The surprise discovery of an ancient drainage tunnel in Jerusalem provides archeologists with insight into life in the Jewish capital during the Second Temple period.
By Netanel Doron
Israeli archaeologists stumbled upon an important historical find outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, on the steep road leading down to the Pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the blind man (John 9:1-11). They had been digging in the area for three months, searching for what was the main road in Jerusalem during biblical times.
The sudden collapse of a stone wall revealed a hole, and when archeologists Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich climbed in the spectacle before them took their breath away. They found themselves in a well-preserved tunnel made of hewn stones, about seven meters (yards) below today’s streets. It is about 70 meters long, 2 to 2.5 meters high and 1 meter wide.
“The discovery of the tunnel was a total surprise,” Shukron told Israel Today during a tour of the site. “As we were entering, we also discovered the street we were searching for, above us. The street was used by Jewish pilgrims to ascend to the Temple on the three great pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot ...   more »

The Christian world is buzzing with news of a major find. Israeli archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a third or fourth century church in northern Israel, which they believe could be the oldest ever found in the Holy Land. The church contains a well-preserved mosaic with references to Jesus Christ and images of fish—an ancient Christian symbol. “This find is once in a lifetime,” chief archaeologist Yotam Tefer told israel today.
“It’s very, very exciting. It’s a very dramatic discovery because an old building of this type has never been found in the Land of Israel.” The church was found during renovations at a prison in Megiddo—what the New Testament calls Armageddon— the site where all the armies of the world will meet for the final showdown between good and evil.
“Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon” (Revelation 16:16). \
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Israeli ambassador to U.N. applied label to Jimmy Carter
President Bush won't touch a dispute that had the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations calling former President Jimmy Carter a "bigot."
The word came today from Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, who responded to a question from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, at a briefing.
"Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, when asked by The New York Times if he was reprimanded by the Department of State after he called Jimmy Carter a 'bigot' for meeting with the head of Hamas, replied, 'The only reaction I received was very positive.' My question: Does the White House also react positively to this?" he asked.
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Report warns vehicles could be stuffed with explosives for suicide attacks
LONDON -- Members of Britain's MI5 intelligence service have warned the nation's cash-strapped National Health Services that dozens of ambulances -- along with old police cars and fire engines -- are being snapped up by al-Qaida operatives in the United Kingdom to mount suicide bomb attacks, according to a report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
So serious is the problem that counter-terrorism officials at the Home Office have written to eBay, the Internet auctioneer, asking them to stop selling emergency service vehicles, equipment and uniforms.
But eBay has insisted it can only halt the sales if a new law is passed by Parliament. That could take many months.
The use of ambulances is of particular concern to Britain's anti-terror chiefs. They say the tactic has already been used in Iraq with devastating effects.
A report by Lord Carlisle -- the government terrorist czar who last month warned about the possibility of private planes being used for an attack on London -- has been issued to all of Britain's 48 police forces warning of the danger of selling off emergency service vehicles.
Lord Carlisle, who works closely with the Terrorism ...   more »

Fed-up Christians protest in front of local restaurants
By Bob Unruh
The corporate headquarters for McDonald's is hearing from store managers in California that customers are upset over the company's pro-homosexual advocacy and they aren't going to take it any longer.
Yuriy Popko, one of several Christians who staged a sign-waving protest at the Golden Arches in Citrus Heights today, said the protest at that location was suspended when store officials agreed to convey protesters' objections to the corporate office.
Protesters object to McDonald's homosexual advocacy at a local McDonald's franchise July 22, 2008, in Citrus Heights, Calif.
"They came out and talked with us. Basically we had two requests: a notice to the public and that they e-mail our concerns to the corporate office," Popko told WND.
He said McDonald's officials confirmed they already had notified both regional and international headquarters about the concerns. But the company has a prohibition on local posted notices, so Popko said the Christians agreed to write a letter that McDonald's would forward also.
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Codex Sinaiticus will be available on Web starting Thursday
Codex Sinaiticus
One of history's oldest copies of the Bible will be accessible to millions of people around the world soon – 1,600 years after it was first penned on calfskin parchment by early Christians in Egypt.
The University of Leipzig announced more than 100 pages of the Codex Sinaiticus, the 4th century manuscript of the Greek Bible containing the oldest complete New Testament, will be available online for the first time Thursday.
According to a Reuters report, high resolution photographs of the Gospel of Mark, Old Testament books and original comments on the text will be available on the project website.
Director Ulrich Johannes Schneider of Leipzig University Library said online availability if the Codex Bible will give anyone who has access to Internet services the ability to review an entire manuscript of "fundamental" significance to Christianity by next July.
"A manuscript is going onto the net which is like nothing else online to date," Schneider told the news agency. "It's also an enrichment of the virtual world – and a bit of a change from YouTube."
English and German translations will be offered to people who are not able ...   more »

New York City subway to host Muslim recruit campaign tied to terror plots
A Brooklyn imam who has been linked to various terror plots to destroy landmarks is targeting New York City passengers in 1,000 subway cars with a new campaign to draw people into Islam.
Siraj Wahhaj has defended convicted would-be bombers and labeled FBI and CIA agents "real terrorists," according to a report by the New York Post. He is now attempting to convince New York City residents that Islam is a religion of peace by promoting advertisements for the Islamic Circle of North America. The campaign has been approved by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and is set to run four weeks in September during Ramadhan.
Wahhaj, a former member of the Nation of Islam, was named by U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White as one of 170 co-conspirators in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. He appears in a YouTube film for ads promoting "The Subway Project."
"In time, this so-called democracy will crumble, and there will be nothing, and the only thing that will remain will be Islam," Wahhaj said in a sermon.
The promotion video opens with a Quran passage stating, "Invite them to ...   more »

