“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you.” Psalm 122: 6
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Greg Botelho—Amid killings and kidnappings, can Christianity survive in the Middle East?:
Christianity was born in Bethlehem, in what’s now the West Bank. It took root among people like the Assyrians, who flourished in ancient Mesopotamia. It soon found a home in places like modern-day Turkey.
In other words, Christianity traces its past squarely to the Middle East.
But do Christians have a future there?
Recent headlines provide ample evidence for skepticism. It’s hard to ignore the depravity of ISIS beheading 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya.Nor can one shake off stories of women and children among the 262 Christians captured by ISIS in Syria, one of several horrors faced by Christians in that nation and neighboring Iraq.
They’re not just feeling the heat from Islamic extremists: Just this week, police in Jerusalem said they suspected radical right-wing Israelis were to blame for defacing a Greek Orthodox seminary in Jerusalem with slurs maligning Jesus.
All this strain, all this chaos has shrunk the percentage of the Middle East’s once-sizable population of openly practicing Christians.
[…]
To continue reading, click here.
SnyderTalk Comment: Christianity wasn’t born in Bethlehem. The Messiah was born there.
Christianity will do more than survive in the Middle East. It will thrive there.
Christianity is entirely Jewish. There is nothing about Christianity that isn’t Jewish. People who don’t know the facts write articles like this one.
To explain what I mean, I need put today’s events in historical context. Until the Bar Kochba Rebellion in Israel in about 135 A.D., Christianity was a sect of Judaism. It was called the Sect of the Nazarenes.
There were many sects in Judaism. The Nazarenes were just one. Jewish people in the second century A.D. who didn’t believe that Yeshua was the Messiah didn’t display animosity toward Nazarenes because they did believe.
Bar Kochba fought to overthrow the Romans. Nazarenes fought with him until Rabbi Akiva declared that Bar Kochba was the messiah. Because of that pronouncement, Nazarenes could no longer participate in the rebellion.
The Romans defeated Bar Kochba, and Akiva blamed the Nazarenes. Eventually, Akiva declared that Nazarenes were not Jewish and that Jewish people could have nothing to do with them.
Although the great divide between Jews and Christians started with Akiva, the Roman Emperor Constantine sealed it in 325 A.D. at the Council of Nicaea. Constantine introduced Easter to Christianity, a festival for the Babylonian fertility goddess Ishtar. In due course, Constantine’s “Sunday law” resulted in Christians abandoning the Sabbath.
Constantine’s motives were political. Romans in the fourth century A.D. were pagans. They worshipped the sun god Sol Invictus. By injecting Sunday Sabbath and Easter into Christianity, things with which Romans were very familiar, he made the fledging Christian religion acceptable to pagans in Roman. These changes helped him to unify people in the Roman Empire behind him in what became known as the Holy Roman Empire.
Anti-Semitism took hold of Christianity in the fourth century A.D. because Jewish people including Nazarenes refused to accept the changes that Constantine introduced. Because they held fast to Yahweh and His word, many of them were murdered.
At this very moment, an awakening is taking place inside Christianity. Some people call it the Hebrew Roots Movement, but it’s simply a return to Yahweh. For example, they are rejecting Christmas which has nothing to do with the Messiah and everything to do with Sol Invictus; they are rejecting Easter because it is a celebration for Ishtar; they are observing Saturday Sabbath as the Fourth Commandment requires; they are celebrating Passover as Yahweh’s law directs; and they are commemorating Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles because Yahweh ordained it and because that’s when the Messiah was born.
True Christianity will thrive in the Middle East, in the Promised Land. The day for that to happen hasn’t arrived yet, but it will. When it does, Jews and Christians will stand together as one people, the people of Yahweh. The Messiah actually told us when it will happen. You will find it at the end of Matthew chapter 23:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of Yahweh!’” (Matthew 23: 37-39)
When Jewish people, particularly those in Israel, recognize the Messiah for who He is and call on Him by His Name, He will respond and Yahweh’s people will be united. If this interests you, read His Name is Yahweh.
A lot has to happen before that day comes. We are witnessing movement in that direction.
Also see “No Tears For Egyptian Christians In A Muslim Brotherhood-Friendly White House”.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress—March 3, 2015
To see the full transcript of Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, click here.
