Iran's Missile Tests Divide Obama and McCain
http://www.newsmax.com/politics/candidates_iran_missiles/2008/07/09/111214.html
WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that Iran's missile tests highlight the need for direct diplomacy as well as tougher threats of economic sanctions and strong incentives to persuade Tehran to change its behavior.
John McCain, the Republican seeking the presidency, said the tests demonstrate a need for effective missile defense, including missile defense in Europe and the defense system the U.S. plans with the Czech Republic and Poland.
"Working with our European and regional allies is the best way to meet the threat posed by Iran, not unilateral concessions that undermine multilateral diplomacy," McCain said in a statement
Obama has been criticized by Republicans for being too eager to engage enemies of the U.S. in talks. Asked how he would respond to the missile tests if he were president, Obama said he would confer with his national security team to find out whether "this indicates any new capabilities on Iran's part."
"At this point, the report is unclear, it's still early," Obama said on "The Early Show" on CBS. "What this underscores is the need for ... a clear policy that is putting the burden on Iran to change behavior. And frankly, we just have not been able to do that the last several years, partly because we're not engaged in direct diplomacy."
Obama said he continued to favor an incentive package that is aimed at getting Iran to drop its nuclear ambitions.
Iran's state-run television reported Wednesday that the government had tested nine long- and medium-range missiles, including a new version of the Shahab-3 missile that has a range of 1,250 miles and is armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead. A missile with that range could strike Israel, Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, Afghanistan or Pakistan.
An Iranian military official said the missile tests would show Iran's enemies its "resolve and might." In June, Israel conducted military exercises largely seen as a potential test for a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.
McCain said Iran's missile tests "demonstrate again the dangers it poses to its neighbors and to the wider region, especially Israel."
"Ballistic missile testing coupled with Iran's continued refusal to cease its nuclear activities should unite the international community in efforts to counter Iran's dangerous ambitions," McCain said.
Obama, while calling Iran a threat, criticized the Bush administration for using bellicose language against the Iranian government while increasing exports to the country.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that U.S. exports to Iran grew more than tenfold under President Bush in spite of his criticism of its government as a sponsor of terrorism and warnings against any efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.
"It's that kind of mixed signal that has led to the kind of situation that we're in right now," Obama said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Jesse Jackson Apologizes for Crude Obama Remarks
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/07/09/jesse-jackson-apologizes-for-obama-remarks
The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized Wednesday for saying Barack Obama is “talking down to black people” during what Jackson thought was a private conversation before a FOX News interview Sunday.
Jackson was speaking to a guest at the time about Obama’s speeches in black churches and his support for faith-based charities. Jackson added before going live, “I want to cut his nuts off.”
His microphone picked up the remarks.
At a hastily arranged news conference Wednesday evening in Chicago, Jackson said he supports Obama “unequivocally” and that he hopes to “get this behind me.”
“I have great passion for this campaign and traveled across the country … arguing the case for the campaign,” Jackson said. “And this thing I said in a hot-mic statement that’s interpreted as a distraction, I offer apology for that. I don’t want harm or hurt to come to this campaign.”
He said, “They were hurtful and wrong … but we have a relationship that can survive this.”
Jackson said in a written statement he was trying to emphasize that Obama’s moral message should “not only deal with the personal and moral responsibility of black males, but to deal with the collective moral responsibility of government and the public policy.”
Jackson said the conversation “does not reflect any disparagement on my part for the historic event in which we are involved or my pride in Senator Barack Obama, who is leading it, whom I have supported by crisscrossing this nation in every level of media and audience from the beginning in absolute terms.”
Jackson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he doesn’t remember exactly what he said Sunday but that he was “very sorry” for his comments about Obama. He called his comments “a side light in a broader conversation about urban disparities.”
Jackson said he has called Obama’s campaign to apologize.
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton noted that the Illinois senator grew up without his father and has spoken and written at length about the issues of parental responsibility and fathers participating in their children’s lives, and of society’s obligation to provide “jobs, justice and opportunity for all.
“He will continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves and each other, and he of course accepts Reverend Jackson’s apology,” Burton said.
Jackson’s comments sparked something of a family feud. His son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., said he was disappointed by his father’s “reckless statements.”
“His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee — and I believe the next president of the United States — contradict his inspiring and courageous career,” the younger Jackson said.
The comments are not the first the elder Jackson has had to explain after believing he was off the record.
In 1984, he called New York City “Hymietown,” referring to the city’s large Jewish population. He later acknowledged it was wrong to use the term, but said he did so in private to a reporter.
