“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you.”
Psalm 122: 6
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Roland Flamini—Forced Exodus: Christians in the Middle East:
In September, senior clerics from a dozen different Christian denominations all over the Middle East met in Amman, Jordan, for a conference organized by King Abdullah II. The subject was the crisis facing Christianity in the region, and what to do about it. Missing from the meeting were two prominent Arab prelates from Aleppo: Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, the city’s Syriac Orthodox bishop, and Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi, his Greek Orthodox counterpart. Both had been abducted by unidentified gunmen somewhere between Aleppo and Antioch in April, and their whereabouts were still unknown.
The Assad regime and the Syrian rebels predictably blamed each other for the high-profile abduction. But Turkish intelligence sources were quoted as saying that it had been the work of Islamic Chechens who operate in the opposition-held territory in northern Syria. Refugees in Jordan and Turkey have told Christian humanitarian groups that jihadist revolutionaries have declared a caliphate in areas they control and imposed sharia law, with Saudi judges brought in to administer it. (Saudi Arabia and Qatar finance the rebellion in Syria, and the West supports it—but that’s another story.) Non-Muslims are only tolerated if they pay jizya, a heavy tax imposed on dhimmini, or nonbelievers, under Islamic law. Those who refuse to pay have two choices: they can quit their homes and have their property and most of their possessions confiscated, or they can face execution.
Syria today is a country of blurred facts and wild rumors, but the abduction and in some cases murder of Christian clerics is real enough. The Jesuit missionary Paolo Dall’Oglio was kidnapped in July and may have been executed in al-Raqqah, a northern town said to be an al-Qaeda stronghold. Dall’Oglio, had gone to al-Raqqah in an attempt to negotiate the release of Christian hostages, relying—foolishly, as it worked out—on his reputation as an outspoken critic of the Assad regime to guarantee his safety. In June, the Franciscan priest François Murad was killed in a convent in Gassanieh by members of the Syrian jihadist group Nusra Front. The Vatican had initially reported that Father Murad was one of three men shown being beheaded with a kitchen knife in a viral video online, while the crowd chanted “Allahu akbar,” but later issued a correction saying that Murad had actually been shot.
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Netanyahu convenes cabinet to discuss heightened tensions in territories
PM: We will not tolerate a ‘drizzle’ of attacks from Gaza
Despite spike in Israeli-Palestinian violence, situation still under control
Analysis: A calculated boost to deterrence
French police arrest Kahanist Jews for vigilante attacks against alleged anti-Semites
IDF strikes six Gaza targets in retaliation to shooting of Defense Ministry employee
Abbas, Ashton ring in Christmas at midnight mass in Bethlehem
Gafni calls to establish official body to coordinate fight against academic snubbing of Israel
Stabbed police officer in West Bank attack listed in stable condition
Netanyahu sends Christmas greeting from snowy Jerusalem
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Treatment of Temple Mount Artifacts ‘A Disgrace’
Mahmoud Abbas Mocked For Claiming Jesus was a ‘Palestinian’
Latest ‘Trickling Terror,’ 2 Jerusalem Arabs Run Over Cop
Despite Terror Wave, Gov. To Free Terrorists
Meretz Head Takes Issue with Netanyahu Warning
Peres to Gazans: You’re Playing with Fire
Two Hurt in Samaria Rock Attack
Bus Driver Hurt in Rock Attack
Israel will ‘Contain’ Latest Gaza Violence
Iran Considers Moving Capital From Tehran
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U.S. Plan Said to Include Dismantling All Jordan Valley Settlements
Former IDF General: Israel Must Control Jordan Valley
Tense, but quiet night, in south after violence
Israeli Severely Wounded by Sniper Fire from Gaza
IDF strikes Gaza in retaliation for deadly shooting attack
Gaza terror group takes responsibility for sniper attack
UN chief warns of a ‘new round of bloodshed’
Pentagon to Israel: Sway Congress against Egypt cuts
Abbas, Ashton join Xmas festivities in Bethlehem
Same-sex parent tax benefits law heads to Knesset
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Obscene: Dems Abort Veterans’ Benefits–Illegal Aliens’ Welfare Stays
