AMMAN, July 28 (KUNA) -- The Royal Committee of Jerusalem Affairs has warned the Israeli authorities Saturday of carrying out new projects in Jerusalem in the framework of its continued aggression against the city.
The committee stressed in a statement that these measures would not only hinder the peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis, but with the Arabs and all the Muslims.
The Commission, in a press release published by its Secretary General Abdullah Kan'an, called on the Israeli government to take immediate action to stop these projects if it wants peace.
It also called on the Quartet envoy Tony Blair to request from Israel to stop these projects that threaten the foundations of peace between Arabs and Israelis, urging him to declare that the continued occupation of Jerusalem and the open assault on the holy sites will not facilitate his mission which he seeks to achieve.
Some of Israeli newspapers revealed the determination of the municipality of occupied Jerusalem to implement new projects in a series of assaults on the holy city and to resume tunneling beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to link these tunnels to each other and have access to the bottom of the Dome ...   more »

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is exploring the idea of allowing Jordanian forces, and not NATO troops, into the West Bank to help the Palestinian Authority fight terrorism, The Jerusalem Post has learned. What Olmert has in mind, and what has been raised in recent meetings with Jordan's King Abdullah II, is not the Badr Brigade - a group of Palestinian soldiers inside the Jordanian Army - but rather "regular" Jordanian Army troops, Beduins who have experience fighting terrorism. The Badr Brigade is a unit in the Jordanian Army composed of 1,500 to 2,000 Palestinians who receive salaries from the PLO. The introduction of the Badr Brigade into the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to support Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has been talked about endlessly and without any concrete results for years. But Olmert, in recent meetings, has raised the possibility of introducing regular forces from the Jordanian Army. He has said this could be an effective way to help Abbas create a semblance of security in the West Bank. The idea is likely to be raised when Olmert and Abbas meet next week, just days after Wednesday's planned visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Olmert and ...   more »

   Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates leave Monday on a vital Middle East mission to seek Arab support to bolster Iraq and to discuss weapons sales with allies.
Amid growing calls at home to withdraw US forces in Iraq, the duo are also expected to reaffirm US commitment to regional security against possible threats from Iran and its nuclear program. In addition, Washington is expected to underline concerns that some Sunni Arab nations are offering financial aid to foreign fighters fuelling the insurgency against the fragile Shiite-led, US-backed government in Baghdad. Rice and Gates will make rare joint visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia before separate trips to other parts of the region. In Egypt, they are scheduled to meet ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman -- as well as Jordan and Egypt in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh. They will "discuss the ways in which Iraq's neighbors can help advance the cause of security and stability in that country," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. Washington is particularly concerned that its most powerful Sunni Arab ally, Saudi Arabia, ...   more »

Hours before embarking on Middle East trip, Rice announces proposed $30 billion military aid package for Israel, $13 billion for Egypt. Plans to provide similar aid to Saudi Arabia, Gulf states also declared. ‘This effort will help bolster forces of moderation,’ she says
Reuters
The United States on Monday announced a proposed $13 billion military aid package for Egypt and a $30 billion package for Israel, along with plans to provide such aid to Saudi Arabia and Gulf states. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the announcement hours before leaving with Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a rare joint trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia where they are seeking more Arab help in stabilizing Iraq. Closest Ally Washington is striving to assure Gulf allies, worried by the growing strength of Iran and war in Iraq, that the United States is committed to the region and will stand by them, with arms sales part of that process, US officials say. "This effort will help bolster forces of moderation and support a broader strategy to counter the negative influences of al Qaeda, Hizbullah, Syria, and Iran," said Rice in a statement announcing the defense agreements. 'Confronting the threat of radicalism'The packages for Egypt and Israel ...   more »

Are massive American arms sales to Arab countries bad for Israel?
Ron Ben Yishai
It will probably be the largest arms deal in the history of the Middle East: Advanced American weapons systems worth a total of about $40 billion will be sold over the next 15 years to America’s allies in the region. The main objective is to create a strategic-military balance vis-à-vis the rise of Iran and curb the erosion in Washington’s regional standing – an erosion that may grow stronger following the withdrawal from Iraq in two or three years' time and that could even threaten the West’s oil supply. 
Just like the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait, the Americans also know that moderate Arab countries would be unable to deal with Iran on their own and address the Iraqi civil war, even after the arms deals are completed. Yet Washington also knows that those who buy massive quantities of sophisticated American weapons boost their dependency on America when it comes to maintaining and using those weapons.
 