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NPR: Hillary Clinton’s Use Of Personal Email At State Department Raises Questions—During her four years as secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton did not use a State Department email account, opting instead to conduct official business through a personal email account that wasn’t then and is not now under the government’s control. The arrangement circumvented a federal process that could have automatically preserved Clinton’s email communications in government archives.
SnyderTalk Comment: The questions raised are quite serious. See “Obama admin. fails to defend Hillary Clinton’s email use” and “White House says Clinton did not heed e-mail policy”.
Retired General David Petraeus who also served as Director of the CIA pleaded guilty for mishandling classified information. You would have a hard time convincing a jury of reasonable people that as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton never emailed classified information using her unsecured personal email account. That’s not just improbable; it’s impossible.
Petraeus got two years of probation and a $40,000 fine for his offenses. Hillary thinks that she should get the Oval Office. Ordinary citizens would have gotten stiff prison sentences and huge fines.
Diehard Hillary supporters are saying, “But Petraeus lied to the FBI.”
I wish they could see me laughing at the thought that Hillary didn’t and won’t lie to federal law enforcement officials. Does Benghazi ring a bell? What about Monicagate? I’ll stop there.
Lying is like any other skill, it takes lots of practice to be good at it. Hillary is a very good liar.
The interesting thing to me is that Hillary’s more intelligent supporters will admit that Hillary lies, but they don’t care. Go figure.
Also see
AP: After speech, White House could determine Netanyahu’s fate— With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing a tough re-election fight in two weeks, the U.S. Congress has handed him an unprecedented boost with its effusive welcome to a message that resonates at home: Iran cannot be trusted as a threshold nuclear state. Which way it goes for Netanyahu may hinge on whether Israel is in some perceptible way punished by the White House for its leader’s extraordinary offensive against a U.S. president. If he is seen as having bravely spoken truth to power and escaped consequences, the episode will likely help him at the polls. That could deeply affect the Middle East for years to come on issues far beyond Iran, most notably the conflict with the Palestinians, which some consider even more important than the nature of any future deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
SnyderTalk Comment: This article is written by a Democrat and an ardent Obama supporter. It’s easy to tell because of the language used and the way it is written.
For example, the phrase “extraordinary offensive against a U.S. president” is used to describe Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. It wasn’t offensive, but the author presents that assessment as an obvious fact. Only a Democrat and an Obama supporter would do that because they see any criticism of Obama as offensive.
Open and honest people don’t see it that way. We think that Netanyahu did what had to be done because the president that we elected can’t or won’t do it. Even worse, we fear that Obama is about to make a deal that it bad for our country, bad for Israel, and bad for the world.
Thankfully, Netanyahu presented the case clearly and succinctly. Thanks to Obama and the brouhaha that he created as a backdrop to the speech, Netanyahu’s audience was probably many times larger than it would have been otherwise.
Will that help Netanyahu at home? Probably.
Will Netanyahu’s speech force Obama to be more cautious in his dealings with the Iranians? Yes, and this is why: Netanyahu alerted the American people. If they aren’t tuned in now, they never will be. It’s much harder to pull a fast one and get away with it when people are watching carefully.
Will the Democratic Party’s response to Netanyahu’s speech influence the 2016 presidential election and the Congressional elections? I think so, but in politics, 20 months is a very long time.
Ynet and Agencies: Obama: Netanyahu offers no viable alternative to Iran talks—US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t offer any “viable alternatives” to the nuclear negotiations with Iran during his speech to Congress earlier in the day. The president said that Netanyahu had made almost the same speech when he warned against the interim deal reached with Iran. That deal, Obama said, has resulted in a freeze and rolling back of Iran’s nuclear program. Netanyahu’s alternative to talks amounts to no deal at all, the president said, and that would lead Iran to redouble efforts to build a nuclear bomb.
SnyderTalk Comment: Obama is wrong. Prime Minister Netanyahu didn’t just say that no deal is better than a bad deal. He said that we can ratchet up sanctions even more.
Our sanctions brought Iran to the table, and since the sanctions have been scaled back, Iran has embarked on an aggressive terror campaign that includes major steps to take over effective control of the Middle East.
