JULY 2003 WORLD NEWS

JULY 2003 WORLD NEWS

July 31, 2003

On Chicago streets, cameras are watching

' The Passion' revisited (commentary)

• Iraqi guerrillas devise new tactics as Americans fine tune techniques - Washington Times
• Bremer: General Elections Possible in Iraq Within a Year - Fox News
• Shi'ite picked to be Iraq's first president - Washington Times
• Al Qaeda 'funded Indonesia terror' - CNN
• Top al Qaeda operative told of hijackings - CNN
• Britain to demand EU constitution changes - London Telegraph
• Vatican slams same-sex marriage - MSNBC
• Pentagon says China refitting missiles to hit Okinawa - Washington Times
• U.S., North Korea Trade Harsh Accusations in Nuke Dispute - Fox News
• Bush says Palestinian state by 2005 'realistic' - Jerusalem Post
• Report: Syria has 100 nerve-gas missiles aimed at Israel - Ha'aretz
• Blair echoes Bush: dismantle terror, then fence - Jerusalem Post
• U.S. sensors could track any car, all passengers in foreign ciites - World Tribune
• Bush vows no 'compromise' on gay 'marriage' - Washington Times
• 'Pagan god' sneaked in California budget - WND

July 30, 2003

ISLAMISTS BUTCHER NEW CHRISTIAN

OFFICIALS: ALABAMA WOMAN FIRST TO DIE FROM WEST NILE THIS YEAR

• Iraqis Start to Accept Deaths of Uday, Qusay - Fox News
• Radical clerics raise army ready to die for God - Washington Times
• Marines at the gates of Babylon work to restore the ancient capital of Hammurabi - Boston Globe
• U.S. Warns al-Qaida May Hijack Planes - AP
• Al Qaeda Active in Saudi Arabia, Interior Minister Admits - Fox News
• British Police Arrest 21 Human Trafficking Suspects - VOA News
• Biometric passports coming soon - MSNBC
• French synagogue ransacked, death slogan on wall - MSNBC
• Sharon, Bush Reaffirm Priority One: Security of Israel - Fox News
• Israel to Withdraw From 2 More West Bank Cities - VOA News
• PM: Outposts to go, but fence stays - Ha'aretz
• Palestinians blast Bush's softer tones on fence - Jerusalem Post
• Police suspend Jewish visits to Temple Mount - Ha'aretz
• Bush will not declassify part of 9/11 report - Washington Times
• Pentagon Cancels Terrorism Betting Plan - Washington Post
• Poll suggests backlash on 'gay' issues - WND
• Bible break helps students, study says - Sacbee
• Ala. Gov.: Christian Duty to Boost Taxes - AP

July 29, 2003

• U.S. Forces Say Closing in on Saddam in Fresh Raid - Reuters
• US readies $1 bln in aid for Afghan reconstruction - Boston Herald
• Report: Al Qaeda Planning More Hijack Attacks - Fox News
• Bush rejects State Dept. plan for Hamas - World Tribune
• Pope: Stop gay union: Vatican urges politicians to fight same-sex marriage - Boston Herald
• Sharon, Bush to meet amid security fence concerns - Jerusalem Post
• Sharon to tell Bush: Fence in Ariel area still six months off - Ha'aretz
• Arafat adviser calls for kidnapping IDF soldiers - Jerusalem Post
• Hill hits gambling program on terror - Washington Times
• FBI Uncovers Thousands of Classified Documents Buried by Convicted Spy - Fox
• AIDS Cases In U.S. Increase - Washington Post
• Christians Prepare to Defend Ten Commandments in Alabama - CNS News

