Israel

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Re: Israel

Post: # 127128Unread post Gary Oak »

Jews leaving a country is that nations loss. The Jews are always achievers and a benefit wherever they are living. The people that are driving the Jews out of Europe will destroy Europe if Europe doesn't do something effective to minimize their damage soon. This influx of Jews will aos aid IIsrael in maintaining it's Jewish majority needed to keep Israel from becomiong a shariah law third world basket case country whose residents near all will want to flee to the west.

The Growing Tide of Returning Jews

2015 saw the highest number of Jews returning to Israel (making aliyah) in the past 12 years, with the numbers doubling since 2008.

The Bible predicts a great end time ingathering of the Jewish people from the four corners of the globe. This arguably started to take place at the beginning of the 19th Century as Jews began returning to Israel. This return was not just from Babylon as in the days of Ezra, but rather a return that would bring Jews from virtually every country on the globe. Now as we enter 2016, the ingathering of the Jewish people continues unabated and is gathering momentum as economic woes and rising terrorist threats dominate the headlines.

France, Ukraine and Russia are three countries leading the way in global aliyah and each of their Jewish communities have a story to tell of the increasing pressures they face in their host countries. Well look at each one in turn.

France Rising Anti-Semitism Driving Aliyah

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2014, a crowd of 17'000 people marched through the streets of Paris. The march specifically ridiculed the holocaust by singing the 'holocaust banana' song, and the marchers repeatedly chanted chilling slogans such as 'Jews, out of France', 'Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew' and 'Jews, France is not yours'

Watching video footage of the march, what struck me personally was the lack of any visible counter protest or any voices loudly condemning the protestor's actions. Where was the church in this hour of need for the Jewish people? Why was she not standing more strongly and visibly with the Jewish community?

The French Jewish community has also been the target of several terror attacks in recent years. In response, the French Government has taken the drastic measure of placing armed troops outside of Jewish community installations. However, a growing number of French Jews see the 'writing on the wall' and believe they have no future in France. In fact, a recent survey indicated that 43% of French Jews in other words 200'000 Jews are currently considering making aliyah.

No wonder that the phones are ringing hot at the Israeli call centre handling aliyah enquiries. In response to the demand, the number of French speakers at the call centre has had to be doubled.

The recent refugee influx into France may well add fuel to the fire in coming years as many migrants arrive with ingrained anti-Semitic attitudes from their Middle Eastern countries of origin. French Jews are also likely to face the continued rise of far right parties whom often harbour their own anti-Semitic tendencies.

The prophet Hosea spoke over 2500 years ago of a time when the Jews will return to Israel 'trembling from the west' (Hos. 11:10). As waves of terror and anti-Semitism continue to be a leading driver of aliyah from France, we seem to see the beginning of the fulfilment of Hoseas words.

Ukraine A Forgotten War

According to the UN, the war in Ukraine has led to the displacement of 1.4 million people and left over 9'000 dead. The conflict is continuing to this day with regular reports of lives lost in cross-fire and indiscriminate shelling. In addition, the economy has been hard hit by the fighting, leading to one of the worst recessions world-wide in 2015.

Anti-Semitic tendencies have been reported to be on both sides of the conflict. A top rebel leader on the pro-Russian side has blamed the Jews of Ukraine for masterminding the downfall of the previous pro-Russian government in Ukraine 4. Meanwhile, there are also concerns about neo-Nazi/fascist groups who have been taking part in the fighting on the Ukrainian side.

In the midst of the conflict zone in Ukraine one finds a Jewish community that has seen a large percentage of its members make aliyah over the past 20 years. Those who have remained have often been resistant to the idea of making aliyah, as Ukraine has been their home for generations.

The Scriptures foretell that God would first send for 'fishermen' and then for 'hunters' in the process of regathering the Jewish people (Jer. 16:16). Volunteers working among the Jews of Ukraine see the past 20 years as a time of the fishermen encouraging Jewish aliyah, and now believe that the time of the hunters may be coming upon those who still remain behind.

In the past year, Christian and Jewish volunteers have been stretched to their limit handling desperate aliyah enquiries and fielding calls for help in transporting remaining elderly or sick Jews out of the perilous war zones. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has even taken the drastic step of arming its volunteers with small bribes used to curry favour at the checkpoints as they drive into rebel territory to help the remaining Jews.

Now at the beginning of 2016, the conflict in Ukraine remains unpredictable and the nations economy continues to be very fragile in the face of a faltering global economy. Let's remember the Ukrainian Jews in our prayers and also the volunteers who are assisting them often at great personal risk.

image: http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/images ... reedvd.jpg


Russia: A Surprising Sudden Rise of Aliyah why?

In 2015, Russia experienced a sudden spike in aliyah with an increase of 40%. What is behind the sudden sharp rise?

A major driving factor would be the financial crisis of 2015 that has seen Russian wages drop by 8.5% and the value of the Russian Ruble halve compared to the US dollar.

Another motivating factor would be the continued strengthening of Russian nationalism and patriotism combined with the lack of any real democratic checks and balances to restrain the Russian leadership. Today Russia is home to half the worlds Neo-Nazis, and just as in times past, the Russian bear could easily turn on its Jewish population. A recent brazen assassination attempt on a key Jewish leader in Moscow has also sent shockwaves in the community.

Many Jews making aliyah are dependent on the assistance of Christian volunteers who offer practical assistance, financial aid and advice across the vast landmass of Russia. Most of these volunteers are backed by foreign funded Christian charities that have been operating for years in Russia.

However, a recent crackdown on foreign funded organisations has ended up labelling such NGOs and their workers as 'foreign agents' and their activities and finances have been subjected to a much higher level of scrutiny. A number of these charities are openly speculating that the time might come soon when they are forced to close their doors in Russia.

Without the assistance of these Christian volunteers, the Jews in far-flung communities will find themselves stranded. 2700 years ago, Isaiah the Prophet issued a prophetic command to the "land of the north" to 'give them up' (Is. 43:6), and today we continue to pray that all resistance to their safe return to Israel be removed.

Summary

In summary, 2015 has been a year of increasing aliyah in these troubling times for the Jewish community. While it is interesting from the perspective of Bible prophecy to witness increasing numbers of Jews returning home to their God-given land, let us also remember that many of them are fleeing great personal hardship.

Life in Israel is not exactly easy either, but the God of Israel has promised to protect His returning people. Jeremiah's comforting words foretell that "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock." Jer. 31:10 NKJV

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/articl ... GkKG4Kk.99


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Re: Israel

Post: # 127131Unread post Blue Frost »

I hope that Iran does not blow them up, and destroy what light is left in the middle east. they can all move there, but it's not safe there either in the end.
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Re: Israel

Post: # 129508Unread post Gary Oak »

This article is long and has some graphs and stats that won't show properly if I paste and post. I like this short paragraph at the end of the article
For three decades and more, Messianic Israelis have demonstrated that they can and do serve their country, not in spite of but because of their faith in Yeshua. This has resulted not only in more openness to accepting our service, but also more willingness to hear our testimony about Israel's Messiah.

