Al Quaeda Jihad Jockeys

You already heard about the Delta jet heading into Detroit on Christmas Day, when the Nigerian passenger who lit a device intending to blow up the plane.

Passengers on the flight saw Abdulmutallab go to the bathroom for approximately twenty minutes. Upon returning to his seat, Abdulmutallab stated that his stomach was upset and he pulled a blanket over himself. His seat in aisle 19 was over the fuel tanks of the jetliner and at the window, where an explosion would have had maximum effect. But terrorist didn’t expect the quick-thinking response of a fellow passenger, Jasper Schuringa, a video director from Holland.

The minute Schuringa heard the firecracker-type popping, smelt the smoke and saw the fire coming from the opposite side of the plane, he leapt over seats and passengers to get to the source. - When he got to Abdulmutallab, Schuringa started searching his body for explosives and took a syringe that was melting and smoking from the Nigerian's body. He used his hand to put out the fire. - Then fire started under his seat.

“Water, water", screamed Schuringa. Cabin attendants rushed with fire extinguishers to control the flame.

But the Dutchman was not satisfied that all was under control, and along with an attendant, dragged Abdulmutallab from his seat into the first class compartment where "we stripped him to see if he had any more explosives". They then handcuffed the suspect to a stationary object. – Thank G-D for a man like Schuringa, who acted quickly and with courage!

23 year-old Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab is an engineering student at University College of London. He was flying from Nigeria to the United States for a “religious ceremony”. Really? What kind of a “religious ceremony”? Islamic Jihad on the air-plane??

An FBI analysis found that the device AbdulMutallab carried aboard the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, contained the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate, known as PETN.

The amount of explosive involved was sufficient to blow a hole in the side of the aircraft, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN Sunday.

Penthrite was first synthesized in 1891 by Bernhard Tollens and Wiegand by nitration of pentaerythritol. In 1912, after being patented by the German government, the production of PETN started. PETN was used by the German Army in World War I.

PETN seems to be used as an igniter for TATP, acetone peroxide, an organic peroxide and a primary high explosive. It takes the form of a white crystalline powder with a distinctive acrid odor which seems to be the explosive of choice if its homemade. Many suicide bombers were found with both PETN and TATP in the explosive vests they used. In December 2001, PETN was the igniter used by - “shoe bomber” Richard Reid - in his attempt to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. He had intended to use the solid triacetone triperoxide (TATP) as a detonator.

On 28 August 2009, PETN was used in an attempt to murder the Saudi Arabian Deputy Minister of Interior Prince Muhammad bin Nayef by a Saudi suicide-bomber (Abdullah Hassan al Asiri) linked to an Al Qaeda cell based in Yemen. The target survived, and the bomber died in the blast. The PETN was hidden in his anal cavity.

And sure enough, Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack on a plane about to land in the U.S.! - In a tape released four days before the attempted destruction of the Detroit-bound Northwest plane, the leader of al Qaeda in Yemen boasted of what was planned for Americans, saying, "We are carrying a bomb to hit the enemies of God."...Which God? Allah, the moongod? - Jihad again came to America!

But president Obama keeps ignoring Flight 253 jihadist's ties to Al-Qaeda and Fort Hood imam, and calls him "isolated extremist".

Say what? Al-Quaeda just admitted they sent him and they will send more.

Nigeria's “This Day” newspaper said he had been given the nickname "Alfa" -- a local term for an Islamic scholar -- while at school in Togo, for his preaching to other students. He also made two trips to Yemen during his student days for short Arabic and Islamic courses, according to a family friend.... Why is it as soon as Muslims begin studying the Koran and believe its content, they start killing people?? – Isn’t it supposed to be a peaceful religion?

To top it off, Abdulmutallab was on a terror watch list, and had been known to anti-terror officials for several years. This didn’t prevent him from boarding Flight 253 - showing that such lists and even official scrutiny are as useless as taking off your shoes in the airport security line. What's more, the Jihadi's father warned American officials about his son, who was being watched already. And still nothing was done to keep him from boarding the plane....He was even able to board the flight in Amsterdam without his passport.

Nevertheless, he made it on the plane with Jihad Jockeys.

The underpants came with a special pouch sewn by al Qaeda's finest seamstresses. In it was a condom packed with 80 grams of PETN, a compound that's a key ingredient in the plastic explosive Semtex. The suicide bomber tried to set it off by using a hypodermic needle to inject it with a powerful acid, while trying to hide his actions by putting a blanket on his lap. Luckily he only managed to set his crotch on fire. – Do you think he still gets 72 virgins?

Ain't It The Truth?

Remember when Ronald Reagan was president
and we also had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash.




Now we have Barack Obama and no hope and no cash.

We Are The Maccabees

Religious and Secular, We are the Maccabees
By Naomi Ragen

Every single Jew living in the land of Israel is a modern day Maccabee.
Every Jew who has dared to wrench this re-born homeland from a callous
world that would deny us Jews our birthright, while championing the
birthrights of every other native people in the world --Tibetans, and
Palestinians, and South African Blacks-- is a Maccabee. Every Jew
sitting in Israel, surrounded by the overwhelming power and numbers and
evil designs of the hostile Moslem world, is a Maccabee. With every
candle we light - whether we are religious or secular - we celebrate
those things that hold us together as a nation: our history and our
culture and our faith. We celebrate that these things have not been
erased from the world, and are not now relics behind the glass cases of
museum exhibits like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, and Sumerians.
With every light in our window shining out against the dark night we
proclaim: We are still here and our very existence is a stunning victory
of the weak against the strong, the few against the many, the just, who
love and protect life, against the lawless, who have no respect for
life.

With every candle we light, we reaffirm all those things that hold us
together as a nation and a people: our stubborn disregard for the forces
aligned against us, our rejection of the lies told about us, and our
unwavering assertion of our history and our right to take our place as a
nation among the nations. We assert that we are in our homeland, the
land that was given to us and which we have inhabited - in lesser or
greater numbers-from the time we crossed the Jordan with Joshua.

That we, descendants of Abraham and that tribe of desert children born
from freed Egyptian slaves, remember who we are despite all efforts to
make us forget, to convince us otherwise, to rewrite and defile and deny
our history and our rights as a native people living in their native
homeland.

We remember not only what we are, but who we are: the torch-bearers of
the precious value of human life. Our agony as a nation over the life of
one of its precious sons, our willingness to release those who have
murdered us without pity so that that son might return to his family and
live, that agony unites us as a nation because it goes to the deepest
part of our heritage. No other nation in the world would even consider
such a trade. But we do, because that is who we are, demonstrating that
we have not been infected and defiled by the values of other nations. We
stand unique in all the world, every single one of us. Because we are
alive at this time and in this place, and we have chosen to spend that
life in our homeland despite all the dangers and hardships and
sacrifices. Because we are Jews and Israelis and together we light a
candle, secular and religious, against the vast darkness of a hostile
world. Because with that candle we proclaim: we are a unique people, and
we are here to stay.

Happy Chanukah.
----------------------------------------------
For more articles, please visit my Web page at: http://www.NaomiRagen.com

Negotiations

Switzerland Defends Ban on Mosque Minarets

Monday , November 30, 2009

Switzerland says the country's new ban on the building of minarets is not aimed at Muslims but at Islamic fundamentalism.

Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf says her country supports religious freedoms.

She says Sunday's referendum, during which voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on minarets, was not "a referendum against Islam ... but a vote directed against fundamentalist developments."

Widmer-Schlumpf spoke on arrival Monday at a meeting with EU justice ministers. Switzerland is not an EU member but has close and regular contacts with the EU.

Swiss voters support barring construction of the iconic mosque towers in a surprise vote that put Switzerland at the forefront of a European backlash against a growing Muslim population.

Muslim groups in Switzerland and abroad condemned the vote as biased and anti-Islamic. Business groups said the decision hurt Switzerland's international standing and could damage relations with Muslim nations and wealthy investors who bank, travel and shop there.

"The Swiss have failed to give a clear signal for diversity, freedom of religion and human rights," said Omar Al-Rawi, integration representative of the Islamic Denomination in Austria, which said its reaction was "grief and deep disappointment."