July 29, 2003

Bush, Sharon and prophecy - By Mike Evans

Thanks to President Bush, Prime Minister Abbas has succeeded at his first White House meeting Friday. He succeeded at not being kicked out of office by Arafat. Abbas is a reformed murderer who has financed more killings in the last few decades than the Mafia.
Sharon wanted to be the first guest at the White House, but it was not to be. The White House produced a political version of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" from those who wish him harm, like Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Arafat – all of which belong in a jailhouse.
Why? Because Abbas said if he failed there would be a civil war. Why? Because terrorists are being harbored and supported. Thus, Israel gets pressured as if Israelis are dressing up as Arabs and sneaking into Ramallah and blowing up Palestinians.
Abbas held his ground on harboring and supporting terrorist organizations such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas. He also made it known that Arafat is the boss. The same Arafat who announced before Abbas' meeting that "If the Jews keep visiting the Temple site, there will be grave consequences" (i.e., suicide bombings). Abbas headed home with $20 million in his pocket – not a bad day's work.
It must have been really hard for President Bush to hold his peace especially after his brilliant speech on Sept. 20, 2001, as he addressed a joint session of Congress and the American people. He said, "From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."
Tuesday, Prime Minister Sharon comes for his "take-that-wall-down speech." Friday, at the Abbas press conference, Bush said: "It is very difficult to develop confidence between the Palestinians and Israelis with a wall snaking through the West Bank." Of course, no one discussed the fact that the wall has keep out the Islamic-terrorist snakes that are smuggling arms and blowing up the innocent.
Another demand Bush will make is that Sharon release more prisoners as a confidence-building measure "but not prisoners with blood on their hands." There is only one problem with this: All Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners have blood on their hands. Yet, those are the prisoners Abbas wants released.
Like it or not, America is in prophecy. It began with President Harry Truman recognizing the rebirth of the state of Israel, on May 14, 1948. The Russians were trying to beat him to it at the U.N., but he moved quickly. President Truman took his pen and signed his name, but he also did something else. He scratched out the words "Jewish state" from the document. Something the world has been attempting to do ever since, which is the heart of the problem.
The dumbing down of America
Sept. 11 was indeed a wake up call from Hell. And yet the U.S. Postal Service issued an Islamic stamp which, according to the USPS website, "commemorates the two most important festivals in the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha." Has anyone seen any American stamps being issued in Arab countries?
If this is not about Islamic fundamentalism, then let's have the rest of the Sept. 11 CIA report that is being withheld. In 1993, America got hit in New York at the World Trade Center. We got hit in Somalia in spite of the fact that September 1993 was the famous Diplomatic Peace Accord Party with Arafat at the White House. Who blew up our troops in Lebanon twice in 1983? Who bombed the military barracks in Saudi Arabia? Who bombed the U.S. embassies in Africa? Who bombed the USS Cole?
If Americans are boycotting French wine, then why in the world would we be buying Islamic postage stamps unless of course we have been dumbed-down to the point that we want to purchase a first-class berth on the Titanic. Oh, I forgot – about 90 percent of Islam is a peaceful religion, so that only leaves 150 million who want to kill us ... very comforting.
As long as America allows the PLO to lionize homicide bombers as martyrs, and Saudi Arabia to fund it, then the Jihad-genie will stay un-bottled. It would be easier to believe that Eskimos or Pygmies attacked America than to buy into the myth that Islamic terrorists do not seek the destruction of the Jewish state and the liberation of Jerusalem as their ultimate goal.
The truth is, there is no room for a Jewish state nor a Christian state in "Arafat-istan" – and never will be. You can be sure of one thing: Arafat's vision is "all or nothing." "All" meaning all of Israel. In the Palestinian schools, the map of the Middle East does not include Israel. Their maps call all the territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River "Palestine."
Do we really believe that a June 11 terrorist blowing up Jews in Jerusalem is any different than a Sept. 11 terrorist? If we think otherwise, America will be energizing the ticking bomb. The liberal partnership between the U.S. and the U.N., E.U. and Russia, and Saudi Arabia in the form of the Roadmap has put the Bush doctrine on terrorism in the deep freeze.
If we don't get it out quick, the "shock and awe" anti-terrorism campaign may turn into a shock and awe anti-American campaign ... with H-bombers (humans) heading westward. This is pure moral hypocrisy! All Americans should be outraged! Americans need to speak up before the U.S. doctrine on terrorism floats so far down the river that no one can retrieve it.

July 28, 2003

• Raiders miss Saddam in Tikrit farmhouse - Washington Times
• Take Saddam alive, urges British envoy - London Telegraph
• U.S. trains 61,000 Iraqi police - WND
• New Hamas policy distinguishes between political, military wings - World Tribune
• EU is U.S. 'Trojan Horse' - Castro - CNN
• Thousands being recruited for 'jihad' - Gulf News
• Israel's Sharon in Washington for Talks With Bush - Fox News
• 540 Palestinian prisoners set for release within week - Jerusalem Post
• Israeli intelligence reveals new disco bombing planned at Arafat's HQ- Israel Insider
• Hezbollah gives Israel 'one last chance' for prisoner swap - Ha'aretz
• U.S. warships head for Liberia's coast - Washington Times
• Anti-Porn Bill Targets Internet 'File Sharing' - CNS News
• Ban on patenting human beings underscored by House resolution - Baptist Press
• Long-Awaited Energy Plan Sparks Debate in Senate - CNS News

July 27, 2003

WE WILL START TESTING NUCLEAR BOMBS, SAYS DEFIANT NORTH KOREA

DEBKA - News Briefs -

Kurdish Tribesmen Spotted Qusay, His Son Mustafa and Uday Hussein en Route to or from Syria - and tipped Americans

Israelis reported still in northern Iraq
Has Israel established a presence in northern Iraq?
Kurdish sources say the answer is yes. A group of Israeli military officers who arrived on the eve of the U.S.-led war in Iraq remains in northern Iraq, they say. The officers are in the area of Irbil, the stronghold of Kurdistan Democratic Party Masoud Barazani.
The Israelis remain in northern Iraq at the request of Barazani and with the quiet consent of Britain and the United States.
Barazani wants Israeli military trainers to continue working with his forces.
Israel is not a new force to the area. Israeli military and intelligence officers have been helping the Kurds from the late 1950s through the 1970s.
The Israeli presence was nearly eliminated in the mid-1970s by the Shah of Iran after he reconciled with Baghdad.
The Israeli training program has angered Arab countries, particularly Egypt. The fall of the Saddam regime has put the Kurds in a relative position of strength and they are expanding their hold on northern Iraq.