The Jews have always struggled to keep their culture alive and I think that it is great that the Jewish belief in God is increasing. :thumbsup:

Messianic Soldiers In The Israeli Army: Bolder Than Ever About Their Faith
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Re: Israel

Post: # 129509Unread post Blue Frost »

everyone serves if able, that can give people patriotism, and a want to protect their country, and people.
I almost think it should be here, but glad it's not also being it should be voluntary. The shame is the good die while the sorry scum plays, and degenerates the country.
Damn Hippie Commies.
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Re: Israel

Post: # 129675Unread post Gary Oak »

This musician is a hero. He saw someone trying to kill people for no reason other than they weren't muslim and stopped it in a very unique way.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-b ... html?nhp=1

Guitar Hero’ smashes instrument over terrorist’s head; Internet pools money to buy him a new one

[Yishai Montgomery sprung into action after being confronted by a terrorist with a knife/Gofundme]

An online funding page has been created for an Israeli musician who helped stop a terrorist attack from becoming even deadlier.


Yishai Montgomery, 26, was casually playing music along the beach near Jaffa Port in Tel Aviv, Israel, when he suddenly started hearing screaming in the distance, reports The Daily Mail.

That was when he was confronted by a 22-year-old Palestinian man wielding a knife.


The terrorist was apparently set to embark on a stabbing spree of random individuals across area, killing one person and injuring several others. Montgomery was set to become his next victim.

To defend himself, Montgomery quickly decided to smash his acoustic guitar over the terrorist’s head.


“Immediately, I stood up and started to run after him with my guitar, I slammed it on his head. He was stunned and didn’t know what to do with himself,” said Montgomery in an interview with Channel 2 News, according to Jerusalem Online.


The blow managed to temporarily stun the would-be attacker for a few moments, before he eventually regained his senses and ran away.


Montgomery took off after the man, with several other bystanders, until the terrorist was eventually identified and gunned down by Israeli police.

In response to Montgomery’s brave actions, the online community is looking to show their gratitude by replacing his busted up guitar.

A Gofundme page has been set up declaring Montgomery a “Guitar Hero,” and has already raised more than $5,500 dollars towards replacing his instrument.

Plans are also in place to contact American heavy metal band Tool about setting up something special for one of their most heroic fans.
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Re: Israel

Post: # 129684Unread post Blue Frost »

:laugh: Love it, good for him i hope he gets a great guitar.
[video][/video]
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Re: Israel

Post: # 129686Unread post Gary Oak »

works every time :thumbsup:
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Re: Israel

Post: # 131095Unread post Gary Oak »

This Israely boy had an interesting experience out of body. We apparently don't have long to wait to see if what he experienced is true.



Rabbi Rami Levy & 15 year Old Natan English Subtitles - Testimony About The End of Days Coming Soon

Rabbi Rami Levy & 15 year old Natan English Subtitles - Chilling Testimony (About The End of Days) From A Youth Who Experienced Clinical Death" ---- This fascinating video is starting to make the rounds as the word is spreading of 15 year old Natan's near death, out of body experience that took place on the first night of Sukkot. Natan who comes from a secular background had never learnt before in Yeshiva, nonetheless he describes from his experience exactly what is written by the prophets and in the holy books regarding the end of days. If your Hebrew is OK, you are encouraged to watch the entire video. It will shake you up... I have listed some of the main points below. Fasten your seat belts…

1. Natan felt extremely ill with chills and a cold feeling in his hands and legs. His body shook, hurt and he suddenly found himself hovering over his body 6 feet in the air.
2. He kept rising and rising, saw the whole earth and eventually was lead to a tunnel.
3. He saw a light that was full of love and security. He can’t properly explain how amazing this was.
(I will skip the part regarding his personal judgment and get to the part regarding the Moshiach and Gog and Magog that starts at 27:30).
4. The Moshiach is already here and is very well known! People will be very very surprised. His is a Baal Tshuva who has not sinned once since his tshuva. He also helps others to be chozer btshuva.
5. The war of Gog and Magog started on the 27th of Elul the 11th of September 2015, and it will get much worse in the weeks or months to come.
6. There will be a huge World War that will eventually lead the nations of the world to unite and attack Israel and Jerusalem.
7. The leader of the free world is know up above as Gog. Gog is none other than... Barack Hussein Obama.
8. The whole war will last only about two weeks.
9. The Jews who did not keep Torah and Mitzvot will die. (Hashem Y’rachem). The number will be in the millions. This is in addition to the non Jews who will also perish.
10. Tzahal will last only two days. Secular zionism (the flag, yom ha’atmaut) carries no merit.
11. Har Hazaitim will split into two and the Moshiach will be revealed. Moshiach will be able to sense by smell who is a real God fearing Jew and who is not.
12. Moshiach will fight against Gog and kill him. Gog will be buried in Israel.
13. During the war, two Atomic bombs will be shot at Israel and Hashem will suspend them in the air for two weeks. They will eventually fall on Tel Aviv and Haifa. Hashem Y’rachem.
14. Israel will be captured but the worthy will survive in Jerusalem.
15. The Moshiach will wear a garment that is stained in blood. The blood symbolizes all the Jews who were killed kidush Hashem. The Moshiach will then take revenge on the nations of the world who have oppressed us throughout the years.
16. It will take a very long time to burry all the dead.
17. Only those who do real tshuva will survive.
18. Those who make tshuva will inherit the highest level of heaven.
19. The Beit Hamikdash will descend from heaven and there will be a revival of the death. (This will take time and not happen immediately).
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Re: Israel

Post: # 132302Unread post Gary Oak »

It has always galled me that the libtards who call Israel an apartheid state and call for the very necessary wall to be torn down are not bothered at all by the extreme inequality and crimes in muslim countries towards non muslims. Here are some facts that I believe should be looked at. I believe that the liberals should also look at the freedom of religion that only Israel allows in the middle east. The first world science, environmental works, top notch restoration of historical sites, the top notch archeological works etc.... The arabs are simply and obviously not nearly as capable or willing to make Israel be anything but a disasterous third world basketcase country.


Israel's Christian Minority

Last year, Israel recognized the existence of a group of Christians -- "Arameans" -- within its borders; an act that no Arab or Muslim nation from the Middle East has ever done or would ever do. Israel recognized a distinct religious and ethnic group: the indigenous people of the ancient Fertile Crescent.

Their language, Aramaic, was the language spoken by Jesus centuries before Islam came to the region.

Israel not only supports and gives Christians and other minorities -- Druze, Muslims, Baha'i, everyone -- full civil rights, freedom and legal rights to exist peacefully and practice their faith as they wish, but also to develop themselves as a minority with all the implications of differences in culture.

Arabs, for instance, are welcomed into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), but are not, as opposed to Jews, required to serve. Israel's founding Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, humanely did not want Arabs to feel as if they were obliged fight their "brothers."

In Israel, members of the Christian and Muslim minorities fill all types of high positions -- just as any Jewish Israeli who wishes to have a successful career. There is the Maronite Christian Supreme Court Judge, Salim Jubran.

Contrary to propaganda, there is no "Apartheid" of any kind, and no roads on which only Jews may travel. Those roads are in Saudi Arabia, which has real Apartheid roads, since only Muslims may travel to Mecca.

Israel does this, moreover, in a neighborhood where most of its neighbors -- often the most brutal enemies of humanity -- wish Israel were wiped out and often do their utmost to make this wish come true. Sadly, many Europeans join in. Everyone has seen the recent vicious attempts by the European Union to snuff out Israel economically by labeling goods made in disputed territories.

This requirement, made of no other country with a disputed border actually hinders any prospects for peace that working together is meant to bring about.