The referendum by the nationalist Swiss People's Party labeled minarets as symbols of rising Muslim political power that could one day transform Switzerland into an Islamic nation. The initiative was approved 57.5 to 42.5 percent by some 2.67 million voters. Only four of the 26 cantons or states opposed the initiative, granting the double approval that makes it part of the Swiss constitution.

Muslims comprise about 6 percent of Switzerland's 7.5 million people. Many are refugees from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and about one in 10 actively practices their religion, the government says.

The country's four standing minarets, which won't be affected by the ban, do not traditionally broadcast the call to prayer outside their own buildings.

The sponsors of the initiative provoked complaints of bias from local officials and human-rights group with campaign posters that showed minarets rising like missiles from the Swiss flag next to a fully veiled woman. Backers said the growing Muslim population was straining the country "because Muslims don't just practice religion."

"The minaret is a sign of political power and demand, comparable with whole-body covering by the burqa, tolerance of forced marriage and genital mutilation of girls," the sponsors said. They noted that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has compared mosques to Islam's military barracks and called "the minarets our bayonets."

Anxieties about growing Muslim minorities have rippled across Europe in recent years, leading to legal changes in some countries. There have been French moves to ban the full-length body covering known as the burqa. Some German states have introduced bans on head scarves for Muslim women teaching in public schools. Mosques and minaret construction projects in Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Greece, Germany and Slovenia have been met by protests.

But the Swiss ban in minarets, sponsored by the country's largest political party, was one of the most extreme reactions.

"It's a sad day for freedom of religion," said Mohammed Shafiq, the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, a British youth organization. "A constitutional amendment that's targeted towards one religious community is discriminatory and abhorrent."

He said he was concerned the decision could have reverberations in other European countries.

Amnesty International said the vote violated freedom of religion and would probably be overturned by the Swiss supreme court or the European Court of Human Rights.

The seven-member Cabinet that heads the Swiss government had spoken out strongly against the initiative but the government said it accepted the vote and would impose an immediate ban on minaret construction.

It said that "Muslims in Switzerland are able to practice their religion alone or in community with others, and live according to their beliefs just as before." It took the unusual step of issuing its press release in Arabic as well as German, French, Italian and English.

Sunday's results stood in stark contrast to opinion polls, last taken 10 days ago, that showed 37 percent supporting the proposal. Experts said before the vote that they feared Swiss had pretended during the polling that they opposed the ban because they didn't want to appear intolerant.

"The sponsors of the ban have achieved something everyone wanted to prevent, and that is to influence and change the relations to Muslims and their social integration in a negative way," said Taner Hatipoglu, president of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Zurich. "Muslims indeed will not feel safe anymore."

The People's Party has campaigned mainly unsuccessfully in previous years against immigrants with campaign posters showing white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag and another with brown hands grabbing eagerly for Swiss passports.

Geneva's main mosque was vandalized Thursday when someone threw a pot of pink paint at the entrance. Earlier this month, a vehicle with a loudspeaker drove through the area imitating a muezzin's call to prayer, and vandals damaged a mosaic when they threw cobblestones at the building.

http://earlytoday.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/obamas-grandmother-to-perform-muslim-hajj/

http://earlytoday.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/obamas-grandmother-to-perform-muslim-hajj/

The "Piece Plan" is not a "Peace Plan"

On Saturday the sixth annual Saban Forum began in Jerusalem and Ramallah. The two-day forum runs through Monday, and is supposed to be a dialogue between senior officials from both countries on US-Israel relations and Middle East strategic issues such as the Iranian threat, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, will be held behind closed doors.

Attending are former US president Bill Clinton, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham - the highest-level US delegation ever to attend the conference.

Among the Israeli participants are Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Kadima leader Tzipi Livni, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) director Yuval Diskin and Director of Military Intelligence General Amos Yadlin.

The delegates are scheduled to meet with Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer to discuss economic development.

Unique to this year's event, the delegates travelled today to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.

Founded in 2004, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy has been working to promote independent policy dialogue between Israel and the US. Founder Haim Saban called the timing of the event "a critical moment in US-Israel relations."

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat announced Sunday that the PA they is preparing to ask the United Nations to recognize an independent Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, without Israel's consent because they are losing faith in the peace talks. - A senior Palestinian official told Fox News that the Palestinian Authority plans to call for Palestinian statehood through a UN resolution in the next few weeks -- a similar maneuver to that by which Israel was created.

Despite widespread assumptions the U.S. would veto any such U.N. Security Council resolution, the PA negotiator said that in initial discussions, the Obama administration did not threaten to veto their conceptual unilateral resolution.

"There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and any unilateral attempts outside that framework will unravel the existing agreements between us and could entail unilateral steps by Israel," Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told a high level gathering of Israeli and American policy makers at the Saban Forum in Jerusalem on Sunday night.

Both Palestinians and some Israelis believe that there is growing support in the international community for such a measure.

Asked to comment on the plan, an American official said that such a UN resolution, while not a cure-all, could be expanded upon eventually. Still, he added: "It's a measure that would make you feel good for five minutes. Then what?"

The Palestinians seek an independent state that includes the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.

The Palestinians already declared independence unilaterally on Nov. 15, 1988. The declaration was recognized by dozens of countries, but never implemented on the ground.

For Israel, the creation of a Hamas-controlled, Iranian-influenced Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria—the heartland of the Jewish people and key to Jewish national security—would amount to national suicide.

But G-D has only one plan, because unlike man, he sees the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:9-10). We don’t have to look far in the Bible to see that Israel is in His eternal plan. He doesn’t have a “Piece Plan” - he has a “Peace Plan” - for Israel and the whole world.

Khalid's Trial is America's Trial

Nonie Darwish

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who confessed to be the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attack, will be tried at a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan with the same rights as any US citizens. What is the purpose of this trial if Mr. Mohammed has already confessed? For the Obama administration, the trial will kill two birds with one stone and neither one is to seek justice for Mr. Mohammed since we all already know he did it.

The purpose of the trial is to embarrass the Bush administration and America itself and to give Arabs a golden opportunity to indulge in propaganda to convince the West with falsehoods regarding the root causes of Islamic terrorism; mainly that it is the consequence of US foreign policy, old grievances and America’s supports Israel.

Mr. Mohammed will have a chance to make a case against the US for the waterboarding used on him during his interrogation. That will be a confirmation to Attorney General Eric Holder’s reopening of the waterboarding investigation.

The war between Islamism and the rest of the world is largely a cultural and ideological war. Jihad, violent and non-violent, is a cornerstone of Islam that seeks to penetrate the West by any means. Jihadists are commanded to strike terror in the hearts of non-believers, as the Quran says. Deep fear resulting from such terror, renders some Americans vulnerable to appeasement rather than fight it. Islamists understand that dynamics very well and have used it throughout their history. Now that they have already done the terror, which softened some Americans, it is time to play with American’s minds; to desensitize Americans to Islamic tyranny and as to who is right and who is wrong. In the process, Islamists want us to hear their manufactured propaganda of Arab grievances and put the West on the defensive. That will not be very difficult in Western culture where many are eager to blame America first.

The purpose of jihadists is to make the victims of jihad (America on 9/11), confused as to Islam’s jihadist goals. That is why teaching violent jihad to Muslims must go hand in hand with teaching them hatred of the West, the object of jihad. Jihad education won’t work unless it is simultaneously accompanied by promoting fear and lies about non-Muslim nations Islamists want to conquer. Islamists must also convince the West that Muslim countries are their victims. This is the only way to justify jihadist aspiration. Jihad will go much easier and faster if it is packaged as self defense both to the West and to the Jihadist Muslim youth. Muslim victim-hood image must always be maintained.

The coming civil trial of Mohammed in New York is perhaps the best gift Obama has given to the Saudi Kind Abdullah, leader of the country that produced 15 of the 19 terrorists. He is giving him a chance to save face and present Islam as the victim. When Obama bowed to the Saudi King, it was a sign of subservience to Islam, whether Obama wants to admit it or not. This trial will solidify the claims by some of Obama’s czars that America had it coming on 9/11. The Arab world must be celebrating.

Nonie Darwish: Author: “Cruel and Usual Punishment; the terrifying global implications of Islamic law”

Koran: Allah (G-d) Ordered Jews into Eretz-Israel!