July 26, 2003

Hundreds Hurt in Japanese Earthquakes

Mexican Volcano Blasts Scares Residents

BUSH ORDERS U.S. TROOPS TO LIBERIA COAST

HONG KONG FEARS POSSIBLE SARS COMEBACK

July 25, 2003

• Bodyguard Tells of Saddam and Sons' Life on the Run - Fox News
• Reporters see 'Hussein bodies' - CNN
• Cheney says war critics ignore proof - Washington Times
• U.N. Envoy Says Liberia Destroyed - Washington Post
• U.S. reverses its position on Hamas - Washington Times
• Abbas is pressing for D.C. aid - Boston Globe
• Israel delays prisoner decision until PM returns from U.S. - Ha'aretz
• DeLay Is to Carry Dissenting Message on a Mideast Tour - NY Times
• Bush leans on Israel to stop security fence - World Tribune
• American Civilians Receive Counter-Terrorism Training in Israel - CNS News
• Christian Zionists Criticized for Opposition to 'Road Map' - Fox News
• Frist Filibuster Flip-Flop Vote Uncertain - Fox News
• Clinton cautions Democrats - Washington Times

July 24, 2003

JERUSALEM TOUTED AS WORLD'S CAPITAL

Strong earthquake shakes southwestern Turkey

Arafat: 'Grave consequences' over Jewish trips to Temple Mt.

• Attack Kills Three U.S. Soldiers in Northern Iraq - Fox News
• US to show 'gruesome' pictures of Saddam sons - London Telegraph
• Criticism of Iraq policy seen hurting U.S. troop morale - Washington Times
• Al Qaeda terrorists being held by Iran - Washington Times
• Arafat blocking 'road map'? - World Net Daily
• Abbas in bind with Palestinian parliament - Washington Times
• IDF arrests 3 suspected terrorists in West Bank - Jerusalem Post
• Palestinians urge US to prod Israel over prisoners - AFP
• CIA, FBI blamed in 9/11 congressional report - AFP
• Davis to Face Recall Election - Fox News
• Jobless Claims Hit Five-Month Low - AP
• Political rival kills New York councilman - Washington Times

Declaration of Conscience

July 24, 2003

Whereas a native population of thirty to forty million Kurds still lives
in their ancestral homeland known as Kurdistan, approximating the size
of Texas or France, situated in the heart of the Middle East, as
attested by impartial historians and geographers of the world;

Whereas the Kurds and Kurdistan, once partitioned and administered by
the comparatively benign rulers of the Ottoman and Persian Empires under
policies respecting Kurdish linguistic and cultural rights, became the
spoils of war in the course of the World War I and were partitioned
again by the British, French, and Russian colonialists, placing them at
the mercy of these powers and of the predatory modern nationalisms of
the Turks and the Persians;

Whereas the forces of predatory nationalism, imperial domination, and
racism plunged the world into two deadly world wars in the last century,
prompting former President Woodrow Wilson to declare his support, in the
course of the first one, in the Twelfth of his famous Fourteen Points
for the rights of subject peoples, including the Kurds, to ‘‘an
absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development’’;

Whereas at the peace conference in Paris after World War I, the Kurds
and Kurdistan enjoyed, on paper at least, a brief acceptance and
recognition based on the principle of self-determination in the Treaty
of Sevres, but subsequently were partitioned again, this time in a
conference at Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 24, 1923, without
protection for their basic human and cultural rights, a partitioning
that has for the last 80 years exerted its poisonous influence as one of
the gravest political crimes haunting the history of modern Europe;

Whereas in the then created countries of the modern Middle East—Turkey,
Syria, Iraq, Iran, and also recently formed Soviet Union—the Kurds were
subjected to a policy of ethnic repression and ‘‘social engineering’’
schemes, sometimes inspired by European fascism, for their forced
assimilation or displacement, resulting in involuntary mass migrations
or ‘‘transfers’’ which would now be called humanitarian catastrophes,
and creating tyrant masters and rebel subjects throughout Kurdistan;

Whereas it continues to be unjust that the inter-national community
recognizes countries of the modern Middle East such as Turkey, Syria,
Iraq, and Iran, but not Kurdistan, divided between these others without
the consent of its sons and daughters, thus effecting the dismemberment
of a nation like the hacking of a human being limb from limb, and
bringing about under the ruthless sway of modern nationalisms the
withering of a Kurdish civilization as old as the dawning of history;

Whereas the present denial of national and cultural rights to the Kurds
has also been compared to the forced marriage or involuntary servitude
of a people to many different masters or regimes, a servitude often
imposed by handcuffs or even by an outright reign of terror which, in a
world guided by President Thomas Jefferson's principles of
representative democracy and freedom of expression, must outrage what he
might today call "a decent respect to the opinions of humankind";