These Europeans are not fooling anyone. Their slyly sadistic, self-righteous "punishments" meant for Israel will only throw thousands of Palestinians out of well-paying, badly-needed work; these diktats also drive many newly out-of-work Palestinians to the employment bureau of last resort: Islamic extremism and terrorism.

Ironically, these Europeans, to satisfy their wish to hurt Jews by pretending to help Palestinians, are actually seeding a new crop of terrorists who will later come to Europe and show them what they think of such hypocrites.

Widely discussed in the region is how the Europeans secretly want Israel wiped out, too, and are hoping that their new laws, combined with old Arab violence, will do the trick. That way, the Europeans can pretend to themselves that they had "nothing to do with it." These Europeans need to know they are not fooling anyone.

Israel, meanwhile, despite having to deal with the European and American fronts as well as often genocidal Muslim threats, continues actively to strengthen its minority communities through a variety of state-sponsored programs. Among them is a five-year plan to develop Israeli Arab and other minority communities adopted by the government on December 30, 2015, at cost of 15 billion shekels [roughly $4 billion]. Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel, of the Likud Party is in charge of implementing the plan.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is unjustly demonized, has for the last several years operated the "Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab, Druze and Circassian Sectors." It is headed by an Arab Muslim, Aiman Saif, who controls a sizeable budget of 7 billion shekels [roughly $1.8 billion], which has mostly gone to different Arab cities and villages to develop modern infrastructure, industrial zones, employment opportunities, education and other elements. The rest was allocated to helping Christian villages in the Galilee.

Arabs have their own section in the Ministry of Education, headed by an Arab Muslim, Abdalla Khateeb, who is also in charge of a sizeable budget of 900 million shekels [$230 million].

Christians, as well as all other minorities, understand today that serving in the Israeli military is essential for their integration in Israel. Many Christians and other minorities in Israel share the same fears: they increasingly understand that in this region, Israel is the only island of safety that allows them freedom and democratic rights.

The Muslim Arab community in Israel, as well as the Christian and other Arabic-speaking communities, see the tragic destiny of their brothers in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and other Arab countries.

Muslims killing Muslims; fanatical Muslim groups killing Christians, uprooting them, slitting their throats, burning them alive, drowning them in cages and of course crucifying them, even little children. Israel's minorities are very aware of this. They also cannot understand why no one is demonizing those villains. They fear that this devastation will spread, first to the holy land of Israel, and then to Europe.

This fear is one of the reasons there have been increasing numbers of Christians applying to serve in the IDF: 30% recruitment on a voluntary basis; while in general Jewish society, the number stands for 57% on an obligatory basis. Today there are even more than 1000 Muslim Arabs serving in the IDF.

We all know the danger of these fanatic Islamic jihadist groups such as Hamas groups, and feel ever more committed to protect this lone pluralistic state.

The community to which this author belongs, Aramean Christians, is of Aramean-Phoenician ethnic roots and language, and was originally based in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Over the 1400 years following the Islamic conquest, Aramean Christians were forced to switch to speaking Arabic, and more recently to flee their homes in Syria and Iraq.

They have no status in Arab and Islamic states, most ruled according to Islamic sharia law. Aramean Christians also have no status in the Palestinian Authority, which now rules Judea and Samaria.

We are aware of some Christian groups, such as Sabeel, Kairos Palestine and others under the thumb of the Palestinian Authority, who still feel the need to pay lip-service to the Muslim Arabian lords who have conquered them.

Jerusalem is open to everyone. But it has not always been, especially under the jurisdiction of Jordan, until 1967. Not only were Jews not allowed in, but 38,000 Jewish gravestones were taken from the Mount of Olives cemetery and used as building materials and flooring for Jordan's latrines.

Muslim Arab members of Israel's Knesset [parliament] reject the right of Christians to preserve their unique heritage. On February 5, 2014, Knesset member Haneen Zoabi of the United Arab List party threatened the Israeli Christian representatives who lobbied in the Knesset Employment Committee in favor of a law that would add Christian representatives to a committee on employment equality in the Economy Ministry. Zoabi rejected their declaration that they were a separate Aramean Christian ethnicity.

She insisted on forcing upon them an Arab and Palestinian identity. This identification was of course, as false as if we Christians had insisted that Muslim Arabs call themselves Native Americans. The law passed despite the efforts of Zoabi and her colleagues, due to a coalition of Knesset members -- with vast majority of Jewish MKs voting in favor of it.

This incident illustrates how some of Israel's Muslim Arabs, while asking their Jewish neighbors for help in preserve their own Muslim-Arab heritage, prohibit other ethnic minorities these same rights.

Instead, they try to impose Arabization and Palestinization by threats and by force. In September 2014, for instance, an Aramean Christian woman, IDF Captain Areen Shaabi, was stalked by Arab Muslim activists in Nazareth. She was threatened with shouts of "Allahu Akbar" ["Allah is Greater!"], and at night her car tires were slashed.

IDF Major Ehab Shlayan, an Aramean Christian in Nazareth and the founder of the Christian Recruitment Forum, awoke on the morning of August 2015 to find that a Palestinian flag had been put in front of his door during the night. On Christmas Eve, December 24, 2014, thirty Muslims throwing stones and glass bottles attacked a Christian soldier, 19-year-old Majd Rawashdi, and his home.

All this is hypocrisy at the highest levels, mixed with racism.

In an official Christmas greeting to Israel's Christians on December 24, 2012, Prime Minister Netanyahu said:

"Israel's minorities, including over one million citizens who are Arabs, always have full civil rights. Israel's government will never tolerate discrimination against women. Israel's Christian population will always be free to practice their faith. This is the only place in the Middle East where Christians are fully free to practice their faith. They don't have to fear; they don't have to flee. At a time when Christians are under siege in so many places, in so many lands in the Middle East, I am proud that in Israel Christians are free to practice their faith, and that there is a thriving Christian community in Israel."

Christians and other minorities in Israel prosper and grow, while in other countries in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Authority, they suffer heavily from the Islamic movement and persecution -- until forced to disappear.

Originally published at Gatestone Institute. Reposted with permission

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Re: Israel

Post: # 132350Unread post Gary Oak »

Israel simply has to be smarter and stronger than it's neighbours. Considering what inbreeding does to ones offsprings briains and the high amount inbreeding in muslim communities the Jews have another of many advantages over the muslim countries.

How Powerful Is Israel's Military Compared To Rest Of World?

Israels military is the 9th strongest in the world, according to the international defense site Global Firepower (GFP), which released its annual list on Friday.

In its rankings, GFP said, it only took conventional military capabilities into account when compiling its list, which includes a total of 126 countries.

It also factored in 50 other criteria, such as natural resources, geographical size and economic strength.

The United States topped the list, followed by Russia and China in second and third place, respectively.

While Israel was outranked by countries such as India (4th) and South Korea (8th), its conventional military strength exceeded that of other countries in the region, including Iran, Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

The Jewish state also ranked higher than some European countries, including Germany (14th) and Italy (16th).

Originally published in Algemeiner.com. Reposted with permission.

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Re: Israel

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The Prophetic Significance Of Israel's New National Holiday

"..it shall no more be said, 'The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, 'The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.'" Jer 16:14-1

The Netanyahu government is receiving broad political support for a proposed new national holiday celebrating 'aliyah' or Jewish immigration to the land of Israel. The motion is expected to be passed into law in coming months, and would set aside the 10th of Nissan to honor the crucial role of aliyah both in the re-birth and in the ongoing strengthening of the nation of Israel.

