some 3 1?2 years ago, former Prisoner of Zion and Israeli cabinet minister Natan Sharansky was George W. Bush's favorite author.
Sharansky earned an unexpected boost when the resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. invited him and co-author Ron Dermer to the White House and told the world that everyone should read their book, "The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny & Terror".
While this was not the equivalent of an invitation to Oprah Winfrey's guest couch, Sharansky's tome did make it onto The New York Times bestseller list. After the easy overthrow of Saddam Hussein by U.S. troops a year earlier and the post-Sept. 11 spirit of rolling back the tide of Islamist tyranny, optimism seemed on the upswing.
But that was a long time ago.
DISCREDITED CAUSE
The war in Iraq, now in its sixth year, is, whether fairly or not, now seen as a quagmire in which America is stuck because of the misguided beliefs of those who foolishly thought they could plant democratic values abroad.
The insurgency in Iraq, as well as the election victory of the Palestinian terrorist Hamas ...   more »