Whereas the present predicament of the Kurds and Kurdistan has been
compared likewise to a people with one principle of vitality and
sensation divided not by one artificial border but by several, imposing
barriers of separation which stretch into hundreds of miles and resemble
the infamous Berlin Wall, with Kurds on different sides of these borders
subjected to alien systems of government and even to ethnic cleansing or
cultural genocide, the crime of ‘‘barbarity’’ decried by the renowned
jurist Raphael Lemkin and later made by him and others a basis for the
modern concept of genocide;

Whereas the Kurds are willing to accept their neighbors as equals and to
honor the lessons of their own oppression by respecting the full
minority and nationality rights of other peoples living within their
homeland of Kurdistan, but regard continued submission to this
oppression as destructive of the very fabric of mercy and justice which
knits diverse peoples together in peace;

Whereas the Kurds hope for the day when their loved ones will not be
tortured, their linguistic and cultural rights will not be brutally
suppressed, and the riches of their land will be enjoyed by all the
inhabitants and varied national groups of Kurdistan;

Whereas this generation of Americans vividly experienced the tyranny of
catastrophic and unpredictable mass violence on September 11, 2001, when
its advent assaulted and terrorized the citizens of these shores,
visiting indiscriminate death upon thousands of innocent civilians; and

Whereas for successive Kurdish generations, every day has seemed like
either a September 11, or the eve or after-math of such a catastrophe,
including a repeated reign of terror from the air inflicted by more than
one government to whose offices the Kurds have been en-trusted, and in
at least one notorious campaign in Iraq even the use, along with mass
disappearances and murders, of chemical weapons causing not only
immediate death and destruction, but also genetic mutations in the very
‘‘DNA’’ of survivors giving rise to the birth of babies with alarmingly
increased numbers of congenital mal-formations:

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),

That Congress urges the President to support the proposition that the
United States respects and accepts the right of the Kurdish people to
self-determination and urges the United States Government to conduct its
foreign policy so as to reflect and achieve this aim.

Dear Friend,

We hope you will consider signing our declaration. We would appreciate
it even more if you took the trouble of sending a copy of it to your
representative in the House of Representatives and another two to your
senators in the United States Senate. Please urge them to initiate
legislation in the United States Congress. Send us copies of your
correspondence with them. Together, we can bring light to eighty years
of darkness in the Middle East, welcome back a people to the sunshine of
freedom, and serve truth by calling a land with its proper name.

If you are a citizen of another country, feel free to duplicate our
effort. We would, of course, love to hear from you.

Please consider signing the online version of this declaration as
well:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/390525870

The American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
2600 Connecticut Avenue NW # 1
Washington, DC 20008-1558
___________________________
The American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
2600 Connecticut Avenue NW # 1
Washington, DC 20008-1558 / USA
Tel: 202.483.6444 / Fax: 202.483.6476
Web-site: http://www.kurdistan.org / E-mail: akin@kurdistan.org
The American Kurdish Information Network provides a public service
to foster Kurdish-American understanding and friendship

July 23, 2003

• Two Soldiers Killed, New 'Saddam' Tape Airs Day After Death of Sons - Fox News
• Iran Confirms Holding Top Al Qaeda Operatives - Fox News
• Burma Releases 90 Pro-Democracy Activists - VOA News
• Most Jewish Settlers Would Leave for Peace - Reuters
• Israel ready to free 530 prisoners, including Hamas and Jihad - Ha'aretz
• Arafat: 'Grave consequences' over Jewish trips to Temple Mt. - Ha'aretz
• Palestinians announce Abbas will face confidence vote after return from Washington - Jerusalem Post
• House Takes Aim at Patriot Act Secret Searches - Washington Post
• Deadly Storms Hit Ohio, Tennessee Valleys - AP
• Obscenity law in Ohio targeted by lawyer - Washington Times
• Child tax-credit checks set for mailing - Washington Times
• Park district sued $1 for denying 'Jesus' brick in fund-raiser - Chicago Sun-Times

July 22, 2003

Jerusalem— A Heavy stone

The US initiative set in motion after the Iraq war to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has again raised the question of Jerusalem. President Bush’s call at the Aqaba summit to divide “the Holy Land” inevitably means that Jerusalem, too, will be redivided.

While the US is Israel’s best and perhaps only friend in the community of nations, it has never recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Among the 184 nations with which the US maintains diplomatic relations, Israel is the only one whose capital is not recognized by the American government! The American Embassy, like most other foreign representation, is in Tel Aviv.

On the other hand, the US maintains a consulate in East Jerusalem that deals, among other things, with Palestinian affairs. This Jerusalem consulate is independent from the embassy in Tel Aviv and is directly answerable to Washington, in effect functioning like a US embassy in Jerusalem. This is a clear indication that in the Palestinian state President Bush envisions, East Jerusalem would be the capital.

American diplomats will not meet with Israeli officials in East Jerusalem, the area captured from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967, including the walled Old City. However, consular officials do meet with Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

In 1990, the US Congress passed a resolution: “Jerusalem is the capital of the state of Israel and is to remain as such.” Further, the resolution said, “Jerusalem must remain an undivided city, in which the rights of all ethnic and religious groups are protected.”