Netanyahu laid out three conditions that Iran should be required to meet before any deal is signed: 1) Stop aggression against its neighbors in the Middle East, 2) stop supporting terrorism around the world, and 3) stop threatening to annihilate Israel—the one and only Jewish state.
If that’s not viable, I don’t know what is. See “Netanyahu says he gave ‘practical alternative’ to Iran deal”.
Obama doesn’t like Netanyahu’s idea because the Iranians won’t accept it, and he won’t get a deal. That’s why I have said that Obama is hell-bent on getting a deal—good or bad. That’s dangerous because engaging in negotiations with that mindset inevitably leads to a bad deal.
The Iranians have said publicly that the U.S. wants a deal more than they do. That’s about as clear as it gets.
Mike Gallagher probably captured the essence of Obama as well as anybody. He said,
- It was you who told an Islamic dinner – “I am one of you.”
- It was you who on ABC News referenced – “My Muslim faith.”
- It was you who gave $100 million in U.S. taxpayer funds to re-build foreign mosques.
- It was you who wrote that in the event of a conflict -“I will stand with the Muslims.”
- It was you who assured the Egyptian Foreign Minister that – “I am a Muslim.”
- It was you who bowed in submission before the Saudi King.
- It was you who sat for 20 years in a Liberation Theology Church condemning Christianity and professing Marxism.
- It was you who exempted Muslims from penalties under Obamacare that the rest of us have to pay.
- It was you who purposefully omitted – “endowed by our Creator” – from your recitation of The Declaration of Independence.
- It was you who mocked the Bible and Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount while repeatedly referring to the ‘HOLY’ Quran.
- It was you who traveled the Islamic world denigrating the United States of America.
- It was you who instantly threw the support of your administration behind the building of the Ground Zero Victory mosque overlooking the hallowed crater of the World Trade Center.
- It was you who refused to attend the National Prayer Breakfast, but hastened to host an Islamic prayer breakfast at the WH.
- It was you who ordered both Georgetown Univ. and Notre Dame to shroud all vestiges of Jesus Christ BEFORE you would agree to go there to speak, but in contrast, you have NEVER requested that the mosques you have visited adjust their decor.
- It was you who appointed anti-Christian fanatics to your Czar Corps.
- It was you who appointed rabid Islamists to Homeland Security.
- It was you who said that NASA’s “foremost mission” was an outreach to Muslim communities.
- It was you who as an Illinois Senator were the ONLY individual who would speak in favor of infanticide.
- It was you who were the first President not to give a Christmas Greeting from the WH, and went so far as to hang photos of Chairman Mao on the WH tree.
- It was you who curtailed the military tribunals of all Islamic terrorists.
- It was you who refused to condemn the Ft. Hood killer as an Islamic terrorist.
- It is you who has refused to speak-out concerning the horrific executions of women throughout the Muslim culture, but yet, have submitted Arizona to the UN for investigation of hypothetical human-rights abuses.
- It was you who when queried in India refused to acknowledge the true extent of radical global Jihadists, and instead profusely praised Islam in a country that is 82% Hindu and the victim of numerous Islamic terrorists assaults.
- It was you who funneled $900 Million in U.S. taxpayer dollars to Hamas.
- It was you who ordered the USPS to honor the MUSLIM holiday with a new commemorative stamp.
- It was you who directed our UK Embassy to conduct outreach to help “empower” the British Muslim community.
- It was you who embraced the fanatical Muslim Brotherhood in your quest to overthrow the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak.
- It was you who funded mandatory Arabic language and culture studies in Grammar schools across our country.
- It is you who follows the Muslim custom of not wearing any form of jewelry during Ramadan.
- It is you who departs for Hawaii over the Christmas season so as to avoid past criticism for NOT participating in seasonal WH religious events.
- It was you who was un-characteristically quick to join the chorus of the Muslim Brotherhood to depose Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, formerly America’s strongest ally in North Africa; but, remain muted in your non-response to the Brotherhood led slaughter of Egyptian Christians.
- It was you who appointed your chief adviser, Valerie Jarrett, who is a member of the Muslim Sisterhood, an off-shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
I’m reminded of something that Ben Bradley (played by Jason Robards) said to Woodward and Bernstein (played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman) in the movie All the President’s Men. The two reporters had just learned that they were under surveillance and that their lives were in danger. They went to Bradley’s house late at night and asked him to come outside so they could tell him about the facts they had confirmed.