The 10th of Nissan was chosen as many Rabbis believe it marks the date the ancient Israelites first entered the Promised Land under the courageous leadership of Joshua. While this is interesting, I believe that establishing the holiday on this particular day also has a significant connection to Bible prophecy.

2600 years ago, the prophet Jeremiah predicted that a day would come when the original Exodus from Egypt would be overshadowed by a far greater Exodus 'from the land of the north and from all the lands' (Jer 16:14-16). It is therefore very interesting to note that this new annual celebration of the modern day return of the Jewish people falls four days prior to Passover on the Jewish calendar. Is the stage being set for a celebration of a greater Exodus that will literally overshadow Passover celebrations?

The Miraculous Modern Day Exodus

National Aliyah day will be a time for the nation of Israel to retell the many miraculous and touching stories of their modern day ingathering. Their modern day Exodus includes the desperate stories of Jews returning en-masse out of the ashes of the holocaust, only to find themselves in the midst of another war of survival upon arrival in Israel.

The story of aliyah continues with the dramatic return of over 600'000 Jews from Arab lands to the struggling and virtually bankrupt nation of Israel in the late 1940's. While being advised to slow down the flood of Jews arriving in Israel, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion doggedly refused to turn back any Jew that wished to return despite the growing financial burden on the young nation.

The modern Exodus goes on to the story of the dramatic return of the long lost Jews of Ethiopia, with 14000 being whisked home in hurried secrecy during one weekend in 1991. In addition, one could not fail to mention the story of the Soviet Jews being refused permission to leave for decades. The dramatic crumbling of the Soviet bloc in 1989 was seen as a direct answer to the persistent prayers of many Jews and Christians that this modern day Pharoah would 'let my people go'.

Today there are over one million Jews from Russia living in Israel, and Russian is one of the three official languages of the new-born state. Many Christians were assisting the return from Russia, and in so doing found themselves literally fulfilling the words of Isaiah by carrying the Jews on their shoulders on the way back to Israel (Is. 49:22).

It is interesting to note that the original Exodus from Egypt involved around 3 million Jews returning to Israel - and the modern day return likewise has featured just over 3 million Jews, this time returning from the 'four corners of the world' (over 150 nations) to the reborn and regathered nation of Israel.

Yet, despite all this, the story of the modern day Exodus is presently far from overshadowing the annual celebration of the Passover miracle. A further and even more dramatic return of worldwide Jewry would be required for this to take place.

What could set the stage for this greater exodus?

Could a further return of the Jews from Russia be the greater exodus that was foretold? In the 1970's and 80's many Christians across Europe independently reported seeing visions of destitute Jews fleeing Russia and many prepared safe houses and provisions for the expected flood of Jewish refugees.

While this was partially fulfilled in the early 1990's, perhaps it is still waiting a future fulfillment? Some safe houses and preparations remain in place, especially in Finland. Under the leadership of the Finnish Exodus Committee, Finland has an active network of 25'000 Christians ready to assist Jews leaving Russia in an emergency.

While Russia certainly is located due north of Israel, the prophecy of Jeremiah also talks about the worldwide regathering of the Jewish community. What about the return of the world's largest diaspora Jewish community in the US?

Today there are around 6 million Jews living in the US. In 2014, only 0.06% of them made aliyah to Israel, and the prosperous and stable lifestyle in America means that very few would consider making the change. But is there a change in the air?

In early 2016, two respected Jewish leaders (Rabbi Ari Abramowitz and Mrs. Lori Palatnik) - not at all known for being 'doom and gloom prophets' -released widely watched videos uncharacteristically begging the Jews of America to see the writing on the wall and return to Israel.

Their message has had a lukewarm reception among American Jews, but Rabbi Ari reports that his message has resonated with many American Christians who see the potential dangers facing the Jewish community in their midst.

The early months of 2016 have also seen the veteran Christian aliyah ministry 'Ebenezer Operation Exodus' - traditionally known for assisting Soviet Jews in their return to Israel - opening an office in the heart of Brooklyn, New York to assist the Jews of America. They have also started an active campaign in the US to educate the churches about God's call to the Gentiles to assist in bringing the Jewish people home 'on their shoulders' (Is. 49:22).

Could it be that the time is coming when God will call His people home from America - and that this return combined with the already large-scale ingathering that has taken place - will tip the scales marking it as the greater exodus that Jeremiah foretold?

Summary

It is positive that Israel is seeking to have a national celebration remembering their modern day return to the Promised Land. Seeing how God has preserved the Jewish people and brought them back from the four corners of the world is a story that can build the faith of both Jews and Gentiles in the God of the Bible.

At the same time, we look forward to the day when Jeremiah's words will be completely fulfilled, with this latter day Exodus even superceding the former Exodus. Then we will surely join the Jewish people in saying 'The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them"

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Re: Israel

Post: # 135183Unread post Gary Oak »

Israel is a paradise among muslims disisater nations.

Israel At 68: A Record To Be Proud Of

Israel celebrates its 68th Day of Independence this week. Let me put my cards on the table. I'm not dispassionate when it comes to Israel. Quite the contrary.

The establishment of the state in 1948; the fulfillment of its envisioned role as home and haven for Jews from around the world; its wholehearted embrace of democracy and the rule of law; and its impressive scientific, cultural and economic achievements are accomplishments beyond my wildest imagination.

For centuries, Jews around the world prayed for a return to Zion. We are the lucky ones who have seen those prayers answered. I am grateful to witness this most extraordinary period in Jewish history and Jewish sovereignty -- in the words of Israel's national anthem, "to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem."

And when one adds the key element, namely, that all this took place not in the Middle West but in the Middle East, where Israel's neighbors determined from day one to destroy it through any means available to them -- from full-scale wars to wars of attrition; from diplomatic isolation to international delegitimation; from primary to secondary to even tertiary economic boycotts; from terrorism to the spread of antisemitism, often thinly veiled as anti-Zionism -- the story of Israel's first 68 years becomes all the more remarkable.

No other country has faced such a constant challenge to its very right to exist, even though the age-old biblical, spiritual, and physical connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel is unique in the annals of history.

Indeed, that connection is of a totally different character from the basis on which, say, the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the bulk of Latin American countries were established, that is, by Europeans with no legitimate claim to those lands who decimated indigenous populations and proclaimed their own authority. Or, for that matter, North African countries that were conquered and occupied by Arab-Islamic invaders who totally redefined their national character.

No other country has faced such overwhelming odds against its very survival, or experienced the same degree of never-ending international demonization by too many nations ready to throw integrity and morality to the wind, and slavishly follow the will of the energy-rich and more numerous Arab states.

Yet Israelis have never succumbed to a fortress mentality, never abandoned their deep yearning for peace with their neighbors or willingness to take unprecedented risks to achieve that peace (as was the case with Egypt and Jordan, for example, and in the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza), never lost their zest for life, and never flinched from their determination to build a vibrant, democratic state.

This story of nation-building is entirely without precedent.

Here was a people brought to the brink of utter destruction by the genocidal policies of Nazi Germany and its allies. Here was a people shown to be utterly powerless to influence a largely indifferent world to stop, or even slow down, the Final Solution. And here was a people, numbering barely 600,000, living cheek-by-jowl with often hostile Arab neighbors, under unsympathetic British occupation, on a harsh soil with no significant natural resources other than human capital in what was then Mandatory Palestine.