During his presidential campaign in 1992, Bill Clinton announced: “I recognize Jerusalem as the undivided and eternal capital of Israel, and I believe that the American Embassy should be moved to Jerusalem.” But once a president takes office, he faces reality. Politically, he cannot afford the Arab backlash that would result from moving the embassy.

In an attempt to force Clinton’s hand, Congress, which is traditionally very pro-Israel, passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act in 1995, approving it with an overwhelming majority. This declaration said that Jerusalem is recognized officially by American policy as the undivided, eternal capital of Israel, and that the American Embassy should be moved to Jerusalem by May 1999. The law, however, contained an escape clause permitting the president to postpone implementation if he considered it “against the interests of the United States.” With a wave of the pen, President Clinton invoked the clause.

Then came George W. Bush. He also promised on May22, 2000, in a campaign speech to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby in Washington, that one of his first official acts as president would be “the move of the American Embassy to the city that the state of Israel has made its capital.” After taking office, however, he followed the example of Clinton, invoked the escape clause, and the embassy remains in Tel Aviv.

Today, President Bush believes that moving the embassy to Jerusalem would harm the Middle East “peace” process. But critics say that if the US would take a bold stand and move the embassy, in effect declaring Jerusalem the indivisible capital of Israel, it would put to rest the unrealistic expectations of Palestinians with regard to the city. That, in turn, would improve chances for a final peace agreement.

But in the wake of the Iraq War, the US has moved further away from keeping Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel. The US plan, endorsed by the whole world, is that Jerusalem must be divided between Israel and the Moslem Palestinians.

So Jerusalem remains a “heavystone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured” (Zechariah 12:3).

HOME

July 22, 2003

• Bush Seeks International Assistance in Iraq - Fox News
• Democracy can't be imposed in Iraq, Annan warns - AP
• U.S. will weigh new resolution on Iraq - Washington Times
• Bush: Syria, Iran to be held accountable for terror support - Jerusalem Post
• Berlusconi: Christianity in Constitution unlikely - EU Observer
• Mel Gibson's Washington Power Play - Washington Post
• Abbas says he will not crackdown on Palestinian militants - Ha'aretz
• Peres suggests holy sites in Jerusalem be declared 'world capital' - Ha'aretz
• Israel: Hamas rearming with 1,000 rockets - World Net Daily
• IDF thwarted 12 terrorist attacks last week - Jerusalem Post
• Ashcroft Defends USA Patriot Act - Reuters
• Identity theft explodes in US - BBC
• Study Pegging Billions in US Divorce Costs Spurs Marriage Activists - CNS News

July 21, 2003

• US to create security force of 7,000 Iraqis in 45 days - Financial Times
• Thousands march in anti-US demo - London Telegraph.
• Iran inaugurates missile capable of reaching Israel - Ha'aretz
• American Detained in Moscow Accuses Orthodox Church of Meddling - CNS News
• Israeli, Palestinian Diplomats Head to Brussels for Talks - Fox News
• The leading star of 'Wider Europe' - Ha'aretz
• Sharon, Abbas meet: positions reiterated on terror, prisoners - Jerusalem Post
• PA calls for urgent U.S. action 'to save road map' - Ha'aretz
• EU in fresh bid to boost Mid East role - EU Observer
• Israel Unimpressed with Arafat Declaration - CNS News
• U.S. looks at need to enlarge military - NY Times
• Massachusetts weighs up gay marriages - Financial Times

July 20, 2003

'Popo' Volcano Coats Mexico City in White Ash

July 19, 2003

Video cameras will monitor plane passengers: Airline to keep customers under constant surveillance, record faces

'Smart shelf' technology tracks products, shoppers & then snaps pictures!

Severity of Hurricane Being Reconsidered

Court halts 'aggressive social workers'

Mobilizing Against the ‘Road Map’ - By C. Hart

CBN.com – JERUSALEM — American evangelical Christians are becoming more and more mobilized in their opposition to the pressure the Bush Administration is putting on Israel, and they are letting their voices be heard. Not only are they writing letters, sending E-mails and faxes, and making calls to the White House, they are also campaigning to make sure that Israel's security becomes a key issue in American politics.

Christians in South Carolina have organized a bus tour throughout their state, speaking out against the so-called "Road Map" to peace, which they believe endangers Israel's right to exist. They, along with many other pro-Israel Christians in the United States, think that the plan could endanger Israel's survival, if implemented fully. They are determined to see that their concern becomes a frontline issue leading up to the 2004 presidential elections. Meanwhile, a senior staff member of the Bush Administration called a meeting of top Christian conservative pastors in America. The topic of discussion was the "Road Map" to peace, and these leaders tried to present biblical evidence of Israel's right to hold on to its land.