New U.S. Army Manual Orders Soldiers Not To Criticize Taliban
A scary, not merry, Christmas for Christians in the Middle East
Dubai sends American to max-security prison for … a YouTube satire video
Syria’s Assad ‘has secret Iraq oil lifeline’
UN scrambles to send more peacekeepers to South Sudan amid uptick in fighting
12 dead after blast rocks Egypt police station
Egypt’s political forces accuse Brotherhood of orchestrating Mansoura attack
Turkey and Israel have new round of compensation talks for Mavi Marmara victims
The year the US pivoted back to the Middle East
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Sara Debbie Gutfreund: Being Jewish on Christmas— People talk about strange things at five in the morning. Maybe it’s because of the eerie light of the fading moon. Or maybe it’s the pre-coffee, brain fog. To get to spinning class this early, most of us are up by 4:30am. We climb on our bikes while the sky is still black and star studded, and we vent to each other as we warm up. Hilary has an awful boss who is driving her crazy. Katherine’s son is failing in school. Patty’s husband has just lost his job. Ann’s mother is in the hospital. Kim’s car broke down again. We complain. We console. We cycle as the first light of day climbs through the trees. But this week everyone is speaking about Christmas. First there is the tree discussion. Where to buy it. How they bring it home. Who decorates it, and who doesn’t bother anymore. Then the shopping conversation begins and seems to go on forever. The list of people to buy presents for. What to buy. How to wrap it. When to hit the stores. And then there is the cooking discussion about dishes that I’ve never even seen. Recipes for ham and shrimp cocktails and the sauces to go with them. When they serve eggnog. If they serve eggnog. When they drink eggnog. If they drink eggnog. How to cut the calories in eggnog.
Ari Yasher: Kerry to force security plan on Netanyahu— US Secretary of State John Kerry appears to be pressing a national plan, devised in Washington DC, upon Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The proposal comes as part of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA), and includes uprooting Jewish communities from the Jordan Valley. Kerry’s staff rented 50 rooms at a luxurious Jerusalem hotel for January, in order to “attack” Netanyahu and demand that he accept the US plan, reported Yedioth Aharonoth on Friday. The plan, which Arutz Sheva analyst Mark Langfan has called a “death-trap” for Israel, would let the country for 10 years partially retain the 15 kilometer (9 mile) wide strip of the Jordan Valley as a security zone. In fact, the plan doesn’t even meet the minimum “defensible” Israeli borders as determined by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (USJCoS) in 1967, even according to military realities of that time.
Nadav Shragai: Dangerous illusions— Beyond the shame and severe immorality involved in releasing Palestinian terrorists from prison; and beyond the bitter pill that a country — which has just narrowly escaped another bus bombing disaster — must swallow, is the agonizing and undeniable fact: Released terrorists go back to terrorist activity all the time. The fact that Israel, despite being aware of this fact, continues to free terrorists is reminiscent of a worn-out British joke about a rejoicing blind man who yells, “I can see,” and then proceeds to bang his head against a wall. It has been proven time and again: Once a terrorist, always a terrorist. This may not be the case with everyone, but it is the case with about half of the 13,000 or so prisoners released by Israel since 1985.
Elliott Abrams: NSA: These are the dots— If there was one consensus after 9/11, it was that the U.S. had failed to “connect the dots”. The significance of that phrase was twofold. First, U.S. government agencies should stop the “stovepiping” that prevented them from sharing crucial information. Second, officials had to be aware of critical intelligence, and connect the many and varied components imaginatively to determine the terrorists’ activities. What are the dots? Which information must be available? One very good example is knowing which terrorists are in touch with one another, and where they are located. Who is emailing whom? Who is calling whom? The content of those communications is sometimes less important than the fact of them — the fact that phone number A called phone number B, or that phone number B was in Chicago or Kandahar that day, or that email address C got a message of some sort from email address D.