If Hamas, Hezbollah and 'the rest' are fighting a Holy Jihad against the infidel invader then what do they make of the following passages from the Koran? The Pan-Islamists, from Ahmadinejad, to Haniya, Nassrallah make claims that the Jews are invaders. Some have even made claims that Jews never even existed upon the land and that there is no religious link between the Jews and Jerusalem (hmm... wasn't Jesus a Jew? Didn't Mohammed himself fight the Jews of Medina?) or any part of Israel... At the same time Mohammed was honest and acknowledged the special relationship of the Jewish people with G-d and the land He gave them:

[Sura 5:20] Recall that Moses said to his people (the Jews), "O my people, remember GOD's blessings upon you: He appointed prophets from among you, made you kings, and granted you what He never granted any other people."

[Sura 5:21] "O my people, enter the holy land (Israel) that GOD has decreed for you, and do not rebel, lest you become losers."

Later in the Koran, in order to make it clear and leave no doubts that the Jewish G-d had given ownership of the land to and set the mission of the Jews, Mohammed took additional time to repeat the writing of the Torah in Sura 7 about the Jews and Moses:

[Sura 7:137] "We let the oppressed people inherit the land, east and west, and we blessed it. The blessed commands of your Lord were thus fulfilled for the Children of Israel, to reward them for their steadfastness, and we annihilated the works of Pharaoh and his people and everything they harvested."

[Sura 7:144] He said, "O Moses, I have chosen you (the Jews), out of all the people, with My messages and by speaking to you. Therefore, take what I have given you and be appreciative."

Therefore, even according to the Koran, the prophet Mohammed's writings, the Jews were ordered into Eretz-Israel by Allah (G-d)! What is shocking is that most Muslims have never heard of it and never were taught these passages by their mullahs! These parts of the Koran have also been deliberately removed from any discussion of Islamic doctrine by not just Muslim but also Western Islamic scholars!

Jihad at Fort Hood

In 1994 I watched a PBS documentary from Steven Emerson. The film, Jihad in America, featured hiddencamera footage of men publicly raising money for terrorism in U.S. hotel conference rooms. The men were speaking in Arabic. With the help of a staff of researchers Emerson followed the terrorists' monetary sources and monitored their attacks and plans. He obtained videotaped evidence of terrorist training camps and conferences, and tracked the international connections of American operatives to over a dozen organizations.

On September 11, 2001, Islamic hijackers intentionally crashed two airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others who worked in the buildings.
Jihad had come to America!

What is Jihad? - In the Arabic language the word “Jihad” literally means, "to strive,” and "to struggle” against disbelievers.

- For 1400 years, Muslims always understood the meaning of Jihad as Islamic Holy War. Islamic scholars, Mullahs, Imams, etc., all over the world will agree with this meaning of Jihad. - Technically, Jihad is war against non-Muslims (Jihad al-kuffar or Jihad against the disbeliever).

Early Islam was spread in the Arabian Peninsula solely by holy wars (Jihad). Islam was propagated as a religion by series of wars/battles. As many as 78 historic battles were fought by the Prophet Muhammad himself. And out of 78, only one (battle of ditch) was defensive war, and the rest were all offensive wars. The Prophet Mohammed and his successors initiated series of offensive wars against pagan Arabs, Jews, Christians, etc., to spread or to impose Islam by force as well as to seize the abundance (booty) of these lands.

After Prophet Muhammad gained enough might in his force while in Medina, the tradition was to send an invitation of Islam to various Arab Tribes or countries. First, an invitation to pagans to accept Islam, then war against those who refused to accept Islam. A typical invitation to the people of the book (Christians and Jews) was: “Embrace Islam, or pay the poll-tax (Ziziya), or fight to death.”

You see; the concept of an offensive war to spread the faith of Islam is a genuine Islamic concept. It is considered a Holy War (Jihad), for the sake of Allah. It is not a peaceful struggle, by any means.

In the Qur’an we can find hundreds of verses (Ayats) that dictate to fight holy wars (Jihad) against non-Muslims infidels. Here is one of them: Qur’an-(9:5): “When the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)”.

In the Muslim community, Jihad is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force.

The majority of the Qur’an’s texts clearly identify Jihad as physical warfare, and the Muslim community always understood these texts to be taken literally. From the time of Muhammad onwards, Jihad as physical warfare in support of Islam, has always been a reality for every Muslim.


Hence, it comes as no surprise when terrorists use the Qur’an to justify their actions, as did Nidal Malik Hasan, the shooter in this week’s Fort Hood massacre, who said: "Muslims should stand up and fight the aggressor," before he killed 13 people and wounded 30 others.

The father of one of the soldiers said he heard the shooter exclaim "Allahu Akbar" as he opened fire, reported KSL-TV in Salt Lake City.

According to a doctor who was in a graduate program with him, Nidal Malik Hasan, regularly described the war on terror as "a war against Islam." - Islamic jihadists routinely characterize anti-terror efforts as part of a "war on Islam."

But of course, there is no war on terror, and there is no war on Islam.

There is just the Islamic Jihad against the U.S. and the West.

Why Do The Nations Conspire Against Israel?

Thousands of years ago the psalmist asked: “Why are the nations in an uproar, the peoples grumbling in vain? The earth’s kings are taking positions, leaders conspiring together, against Adonai and His anointed.” (Psalm 2:1-2) –Jews have asked this question every year since that time.

The psalm hints of another source for the ancient hatred that has always plagued the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism is far too ancient, too persistent, too well organized to have its origins in the mind of man, because it is the longest and deepest hatred of human history.

So, why do the nations always plot against the Jews? Why do the nations hate Israel?

The Jewish people’s existence defies all logic. They should have disappeared thousands of years ago. The most powerful nations in every generation planned their destruction, yet they have all disappeared and the tiny Jewish nation is still around.

The return of the Jews to their ancient Jewish homeland can’t be explained in logical terms. It is an event which was predicted thousands of years ago, yet it could not have happened logically. Jews from all over the world have been streaming into Israel. They rejuvenated their ancient language and fended off enemies who outnumbered them.

Today those enemies continue to seek their destruction. Israelis have been murdered by suicide bombers and rock throwers. They are presently under threat of nuclear attack. As if that wasn’t enough, Israel’s leaders insist upon pretending that they can live in peace with those who seek their destruction. Any other such nation would have perished long ago. Yet Israel grows and thrives. All of this is in defiance of logic.

We see a fulfillment of biblical Balaam's prophecy: "It is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations."(Numbers 23:9) The nation of Israel is not considered as part of the family of nations – when all nations are listed and arranged according to geographical affiliation – some in Europe, others in Asia and others in Africa – the Israeli nation is left outside.

There is a very simple explanation to this question. The Jewish people are physical proof of the existence of G-d. The nations hate G-D. Because they hate G-D, they also hate his word, the Torah, and his people, the Jews. After all, there is nothing quite so upsetting to the post-modern ear, as to hear of a universal standard of truth or a "chosen people." It is this very fact which causes so many to hate the Jews. In this modern age of computers and cell phones we tend to forget and deny the concept of Creation. People have begun to believe that they are the creators and able to control what happens in the world. Even among the Jewish People there are those who prefer not to think about G-D. The very idea of a Jewish State - especially one located in the ancient Land of Israel - forces even atheists to take notice.

Israel reminds the sinful world of G-D’s rule, and of His laws. People today hate these ideas. Thus we see that anti-Semitism, at its heart, is anti-God and anti-Torah.

No other country in the world would as much as suggest building a new county upon its own soil, especially for enemies who seek its destruction. Israel’s leaders have fallen into a trap of their own making by engaging in a so-called “peace process” which, in fact, is a process of self destruction.

Yet, despite these leaders, and despite the overwhelming number of enemies who actively seek Israel’s destruction, the Jewish State continues not merely to exist, but to grow and thrive! This too is clear proof of Divine intervention. There is simply no other explanation.

No power on Earth can destroy Israel. Those who seek her destruction will themselves be destroyed.

The world, apart from Israel and G-D’s word, is lost and doomed. He alone will bring redemption and peace to Israel, and no power on Earth can prevent His Word from coming to pass.