A confused Bradley followed them to the front lawn, and they told him the gory details. With an exasperated look on his face, Bradley said, “The majority of Americans have never even heard of Watergate.”
That, my friends, is the problem we have with the Obama administration. Most Americans have never heard about the problems that Obama has created, or if they have, they don’t know the details. Obama’s supporters, in particular, see any attempt to find and disseminate facts about him and his administration as racism. To them, criticism of Obama couldn’t be anything else.
Nick Gass: Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses Barack Obamas criticism— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected President Barack Obama’s criticism that he failed to offer “viable alternatives” to the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran, telling reporters upon his return to Israel that he was encouraged by the responses he got from U.S. lawmakers in both parties. “I proposed a practical alternative that through tougher restrictions would extend the breakout time, by years, that it would take Iran to reach a nuclear weapon if it decides to breach the agreement,” the prime minister said, according to The Associated Press. The prime minister told reporters that he got a good bipartisan impression at the U.S. Capitol. “I got the impression that they better understand that the current proposal would lead to a bad deal and that the alternative is a better deal,” he said. Netanyahu’s statement followed remarks from the president that dismissed the speech as “nothing new.”
Jews News: Obama appoints Muslim Brotherhood-linked Muslim to head “Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications”— Rashad Hussain was previously the Obama administration’s special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the thuggish international organization that is engaged in a full-scale campaign to intimidate Western governments into adopting hate speech codes that will effectively quash criticism of Islam – including jihad violence perpetrated in its name. Rashad Hussain is an apposite choice for this position, since several years ago he defended a notorious U.S.-based leader of a jihad terrorist group. But someone doesn’t want you to know that, and made a clumsy attempt to cover it up. In 2004, Rashad Hussain, then a Yale law student, declared that the investigation and prosecution of University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian, who ultimately pled guilty to charges involving his activities as a leader of the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was recently deported, was a “politically motivated persecution” designed “to squash dissent.” Hussain’s remarks in support of Al-Arian were published in the jihad-enabling Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in November 2004. But now all that has gone down the memory hole. The Washington Report’s archived version of this November 2004 article lacks two paragraphs that were included in the original version: the ones quoting Rashad Hussain. Otherwise the article is unchanged.
Alan M. Dershowitz: The White House Must Respond to Netanyahu’s Important New Proposal— I was in the House gallery when Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a logical and compelling critique of the deal now on the table regarding Iran’s ambitions to obtain nuclear weapons. He laid out a new fact-based proposal that has shifted the burden of persuasion to the White House. His new proposal is that “If the world powers are not prepared to insist that Iran change its behavior before a deal is signed, at the very least they should insist that Iran change its behavior before a deal expires.” His argument is that without such a precondition, the ten-year sunset provision paves, rather than blocks, the way to an Iranian nuclear arsenal, even if Iran were to continue to export terrorism, to bully nations in the region and to call for the extermination of Israel.
Jonathan S. Tobin: Iran Stakes Bigger Than Bibi and Barack— The Obama administration sent United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power to speak to the AIPAC Conference today to assure her audience that the U.S. would not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon. But though she was greeted politely, the promises rang hollow in light of the credible reports of the latest terms being offered the Iranians by President Obama. That is why, despite the misgivings of some supporters of Israel and the vocal and often vicious attacks being directed at Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu prior to his controversial address to a joint session of Congress tomorrow, the need to address the dangers of the current negotiations being conducted by the administration with Iran is greater than ever. Netanyahu’s AIPAC speech today didn’t succeed in defusing the controversy despite his own assurances that the argument was merely a family quarrel. To the very end, this story is being played as one of a personal rivalry between two men. There is truth to that interpretation, but it bears repeating that the stakes here are much bigger than President Obama’s resentment of the prime minister and Netanyahu’s reelection prospects. With talks involving Secretary of State Kerry and Iran’s foreign minister resuming today in Switzerland, Netanyahu’s address ought to be the starting point for a debate about the virtues of administration policy, not an occasion for analysis about whether he has damaged or politicized the U.S.-Israel alliance.