Senate Approves Disputed Surveillance Bill
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/406010.aspx
CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - Bowing to President Bush's demands, the Senate sent the White House a bill Wednesday overhauling bitterly disputed rules on secret government eavesdropping and shielding telecommunications companies from lawsuits complaining they helped the U.S. spy on Americans.
The relatively one-sided vote, 69-28, came only after a lengthy and heated debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks. It ended almost a year of wrangling over surveillance rules and the president's warrantless wiretapping program that was initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The House passed the same bill last month, and Bush said he would sign it soon.
Opponents assailed the eavesdropping program, asserting that it imperiled citizens' rights of privacy from government intrusion. But Bush said the legislation protects those rights as well as Americans' security.
"This bill will help our intelligence professionals learn who the terrorists are talking to, what they're saying and what they're planning," he said in a brief White House appearance after the Senate vote.
The bill is very much a political compromise, brought about by a deadline: Wiretapping orders authorized last year will begin to expire in August. Without a new bill, the government would go back to old FISA rules, requiring multiple new orders and potential delays to continue those intercepts. That is something most of Congress did not want to see happen, particularly in an election year.
The long fight on Capitol Hill centered on one main question: whether to protect from civil lawsuits any telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on American phone and computer lines without the permission or knowledge of a secret court created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The White House had threatened to veto the bill unless it immunized companies such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. from wiretapping lawsuits. About 40 such lawsuits have been filed, and all are pending before a single U.S. District court.
Numerous lawmakers had spoken out strongly against the no-warrants eavesdropping on Americans, but the Senate voted its approval after rejecting amendments that would have watered down, delayed or stripped away the immunity provision.
The lawsuits center on allegations that the White House circumvented U.S. law by going around the FISA court, which was created 30 years ago to prevent the government from abusing its surveillance powers for political purposes, as was done in the Vietnam War and Watergate eras. The court is meant to approve all wiretaps placed inside the U.S. for intelligence-gathering purposes. The law has been interpreted to include international e-mail records stored on servers inside the U.S.
"This president broke the law," declared Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis.
The Bush administration brought the wiretapping back under the FISA court's authority only after The New York Times revealed the existence of the secret program. A handful of members of Congress knew about the program from top secret briefings. Most members are still forbidden to know the details of the classified effort, and some objected that they were being asked to grant immunity to the telecoms without first knowing what they did.
Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter compared the Senate vote to buying a "pig in a poke."
But Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., one of the bill's most vocal champions, said, "This is the balance we need to protect our civil liberties without handcuffing our terror-fighters."
Just under a third of the Senate, including Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, supported an amendment that would have stripped immunity from the bill. They were defeated on a 66-32 vote. Republican rival John McCain did not attend the vote.
Obama ended up voting for the final bill, as did Specter. Feingold voted no.
The bill tries to address concerns about the legality of warrantless wiretapping by requiring inspectors general inside the government to conduct a yearlong investigation into the program.
The measure effectively dismisses about 40 lawsuits that have been bundled together. But at least three other lawsuits against government officials will go forward.
In one of those cases last week, a judge decided that surveillance laws trumped the government's claim that state secrets were imperiled by the lawsuit. However, the judge said the plaintiff could not use classified government documents it had accidentally received to prove it was subjected to illegal eavesdropping. It must instead use unclassified information to show it was wiretapped without court approval. FISA makes provisions for the use of secret evidence once a case is accepted.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a California civil rights organization, intends to challenge the constitutionality of the immunity provision.
Beyond immunity, the new surveillance bill also sets new rules for government eavesdropping. Some of them would tighten the reins on current government surveillance activities, but others would loosen them compared with a law passed 30 years ago.
For example, it would require the government to get FISA court approval before it eavesdrops on an American overseas. Currently, the attorney general approves that electronic surveillance on his own.
The bill also would allow the government to obtain broad, yearlong intercept orders from the FISA court that target foreign groups and people, raising the prospect that communications with innocent Americans would be swept in. The court would approve how the government chooses the targets and how the intercepted American communications would be protected.
The original FISA law required the government to get wiretapping warrants for each individual targeted from inside the United States, on the rationale that most communications inside the U.S. would involve Americans whose civil liberties must be protected. But technology has changed. Purely foreign communications increasingly pass through U.S. wires and sit on American computer servers, and the law has required court orders to be obtained to access those as well.
The bill would give the government a week to conduct a wiretap in an emergency before it must apply for a court order. The original law said three days.