Islam: Das dunkle Imperium schlägt zurück

Islam: Das dunkle Imperium schlägt zurück

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The Greatest Lie Ever

I am sick and tired of the lies.

There was never a so called PLO land, and never will be. If you think this is an outlandish statement, please read on and decide for yourself.

If you go all the way back to the Stone Age and from there to the Israeli conquests from 1,200 – 1,000 BC -- you will not find a "Palestinian" people. Much less a Palestinian nation that was in control of the Holy Land. If you search the history books, you will see that from 1,000 BC up until 587 BC the Jews struggled among themselves over the land, yet stayed in control of it. Later came the Persians then the Hellenists, and later, the Hasmoneans.

Then came the Romans. - To make a long story short, they had so much trouble with the Jews they ended up destroying everything Jewish that they could find. This even included changing the name of the geographical region from Israel to “Palestine”. This happened around 63 BC through 324 AD.

From that time forth everyone who lived in this land were called "Palestinians". The Greeks, Persians, and even the Jews, were all called Palestinians. Much the same as those who live in the USA are all called Americans.

After the Romans came the Byzantines, the Crusaders, the Mamluks, and the Ottoman’s. In 1917 came the British who stayed in control of Palestine until 1948. During their stay in Palestine they even created a State for the Arabs (Palestinians) who lived here; - it’s called Jordan.

Then in May of 1948 G-D started to bring the Jews home, and ISRAEL BECAME A NATION ONCE AGAIN (Ezek. 37).

From 1948 until 1967 Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip and Jordan controlled the “so-called” West Bank, Samaria and Judea.

After the 1967 six day war this all changed, and Israel was once more in control of their mountains “Judea & Samaria” and more importantly their beloved Jerusalem.

I am sure you know all of this. But I want to make this very clear to everyone; there is one thing absent in all of the above.

At no time did the “Palestinians” have control of this land.

It is also interesting to note that during the time span 1948 – 67 when Egypt and Jordan were in control, there was never any talk of a Palestinian State.

Excuse me, but why should the Palestinians have their "State" back, when they never had one to begin with? This is yet another Islamic lie, and part of their desire to control or kill Jacob.

When you hear them say the Jews are occupying Palestinian land, it is another of their lies. But what absolutely amazes me, is that no one is questioning their right to say it. "The West Bank is occupied Palestinian land." This phrase is frequently repeated, as a given, by all the governments of the world and by the entire news media.

One of the problems here is that so few people know the history of the world.

This idea that the West Bank is occupied Palestinian land has been accepted by almost everyone. Yet it is, in fact, the greatest lie ever perpetrated on the whole of humanity.

And in the entire history of nations, Jerusalem was never the capital of any country other than that of ancient Israel and modern Israel. So how can there be a claim on Jerusalem as the capital of a state that never existed?

Jerusalem is not even mentioned in the Koran. Not once!

You don’t believe me?

Do your own home work and search the history books. - If you find the existence of a previous Palestinian state, please let me know.

Shalom - Lilo

Is Iran's Ahmadinejad A Self-Hating Jew?

By Drew Zahn
© 2009 WorldNetDaily


Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealing his identity papers (Photo: London Telegraph)

Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has exasperated the world with incensed condemnations of Israel and his insistence that the Holocaust is a hoax, but could there be another reason behind his seeming hatred for the Jews?

According to a London Telegraph report, his ferocity may be overcompensation … for his own Jewish roots.

Examining a photo of the Iranian president holding aloft his identity card during the nation's 2008 elections, the newspaper discovered Ahmadinejad's original family name – prior to their conversion to Islam – was Sabourjian, a Jewish name meaning "cloth weaver."

Ahmadinejad has not denied that his name was changed when his family moved to Tehran in the 1950s, but he has also never confirmed what that original name was.

A note on his identification papers, when magnified from the photo, however, suggests the man from Aradan, Iran, carried a common Jewish name from the region of his birth. "Sabourjian," the Telegraph reports, is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran's Ministry of the Interior.

Order Jerome Corsi's "Why Israel Can't Wait: The Coming War between Israel and Iran" exclusively for your Kindle from Amazon today.

"This aspect of Mr. Ahmadinejad's background explains a lot about him," commented Ali Nourizadeh of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies. "Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith."

Nouizadeh told the Telegraph, "By making anti-Israeli statements, he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society."

Ahmadinejad, the fourth of seven children to a man who worked as an ironworker, grocer, barber and blacksmith, moved with his family to Tehran was he was a small child. Reportedly, the family moved to seek better economic fortunes, but also took on the new, Islamic name.

A 2007 Congressional Research Service report lists the Iranian president's original family name as "Saborjhian," linking the name to the Farsi "sabor," meaning "thread painter."

Some biographers, including Joel C. Rosenberg, list Ahmadinejad's original family name as "Sabaghian," meaning "dye-master" in Persian.

But the Telegraph reports the name on his papers is "Sabourjian" and cites a London-based expert on Iranian Jewry, who says the "jian" ending is specifically Jewish.

"He has changed his name for religious reasons, or at least his parents had," said the newspaper's source. "Sabourjian is well known Jewish name in Iran."

If Ahmadinejad is of Jewish ancestry, he has done much to distance himself from his heritage.

In a 2006 speech aired on the Iranian News Channel, Ahmadinejad listed alleged crimes by Israel against Palestinians while the crowd chanted, "Death to Israel! Death to Israel!"

Ahmadinejad responded, speaking of the Jewish people, "They have no boundaries, limits or taboos when it comes to killing human beings. Who are they? Where did they come from? Are they human beings? 'They are like cattle, nay, more misguided.' A bunch of bloodthirsty barbarians. Next to them, all the criminals of the world seem righteous."

That same year, he said, "[Isreal] will be gone, definitely. You [Western powers] should know that any government that stands by the Zionist regime from now on will not see any result but the hatred of the people."

At a U.N. meeting last month, the Iranian president denounced Israel for "genocide, barbarism and racism."

"Yesterday, the man who calls the Holocaust a lie spoke from this podium," responded Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the same U.N. summit. "A mere six decades after the Holocaust, you give legitimacy to a man who denies the murder of six million Jews while promising to wipe out the State of Israel, the State of the Jews. What a disgrace. What a mockery of the charter of the United Nations."

The Telegraph reports it contacted the Israeli embassy in London for comment on Ahmadinejad's birth name but was told it would not speak on the Iranian president's background.

"It's not something we'd talk about," said Ron Gidor, a spokesman.

Kapparot-Transferring Sins Before Yom Kippur | Demotix.com

Kapparot-Transferring Sins Before Yom Kippur | Demotix.com

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Islamization Watch: Robert Spencer: The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran

Islamization Watch: Robert Spencer: The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran

Jews Against Israel

As paradox as it may sound, some Jews are actually against Israel.

While most of the Jews are in favor of Zionism (even if not actively), there are Jews who oppose Zionism. A very few of them oppose Zionism for political reasons, and some oppose Zionism for religious matters: these small sects of Hassidic courts believe that settling Israel before the Messianic Days (the fulfillment of the prophecy regarding the Jewish Messiah) will only delay the coming of the Messiah.

And then there is Richard Goldstone.

On September 15, Goldstone submitted his team’s report on human rights violations in the Gaza conflict to the U.N. Human Rights Council. It is a 574-page review — based on 188 individual interviews; 10,000 pages of documents; 1,200 photos, including satellite imagery, and 30 videos — that blisters with specificity. The U.N. is known for its bias against Israel.

The report states that both Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group controlling Gaza, committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity. It cites the many rockets launched by Hamas against Israeli civilians in the months preceding and during the conflict as war crimes; likewise, an instance of Israeli soldiers shelling a home in which they had forced Palestinian civilians to assemble and seven incidents in which it says Israeli soldiers shot civilians “while they were trying to leave their homes to walk to a safer place, waving white flags, in some of the cases, following an injunction from the Israeli forces to do so.”

The report also found that despite its claims to have thoroughly investigated human rights allegations made against its military’s conduct, “the Government of Israel had not carried out any credible investigations into alleged violations.” Nor, it found, had Hamas.