That the blue-and-white flag of an independent Israel could be planted on this land, to which the Jewish people had been intimately linked since the time of Abraham, just three years after the end of the Holocaust -- and with the support of a decisive majority of UN members at the time -- truly boggles the mind.

And what's more, that this tiny community of Jews, including survivors of the Holocaust who had somehow made their way to Mandatory Palestine despite the British blockade and British detention camps in Cyprus, could successfully defend themselves against the onslaught of five Arab standing armies, is almost beyond imagination.

To understand the essence of Israel's meaning, it is enough to ask how the history of the Jewish people might have been different had there been a Jewish state in 1933, in 1938, or even in 1941. If Israel had controlled its borders and the right of entry instead of Britain, if Israel had had embassies and consulates throughout Europe, how many more Jews might have escaped and found sanctuary?

Instead, Jews had to rely on the goodwill of embassies and consulates of other countries and, with woefully few exceptions, they found there neither the "good" nor the "will" to assist.

I witnessed firsthand what Israeli embassies and consulates meant to Jews drawn by the pull of Zion or the push of hatred. I stood in the courtyard of the Israeli embassy in Moscow and saw thousands of Jews seeking a quick exit from a Soviet Union in the throes of cataclysmic change, fearful that the change might be in the direction of renewed chauvinism and antisemitism.

Awestruck, I watched up-close as Israel never faltered, not even for a moment, in transporting Soviet Jews to the Jewish homeland, even as Scud missiles launched from Iraq traumatized the nation in 1991. It says a lot about the conditions they were leaving behind that these Jews continued to board planes for Tel Aviv while missiles were exploding in Israeli population centers. In fact, on two occasions I sat in sealed rooms with Soviet Jewish families who had just arrived in Israel during these missile attacks. Not once did any of them question their decision to establish new lives in the Jewish state. And equally, it says a lot about Israel that, amid all the pressing security concerns, it managed to continue to welcome these new immigrants without missing a beat.

And how can I ever forget the surge of pride -- Jewish pride -- that completely enveloped me 40 years ago, in July 1976, on hearing the astonishing news of Israel's daring rescue of the 106 Jewish hostages held by Arab and German terrorists in Entebbe, Uganda, over 2,000 miles from Israel's borders? The unmistakable message: Jews in danger will never again be alone, without hope, and totally dependent on others for their safety.

Not least, I can still remember, as if it were yesterday, my very first visit to Israel. It was in 1970, and I was not quite 21 years old.

I didn't know what to expect, but I recall being quite emotional from the moment I boarded the El Al plane to the very first glimpse of the Israeli coastline from the plane's window. As I disembarked, I surprised myself by wanting to kiss the ground. In the ensuing weeks, I marveled at everything I saw. To me, it was as if every apartment building, factory, school, orange grove, and Egged bus was nothing less than a miracle. A state, a Jewish state, was unfolding before my very eyes.

After centuries of persecutions, pogroms, exiles, ghettos, pales of settlement, inquisitions, blood libels, forced conversions, discriminatory legislation, and immigration restrictions -- and, no less, after centuries of prayers, dreams and yearning -- the Jews had come back home and were the masters of their own fate.

I was overwhelmed by the mix of people, backgrounds, languages and lifestyles, and by the intensity of life itself. Everyone, it seemed, had a compelling story to tell. There were Holocaust survivors with harrowing tales of their years in the camps. There were Jews from Arab countries, whose stories of persecution in such countries as Iraq, Libya and Syria were little known at the time. There were the first Jews arriving from the USSR seeking repatriation in the Jewish homeland. There were the sabras -- native-born Israelis -- many of whose families had lived in Palestine for generations. There were local Arabs, both Christian and Muslim. There were Druze, whose religious practices are kept secret from the outside world. The list goes on and on.

I was moved beyond words by the sight of Jerusalem and the fervor with which Jews of all backgrounds prayed at the Western Wall. Coming from a nation that was at the time deeply divided and demoralized, I found my Israeli peers to be unabashedly proud of their country, eager to serve in the military, and, in many cases, determined to volunteer for the most elite combat units. They felt personally involved in the enterprise of building a Jewish state, more than 1,800 years after the Romans defeated the Bar Kochba revolt, the last Jewish attempt at sovereignty on this very land.

To be sure, nation-building is an infinitely complex process. In Israel's case, it began against a backdrop of tensions with a local Arab population that laid claim to the very same land, and tragically refused a UN proposal to divide the land into Arab and Jewish states; as the Arab world sought to isolate, demoralize, and ultimately destroy the state; as Israel's population doubled in the first three years of the country's existence, putting an unimaginable strain on severely limited resources; as the nation was forced to devote a vast portion of its limited national budget to defense expenditures; and as the country coped with forging a national identity and social consensus among a population that could not have been more geographically, linguistically, socially, and culturally heterogeneous.

Moreover, there is the tricky and underappreciated issue of the potential clash between the messy realities of statehood and, in this case, the ideals and faith of a people. It is one thing for a people to live their religion as a minority; it is quite another to exercise sovereignty as the majority population while remaining true to one's ethical standards. Inevitably, tension will arise between a people's spiritual or moral self-definition and the exigencies of statecraft, between the highest concepts of human nature and the daily realities of individuals in decision-making positions wielding power and balancing a variety of competing interests.

Even so, shall we raise the bar so high as to ensure that Israel -- forced to function in the often gritty, morally ambiguous world of international relations and politics, especially as a small, still endangered state -- will always fall short?

Yet, the notion that Israel would ever become ethically indistinguishable from any other country, reflexively seeking cover behind the convenient justification of realpolitik to explain its behavior, is equally unacceptable.
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Israelis, with only 68 years of statehood under their belts, are among the newer practitioners of statecraft. With all its remarkable success, consider the daunting political, social, and economic challenges in the United States 68 or even 168 years after independence, or, for that matter, the challenges it faces today, including stubborn social inequalities. And let's not forget that the United States, unlike Israel, is a vast country blessed with abundant natural resources, oceans on two-and-a half sides, a gentle neighbor to the north, and a weaker neighbor to the south.

Like any vibrant democracy, America is a permanent work in progress. The same holds true for Israel. Loving Israel as I do, though, doesn't mean overlooking its shortcomings, including the excessive and unholy intrusion of religion into politics, the inexcusable marginalization of non-Orthodox Jewish religious streams, the dangers posed by political and religious zealots, and the unfinished, if undeniably complex, task of integrating Israeli Arabs into the mainstream.

But it also doesn't mean allowing such issues to overshadow Israel's remarkable achievements, accomplished, as I've said, under the most difficult of circumstances.

In just 68 years, Israel has built a thriving democracy, unique in the region, including a Supreme Court prepared, when it deems appropriate, to overrule the prime minister or the military establishment, a feisty parliament that includes every imaginable viewpoint along the political spectrum, a robust civil society, and a vigorous press.

It has built an economy increasingly based on innovation and cutting-edge technology, whose per capita GNP exceeds the combined total of its four contiguous sovereign neighbors -- Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

It has built universities and research centers that have contributed to advancing the world's frontiers of knowledge in countless ways, and won a slew of Nobel Prizes in the process.