Isi Leibler: Consistent settlement policy is paramount— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enjoys enormous public support. Most Israelis, including many of those who generally oppose his policies, supported his single-handed global campaign against a nuclear Iran and the delicate diplomacy he employed in resisting unreasonable demands from U.S. President Barack Obama while retaining the support of the American people and Congress. Given this level of support, Netanyahu has a rare opportunity of developing a coherent policy strategy, which is currently lacking, particularly with regard to the settlements.
Anne-Marie O’Connor: Christians Abandoning Bethlehem—There’s been something missing in the birthplace of Christianity: Christians. For years, Palestinian Christians have been quietly abandoning the place where Jesus is said to have been born, packing their bags for Latin America, Europe and the U.S. During the Ottoman era, a century ago, Bethlehem was 90% Christian. Today the city of 22,000 is more than two-thirds Muslim.
Ken Dilanian: A spy world reshaped by Edward Snowden— After news reports that the National Security Agency had secretly monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone calls, America’s top intelligence official was asked why congressional oversight committees were kept in the dark. Shouldn’t Congress have been briefed, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) asked James R. Clapper, the director of national intelligence, about a spying operation that would embarrass the U.S. government if exposed?
Olli Heinonen and Orde Kittrie: Iran Plays Games with the Geneva Deal— Nearly a month since the six-month Joint Plan of Action with Iran was announced in Geneva on November 24, the deal has yet to go into effect. The two sides have not even agreed on a start date for implementing the deal. Meanwhile, Iran says it is continuing to advance its nuclear program. Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Reza Najafi, says that Iran will not begin implementing its Joint Plan of Action commitments, including its pledge to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent, until the still-unspecified start date. In the past, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has boasted repeatedly of how he used a 2003 set of nuclear negotiations with the West, for which he was Iran’s lead negotiator, to buy time to advance Iran’s program. History appears to be repeating itself. Rather than implementing the deal in good faith, Iran is playing games with it, manipulating the Joint Plan of Action to alter to Tehran’s advantage both the circumstances on the ground and the terms of the deal itself.
Alex Fishman: Raging Anarchy in the West Bank—The embers in the West Bank have been glowing for months now. If until the past month the level of violence in the West Bank was defined as 3 out of 10, the current wave of terror attacks has raised it to level 5. It’s not an intifada yet, because it’s not an overall popular uprising of the Palestinian public. On the Palestinian side, gunmen are wandering the streets on a regular basis. In Jenin and Nablus, PA security forces are failing to gain control of the Tanzim forces, and opposition elements from Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front are making every possible effort to sabotage the peace process.
Earl Cox: Wake up and smell the stench— Recent foreign “policy” decisions made by the Obama Administration have left most Americans and our allies wondering why all of his decisions seem to favor Islam. Those in the know fear the worst – that those in power in America are changing their alliances and goals. In addition, heads of state appear scrambling to realign themselves for their own protection and according to their own needs. Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran exemplify the struggle inside the Muslim world. In the end they will be in collusion, but for now, Sunnis and Shiites are at odds due to Islam’s ultimate goal of a world-wide Caliphate and each wants to prevail. Is the U.S. government naive or are there evil forces behind the scenes helping craft policy for the administration that is causing the rift and favoring Islam? Is there a plan that ordinary Americans and our allies do not know about that will eventually destroy America as we know it and our faithful allies?
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Email Distribution List:
I have created an email distribution list that I use to notify people when I post a new SnyderTalk. If you would like to be on that list, send your email address to nhsny@yahoo.com, and put “add me to your distribution list” in the subject line. If you know others who are interested in SnyderTalk content, tell them to send me their email address, and I’ll put them on the list.
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The scripture below is from the New American Standard Bible, and the hyperlinks associated with each word are from Strong’s Concordance for the New American Standard Bible.
Nahum 2: 9-13
Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! For there is no limit to the treasure– wealth from every kind of desirable object. She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste! Hearts are melting and knees knocking! Also anguish is in the whole body and all their faces are grown pale! Where is the den of the lions and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, lioness and lion’s cub prowled, with nothing to disturb [them]? The lion tore enough for his cubs, killed [enough] for his lionesses, and filled his lairs with prey and his dens with torn flesh. “Behold, I am against you,” declares Yahweh Sabaoth. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
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Do we all worship the same god?
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Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