Goldstone’s mission recommended that the Security Council require both parties to conduct such investigations and report back within six months on the results, and on any prosecutions they will carry out on the violations identified in its report. If either party fails to do so, Goldstone urged the Security Council to refer the matter to the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Excuse me, there weren’t just a few rocket attacks during the months proceeding, - Israel endured an 8-year-long barrage of 12,000 rockets and having exhausted all other options, Israel launched a military operation against Hamas in Gaza in self-defense.

The report is based on Palestinian propaganda lies. Oh, my goodness.

For instance, the tragic story of Khaled Abed Rabbo and his three young daughters — said to have been shot in cold blood by an Israeli soldier on Jan. 7 in the northern Gaza Strip as the family waved white flags — has been retold in many outlets, including Time Magazine, the Irish Times, the Washington Post, the Independent, BBC, and the Sydney Morning Herald, among others. Indeed, the Irish Times reports that “Each day, journalists and human rights investigators come to interview the grieving father.” And, as reported by McClatchy News, the Abed Rabbos’ allegation “is one of at least five such white flag incidents that human rights investigators are looking into across the Gaza Strip.”

Yet, human rights investigators and journalists overlook the serious inconsistencies in the varying accounts delivered by Khaled and his relatives, as well as an ambulance driver who claimed to try to help the family. Moreover, early Palestinian accounts of the deaths — as well as early reports in the Los Angeles Times and Ha’aretz — tell an entirely different story which involves neither white flags nor cold-blooded executions of small children.

'Operation Cast Lead' was limited to two objectives:

1. To stop the bombardment of Israeli civilians by destroying Hamas' mortar and rocket launching apparatus and infrastructure.

2. To reduce the ability of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza to perpetrate future attacks against the civilian population in Israel.
How can a Jew - any Jew- work against his own people and the Land that G-D himself promised to be a home land for him?

Mr. Goldstone: “Don’t you think you have a responsibility towards HaShem, your own people and His Land?”

Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice

Throughout history the Almighty “blesses” sin-laden people with leaders who deceivingly purport to represent them for good and just reasons, but in the end they lead their nations and those who populate them to destruction and ruin. They have a corrupt heart, revel in their wickedness and enable evil.

"Their deeds are deeds of wickedness, their hands produce violence. Their feet run to evil, they rush to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness; their paths lead to havoc and ruin. The way of peace they do not know ; their goings-about obey no law ; they make devious paths for themselves: no one treading them will ever know peace.”(Isaiah 59:6-8)

The people are paying a high price for their sins. The sovereign G-D who rules will not be mocked. No government exists and no individual rules, but what He allows. Nations who flaunt their wickedness are as rotten fruit and an affront to a righteous and holy G-D. They often end up being plucked and eliminated.

There are no secular solutions for a spiritual disease! G-D delivers those who do His bidding and who rely on Him in all things. Repentance and a spiritual return to G-d is the only remedy.

“Thus says the L-RD; cursed be the man that trusts in humans, who relies on merely human strenghth, whose heart turns away from Adonai .” (Jeremiah 17:5)

We reap exactly what we sow. - Righteous and virtuous people can expect righteous government and virtuous leaders; an unwholesome and iniquitous people can expect the same unwholesomeness from those who rule over them.

The Bible is full of examples. When the children of Israel obeyed G-D, he blessed them with rich harvests and peace, when they disobeyed, there was trouble in Israel, and the people experienced not only famine and disease, but were also overwhelmed by their enemies.

In America we can see the same. The unholy trio, Clinton, Bush, and Obama have brought this nation and its people down a crooked road to an imminent disaster of unknown proportions.

It seems to me that we should listen to Samuel who instructed King Saul: “Surely obeying is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22)
________________________________________

Netanyahu's Peace Plan

By Barry Rubin

In his successful meeting with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a superb, workable peace plan backed by a wide Israeli consensus.

Those obsessed with whether Netanyahu would say the “two-state solution” mantra missed it.

In fact, though Netanyahu didn’t accept that framework precisely because he and his Labor party coalition partner are for peace.

If Netanyahu said “two-state solution” it would buy him moments of cheap praise. But then, experience shows, their attention would turn to just one theme only: getting Israel to make unilateral concessions and take dangerous risks.

In the conception of Netanyahu and Barak, the right kind of two-state solution is the only solution to the conflict. But how to ensure it does end the conflict rather than just make it bloodier and on worse terms for Israel?

Netanyahu made this clear in his joint press conference with Obama:

“Everybody in Israel, as in the United States, wants peace. The common threat we face are terrorist regimes and organizations that seek to undermine the peace and endanger both our peoples.”

The real question is how to get peace without strengthening radical forces; how to get a solution that doesn’t make things worse for Israelis and Palestinians? Netanyahu continued:

“We want to live in peace with them. We want them to govern themselves, absent a handful of powers that could endanger the state of Israel.”

Israel wants peace—it has more incentive for that than anyone. When Netanyahu says Israel wants the Palestinians to govern themselves, he isn’t talking about limited autonomy but in the context of a functioning peace agreement, which means a state. What are the “handful of powers?” Obviously, Hamas but it’s also a clear reference to influence and interference by Iran and Syria.

Why should Israel agree to any Palestinian state functioning as a base for destroying it?

He continues: “For this there has to be a clear goal…an end to conflict.” A definitive end of conflict agreement that the new framework ensures is key to any solution: two states not Round Two of the conflict. The Palestinian Authority has rejected such a commitment for very obvious reasons: it hasn’t been ready to accept permanent peace even if it gets a state.

Both sides, Netanyahu continued, must make compromises: “We’re ready to do our share. We hope the Palestinians will do their share, as well.” To reach peace requires the Palestinian side to meet its commitments—which it has done far more rarely than Israel—and make concessions. This may seem obvious but is usually forgotten in Western policy and media coverage. President Obama did make this point about Palestinian obligations as well, more specifically than many observers seem to realize.

Read this carefully. To reach a peace agreement::

"The Palestinians will have to recognize Israel as a Jewish state; will have to also enable Israel to have the means to defend itself. And if...Israel’s security conditions are met, and there’s recognition of Israel’s...permanent legitimacy, then I think we can envision an arrangement where Palestinians and Israelis live side by side in dignity, in security, and in peace.”

Here is Netanyahu’s view of the two-state solution. If the Palestinians meet Israeli conditions—including the reasonable demand that Palestinian refugees be resettled in Palestine, not Israel--there can be a two-state outcome. Here, Netanyahu deliberately used Obama’s phrase in the end to make clear how he is defining his goal.

This is critical: a two-state solution is not a gift given at the start of negotiations but a reward for the proper compromises ensuring peace succeeds.

Netanyahu points out another deep-seated Israeli concern: A bad “solution” can make things far worse. Israel doesn’t want to end up with a Palestine that functions merely as “another Gaza.”

Why should anyone be confident this won’t happen? Wishful thinking or faith that being in power makes people moderate—an argument proven incorrect about Yasir Arafat and his colleagues almost twenty years ago?

“If, however,” says Netanyahu, “the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, if they…fight terror, if they educate their children for peace and to a better future, then I think we can come at a substantive solution that allows the two people to live side by side in security and peace and I add prosperity, because I’m a great believer in this.”

He’s right. What’s the point of a two-state solution which could easily:

--Make Palestine a radical state tied to Iran and Syria.

--Leave the Gaza Strip in Hamas’s hands which means, in effect, a three-state solution. Short of a U.S.-led multinational invasion force—rather unlikely—there’s no way Gaza can be included in a peace agreement with Israel. Talking about a two-state solution while the Palestinian Authority doesn’t even control Gaza is unconnected to reality.

--Creates a Palestine in which all schools, mosques, and media teach Palestinians that all Israel is theirs and they must conquer it, a Palestine full of incitement to violence inspiring hundreds to become terrorists, thousands to help them, and hundreds of thousands to support them. In some respects, this describes the Palestinian Authority today, despite its real efforts to limit cross-border attacks.

--Sets off a new cross-border war, with Palestine’s government and security forces either looking the other way or actively assisting terrorists.

--Creates a Palestine that invites in Iranian, Syrian, or other armies, or obtains missiles from them targeted at Israeli cities.

--Extends the conflict another generation by using the state as base for a “second stage” to finish off Israel.

Israel has good reason, based on the 1990s’ peace process experience, to believe its own risks and concessions won’t be reciprocated and that U.S. and European promises of support in that event won’t be kept.