It has built one of the world's most powerful militaries -- always under civilian control, I might add -- to ensure its survival in a rough-and-tumble neighborhood. It has shown the world how a tiny nation, no larger than New Jersey or Wales, can, by sheer ingenuity, will, courage, and commitment, defend itself against those who would destroy it through conventional armies or armies of suicide bombers. And it has done all this while striving to adhere to a strict code of military conduct that has few rivals in the democratic world, much less elsewhere -- and in the face of an enemy prepared to send children to the front lines and seek cover in mosques, schools, and hospitals.

It has built a quality of life that ranks it among the world's healthiest nations and with a particularly high life expectancy, indeed higher than that of the US.

It has built a thriving culture, whose musicians, writers and artists are admired far beyond Israel's borders. In doing so, it has lovingly taken an ancient language, Hebrew, the language of the prophets, and rendered it modern to accommodate the vocabulary of the contemporary world.

Notwithstanding a few extremist voices of intolerance, it has built a climate of respect for other faith groups, including Baha'i, Christianity and Islam, and their places of worship. Can any other nation in the area make the same claim?

It has built an agricultural sector that has had much to teach developing nations about turning an arid soil into fields of fruits, vegetables, cotton, and flowers.

Step back from the twists and turns of the daily information overload coming from the Middle East and consider the sweep of the last 68 years. Look at the light-years traveled since the darkness of the Holocaust, and marvel at the miracle of a decimated people returning to a tiny sliver of land -- the land of our ancestors, the land of Zion and Jerusalem -- and successfully building a modern, vibrant state against all the odds, on that ancient foundation.

In the final analysis, then, the story of Israel is the wondrous realization of a 3,500-year link among a land, a faith, a language, a people, and a vision. It is an unparalleled story of tenacity and determination, of courage and renewal. And it is ultimately a metaphor for the triumph of enduring hope over the temptation of despair.

Originally posted at Algemeiner.com - reposted with permission.
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Re: Israel

Post: # 137023Unread post Gary Oak »

'Isn't this interesting. The Israelis are very smart and they must have searched the backgrounds of these people thoroughly enough to be sure of their being descendants of the early Jews.

Lost Tribe' of Bnei Menashe From India To Make Aliyah To Israel

Israel is investing millions of shekels to bring hundreds of members of India's Bnei Menashe community to the Jewish state and oversee their conversions to Judaism by the end of December this year, an Absorption Ministry document waiving the usual procedure for such immigration confirmed, the Hebrew news site Walla reported on Sunday.

According to the report, the document was presented to the non-profit organization Shavei Israel, which has been actively involved in trying to help the Bnei Menashe community from northeastern India move to Israel and undergo official conversions to the religion with which they claim to identify.

What is special about the document - which states that NIS 8.1 million (just over $2 million) will be allocated to bringing 712 Bnei Menashe members to Israel, converting them to Judaism and overseeing the process until they receive the temporary Israeli ID cards given to all new immigrants - is that it also constitutes a waiver of the "tender" procedure normally involved in such operations.

The reasons given by the Absorption Ministry for its decision to waive the procedure were that Shavei Israel is familiar with the community; has the capability to undertake the project within a short time frame; and is "the only organization, to the best of our knowledge, that has been dealing with the Bnei Menashe in its country of origin."

According to Walla, the document specifies that Shavei Israel will be charged with the task of flying the community from India to Israel and handling its acclimatization, including conversion, Hebrew studies and assistance in their absorption into local communities.

Michael Freund, who heads the organization, was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's deputy communications director from 1996-1997. The US-born Ra'anana resident established Shavei Israel in 2002, to bring the "lost tribes of Israel" - wherever they are in the world -- back home.

These communities are not defined as Jewish under Israel's Law of Return, but feel they are rooted in the Jewish people. Freund's organization searches for the offspring of these Lost Tribes and hidden Jews or Conversos. This is how he found the Bnei Menashe.

"India does not look kindly on efforts of missionaries to convert various populations in its midst," an Absorption Ministry official told Walla, to explain why the Bnei Menashe cannot undergo their conversions prior to making Aliyah.

The official, who remained anonymous in the interview, was extremely critical of what he called Freund's "missionizing," and attributed his ability to get government funding for the Bnei Menashe to his "ties with Netanyahu."

The Bnei Menashe say their oral history of 2,700 years describes their escape from slavery in Assyria to Media/Persia. From there they moved to what is now Afghanistan and then to Hindu Kush, Tibet and then, in around 240 BCE, to Kaifeng - eventually settling in the Himalayas, where they tried to preserve their heritage. They practice many Jewish rituals.

While still working in the Prime Minister's Office, Freund received a letter from the Bnei Menashe, who told him they were descendants of the tribe of Menashe, one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and appealed to him to help them return to their "Promised Land."

Originally published at Algemeiner.com - reposted with permission.

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Re: Israel

Post: # 137044Unread post Blue Frost »

It's interesting where you can find Jewish blood, we have Indian tribes, east Africa there is a black tribe of Jews even.
How they got to America ??? Romans maybe, maybe just took off putting them self in Gods hands. :unsure:
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Re: Israel

Post: # 137945Unread post Gary Oak »

I have long been saying that liberalism is for the unthinking. The liberals that stand up for the Palestinians don't know about the Christian and other non muslim arabs in Israel because that would take learning to know about them. Learning takes work. Liberalism allows people to take the moral high ground and believe thaqt they are on a higher mental plain simply by sticking up for those who make a big scene.... albeit unthinkingly. Look at the freedom of religion that Israel allows. These arabs won't get the same freedom or protection from muslims in a muslim nation. The liberals aren't concerned about the persecution of these arabs by their muslim counterparts in Israel. I believe that this is because they don't know about them and that non muslims aren't always making a big scene about their plight. If the muslims didn't try to kill non muslims like these Christian arabs then they too would be fully free too to enjoy the beautiful first world creation which is the state of Israel.

Father Naddaf: Beacon of Light to the Christians of Israel

When Father Gabriel Naddaf, a Greek Orthodox priest in Nazareth, Israel, launched his campaign to convince Israeli Christians to enlist in the Israel Defense Force (IDF), he unwittingly ignited a firestorm between opposing forces within and around Israel's Christian and Muslim communities.

His decision, born of his love and respect for his native land -- combined with his acknowledgement of Judaism and Israel as the cradle of Christianity -- perhaps has set the stage for a long overdue reunification in Israel between contemporary Christians and Jews.

In the short term, Father Naddaf's decision has polarized the Christian community, a large part of which has aligned itself with the Arab-Palestinian narrative -- a narrative engineered by forces behind Yasser Arafat in the 1960s -- and designed to obliterate Israel as a Jewish nation.

In the long term, however, Father Naddaf's decision could facilitate an opportunity for Christians to focus on the value of Israel as its most important friend and partner. Naddaf's journey has the potential to model the way in which Israeli Christians relate to each other, to their homeland and to their Jewish neighbors.

Perhaps by announcing his support of Israel and by boldly acknowledging Christianity's roots in Judaism, Naddaf took one small step towards decoupling contemporary Israeli Christians from their current misplaced identity of themselves as "Arabs," as "Palestinians," and as a kind of fifth column within Israel.

As a Times of Israel article by Mitch Ginsburg asserts:

"Naddaf wants to carve out a new identity and a separate community. He believes that in the coming years he can rally 50,000 Arabic-speaking Christians in Israel to align themselves with the Jewish people and with Israel.