The bill restates that the FISA law is the only means by which wiretapping for intelligence purposes can be conducted inside the United States. This is meant to prevent a repeat of warrantless wiretapping by future administrations.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is party to some of the lawsuits that will now be dismissed, said the bill was "a blatant assault upon civil liberties and the right to privacy."
Is the U.S. Ready for Bio-Warfare?
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/406104.aspx
CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - Anthrax. Smallpox… these words were commonplace following 9/11 as potential weapons of terror against the United States.
Some experts believe a bioterrorist attack or pandemic outbreak could be inevitable. So how would the U.S. fight back against an infectious disease outbreak?
Hollywood Fantasy - or Grim Reality?
Picture this frightening scenario: a contagious virus breaks out in America's heartland. Spreading quickly, it overwhelms hospitals making thousands violently ill and killing hundreds.
Chaos rules the streets and the economy is in shambles.
Then our worst fears are confirmed: terrorists have released smallpox onto the American public.
No, this isn't a Hollywood blockbuster. It's an actual terror threat the U.S. government wants to be prepared to fight.
"We still need to beef up and get ready for when the next human being purposely infects himself or herself to come into the United States with an intention of either infecting humans or infecting our food source," said Frank Rapoport, a government consultant on bioterrorism issues.
Frank Rapoport helps the government with bioterrorism issues.
"After 1991, when 40,000 Russian scientists dispersed all over the globe because they were no longer employed by the Soviet Union - where do you think they went for employment, with the knowledge they have of how to weaponize e-bola, the plague, making a cocktail of the worst magnitude?" Rapoport challenged.
Some analysts believe former Soviet scientists sold this type of technology to countries like Iran, Syria and North Korea.
And then there's al-Qaeda. The Pentagon says the group has been pursuing biological weapons for years.
The most famous bio-terror case hit the U.S. shortly after 9/11 when anthrax was spread through the U.S. postal system.
Five people died and at least a dozen more suffered injuries after handling the contaminated mail. Investigators still don't know who was behind those attacks.
"I think most people in the bio-defense world are dumbfounded as to why we haven't seen more bio-terror attacks. It is too easy to manufacture bioterror threats. They can be manufactured faster than countermeasures can be developed," said James Joyce, head of Aethlon Medical.
Countermeasures
Countermeasures are Joyce's specialty. His small biotech company, Aethlon Medical, has developed a device called the hemopurifier.
"What the device does is it mimics your own natural immune response of clearing the viruses and toxins before cells and organs can be infected." he explained. "It's specifically designed to address viral pathogens that are bioterrorism or pandemic threats."
The hemopurifier is about the size of a rolling pin.
Here's how it works: the device is hooked up to a dialysis machine, then attached to a body part - an arm for instance. It then filters that infected blood - viruses and toxins -- out of the body, cleans that blood, and sends the purified blood right back into the bloodstream.
Joyce says the device's biggest benefit is that it can be used to counter different threats, rather than just one specific virus or disease.
"The focus moving forward into the future is really broad specturm therapies that have the ability to address multiple strains of bioterror and pandemic threats," he said. "If you were to talk to experts in bioterrorism, they would say it's probably 50 to 70 viral pathogens that could be weaponized as an agent of bioterrorism."
In 2004 the Project Bioshield Act encouraged large pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines and countermeasures to a bioterrorist attack.
Those companies mostly fell by the wayside because there would be little or no profit for those products.
That provided an opening for companies like Aethlon Medical. In 2006, Congress granted more funding for products like the hemopurifier.
The Threat of a Pandemic Outbreak
While terrorists and rogue regimes may be able to get their hands on them, biological weapons like anthrax are extremely difficult to weaponize. And the government is producing a growing number of vaccines and medicines to combat the threat.
A more likely scenario is an outbreak of a naturally occurring pandemic disease.
"The more we have an international economy and the more people travel the more they will be exposed to new organisms. And they'll bring them back home," said Julie Fischer, an expert on biodefense and global disease threats at the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington.
"Someone can get on a plane in Bangkok and be in New York 17 hours later. That's not enough to build a defense. And as we learned from the SARS epidemic in 2003, it isn't just people in rural areas that would be affected," Fischer said.
The SARS epidemic started in China and spread to at least 30 countries, including the U.S. No vaccines existed and almost 800 people died after being infected.
Fischer says a pandemic outbreak of the H5N1 strain of influenza, or bird flu, may be the next major threat on the horizon. So is the U.S. prepared to deal with such a crisis?
Since 2002, the Bush administration has spent billions preparing for the effects of a bioterrorist attack or infectious disease outbreak. The government wants to stifle any potential outbreak before it even starts.
High-tech sensors have been installed in several American cities that can detect harmful airborne pathogens. Early detection may be able to save lives.