And so Netanyahu and his country says: Peace? Certainly! But only if it’s real, lasting, and stable, making things better rather than worse: a real two-state, not big-mistake, solution

What Are You Going To Do About It?

First of all, - I don’t like politics.

However, I observe what is happening in America.

It used to a country ruled by two main parties: Democrats and Republicans. For a few years the USA would have a Democratic president, then a Republican one. Somehow they always managed to compromise peacefully on their most important issues.

This all changed with the last election. All of a sudden the whole country is ruled unilaterally by Democrats. Republicans who object to his government are now branded as enemies. As a matter of fact, anyone who objects to this president is being now an enemy to the Obama government.

What is the big dividing issue? Most of it has to do with moral values.

1. Republicans don’t believe in murdering unborn babies and support heterosexual marriages. (Adam and Eve! Not Adam and Steve!) Republicans are anti-ABORTION while Democrats favor abortion and homosexuality. Republicans oppose same-sex MARRIAGE while democrats support it. Republicans feel that a good FAMILY background is important. Democrats seek to destroy the foundation of the family.

2. Republicans support the freedom to BEAR ARMS. This gives law abiding citizens the opportunity to protect themselves. Republicans favor a strong MILITARY to protect its citizens. Democrats want strict gun laws so that their citizens are "Powerless". This works toward their ultimate goal of socialism/ communism. Democrats want to downsize our military leaving us at the mercy of countries like China and Russia.

3. Republicans want a smaller federal GOVERNMENT with the power in the hands of its citizens. Democrats want a large and controlling government who seek to exploit us for their benefit

4. Republicans see FLAG burning as unacceptable. Democrats along see this as freedom of expression.

5. Democrats are running up crushing federal debt at a level unprecedented in American history. We are talking trillions upon trillions of dollars in debt. This ensures the future will bring ruinous taxes, runaway inflation, or eventual financial collapse. Obama is lending aid, money, and support to tyrannies and terrorists. From getting chummy with Hugo Chavez to releasing dangerous GITMO terrorists to handing almost a billion dollars to Palestinian terrorists, Obama has yet to meet a terrorist or tyrant he doesn’t seem to like.

Watch out, your freedom in America is on decline. Object as long as you still can. Free speech is about to be snuffed.

Shouldn’t G-D’s will be the only important issue? Isn’t He the one who created the universe and gave the Jews the 10 commandments ? Wouldn’t we be better off heading His advice?

If you want to endure the consequences of your rejection of His rules, - go for it. But as for me and my house, we shall serve the L-rd. (Josh: 24.15)

What are you going to do about it, before it is too late?

- Lilo

Who is a Settler?

There many words to describe the spectacular northeastern corner of Oregon. (Paradise, beautiful, breathtaking, incredible.) The snow-capped mountains around Wallowa Lake are Oregon’s “Little Switzerland”. The rich history of the region is forever connected to the story of Chief Joseph and the Nez Percé (Pierced Nose) Indians.

"Chief Joseph" was born in the Wallowa Valley in 1840. He was given the name “Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kek”t, or “Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain”, but he was widely known as Joseph, or Joseph the Younger, because his father had taken the Christian name Joseph when he became a Christian. - If you ever lived in the mountains, you know that the sound of thunder grows as it echoes from the mountains.

While initially hospitable to the region's newcomers, Joseph the Elder grew weary when settlers wanted more Indian lands. Tensions grew as the settlers appropriated traditional Indian lands for farming and grazing livestock. The “settlers” were mostly Europeans, who forcibly took the land from the native Indians.

With 2,000 U.S. soldiers in pursuit, Joseph and other Nez Percé chiefs led 800 Nez Percé toward freedom at the Canadian border. For over three months, the Nez Percé outmaneuvered and battled their pursuers traveling 1,700 miles (2,740 km) across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. General Howard, leading the opposing cavalry, was impressed with the skill with which the Nez Percé fought, using advance and rear guards, skirmish lines, and field fortifications. Finally, after a devastating five-day battle during freezing weather conditions with no food or blankets, Chief Joseph formally surrendered to General Nelson Appleton Miles on October 5, 1877 in the Bear Paw Mountains of the Montana Territory, less than 40 miles (60 km) south of Canada in a place close to the present-day Chinook in Blaine County. The battle is remembered in popular history by the words attributed to Chief Joseph at the formal surrender:

"Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before; I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead, Too-hul-hul-sote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are—perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

In his last years, Joseph spoke eloquently against the injustice of United States policy toward his people and held out the hope that America's promise of freedom and equality might one day be fulfilled for Native Americans as well. An indomitable voice of conscience for the West, he died in 1904, still in exile from his homeland, according to his doctor "of a broken heart."

According to the dictionary a settler is someone who settles in new land, like the Europeans in America.

The story made me think of Israel today. - Why are Jews called “settlers” in Israel? Didn’t they simply return to their own country? They didn’t conquer new land that never belonged to them before. They simply returned to their ancient homeland.

Wouldn’t that make anyone else who lived there and conquered their land a settler?

Who is a "settler" in the Mideast? According to the Arabs, only Jews are "settlers." But that simply is not true. Think about it! Arafat himself was born in Egypt. He later moved to Jerusalem. While he was living in the West Bank, he was a "settler" there, not a native.

Indeed, most of the Arabs living within the borders of Israel today have come from some other Arab country at some time in their life. Aren’t they the "settlers"?

Eat fresh, eat kosher: Subway the largest U.S. kosher restaurant chain

By Sue Fishkoff · August 5, 2009

Customers lined up at the Subway inside the Jewish Community Center in Cleveland, Ohio, the only Kosher one in the world when it opened in 2006. (Courtesy Doctor\'s Associates) SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- What’s the largest kosher restaurant chain?

Mendy’s? Six branches, seven if you count the meat and dairy counters at New York City's Grand Central Station.

Dougie’s? Five branches in New York and New Jersey.

Don’t even bring up Nathan’s Famous -- it stopped making kosher hot dogs altogether.

The dark-horse winner is Subway, the made-to-order sandwich giant poised to open its ninth kosher franchise Aug. 18 inside the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center in North Miami Beach, Fla. New Subways opening in Indianapolis and Skokie, Ill., will make it 11 by the end of the year. Five more are planned for next year.

Subway is not the only fast-food chain with kosher branches. Dunkin’ Donuts, the world's largest coffee and baked goods chain, has 33 kosher franchises, mostly in New York, according to company spokesman Andrew Mastrangelo. They serve dairy breakfast sandwiches, but not full meals.

Subway, the second largest fast-food franchise in the world, didn’t set out to be No. 1 in the kosher market. Staffers at company headquarters in Milford, Conn., seemed bemused by the news.

“Really?” laughed Kevin Kane in the marketing department.

Sure, 11 kosher stores pales in comparison to the 22,000 non-kosher Subways in the United States, or to the hundreds of halal Subways in England and the Arab world. But it’s more than anyone else is offering.

And it’s a creative solution for Jewish community centers that want to offer kosher food but don’t want to take the financial risk themselves. Some would rather offer no food than violate kosher law.

“There are very few JCCs that run successful food establishments,” says Eric Koehler, director of the JCC of Northern Virginia, which has never provided food services in its building. “In this economy, it doesn’t make sense to have something that loses $20,000 to $30,000 a year.”

That’s why the Mandel JCC in Cleveland rented space to the country’s first kosher Subway in May 2006. The center had offered only kosher dining options since it opened in 1986, but none lasted very long. When Michael Hyman arrived in 2004 as the center’s new director, he closed the building’s last struggling cafe without knowing whether he could replace it.

In stepped Ghazi Faddoul, a Lebanese Christian who had opened 100 Subways in Cleveland and was willing to give kosher a try with the clout of a global chain behind him.

Ham and bacon were removed from the menu, the “cheese” is made of soy, and the Seafood Sensation sandwich is filled with imitation crab. Two microwaves and toaster ovens ensure that fish and meat are kept separate, a consideration for more observant Jews. There is a full-time mashgiach, or kosher supervisor, and the restaurant is closed on Shabbat.