The first order of business on the path toward that new identity, he said, was 'breaking the fear' that has gripped the community. He likened the Arabic-speaking Christians in Israel, the minority of the minority, to the Jews of the Diaspora: good grades, pretty good jobs, few troubles. 'Christian Arabs are hostages,' he said, adding, 'the only time they feel free to identify as Christians is when they are castigating me.'

How Christians in the region began to identify as Arabs is a complex puzzle; Christian history from 30 CE until the Siege of Jerusalem in 637 CE was not Arabic at all, but rather Jewish and Roman.

Early Christian anti-Semitism, evidenced as early as the second century CE, certainly played a large part in separating Christians from their Jewish roots. Another wedge was the seventh century invasion of the region by Arab Islamic armies, which turned the region into an Islamic colonialist stronghold where Christians lived largely as dhimmis (second class, "tolerated" citizens who had to follow a humiliating set of laws and buy protection) until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1916 and the end of World War I.

Father Gabriel Naddaf is now at the forefront of what one side sees as a hopeful unity movement and what others loudly decry as a political plot to fragment the Arab-Palestinian political cause.

Chapter one of this story began when Father Gabriel Naddaf, then a newly appointed priest of Greek Orthodox Church, started to speak up for the idea that it was time for Christians to embrace their homeland, Israel, and their Jewish roots. At the time, the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, Iranaeus, rejected the idea as too controversial.

Mitch Ginsberg's article points out how unique and extraordinary is Naddaf's decision:

"[A]n Arabic-speaking Christian clergyman, Father Gabriel Naddaf, a Greek Orthodox priest, has done the unthinkable: He has issued a call for Christian Arab citizens of Israel to reassess their Arab identity and to consider themselves indigenous Christians, of Greek and Aramaic origin, inextricably linked to the Jewish people and the Old Testament, and to fortify that bond by serving in the Israeli army."

Chapter two launches the remake of an identity. It starts in 2007 when a member of the Maronite Christian Church from the Northern Israeli town of Jish (Gush Halav), IDF Captain (res.) Shadi Khalloul met with soon-to-be member of Knesset (MK) Yariv Levin. Out of that meeting came a new term from an ancient saga -- Arameans. It also became a cause of interest for Levin, who, when elected MK in 2009, began to advocate on behalf of Israeli-Arameans.

Arameans, considered by historians a lost civilization, are of Semitic origin. The Aramaic language -- a language similar to Hebrew -- was a common trade language throughout a large swath of the Middle East during the Second Temple period. Jesus and his Apostles spoke the Aramaic language, which, at least until recently, was still spoken in towns throughout Syria -- long after its ethnic origins had disappeared.

The term "Aramean" has not yet caught on with the news media which continues to call the Christians in the Middle East "Christian Arabs" -- a confusing term, in part because "Christians" from many different streams of Christianity, and "Muslim Arabs" have been thrown into the same convenient pot.

Typically, and for reasons that can only be speculated on -- the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox denominational streams have aligned themselves with the Palestinian-Arab and Muslim politico-religious agendas. Similarly, some Protestant denominations, which have aligned themselves with Palestinian Arabs, have joined the chorus against Israel.

Father Naddaf's ideas run counter to some Christian theologies today that seem less religious than politically motivated. Christian "Palestinianism," for example, is a manipulative and erroneous theology linking Jesus with the Palestinian Arab political cause.

It is not too surprising that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has jumped on this bandwagon citing the "Palestinian Jesus" narrative as a rallying cry for its cause, but submitting to a radical Islamic replacement theology would negate archeology and history, as well as Christianity.

In a 2015 article for Breaking Israel News, Ahuva Belofsky writes:

"In response to repeated statements by Palestinian Authority (PA) officials that Jesus was a Palestinian, Israeli Christian leader Father Gabriel Naddaf denounced the claims. 'On what authority does President Abbas claim that Jesus was a Palestinian?' Naddaf wrote. 'The Bible says that He was born in the Jewish city of Bethlehem to Jewish parents from the city of Nazareth and was circumcised on the 8th day as a Jew and presented to the Jewish Temple by His parents according to the Mosaic law.'"

Chapter three captures Father Naddaf's sense of destiny for Christians hand-in-hand with Israel as a Jewish State. A day came when Naddaf realized that he did not identify at all with the epithet "Arab Christian" and that it neither applies to him nor to his Greek Orthodox followers. "We have a joint fate in this land [Israel], because whatever happens to the Jews here will happen to us," he asserted in a recent statement.

Since those early days, he has been working continuously to differentiate himself from the "Arab" label attached him by the media, by religious tradition and until recently by the Israeli government, which has now formally recognized Aramean as an official "minority group" eligible to receive benefits from the Israeli government.

Naddaf's work to enlist Christian youths into the IDF started quietly at first. In 2014 the Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF, which does not require Christians or Muslims to serve, began to send official enlistment notices to Christian youths of military age, inviting them voluntarily to enlist for duty.

From an inconspicuous start, now more than 100 Christian youths each year are volunteering to serve, and Naddaf believes the number will increase rapidly. Through the IDF, Christians will be able to assimilate more easily into Israeli society.

However, life for a visionary is never easy. According to Ginsburg in his 2014 article in Times of Israel:

"He knows that his life is in danger. He has been called a traitor. His car tires have been slashed; bloody rags have been left outside his apartment building. He is regularly threatened over the telephone and, last year, his son was attacked outside his home by a youth wielding an iron club."

News reports do not make it clear who the attackers are, but a billboard near his church in Nazareth, put up after his son was attacked, leaves little doubt:

The Israeli government has unfortunately been slow to prosecute the perpetrators of these attacks; evidently there are few fingerprints. But Naddaf is committed to this path, even while others of his friends and allies have abandoned the project due to threats from the religious hierarchy and elsewhere.

Many theologians, both Jewish and Christian, identify Israel as the center of God's world -- the "apple of God's eye," it says in Zechariah 2:8. But there are many Christians for whom the Bible is less an "authoritative" historical document and more a book of poetry or inspiration.

There are also those Christian groups (some say a majority) who follow "replacement theologies," which have written off Israel altogether. This widespread but erroneous version of Christianity transfers the covenant promises God made with Israel to the Christian Church.

In a similar vein, a common Muslim narrative says that Islam replaces both Christianity and Judaism. There are many in the Muslim world intent on rewriting the history of the Middle East; they have vowed to blot out the name of Israel and the Jews altogether.

In some circles, these two groups have been in collaboration with each other. As we have been seeing recently in Nigeria, Syria and Iraq, after the Jews are targeted, the Christians are targeted next: "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people, " goes the saying in the Middle East.

Father Naddaf, by contrast, has been providing leadership to unite Christians and Jews. A rapidly increasing number of Christians see him as offering them the opportunity to envision and build a tremendous future.

Originally published at Gatestone Institute - reposted with permission

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Re: Israel

Post: # 139175Unread post Gary Oak »

I remember clearly looking at over 2,000 year old mosaics. The Jews of course are doing a first rate job of preserving their heritage. That Red Sea scene took some imagination.