No less important: Those who buy weapons from America don’t buy arms from Russia and China, which are trying to bolster their influence in the region and ...   more »

By Stan Goodenough-The Bush administration remains committed to ensuring Israel's military supremacy over its Arab neighbors even as it continues to push the Jewish state into relinquishing half its tiny territory for the creation of yet another Arab country - Palestine.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert encouraged his cabinet with this news Sunday morning, revealing that during his June visit to the White House, President George W. Bush had agreed to up US military aid to Israel by 30 billion dollars over the next 10 years."A detailed and explicit commitment was given to ensure our qualitative military edge over the Arab states," Olmert said, according to a report in The Jerusalem Post.Olmert went on to welcome the news that Washington would also be increasing military assistance to the so-called "moderate" Arab states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia.The State Department has been working for years to keep these states out of the clutches of the more fundamentalist countries like Iran and Saddam Hussein.But, as Likud Party Knesset Member Yuval Steinitz told the Associated Press: "I can understand the need to support moderate states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but on the other hand we have to remember that governments can be toppled, ...   more »

At long last, somebody from the U.S. Senate has taken notice of the new U.N. Human Rights Council and concluded it is no different than the inept and corrupt organization that it was designed to replace.
The U.N. Human Rights Council has spent the full period of its existence investigating Israeli "violations" of human rights, to the exclusion of all other nations. Of all the nations in the world, Israel is the only one to earn the special status of being permanently placed on the UNHRC's monthly agenda. First, the UNHRC examines Israel, and then, if there is any time left, they go to new business. To date, there's been no time left.
Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota has had enough: "You've got countries like North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe where you have state-sponsored brutality, and what we have is deafening silence," he told Haaretz. Last month, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved legislation advanced by Coleman aimed at cutting off funding to the UNHRC.
The UNHRC is getting a bit of attention among the Washington establishment, as well.
Assistant Secretary of State Kristen Silverberg called the council's first year a serious disappointment. She reproached member states for abandoning their responsibility ...   more »

L. A. Marzulli
July 29, 2007 -- RaidersNewsNetwork.com -- Recently Mahmood Amedihijahd, the president of Iran has hinted that there will be a summer war in the region to rid the area of its enemies, think Israel here. For those who have followed his ongoing vitriol against Israel this is nothing new except that he’s announced a definitive time frame, this summer.
In the recent past Ahmedinejhad has declared that, the holocaust didn’t exist, that Israel is a withered tree soon to be plucked by it’s roots and that the tiny nation should be wiped off the map. There’s not much wiggle room in those statements. It’s not like Israel and the Iranians are going to sit down and chat about their political differences soon. Facts are that Iran has backed the terror organization Hezbollah, who’s leader Hasan Nesrallah has sworn to destroy Israel and has recently boasted that the new rockets that he received – thanks again to the Iranians – can reach everywhere in Israel.
You may remember last summer when Hezbollah attacked Israel resulting in a war that Israel clearly won, having knocked Hezbollah from its position in southern Lebanon. Nesrallah, who probably holed up in Iran ...   more »