“It’s been wildly successful,” Hyman says.In June, the JCC of Greater Washington in Rockville, Md., picked up on Cleveland’s experience, opening a kosher Subway in a space formerly filled by a kosher Dunkin’ Donuts. Executive director Michael Feinstein says the center has been getting much more foot traffic since it opened, particularly from Orthodox Jews.

“There aren’t that many kosher restaurants in the D.C. area, so it’s nice for the community to have this option,” Feinstein says. “And it’s great for us because it gets people into our building who might not otherwise be there.”

The Miami Beach JCC also looked to Cleveland’s example. The center’s director, Gary Bomzer, notes that the building already has an in-house kosher caterer, but no sit-down restaurant.

“Bringing in a national chain gives us real credibility,” he explains. “A brand name like Subway provides more than a cup of coffee.”

The remaining kosher Subways are freestanding stores: two in New York City, in Brooklyn and Queens, as well as one in Cedarhurst in the city's Long Island suburbs; and one each in Los Angeles, Baltimore and Kansas City.

The U.S. stores are the only kosher Subways. Israel opened the world’s first kosher Subway in 1992 but the operation, which reached 23 stores at its peak, shut down in 2004 after the original manager died.

Subway spokesman Les Winograd says the company used its experience with halal, the Muslim standard, to learn how to deal with kashrut challenges such as sourcing specific meat and following strict dietary laws. The first halal Subway opened in Bahrain in 1984, followed by branches in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Zambia and other countries with large Muslim communities. England alone has nearly 60 halal branches.

Kosher Subways are more difficult to keep open, Winograd says. Some open and shut, like one that lasted for about a year in Livingston, N.J., and a Wall Street branch that closed last winter when the economy collapsed.

While Winograd receives lots of inquiries from potential franchise owners in other countries who are interested in the kosher option, none have panned out.

“The population has not always been there to support the business,” he says.

Subway serves meat, so a kosher store requires full-time kosher supervision -- an extra expense added to ingredients that already cost more than their non-kosher equivalents.

Maurice Lichy, owner of the new Miami JCC Subway, says he’s trying to keep his prices “competitive” and hopes to charge no more than $1.50 extra per sandwich.

Will he offer a kosher $5 Footlong?

Lichy hesitates.

“No," he says, "but I’ll try to manage a $6 Footlong. Probably tuna or turkey; not the corned beef.”


Sue Fishkoff writes about Jewish identity for JTA and is the author of the 2003 book "The Rebbe's Army."

What Obama and my wife have in common

Exclusive: Chuck Norris challenges president to live up to promise of transparency

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: August 03, 2009
1:00 am Eastern



By Chuck Norris



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Dear Mr. President:

First, happy birthday. I do hope Aug. 4 is an enjoyable day for you and your family. Coincidentally, I also will be celebrating this week the birth of someone dear to me, my beloved wife, Gena, whose birthday is on Aug. 9.

Speaking of birthdays, I couldn't help but hear and read all over the news last week about the fresh attention to your constitutional eligibility and natural born citizen status. I can hardly believe that individuals are now offering bounty – one for $100,000 – for any personal witness or sufficient evidence to your American birth.

For nearly two years, this debate continues to grow despite all your administration's attempts to diffuse it. And those who are raising concerns aren't just those on the right, but moderate law-abiding citizens like a retired CIA officer who commissioned an investigator to look into the issue.

Still, your press secretary, Robert Gibbs, continues to glibly brush aside the issue by calling it "fictional nonsense." But, in so doing, he devalues the grievance passage of the First Amendment and insults those who are genuinely concerned and inquisitive by categorizing them all as political quacks. He needs to learn that you can't model tolerance for certain minorities while belittling and quarantining those who don't blindly follow your lead.

Believe it or not, I'm not writing you to challenge whether you were born in America, though I see nothing wrong with the American public voicing that constitutionally based grievance with someone in your esteemed position. As one blogger wrote, after all, "We aren't talking about a 12-year-old qualifying to play Little League here." Or as Ronald Reagan once said, "Trust but verify."

Personally, I must admit that I find it a bit of a groundless stretch not to believe in the birth announcements in two major Hawaiian newspapers in August of 1961, in which the Hawaiian Health Department would have been required to post information they received directly from hospitals: "Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama, 6085 Kalanianaole Hwy., son, Aug. 4." Nevertheless, that proof still doesn't answer why you refuse to reveal your original birth certificate and end the growing tides of controversy.

I'm writing you because this is no longer a matter merely about proving a presidential prerequisite in the Constitution. Refusing to post a copy of your original birth certificate is an unwise political and leadership decision that is enabling the birther controversy. The nation you are called to lead is experiencing a growing swell of conspirators who are convinced that you are covering up something. So why not just prove them wrong and shut them up?

If the birther movement is truly full of a bunch of conspiracy-fringed kooks or "zombies," as the Los Angeles Times proclaims, then prove once and for all that you are a naturally born citizen by posting your original birth certificate. And all the controversy will fade away like the pains of childbirth.

I agree with CNN's Lou Dobbs, who was chastised by his own media outlet for demanding the release of your original birth certificate. So why is that such a bad request? We certainly know why CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein thought it was a bad idea: because he previously declared that CNN researchers determined that Obama's 1961 birth certificate no longer existed.

But Hawaii's officials confirmed again last week that they indeed have your original birth certificate on file. Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawaiian State Department of Health, repeated her October 2008 statement that she had personally seen with her own eyes the "original vital records."

Some claim that even you cannot see or request your own personal birth certificate, because Hawai'i's disclosure law (Hawai'i Revised Statutes 338-18) states that "it shall be unlawful for any person to permit inspection of, or to disclose information contained in vital statistics records, or to copy or issue a copy of all or part on any such record ... "

But the law further states that the Health Department "shall not permit inspection of public health statistics records, or issue a certified copy of any such record or part thereof, unless it is satisfied that the applicant has a direct and tangible interest in the record." (Italics mine)

Isn't categorically satisfying constitutional requirements for a president, or answering the First Amendment grievances of hundreds of thousands of Americans, or ending a national debate or healing a country's divisions enough "direct and tangible interest"?

Mr. President, as more and more people realize that you are refusing to release your original birth certificate, further questions will fuel the fires of debate or at least hinder the embers from ever being snuffed out. Questions like, "Does it really contain the Hawaiian physician's name?" Or "Does it disclose something other than his birth place that he wishes others not to see?"

In fact, last week copies of the 1961 birth certificates from twin girls, who were born a day after you in the same Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital, give examples of those typical of the time. They include much more information than certificates today, like the baby's parents' ages, occupations, birthplaces, race, etc., as well as specifics of the medical personnel presiding over the baby's birth and the hospital in which he or she was born.

Of course not every U.S. citizen has access to their original birth certificate, but you do, and that's the only one under debate. As valuable as copies can be, textual critics know that nothing outweighs an original, especially when only it contains the information under question.

So again I ask, why don't you simply request, release and give permission to make public your original birth certificate?

Mr. President, you promised the American people that you are "committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government." In fact, on July 23 in your prime time press conference, you said that your administration was more transparent than those of previous presidencies: "I think that we have provided much greater transparency than existed prior to our administration coming in."

So again I ask, why not live out that transparency promise by posting your original birth certificate and end the division and debate?

Well, I have a birthday to plan, so I better get going.

Again, happy birthday Mr. President.

Yours truly,

Chuck Norris

Is This The Last Generation?

On August 1, 2009, Elliot Avrams wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal: “Why Israel is nervous”.He wrote: “The tension in U.S.-Israel relations was manifest this past week as an extraordinary troupe of Obama administration officials visited Jerusalem. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, National Security Advisor James Jones, special Middle East envoy George Mitchell and new White House adviser Dennis Ross all showed up in Israel’s capital in an effort to…well, to do something.” He went on to explain that the Obama administration has managed to win the mistrust of most Israelis, not just conservative politicians: “Despite his great popularity in many parts of the world, in Israel Obama is now seen as no ally. A June poll found that just 6% of Israelis called him “pro-Israel,” when 88% had seen President George W. Bush that way.”