In Israel, the schism is widening between liberal citizens who want to move the peace process forward, and conservative rabbis who say the Road Map is against the Torah (Holy Scriptures). In June, the rabbis issued a proclamation stating, "No government has the authority to proclaim the establishment of a foreign state, or to hand over portions of the Land of Israel to foreigners. Anything done towards this end is completely nullified in the name of God, the Lord of Israel, who gave His word on this matter, and in the name of the entire people of Israel for all generations." (Jerusalem Post 7/9/03). The same rabbis who declared this statement, organized a meeting 10 years ago in response to the signing of the Oslo Accords. Now they are urging their communities to work against the Road Map, standing firm in their refusal to give up land for peace. They stake their claim on the idea that citizens here are an ancient eternal people who have returned to their ancestral God-given home, Israel.

Recently, Gary Bauer, an American Christian activist and former contender for the Republican presidential nomination, spent four days in Israel. As the head of American Values, a conservative family organization in Washington, D.C., Bauer met with members of the Knesset and leaders of the Orthodox Jewish community, including Israel's chief rabbi. During his time in Israel, Bauer stated that future U.S. elections could be affected if Bush continues to promote his current Middle East foreign policy initiative.

CBN News asked Bauer if Christians in the U.S. represent a large enough voting block to make a difference when it comes to America's presidential elections. Bauer replied, "Politics is a very unpredictable business and today's polls don't mean much. It's only that poll on Election Day. I think that the White House understands that the largest constituency in the Republican Party on Election Day are people who are regularly in church on Sunday, and then are in the voting booth on Tuesday. So, if the President's opposition nominates a credible candidate; if there are problems with the economy, and so forth, Christian Evangelicals staying home on Election Day could be devastating to the President and the Republican Party."

While many Christians in America don't need convincing that Israel should be supported politically and militarily as an ally of the United States, it is unclear whether Israelis really understand the faithfulness of this large constituency. Bauer wants to clear up misunderstandings, so that citizens in Israel will see the tremendous value in having Christian support for the Jewish state. "They (Christians) understand that America and Israel are joined at the heart; that Israel plays a special role in God's plan. And they want to stand with Israel against the thugs and dictators and self-appointed kings that run the Middle East."

Political analysts concur that Evangelical Christians usually become active in U.S. politics when they feel they can make a difference on issues important to them. This conservative group is aggressive at the grassroots level, volunteering during election campaigns to knock on doors, sharing their views with whoever will listen to them. And Bauer says American Christians are a central part of the Republican coalition. "We've gone way beyond the point where we need a seat at the table, for example. We're in a position to offer others a seat at the table, because we really are the heart of the party."

Meanwhile, Jewish voters also hold great influence in American politics. Their votes could turn the tide in key states such as Florida and New Jersey. These swing states and others could determine whether a Republican or Democrat ends up in the White House in 2004. "If American Jews drift back en masse to the Democratic Party, with both their votes and donations, and if a certain number of Evangelicals stay home, the President could have another very long election night like the one he had when he was originally elected," said Bauer.

While Israel is engaging in peace talks with the Palestinians, many pro-Israel supporters in the American Christian community have expressed dissatisfaction with the way Bush has charged ahead to push for a compromise. Most think that it isn't up to the U.S. to force peace on the region, and they say it is still tentative as to whether newly elected Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas will be able to exert his authority, or be undermined by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Bauer said, "If peace treaties and peace conferences and road maps and diplomats and words on pieces of paper brought peace, the Middle East would already be one of the most peaceful areas of the world, and it's the exact opposite."

Bauer is also opposed to timelines when it comes to Israel's security. "I think the President was right last June when he outlined a performance-based plan, that certain things had to happen, and then we could move forward; not [that] certain dates had to be reached and then we would move forward. So, we are moving much too fast, and we're jeopardizing the national security of our only reliable ally in this region." He admitted that it is similar to the fast pace that helped contribute to the failure of previous peace initiatives between Israel and the Palestinians.

Bauer claims to have a mailing list of 100,000 supporters, and he writes them an e-mail on a daily basis. He has been surprised at how many of his organization's supporters respond to issues concerning Israel, and he thinks the response he gets is much greater than the White House realizes. Bauer does not want to see Bush drift away from the standards that the President stood by during the early part of his administration. Bauer explained, "As a Christian Evangelical, I feel the same love and affection for the President that millions of others do. I think that he's a godly man… but even though we have love and affection for him, no man is perfect. The President is under tremendous pressure to do the wrong thing from many different sources. As Christians we should be writing him, calling him, e-mailing him, faxing him, and reminding him why we voted for him, reminding him of the principles he ran on, and encouraging him to do the right thing when it comes to our friend and ally, Israel."