Thomas Sowell: What Happens in the Middle East Doesn’t Stay in the Middle East—When President Obama keeps talking about “violent extremists” in the abstract, you might wonder whether Presbyterians are running amok. The mainstream media seem desperate to try to find something to undermine Republican governor Scott Walker’s rise in the polls. The worst they have come up with is that he didn’t finish college. Neither did Bill Gates or Michael Dell. The Wright brothers didn’t finish high school. Neither did Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. Have you noticed that there seem to be an ever-growing number of things that we are not supposed to say in public? Given the Obama administration’s repeatedly failed policies in the Middle East and the lost credibility of the president’s glib pronouncements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress may be many Americans’ first chance to get a realistic assessment of the Middle East situation and its potential for international catastrophe.
JTA: Netanyahu, arriving in Israel, says ‘world heard’ what he said about Iran deal—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he heard “encouraging responses” from U.S. lawmakers after his speech before a joint meeting of Congress. “After my short visit to the United States, I return to Israel knowing that many around the world heard what Israel has to say about the impending deal with Iran,” Netanyahu said Wednesday morning upon landing at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. Netanyahu said he presented an alternative to the proposed outline nuclear deal, which the world powers, known as the P5+1, hope to initial before the end of the month. “I presented a practical alternative, which would impose tougher restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, extending Iran’s breakout time by years. I also called on the P5+1 to insist on a deal that would link the lifting of those restrictions to Iran’s ceasing its sponsorship of terrorism around the world, its aggression against its neighbors and its calls for Israel’s destruction,” Netanyahu said.
Shiryn Ghermezian: Arab Commentators Strongly Back Netanyahu on Congress Speech, Iran Nuclear Threat—Leading Arab opinion makers weighed in on the controversy surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Tuesday and expressed strong support for his stance on the Iranian nuclear threat. In an op-ed for the Saudi Arabian daily Al-Jazirah on Monday, columnist Dr. Ahmad Al-Faraj asserted that Netanyahu is justified in his campaign against the proposed nuclear deal with Iran, according to The Middle East Media Research Institute. Al-Faraj said Netanyahu’s effort to prevent the signing of the agreement is in the interests of the Gulf states, and that the prime minister “is right to insist on addressing Congress about the nuclear deal.” “I am very glad of Netanyahu’s firm stance and [his decision] to speak against the nuclear agreement at the American Congress despite the Obama administration’s anger and fury,” Al-Faraj wrote. “I believe that Netanyahu’s conduct will serve our interests, the people of the Gulf, much more than the foolish behavior of one of the worst American presidents.”
Gil Troy: A History of U.S.-Israel Breakups and Makeups— Last week, administration anger against Israel and its prickly prime minister metastasized. “Fuck the Jews,” a leading official reportedly muttered. “They’ll vote for us anyway.” “We’re conducting foreign policy, this isn’t a synagogue,” the Secretary of State seethed, moaning that “instead of having a lubricant” for the peace process like Yitzhak Rabin, America is stuck with “sandpaper like Netanyahu.” “Netanyahu just drove us crazy… because he was just unbelievably difficult,” the Secretary of State continued, recalling recent negotiations. Israel’s Prime Minister has declared this “one of the worst periods in American-Israeli relations.” OK, reality check. George H.W. Bush’s Secretary of State, James A. Baker III allegedly cursed the Jews—because “they won’t vote for us,” with “us” meaning Republicans. The synagogue crack came from the first Jewish Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. The anti-Netanyahu rant came from Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, in her newly released Miller Center Oral History. And the sobered Israeli prime minister was Yitzhak Rabin, recalling the “reassessment” of U.S.-Israel relations President Gerald Ford imposed 40 years ago this spring, freezing all governmental interactions to bully Israel into what became the September 1975 Sinai disengagement with Egypt.
SnyderTalk Comment: The sad truth is that most Jews in America probably will still vote for Democrats, any Democrats, regardless of what they do or don’t do. That’s changing, but it’s a very slow process.