Three years after Israel fought a bloody war in Lebanon against Hezbollah; there are growing fears that hostilities could erupt again this time with the militant group better armed than ever. According to Israeli, United Nations and Hezbollah officials, the Shia Muslim militia is today stronger than it was in 2006 when it took on the might of the Israeli army in a war that cost the lives of 1,191 Lebanese and 43 Israeli civilians. Hezbollah has stockpiled up to 40,000 rockets and is training its forces to use ground-to-ground missiles capable of hitting Tel Aviv and anti-aircraft missiles that could challenge Israel’s dominance of the skies over Lebanon.

There is also a new reality on the ground in Gaza; al-Qaeda has become so strong that they are now threatening Hamas over leadership of the Gaza Strip. In the past few days al-Qaeda assailants calling themselves “Jaljalat” attacked a wedding celebration in Gaza in the area of Khan Younes- one of the last strongholds of Fatah. In fact the wedding was within the family of Fatah strong man Mohammad Dahlan. There was shooting and throwing of grenades - wounding or killing over 70 of this family. What makes it so notable is that this is the largest operation al-Qaeda has perpetrated against the “Palestinian” people in Gaza. Keep in mind that in this Islamic environment the people are ruled by fear and the terrorist group that can instill the most of that is the one which will take control.
Again, don’t be confused. Although different Islamic groups may have strange names, but they all have the same goal: “To eliminate Israel and to kill you!”

In order to tighten their grip, the Hamas leaders in Gaza have now started what is known as “Modesty Patrols” and have passed a new law requiring that all women in Gaza keep their head covered with the “hijab”. No women can be seen in public with a man who is not a member of her family. These Islamic 'Modesty Patrols' are even stopping cars to check if a woman is with an unrelated man. - We are witnessing the takeover by Hamas and al-Qaeda of the minds and souls of the Arabs in Gaza - forcing them to accept Sharia law whilst establishing another Taliban society. And in all areas of public education the indoctrination of the young, inspiring them to become suicide bombers, continues apace - teaching that to kill a Jew reveals the highest form of love toward Allah.

Yet one US President after the other continues to insist that Israel must surrender its land to these evil people who hate them, and want to control the world.

The Islamic US President Hussein Obama even bowed before the Saudi prince and finds it convenient to accept the Saudi Peace Plan. These are the same Saudis who are promoting and financing the teaching of their brand of Wahhabi Islam in new mosques across the US. In doing so they are putting in place a “plan” that they believe is essential to the next stage in their terrorist scheme.

What Obama really wants is to finish what Bush started, which is to hand Israel over to the Islamic World.

As the world spins into total insanity, the only sane place to be is in God’s Kingdom.

"Hear O peoples and listen O earth!" (Micah 1:2)

Micah begins his message scroll with a divine warning to the whole earth. He ends it with a prediction of God's judgment on the nations (7:10, 13, 16-17). In both cases HaShem is calling the nations to focus in on what He is doing with the Jewish people – to bow the knee in humble recognition of their amazing and irrevocable calling, their tragic failures, and their earth-shaking last days restoration.

Today the world's largest Jewish community outside of Israel supports the official peace process and Middle Eastern policies of a serving American President, while less than 6% of Israeli Jews feel that this President's policies are good for the Jewish state (see Micah 3:5). Unless Israel's leaders back down from God's covenant promises regarding the Land of Israel in Genesis 12 and 15, they will face political pressure, shakings and times of trouble from Western governments.

It is biblically true that God has used worldwide anti-Semitism and the hatred of the nations to purify and restore Israel (as He did with Assyria in Isaiah 10:5-19; see also Micah 2:3). Yet the same Bible warns us that God judges those nations severely and by no means leave them unpunished in the process (see Amos 9:8).

One of God's last-days strategies is the regathering of the Jewish people to their own Promised Land. Though this restoration of the Jewish people to the land of Israel will incur the hatred of the nations in general and the military onslaught on the part of the Arab nations in particular (see Ezekiel 36:2-7; Psalm 83:2-12; Psalm 2),

Micah saw in a vision that at the end of days Israel will become the center of the world – spiritually and governmentally. Zion will become the world's capital city. The Moshiach will reign from a united Jerusalem as the ultimate Davidic King, and all nations will recognize these facts, coming in worship and blessing to the Mountain of Adonai. Divine patience counsels us that true peace will not be a Middle Eastern reality until that day.

In the meantime, we should remember that all Gentile peace plans, treaties and strategies (be they ever so well intentioned) will fall by the political roadside on the way up to Jerusalem.

"The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations … like a young lion among flocks of sheep” (Micah 5:8-9)

The prophet says that, at the end of days, military victory will be granted to Israel. She will be the unchallenged international superpower in the Middle East. At what exact point-in-time this will happen may not be crystal clear in Scripture (see Zech. 13:8-14:2 etc), but it this future reality is the prophetic word of the Lord. Israel as God's victorious army is a mighty theme in the Bible, and it is the pinnacle of Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones (Ezek. 37:9-11; Psalm 110:3; Micah 4:11-13). "Do not gloat over me, my enemy!" (Micah 7:8)

Micah warns those who believe that God has abandoned His Jewish people – or even those who do not believe that the God of Israel exists – that Israel's present problems will not last forever. God will soon rescue His people from the anger and hatred of the nations. At that point there will be a major reversal of historical roles – Israel's enemies will experience the fate they had tried to inflict on the people of Jacob, while the Jewish people will finally see their enemies defeated forever.

In this Video Rabbi Lazer Brody brings down that we are right here @ the end of the exile! All the great Rabbi's from Every Sect of Judaism are in agreement about one thing; the Moshiach is here & just waiting to reveal himself - get your affairs in order while you still have a chance!

http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/video/video.php?v=111702003417&ref=mf

Miracles in Gaza

This is interesting and inspiring. G-D hears the prayers of the Israeli soldiers, and of those who pray for them.

http://www.aish.com/jw/id/50932092.html

Please continue to keep these IDF soldiers on the wing of your prayers - Lilo

Massive Quake Pushes New Zealand Closer to Australia

WELLINGTON — A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake last week has moved the south of New Zealand closer to Australia, scientists said Wednesday.

Photo: A landslide is seen near Lake Purser, south of Dusky Sound on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island Thursday, July 16, 2009 after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the area Wednesday. The earthquake generated a small tsunami but no injuries or major damage were reported.

With the countries separated by the 2,250-kilometre-wide (1,400-mile-wide) Tasman Sea, the 30 centimetre (12 inch) closing of the gap in New Zealand's southwest won't make much difference.

But earthquake scientist Ken Gledhill of GNS Science said the shift illustrated the huge force of the tremor, the biggest in the world so far this year.

"Basically, New Zealand just got a little bit bigger is another way to think about it," he told AFP.

While the southwest of the South Island moved about 30 centimetres closer to Australia, the east20coast of the island moved only one centimetre westwards, he said.

The biggest quake in New Zealand in 78 years caused only slight damage to buildings and property when it struck the remote southwest Fiordland region of the South Island last Thursday.

A small tsunami was generated by the earthquake, with a tide gauge on the West Coast of New Zealand recording a wave of one metre.

"For a very large earthquake, although it was very widely felt, there were very few areas that were severely shaken," Gledhill said.

Aerial inspection of the forested fiords near the quake's epicentre showed few land slips or other signs of damage.

This was partly because the type of rupture at the boundaries of the Australian and Pacific plates meant the energy from the quake was largely directed westwards towards the sea rather than inland towards the nearest towns.

The type of quake, known as a subduction thrust rupture, also meant the quake produced lower frequency shaking, felt as a rolling motion, rather than sharp jolts which would have caused more damage.

New Zealand frequently suffers earthquakes because it marks the meeting point of the Australian and Pacific continental plates.

Gledhill said the latest quake may have brought forward a major quake on the offshore section of the Alpine fault, off the coast of Fiordland in the Tasman Sea.

"There could easily be another large earthquake in another part of that region. We can't predict that obviously."

The latest quake was the biggest since February 2, 1931 when a 7.8 quake killed at least 256 people in the North Island city of Napier.

The biggest quake recorded here measured 8.2 and caused major damage in 1855 in the fledgling European settlement that later became the capital Wellington.

The latest quake was unusual in striking right on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific plates and will be important in researching earthquake hazards, Gledhill said.

http://standeyo.com/NEWS/09_Earth_Changes/090722.after.EQ.NZ.closer.2.AU.html