HOME

July 18, 2003

TRACKING CHIP LAUNCHES IN MEXICO

SARS VIRUS 'COULD RE-APPEAR'

• Bush and Blair Defend Iraq Intelligence - Fox News
• Blair says 'destiny' is calling U.S. to be a global leader - Washington Times
• Troops Blow Up Saddam Statue, Defuse Huge Bomb - Fox News
• Acts of sabotage declining, U.S. administrator says - USA Today
• North Korea, South Korea Exchange Fire on DMZ - Fox News
• New Chip Can Be Implanted in Humans - Newsday
• Nowhere safe as weather goes haywire - Scotsman
• The most watched film in history - BBC
• Blair and Bush reaffirm commitment to secure Israel, viable Palestine-Israel Insider
• Bush to meet Abbas, Sharon for peace talks - Jerusalem Post
• Sharon, Abbas to meet Sun.; Hamas, Jihas men to be freed - Ha'aretz
• Unexpected news from Syria - Jerusalem Post
• Temple Mt. trips extended, religious Jews sometimes allowed - Ha'aretz
• Bush Welfare Marriage Plan Sailing Through Congress - Fox News
• US Senate Passes Defense Spending Bill - VOA News
• Democrat Eyes Potential Grounds for Bush Impeachment - Reuters

July 17, 2003

Religious Divide Cited for US, European Political Differences

Heatwaves and storms wreak havoc in Europe

Pakistan 'will never accept Israel'

Russia To Ship Nuclear Fuel To Iran

Russian Stock Market Is Crashing

EU: Military Arm Developing More Quickly Than Expected

U.N. seeking global gun control?

• U.S. Troops on High Alert as New 'Saddam' Tape Aired - Fox News
• Enemy force uses 'guerrilla tactics' in Iraq, Abizaid says - Washington Times
• New Evidence Could Sway Opinion on Iraq, Analysts Say - CNS News
• France’s Jews face more hate crimes - MSNBC
• Major Church in Australia Okays Homosexual Ordinations - CNS News
• Scientists hunt for evidence of Noah's flood, examine ancient ships in Black Sea
• Abbas to Travel to Washington Amid Efforts to Extend Truce - Fox News
• Sharon, Abbas to visit Washington a few days apart - Jerusalem Post
• Palestinians get US aid - BBC
• Jordan Restricts Palestinian Entry - MENL
• PA condemns Knesset resolution saying territories aren't occupied - Jerusalem Post
• House Panel Approves Permanent Ban on Internet Taxes - Fox News
• Christian Leaders Urge Commandments Rally - AP

July 16, 2003

Coalition Forces Face Violent Day in Iraq

JAPAN RESEARCHERS MULL CLONING MAMMOTHS

Some Don't Like U.S. Flag at School

Swiss Alps Crumbling in Heat Wave; Climbers Evacuated

July 15, 2003

REPORTS OF HIV 'SUPERINFECTION' INCREASE

DEADLY HORSE DISEASE RAMPAGES ACROSS US EAST COAST

Iran makes huge oil discovery; Oil fields contain estmated 38 billion barrels of reserves

July 14, 2003

ARAFAT CALLS UPON CHILDREN TO BECOME 'MARTYRS'

July 13, 2003

At least 179 dead after storms in China

Fifth earthquake hits Fars province

July 12, 2003

Americans Defy Terror, Emigrate to Israel Organized Effort to Prevent Arabs from Outnumbering Jews

July 11, 2003

• Franks: U.S. May Stay in Iraq for Years - AP
• Franks: 10-25 Attacks a Day on U.S. Troops in Iraq - Reuters
• U.S. might ask NATO to take over control of Iraq occupation - Baltimore Sun
• Powell sees 'limited' role in Liberia - Washington Times
• EU constitutional convention signs final draft, urges leaders to keep it intact - SF Chronicle
• EU Constitution given positive send off - EU Observer
• Russia and China bid for Iran oil deal - Financial Times
• Cybersecurity Laws Expected - PC World
• Hackers Hijack PC's for Sex Sites - NY Times
• Top Israeli, Palestinian Officials Meet Despite Leadership Turmoil - Fox News
• Arafat accuses Abbas of betrayal; Abbas to meet Sharon next week - Ha'aretz
• White House targets faith-based youth groups in drug war - Washington Times
• Lawmakers Provide More Money for Law Enforcement, FBI - Fox News

Algeria Hit By Plague Outbreak

Meet The Real Mahmoud Abbas

BREAK UP IRAQ NOW!
By RALPH PETERS

July 10, 2003

• Iraq costing U.S. $4 billion a month - MSNBC
• Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Separate Attacks - Fox News
• Iraq weapons 'unlikely to be found' - BBC
• 30,000 March in Hong Kong to Protest Anti-Subversion Laws - VOA News
• EU split over stem cell research - BBC
• African Union summit kicks off in Maputo - AFP
• Women May Ovulate More Than Once a Month, Study Says - Reuters
• Canada Begins Medical Marijuana Sales - VOA News
• U.S. satellite feeds to Iran jammed - MSNBC
• US approves $20m. in direct aid to PA - Jerusalem Post
• Hamas rejects Egypt's request for cease-fire extension - Jerusalem Post
• Palestinian FM says leadership crisis appears past - Ha'aretz
• Fatah divided over Abbas resignation - Jerusalem Post
• Massachusetts Court Ruling on Homosexual Marriage Expected Soon - CNS News
• Initiative targets child exploitation - Washington Times
• Fears Grow Over Academic Efforts to Normalize Pedophilia - CNS News
• Goodbye UPC bar codes - CNN