By Barbara Opall-Rome

   
BALADIA CITY, Israel — In a new, elaborate training center in the Negev desert, Israeli troops — and someday, U.S. Marines and soldiers — are preparing for the wide range of urban scenarios they may confront.
Here, at Israel’s new National Urban Training Center, the Israeli Defense Force’s Ground Forces Command is preparing forces to fight in four theaters: Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank and Syria.
Built by the Army Corps of Engineers and funded largely from U.S. military aid, the 7.4-square-mile generic city — balad, in Arabic, means village — consists of 1,100 basic modules that can be reconfigured by mission planners to represent specific towns.
It’s a much smaller, IDF-tailored version of the Army’s Joint Readiness Training Center, the sprawling 100,000-acre simulated microcosm of the Middle East used to train infantry brigade task forces deployed in the region. And while Baladia City won’t feature all the pyrotechnic bells and whistles of the Fort Polk, La., facility, it will offer the same high-fidelity simulated battlefield technologies, force identification and location systems, and debriefing capabilities, officers here said.
“Combat units from platoon up to brigade level will train in an environment that simulates the real ...   more »

By Joseph Farah
Over the years, I've noticed a schism develop between many law enforcement people and ordinary "civilians" – you know, the poor schlemiels who pay their taxes, empower the high mighty and employ the cops.
This division takes many shapes and forms, but nowhere is it more obvious than on the issue of firearms.
Many police officers have come to believe guns are only safe in their hands – that they cannot be entrusted into the custody of untrained, unqualified citizens.
Obviously, this is a non-starter from a constitutional, freedom-oriented perspective. But there's a practical new reason for cops to begin rethinking where this anti-gun hysteria is leading our country.
I don't know how many of us thought to question passage of law 18 U.S. Code section 924(c)(1)(a), which calls for a mandatory 10-year sentence for using or carrying a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence.
Off hand, it sounds pretty good.
Who could argue with a law that says, "Hey, if you commit a violence crime with a gun, you go to jail for at least 10 years"?
I could live with that. It sounds just. I like to see bad guys put away ...   more »

In an open letter published in the Sunday edition of the New York Times, dozens of prominent Evangelical Christians from across the United States expressed their support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The letter urged President George W. Bush to “not grow weary” in his efforts to facilitate a final status agreement between Israel, the Palestinian Arabs and the wider Arab world.
The authors also took at fellow Christians who oppose the creation of an Arab state on Israel's biblical heartland, insisting that it is a “serious misperception” that all Evangelicals support Israel's right to all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Christians United for Israel (CUFI) director Pastor John Hagee told The Jerusalem Post that the letter was a misrepresentation of mainstream Evangelical beliefs.
“The authors of this letter do not represent the views of the vast majority of Bible-believing mainstream Evangelicals in America,” said Hagee, who blasted as “absolutely incorrect” the assertion that the Palestinian Arabs have a historic right to the land equal to that of the Jews.
Original Source

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By FSM Editors
Counterterrorism expert Juval Aviv met recently with reporters at Fox News and revealed information, which he believes is accurate, concerning an imminent Al Qaeda attack on five to seven American cities simultaneously.  
"I predict, based primarily on information that is floating in Europe and the Middle East, that an event is imminent and around the corner here in the United States. It could happen as soon as tomorrow, or it could happen in the next few months. Ninety days at the most,” said Mr. Aviv.
Mr. Aviv knows of that which he speaks.  He is a former Israeli Counterterrorism Intelligence Officer and has also served as a special consultant to the U.S. Congress on issues of terrorism and security.  He is best known as the source of the 1984 book, Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas, on which Steven Spielberg's film Munich was based.  He is also the author of The Complete Terrorism Survival Guide: How to Travel, Work and Live in Safety (2003); and Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business (2004).
Currently, Aviv is the president of Interfor, Inc., a corporate investigations ...   more »

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is developing a proposed $20 billion, 10-year arms sales package for Saudi Arabia, a senior administration official confirmed on Saturday.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, left, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with Saudis next week.
 The proposed sale, first reported in The New York Times, is intended to upgrade the Saudi military's ability to counter possible Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf region, the official said.
"This is all about Iran," said the official, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity because discussions with the Saudis are still going on and the arms sale deal has not been completed.
Israel is expected to raise objections to the arms package, and has expressed concerns about previous Saudi arms deals.
The official said the Bush administration is mindful that Israel must maintain its "qualitative edge" in the region.
Besides Saudi Arabia, other countries in discussion with the United States about arms sales include the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
One of the more controversial proposals will probably be selling the Saudis, for the first time, satellite-guided bombs known as JDAMs. The sale may include a 500-pound and a 2,000-pound ...   more »