Bible Scenes Uncovered in Ruins of Ancient Synagogue

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016 ... chaeology/
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Re: Israel

Post: # 139184Unread post Blue Frost »

I hope they can repair it with what they have there, those are so cool, and informative. You actually get to learn what people wore, how they lives, and managed life.
They are also an art you don't see much of anymore.
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Re: Israel

Post: # 139779Unread post Gary Oak »

Way to go French libtards. Yu are now losing very productive Jews for parasitic muslims who create no go zones, live off of government handouts , drug dealing and other crimes plus are creating dangerous nogo zones for French people making these areas parasitic nations inside of France. There are going to be regular killings of French citizens because liberals want to help those who have zero empathy for French people and are pleased when muslims kill them. This is good for the demographics in Israel though. A large number of highly skilled and very productive people immigrating is always a bonus.


After Nice Attack, Christian-Jewish Group Expects Rise In Aliyah From France

he International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship) humanitarian organization, which has been helping French Jews make aliyah, is receiving thousands of inquiries from French Jews who want to immigrate to Israel and is expecting that figure to grow after last weeks terror attack in Nice.

The Fellowship has reported more than 5,000 phone calls and hundreds of emails from French Jews asking about aliyah in recent months. The organization brought 82 French Jews to Israel in June and is preparing to bring more than 150 others this month, including several families from Nice.

French Jews who were attending a Fellowship-organized aliyah meeting in Nice on Thursday met just one block away from the site where the terrorist drove a truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day and fired munitions, killing at least 84 people. Five Jews were among the many additional people who were injured, but no Jews are reported to have been killed.

"We mourn for the victims of this despicable attack and pray for a speedy recovery for those who were hurt," said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of The Fellowship, which said it expects the number of Jews seeking to leave France to rise further following the Nice attack.

Many French Jews have described a high level of anti-Semitism in their country, in addition to the growing threat of terror affecting all of Europe.

"Sadly, this horrific attack underscores the pressing need to help bring as many Jews who wish to leave France to their homeland in Israel, and this is what we will continue to do," Eckstein said.

Originally published at JNS.org - posted with permission.

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Re: Israel

Post: # 140349Unread post Gary Oak »

If the Jews are Gods chosen people and as the new testament says " I will preserve the Jews for My names sake" and Israels and the Jews being in Christian prophecy then aren't Israel and the Jews an important part of Christianity ?

Christians United For Israel 3 Million Members Becomes Powerful Voice For Israel

While much of the media focused on the recent terror attack in Nice, the failed coup in Turkey, and the Republican National Convention, thousands of evangelical Christians gathered in the nation's capital this week to show their support for Israel as part of the 11th annual Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Washington Summit.

Although world events may have overshadowed its latest gathering, CUFI's base of support is louder than ever. CUFI has become not only the self-described largest pro-Israel organization in America, but also likely the largest evangelical Christian organization of its kind. As such, the group will likely play a significant role in shaping the future of American support for Israel.

"Christians United for Israel in 11 short years has gone from 400 people in San Antonio, to 3,500 in our first gathering in Washington, DC, five months later...to 10,000, to 100,000, to 500,000, to 1 million in 2012, to 2 million in 2015. Tonight we celebrate an active Zionist membership of 3.1 million people," Pastor John Hagee, CUFI's founder and national chairman, declared in his remarks at the Washington conference as part of its "Night to Honor Israel" celebration.

CUFI defines "members" as email-list subscribers whose addresses do not produce bounce-backs when messaged.

"I am often asked by members of the press, how did this [growth to 3.1 million CUFI members] happen? I say that it is the Lord that has done this. The king of the universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let his name be glorified, he has done this," said Hagee.

CUFI's Christian-Zionist following has steadily grown despite the past decade's erosion of support for Israel in other spheres of influence. The movement has also tapped into a desire by many Christians to seek out a connection to their roots amid various global threats and uncertainties.

"It is not possible to say that I am a Christian and not love the Jewish people," Hagee said.

David Brog, who was one of the founders of CUFI and now serves as director of its executive board, explained that CUFI has become the successor group to previous evangelical Christian movements in the 1980s and '90s.

"If you look back at evangelical politics in America, it was really the Moral Majority [political organization] in the 1980s that brought evangelicals back into American politics in a real way. At the time, [Moral Majority founder] Jerry Falwell wrote that there were four founding issues in the Moral Majority: a strong American defense, family, pro-traditional values, and strong support for Israel and the Jewish people," Brog said.

According to Brog, many at the time did not realize that support for Israel was one of the core values of the Moral Majority. Instead, people tended to focus more on the social issues, and that is how the Moral Majority is now remembered.

"In the 1990s, the Moral Majority gave way to Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition," said Brog. "It was [founded at] the same time, it was a pro-Israel group, but we tended to associate them with social issues because that's what was hot back was then."

But the 9/11 attacks changed all of that, Brog explained, turning Israel into "one of the top issues for evangelicals."

"All of a sudden this distant land of Israel, battling these Islamic enemies, many realized that we are also facing the same threats and enemies," he said.

CUFI was founded in 2006, five years after 9/11, and has seemingly come along in the right place at the right time to fill the gap left by previous evangelical organizations.

Throughout the country, CUFI works with dozens of evangelical pastors who hold CUFI-sponsored events and advocate on behalf of Israel within their communities. This grassroots effort is at the heart of CUFI and may explain why the organization has become such a powerful, yet understated, force in American politics.

Pastor Scott Thomas of the Free Life Chapel in Lakeland, Fla., told JNS.org that CUFI "helps churches and congregation members to embrace and understand the message of what Israel is, and reintroducing them to the Bible again."

"The Bible did not originate in the church. It originated outside of it, it is a Jewish document. Understanding that has given us context. That educational context has triggered a passion for Israel and the Jewish people, and CUFI has been that vehicle. It has been a natural on-ramp," Thomas said.

Pastor Tim Burt, who serves as associate pastor at the Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park, Minn., added that CUFI has become a place for fractured pro-Israel organizations to come together in a powerful way.

"There's always been lovers of Israel, there's always been many organizations that supported Israel," Burt said. "But sometimes it is a God moment in time, where Pastor Hagee came along with his leadership, coupled with David Brog, and created this platform at the right time....It allowed for all these lovers of Israel to come together, it was a recipe for success."

In his address to the CUFI summit via satellite, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "CUFI is an amazing organization. In 10 years you've gathered more than 3 million members and have become active on more than 300 college campuses. CUFI never shies away from standing with Israel and standing with the truth."

Beyond being a platform for traditional evangelical Christians, CUFI has also made a concerted effort to tap into diversity in America.

"We've seen growth throughout the multi-ethnic body of Christianity--the African-American community, the Asian community, the Hispanic community--and we have even hired a Native American outreach coordinator," Pastor Dumisani Washington, CUFI's diversity outreach director, told JNS.org.

Washington explained that the diversity among CUFI's supporters reflects the diversity of Israel.

"This is in parallel with Israel, where you see people from all over the world, both Jews and non-Jews," he said. "The church is the same way--people from all ethnic backgrounds, particularly here in the United States, and we have seen growth."

"If you see the people here [at the CUFI summit]," added Washington, "you see people from every ethnic background, and that's one reason why we think [CUFI] has grown so much, because people are coming from all different sectors of the church."

Originally published at JNS.org - reposted with permission.

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/articl ... WUATQKr.99
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Blue Frost
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Re: Israel

Post: # 140356Unread post Blue Frost »

Jews are not his chosen, only to them they are. When Jesus came along, and died faithful Christians are his chosen by the bible.
I'm glad so many are taking up for them, and being seen doing it, good for them.
"Being alone isn't what hurts. It's when the people around you make you feel alone" ~ Naruto Uzumaki, an Anime Character
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