Fred Gedrich: Nearly Six Years After Obama’s Cairo Speech, Middle East in Total Disarray— The Arab world is rife with political turmoil and violence. The Sunni Muslim Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and other jihadi terrorists are continuing their savagery within its boundaries, and Iran’s theocratic terrorist rulers are still exporting and/or solidifying their brand of the Shiite Muslim Islamic Revolution to Arab countries and territories. And the Obama administration appears unable or unwilling to effectively deal with each emerging crisis there. The competing goals of Sunni and Shiite jihadists are to dominate the Arab world, and their forces and surrogates are engaged in nasty fights for supremacy throughout the region. The area they seek to control generally spans 21 Middle East and North Africa countries as well as territories under Palestinian control in Gaza and the West Bank. Its riches include 364 million people, the world’s largest known oil and gas reserves which fuel developed world economies, and strategic waterways where the petroleum-based commerce flows. About 92 percent of the Arab World population is Muslim (336 million), of which 87 percent are Sunni Muslim and 13 percent Shiite Muslim.
Elliott Abrams: U.S. and Israel: The Manufactured Crisis—Building a crisis up or down between the U.S. and Israel is well within the administration’s power, and it has chosen to build it up. Clearly more is behind the conduct of the Obama administration than mere pique over the speech. The administration is desperately seeking a deal with Iran on terms that until recently were unacceptable to a broad swath of Democrats as well as Republicans. One after another, American demands or “red lines” have been abandoned. Clearly the administration worries that Israeli (not just Netanyahu, but Israeli) criticisms of the possible Iran nuclear deal might begin to reverberate. So it has adopted the tactic of personalizing the Israeli critique. Arguments that are shared across the Israeli political spectrum – that the likely Iran deal says nothing about Iranian ballistic missile development, says nothing about Iranian warhead development, does not require that Iran meet IAEA demands that it account for past warhead work, allows Iran thousands of centrifuges, will allow Iran to escape all monitoring and limitations after perhaps ten years – are attributed solely to Netanyahu. Clever, in a way, but of course completely misleading. And irresponsible when it comes to the deadly issue of Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
Jeffrey Goldberg: Danger Ahead for Obama on Iran—Netanyahu has a credible case to make. Any nuclear agreement that allows Iran to maintain a native uranium-enrichment capability is a dicey proposition; in fact, any agreement at all with an empire-building, Assad-sponsoring, Yemen-conquering, Israel-loathing, theocratic terror regime is a dicey proposition. The deal that seems to be taking shape right now does not fill me – or many others who support a diplomatic solution to this crisis – with confidence. If Obama sets Iran on the path to the nuclear threshold, he will be forever remembered as the president who sparked a nuclear-arms race in the world’s most volatile region, and for breaking a decades-old promise to Israel that the U.S. would defend its existence.
Ben Cohen: Netanyahu Nails the Fundamental Problem With Iran—I have to confess that I was disappointed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference this year. I felt that it was bland, packed with tired talking points, lacking in strategic direction, and generally uninspiring. Not so with Netanyahu’s speech to Congress the following day, which was a barnstormer. In its immediate aftermath, there were the standard idiocies in response, but that was to be expected. One that caught my eye was the utterance of CNN’s Gloria Borger that Netanyahu’s reference to the Holocaust was “electioneering”—as insulting as leveling the same accusation towards an African-American politician who mentions slavery. Another came from House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who declared, “I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech, saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States”—a statement that itself insults the intelligence of the U.S., because if Bibi demonstrated anything, it’s that he respects and loves America, and he doesn’t want an error of historic proportions over Iran to drive a wedge through this country’s relationship with Israel.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaacov Amidror: A Problem of Nuclear Proportions— Tension over the Iranian nuclear program is at an all-time high. Among the reasons for this tension are the framework agreement between the United States and Iran, which is supposedly nearing completion, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the American Congress early next week, during which he will speak against the agreement and against the will of President Barack Obama. Why is the Iranian nuclear program so important? Why is the prime minister of Israel, who knows Israel-U.S. relations so well, willing to risk a head-on conflict with the president of the United States over Iran, of all things? Why is the Iranian threat a matter of prime concern for the State of Israel? The answers to all these questions are complex. The first question is whether the Iranian regime ever intended, or still intends, to obtain nuclear weapons. This question has been asked for some time, and anyone who has ever worked, or still works, on the issue and is familiar with the information that many of the world’s intelligence agencies have gathered has an unequivocal answer to it. Almost every intelligence agency interprets the Iranians’ unrelenting efforts in the same way: Their intention is to obtain nuclear arms. Their efforts to construct a plutogenic reactor and enrich uranium in large amounts, and at their current level of enrichment, also add up to one thing: Nuclear weapons. There is no other way to explain the herculean efforts they have been engaged in for so many years.