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has told a German magazine that the United States has too many problems in Iraq to become involved in armed conflict with Iran.
Military action is sometimes discussed in Washington as an option in trying to derail what it sees as Iran's drive to develop nuclear weapons.
The United States "is not in a position to get into a new military conflict", Mottaki was quoted as saying in an excerpt of an interview to be published in Focus magazine.
"170,000 American soldiers can guarantee neither their own safety nor the security of Iraq," he said.
The United States and its allies say Iran's nuclear fuel enrichment programme is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran insists it is purely for peaceful power generation.
The United Nations has imposed sanctions on Iran for failing to stop enrichment, but Mottaki reiterated that Iran had no intention of curtailing the programme.
Mottaki has dismissed the U.N. sanctions already imposed and said that tougher penalties would not change Iran's mind.
There was no mention of plans for further talks between Iran and the United States on Iraq.
Orignal Source
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Telegraph.co.uk and The Christian Science Monitor publish two separate articles with contrasting and converging viewpoints on what is basically the same topic: the growth of Islam in the west. Interestingly, both articles make mention of the "conflict of cultures" within the German city of Cologne. Although the article by CSM failed to mention that "the number of Germans who have converted to Islam has increased fourfold within one year,"   
both articles illustrate how Europe is overwhelming itself with toxic levels of Islamophobia. The articles also reveal how many who wield power in Europe aim to propagate negative perceptions of Muslims living in their society - we are not welcome - a piety for what is to become of the emblem of tolerance in the west if this striking trend gains momentum. The problem is not that Muslims aren't able to integrate - not at all - rather it is that Muslims are integrating all too well, Islam is finding a growing and sizable niche within the European community, and consequentially many institution (like the Catholic Church) find plenty of contention with that. Also noteworthy in the Telegraph article are recent comments by the Pope's secretary who comes out now ...   more »

Some bigheaded preachers demand rock star treatment. If the apostle Paul were around today he might throw rocks at them. 
Just when I thought we charismatics had finally taken enough abuse from the egomaniac ministers in our midst, I’ve learned that some of our leaders are taking things to a new extreme. We’ve moved beyond the red carpets, limousines and entourages of the 1990s. A new strain of the celebrity virus is spreading in large segments of the church. 
“What is this sickness spreading in the body of Christ? All I know is that God is grieved by all of this shameful carnality.” 
One friend of mine in Texas recently inquired to see if a prominent preacher could speak at her conference. The minister’s assistant faxed back a list of requirements that had to be met in order to book a speaking engagement. The demands included:
a five-figure honorarium
a $10,000 gasoline deposit for the private plane
a manicurist and hairstylist for the speaker
a suite in a five-star hotel
a luxury car from the airport to the hotel (2004 model or newer)
room-temperature Perrier   
This really makes me wonder how the apostle Paul, Timothy or Priscilla managed ministering ...   more »

By Ivan Penn
Published July 28, 2007
Delray Beach's VeriChip offers a device the size of a grain of rice to allow access to a patient's medical history when implanted in the arm. About 400 Americans have chips. 
Business News Video  
It appears that the effort to implant microchips into humans is not only alive and well but moving ever closer to getting under everyone's skin.
Delray Beach firm VeriChip, the nation's only FDA-approved company allowed to produce microchips for injection into people, got a boost recently from the American Medical Association.
The AMA said such devices "may help to identify patients, thereby improving the safety and efficiency of patient care." But the council warned that the devices' safety and security are unclear.
That was enough to create a stir in the technology and medical worlds as well as among privacy and religious folks. And enough to put a smile on VeriChip's face.
Scott Silverman, chief executive officer of VeriChip, says the primary aim is to help high-risk medical patients such as those with diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer and heart conditions.
The chip, implanted in the upper right arm, allows medical personnel to access a patient's medical history in the ...   more »