Moscow - The Russian military is considering deploying long- range bombers to Cuba to counter the perceived threat of the US missile defence shield planned to be based in the Czech Republic and Poland, according to Russian media reports Monday.
'At the moment, there are just thoughts - but that doesn't mean there isn't something concrete behind it,' an unidentified officer was quoted Monday as telling Izvestiya newspaper.
He said the aircraft under consideration were Tu-160 and Tu-95 MC bombers. Russia gave up in 2001 a base in Lourdes, Cuba, which had been set up during the Soviet era.
The former commander of this base, Lieutenant-General Mikhail Oparin, was quoted as welcoming the idea. 'Russia's air fleet must work towards a presence in every corner of the world,' he told Interfax news agency. The US, after all, had bases worldwide.
'An extended radius of action for our air force could be a response to the one-sided action of the USA in setting up a strategic system on Russia's borders,' he added.
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By TODD LEWAN
AP National Writer
Here's a vision of the not-so-distant future:
_Microchips with antennas will be embedded in virtually everything you buy, wear, drive and read, allowing retailers and law enforcement to track consumer items _ and, by extension, consumers _ wherever they go, from a distance.
_A seamless, global network of electronic "sniffers" will scan radio tags in myriad public settings, identifying people and their tastes instantly so that customized ads, "live spam," may be beamed at them.
_In "Smart Homes," sensors built into walls, floors and appliances will inventory possessions, record eating habits, monitor medicine cabinets _ all the while, silently reporting data to marketers eager for a peek into the occupants' private lives.
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By Yossi Klein Halevi      
A letter from an anxious Israeli to the presidential candidate on the eve of his visit to Jerusalem
 ERUSALEM — Dear Senator Obama,
Welcome to Israel. When you arrive here today, you will encounter a people intrigued by your candidacy and, given the current crisis of Israeli leadership, envious of your capacity to inspire. Issues that have worried some Americans about your background have scarcely been noted here. The whispering campaign labeling you a Muslim wasn't taken seriously by mainstream Israelis. Nor are we fazed by your middle name: Half of Israel's Jewish population has origins in Muslim cultures. Despite black-Jewish tensions in America, your color evokes little concern here; Israel rescued tens of thousands of African Jews and turned their arrival into a national celebration. Even Rev. Wright didn't cause much of a stir, maybe because we're used to being embarrassed by our own religious leaders.
Still, as much as Israelis want to embrace you, there is anxiety here about your candidacy. Not that we doubt your friendship: Your description of Israeli security as "sacrosanct," and your passionate endorsement of Israel's cause at the annual AIPAC conference in Washington, were greeted with banner headlines ...   more »

by Rabbi Shraga Simmons
How do we respond when a Hezbollah killer goes free?
Emotions peaked last week as Hezbollah handed over the bodies of the two Israeli soldiers whose kidnapping touched off the 2006 Lebanon War, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, in exchange for Israel's release of Samir Kuntar, the unrepentant terrorist and child murderer.
The reaction in Israel was of somber national mourning.
In Lebanon, it was a day of national celebration. Government offices and banks were closed, and Kuntar was accorded a hero's welcome amidst huge rallies and fireworks.
With his military garb and arm proudly thrust forward in a Nazi salute, Kuntar vowed to murder more innocent Jews.
Throughout most of the civilized world, the reaction to this scene was revulsion and disdain.
My reaction was sorrow, mixed with humble gratitude, as I recalled this story from the Holocaust:
Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, the revered Klausenberger Rebbe, was savagely beaten by a Nazi with crushing, deadly blows. As the rabbi was sprawled on the ground, bleeding from his head, the Nazi thrust his jackboot into the rabbi's chest and mockingly sneered: "So tell me, how does it now feel to be a Jew?"
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It is difficult to imagine Israel attacking Iran.
It is, however, more difficult to imagine Israel not attacking Iran.
Consider three questions:
First, does Iran mean what it says about destroying Israel? When its leaders repeatedly call for Israel's annihilation, after referring to it as a cancer and using other rhetoric not heard on a national level since the Nazi regime's depiction of Jews, is this just rhetorical flourish? Or do they really hope and plan to destroy Israel?
Second, can Iran do it? One can hope and even plan to do something outrageous, but that does not necessarily mean that one can accomplish it. So, the second question is whether Iran can destroy Israel, or at least murder a high enough percentage of its population and destroy enough of its infrastructure to enable surrounding Arab states to invade and do the rest of the job that the majority of Arabs favor (even if some of their governments have a peace treaty with Israel).
It seems to me that the answers to the first two questions are so obvious that any burden of proof rests on those who argue otherwise. Do they think Iranian leaders are bluffing? Why would these ...   more »

Yaakov Asael, 53-year-old grandfather of six, kills rampaging bulldozer driver
Yaakov Asael, a resident of the Susiya settlement in southern Mount Hebron is Tuesday's hero. Asael shot and killed the terrorist who carried out the bulldozer attack in Jerusalem earlier in the day  
Fifty-three-year-old Asael is an IDF reserves company commander, a father of eight, grandfather of six, and a teacher.  
Terror Attack  
18 injured in Jerusalem bulldozer attack / Efrat Weiss  
Once again: Bulldozer driver runs wild on Jerusalem's King David Street, crashing into cars; at least 18 people injured, one sustaining moderate to serious wounds. Civilian, Border Guard officers shoot terrorist to death     
Ayelet Recanati, Asael’s daughter, told Ynet that her father is “resourceful."  
"He was a military man in commanding positions in combat units, in the armored corps," she said.  
“He is a bible teacher and an agriculturalist but has studied judo his whole life. He is a Jewish Israeli who combines the Torah and labor and tremendous politeness," she said.
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