Gabriela Geselowitz: Pew: Harassment of Jews Rising Across Europe—A new Pew Research Center study has found, unsurprisingly, that European anti-Semitism is intensifying. The study, covering 2011 to 2013, found that incidents are at a seven-year high, occurring in 34 out of Europe’s 45 countries. This figure surpassed even the number of countries with notable levels of Islamophobia, also on the rise. This study records “social hostilities,” meaning incidents perpetuated by individuals, unconnected with official governmental policies. Pew cited incidents ranging from anti-Semitic graffiti or vandalization of Jewish memorials to the threatening online publication of a list of Italian-Jewish homes and businesses. The study also tracked when “organized groups used force or coercion to try to impose their views on religion,” “individuals were assaulted or displaced from their homes or places of worship in retaliation for religious activities,” and discrimination against women based on religious dress.
Adam G. Lichtenheld: The identity politics of displacement in the Middle East—Amnesty International recently released a scathing report that took Western countries to task for their failure to address the sharp uptick in human displacement in 2014. No part of the world has been more affected than the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where recent upheavals have spawned the region’s largest forced migration crisis since the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the First Arab-Israeli War in 1948. Between 2008 and 2013 alone, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Arab world roughly doubled, propelled by the 2011 uprisings and violence in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and the Palestinian territories. MENA is now the main region of origin of refugees worldwide, and contains nearly one-third of the global IDP population. This surge mirrors a broader, and troubling, global trend. Despite a steady decline in the incidence and lethality of armed conflict, the number of people forcibly displaced by violence has swelled to levels not seen since World War II.
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Abbas: Palestinians won’t accept Jewish state
SnyderTalk Comment: Abbas has said that before and that says it all. Besides, it’s in the Palestinian and Hamas charters.
UK bans Israel ad featuring Old City
Senior Fatah Official Calls for Using “Force” Against Israel
Netanyahu Following Rabin’s Strategic Agenda on Iran
US challenges Israel to sharpen alternative path on Iranian nuclear negotiations
Speculation over successor after Iran’s Khamenei reportedly hospitalized in serious condition
Kerry visits Riyadh to soothe fears of stronger Iran under nuclear deal
Liberman to ‘Post’: All options on the table to stop nuclear Iran
Ya’alon: Likud hasn’t ruled out coalition with Zionist Union
Despite Netanyahu claim, cheap oil not seen swaying Iran behavior
Two vehicles set fire to in village near Ramallah in suspected price tag attack
Watch: Israeli ambassador to Germany reads embassy hate mail
Deadline for a framework deal with Iran: March 24, or March 31?
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Kerry Reportedly to Offer Nuclear Umbrella to Gulf States
Liberman’s Mouthpiece Calls Netanyahu a ‘Soviet Despot’
‘Last Jew in Pakistan’ Beaten by Muslim Mob – Then Arrested
‘No Better Place to Read Megillat Esther than Joshua’s Tomb’
Lapid ‘Doesn’t Regret’ Slamming Deri During Debate
Sunny With a High Chance of Purim
Take a Look ‘Beneath the Helmet’ of an IDF Recruit
Rabbi Yosef Allowed Yishai to Form a New Party
Ya’alon: I Didn’t Intend to Attack Bennett
Violent Arab Riots in Hevron Wound IDF Soldier
Netanyahu: My Words Resonated with Congress
‘Political Fireworks Obscured Netanyahu’s Message’
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Defense Minister: Israel Willing to Cooperate with Gulf States Against Iran Nuclear Threat
In blistering speech, PM warns ‘bad’ deal ‘paves path’ to Iranian nukes
Netanyahu’s devastating, irrevocable indictment of Obama
SnyderTalk Comment: This title is misleading. It says that Netanyahu’s speech before the U.S. Congress was a “devastating, irrevocable indictment of Obama”. That’s not correct. Netanyahu simply told the truth. The facts he presented are a “devastating, irrevocable indictment of Obama”. Nothing personal was involved. Obama probably took it personally, but that’s his problem. He is offended when anyone disagrees with him and says so. Saying that Obama has thin skin is an understatement.