Hundreds of North American Jews arrive in Israel (update)

Baked Alaska: Record heat hits Anchorage

ISLAMIC GROUP USES MERCENARIES FOR ATTACKS

July 9, 2003

• Former Iraqi Interior Minister, Baath Party Official in Coalition Custody-Fox News
• Iraqi Diplomat Alleged to Have Met With Atta Arrested - Fox News
• 'Strong case' sought for U.S. role in Liberia - Washington Times
• British Columbia approves gay, lesbian marriages - Boston Globe
• U.S. presses Israel on outposts and prisoners - Ha'aretz
• Cease-fire is dead, Jihad head tells 'Post' - Jerusalem Post
• U.S. agency confirms sinking of USS Liberty was accident - Ha'aretz
• Abbas Threatens to Resign as Palestinian PM - Fox News
• U.S. Plans To Provide Direct Aid to Palestinians - Washington Post
• Palestinian TV Urges Young Men to Become Martyrs - CNS News
• Confidence in Bush slips further - MSNBC
• House Approves $368.7 Billion Defense Spending Bill - Fox News
• Military Homosexual Ban to Be Challenged - Family News in Focus

July 8, 2003

Deadly floods hit eastern China

• Mortars Fired at U.S. Base as Coalition Continues Democracy Plans - Fox News
• CIA: Recent tape 'most likely' Saddam - CNN
• Rotating presidency of EU to be scrapped after Nazi smear - UK Independent
• Islamic Jihad claims attack but leaders stand by cease-fire - Jerusalem Post
• Mofaz: Israel to act against Jihad and continue diplomatic talks - Ha'aretz
• Facing fierce opposition in Fatah, Abbas cancels meeting with Sharon Jerusalem post
• Israel wants full EU membership - The News International Pakistan
• White House Admits Factual Error in State of Union Address - Fox News

Alarm over freak weather worldwide - Published on the web by the Daily News of South Africa on July 4, 2003.

The world's weather is going haywire in 2003, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warned this week in an astonishing announcement about global warming and extreme weather occurring around the globe.

In a short but dramatic press release, the organisation, which normally produces detailed scientific reports and staid statistics at the year's end, highlighted record extremes in weather and climate occurring all over the world in the past few weeks, from the hottest-ever June in Switzerland to the record month for tornadoes in the United States - and linked them to climate change.

The unprecedented warning takes its force and significance from the fact that it is not coming from Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth, but from an impeccably respected UN organisation which is not given to hyperbole - although environmentalists everywhere will seize on it to claim that their direst predictions of climate change are being borne out.

The Geneva-based body, to which the national weather services of 185 countries contribute, clearly takes the view that what has been happening this year - in widely separated locations in Europe, America and Asia - is so remarkable that the world as a whole needs to be made aware of it immediately.

The extreme weather it documented, which includes record high and low temperatures, record rainfall and record storms in different parts of the world, are consistent with global warming predictions.

Supercomputer models of the global climate show that as the atmosphere warms, the climate will not only become hotter, but much more unstable.

"Recent scientific assessments indicate that, as the global temperatures continue to warm due to climate change, the number and intensity of extreme events might increase," the WMO said in its release.

Its announcement this week presented a series of examples:

· In southern France, record high temperatures were recorded in June, with maximum temperatures exceeding 40C in parts of south-west France. This resulted in June average temperatures of 5C to 7C above the long-term average. · In the United States, there were 562 tornadoes during May, which resulted in 41 deaths. This was a record for the number of tornadoes in any month. The previous record was 399 tornadoes in June 1992. · In India, this year's pre-monsoon heatwave brought peak temperatures of more than 45C. At least 1 400 people died because of the hot weather. · In Sri Lanka, heavy rainfalls from Tropical Cyclone 01B exacerbated already wet conditions, resulting in flooding and landslides that left at least 300 people dead.

"These record extreme events all go into calculating the monthly and annual averages which, for temperatures, have been gradually increasing over the past 100 years," the WMO said.

"New record extreme events occur every year somewhere in the globe, but in recent years the number of such extremes have been increasing ... the increase in temperature in the 20th century is likely to have been the largest in any century during the past 1000 years."

It is quite possible that 2003 will be the hottest year ever recorded. The 10 hottest years in the 143-year-old global temperature record have all occurred since 1990, with the three hottest being 1998, 2002 and 2001, in that order.

The unstable world of climate change has long been a prediction. Now, the WMO is saying, it is a reality. - Independent Foreign Service

July 7, 2003

Tomb References John the Baptist's Father

Strong Earthquake Shakes Western Turkey

July 6, 2003

U.S. Forces Hold Turkish Troops in Iraq

July 2, 2003

Christians besieged in Pakistan

Pro-life women shift to majority

US military aid stopped in court

July 1, 2003

US-BASED MISSILES TO HAVE GLOBAL REACH

ERA OF 'UNBORN MOTHER' LOOMS AS SCIENTISTS USE ABORTED FETUSES TO GROW HUMAN EGGS

Israel destroys mosque foundations in Nazareth

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