I think the mantle passed from Obama to Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister is the Leader of the Free World now.
Analysis: Amid the criticism, Netanyahu also signaled some readiness for compromise
Analysis: If US fails, PM signals Sunni Arab states, we’ll hold the line against Iran
Obama dismisses Netanyahu’s Congress speech as ‘nothing new’
SnyderTalk Comment: It’s obvious that Obama’s talking points were written before Netanyahu’s speech. He and his supporters read from them immediately after Netanyahu finished speaking. It was like listening to a bunch of parrots.
The “nothing new” point was way off the mark. Clearly, Obama needed a revision of his talking points and a teleprompter. If he had heard the speech or read the transcript as he said he did, he wouldn’t have made that mistake, or maybe he would have.
Rebutting Obama, PM says he offered ‘practical alternatives’ to Iran deal
Israeli center, left slam Netanyahu’s Congress speech
Iran denounces Netanyahu’s ‘lie-spreading’ Congress speech
Why Obama hates Netanyahu, and vice versa
Political carnival under the clouds for Netanyahu’s speech
Leading US newspapers disagree on Netanyahu speech
Netanyahu tells Senate leadership he is ‘moved’ by support
Rouhani to P5+1: Reach deal or see nuke efforts accelerate
SnyderTalk Comment: And exactly what did Netanyahu say about Iran? Rouhani wasted no time proving him correct. I call it nuclear blackmail.
Shas leader says party wants Netanyahu as PM
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GRAPHIC: Terrorists Film Beheading of Schoolgirl in Message to America
The anti-Islam movie and the beheaded girl
Alabama high court issues ruling on marriage debate
Knife-wielding attacker slashes face of US ambassador in South Korea
North Korea applauds ‘knife attack of justice’ on US ambassador
BBC documentary on rapist in India spirals into national scandal
‘Maternity tourism’ raids target California operations catering to Chinese
Paris Undercover Reporter: ‘I’m Asked if I Was Scared. The Truth is I Was’
Lawyers for Jihadi John’s Dad Dispute ID of Mohammed Emwazi
Unprecedented rift splits Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood
Key US senator: no committee vote set on Iran bill
Report: Middle East Quickly Running Out Of Land Area For Violence To Spill Over To
Boston Marathon bombing trial begins with opening statements
Lawyer for Boston Marathon bomb suspect: ‘It was him’
Feds: Tsarnaev ‘decided to place his bomb right behind a row of children’
New York City Officially Adds Two Muslim Holidays To School Calendar
Surprise, men are more narcissistic than women
Palestinian president calls Israel a ‘gangster’
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US Official: New Sanctions Against Russia Under Consideration
Russian opposition bids farewell to slain Putin critic
Russian Opposition Despairs After Nemtsov as Putin Era Stays
Russian security service chief says several suspects in Nemtsov case: agencies
Putin Says He’ll Rid Russia of ‘Shame and Tragedies’ of Political Killings
Putin: Murder of Boris Nemtsov ‘Disgrace’ to Russia
Vladimir Putin calls for an end to ‘shameful’ political assassinations in Russia
Murder in Moscow: did democracy die with Nemtsov?
Crossing the Kremlin: Nemtsov latest in long line of Putin critics to wind up dead
Sen. Menendez to Oppose Iran Deal that Doesn’t Roll Back Nuclear Program
Bipartisan Letter in House Raises Concerns over Iran Talks
Saudi Columnist: Netanyahu Is Right to Insist on Addressing Congress about Iran Deal
UN Nuclear Watchdog: Iran Withholding Key Information
As Nuclear Talks Progress, 11% in U.S. See Iran Favorably
Iran Dismisses Israeli Leader’s Address to Congress
Iran leader: Israel a “war-mongering regime”
Democrats upset with GOP effort to fast-track Iran bill
US vows to ‘confront aggressively’ Iran’s regional expansion
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Exodus 1: 8-14
8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. 10 Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.” 11 So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. 13 The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; 14 and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.
SnyderTalk Comment: Read His Name is Yahweh.
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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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What about people who came to faith in Yahweh through the Name Jesus?
Click here to download the entire audio presentation for free and with no strings attached. Share it as often as you want.
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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.