But at the end of the day, state and local governments may play the biggest role.
"People can't wait for the federal government to protect them," Fischer said. "If there is a biological attack, or if there is a pandemic, people will have to take reasonable steps to take care of themselves.
That means stocking up on water, canned goods and medical supplies, and being aware of the emergency plan for your community.
UNPFA Loses $235 Million Due to Pro-Life Group's Efforts
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07374.shtml
FRONT ROYAL, Va., (christiansunite.com) -- The Bush administration has once again withheld nearly $40 million from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), marking the seventh consecutive year that the U.S. government has refused the organization. The Population Research Institute applauds this decision, which honors the Kemp-Kasten amendment of 1985 forbidding tax dollars from going to programs of forced abortion.
The groundwork for this decision was laid by the Population Research Institute, headed by Steven W. Mosher, which has sent teams of investigators to China over the years. These investigations have found that the UNFPA was deeply involved in programs of forced abortion and coercive sterilization in that country. The evidence presented to the U.S. Congress and the White House, left no doubt that the UNFPA was operating in China in violations of the Kemp- Kasten Amendment.
Reacting to PRI's findings, President Bush in 2001 decided to redirect $34 million away from the UNFPA's coercive family-planning programs into child survival programs, anti- trafficking programs, and other programs. The UNFPA's subsequent efforts to cover- up its involvement in China, have been to no avail. No U.S. population funds have gone to the UNFPA for the past seven years, costing the organization a total of $235 million.
"The evidence demonstrates that the UNFPA continues to aid and abet China's barbaric one-child policy," says PRI's President Steven Mosher. "It doesn't deserve one penny of U.S. money."
Mosher is the author of the newly published Population Control--Real Costs, Illusory Benefits, which documents the undeclared war that the Chinese government has carried out on its own population. His book is available at PRI's web site: www.pop.org, and at bookstores everywhere.
The Population Research Institute (PRI) was founded in 1989 by Fr. Paul Marx, OSB, PhD and is dedicated to: (1) ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning", (2) opposing outdated social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of overpopulation, (3) informing the public about the social and economic benefits of moderate population growth, and (4) promoting pro- natal and pro-family attitudes and policies worldwide. Steven Mosher is the author of numerous books, including A Mother's Ordeal, available in 11 languages.
Pro-Life Groups to Protest Against Black Genocide at NAACP Convention July 14
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07376.shtml
COLUMBUS, Ohio, (christiansunite.com) -- Abortion kills 1,452 black infants every day in this country. Sadly, the black community and its leaders are largely ignoring the slaughter. On July 14, 2008, LEARN (BlackGenocide.org) with assistance from CBR Midwest will confront the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at its annual national convention in Cincinnati, OH, about its unwillingness to substantively address abortion.
Historically, the NAACP has failed to address the concerns of many of its delegates about abortion. In 2004, the NAACP issued a resolution voicing support for "equal access to abortion" and urged its members to participate in a pro-abortion rally in Washington, DC. In 2007, the NAACP, for the second time in four years, blocked a proposed resolution expressing opposition to abortion. The good news is the NAACP's Macon chapter is once again poised to present another pro-life resolution at this year's Cincinnati conference and we will be there to support them.
Protest Against Black Genocide
Who: LEARN (BlackGenocide.org) with assistance from CBR Midwest, and other groups
What: Huge Handheld Signs, and "Choice" pro-life trucks we will expose delegates to the reality of black genocide.
Where: Public sidewalks in the vicinity of and around the Duke Energy Center
When: July 14, 2008 from 9:00 am-2:00 PM
LEARN Statement:
"By utilizing CBR's pro-life signs, and 'Choice' billboard trucks we will teach the delegates of the reality of black genocide. By displaying actual abortion images at this year's convention we hope to show the need for the NAACP to allow discussion at the convention the detrimental health ramifications of abortion. The physical and psychological maladies caused by abortion are deliberately hidden from unsuspecting women." -- Rev. Clenard H. Childress, Jr., Founder, BlackGenocide.org
For more information contact Rev. Childress at 201- 704-9325 or Revchildress@verizon.net or Mark Harrington 614-419-9000 or mark@prolifeinstitute.com
Care Net Applauds 8th Circuit Decision to Protect Women's Health
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07373.shtml
LANSDOWNE, Va., (christiansunite.com) -- Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde applauded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit decision Friday in Planned Parenthood v. Rounds. The Court vacated a temporary injunction which had been issued by the lower court in regards to a 2005 South Dakota informed consent law on abortion. In the interest of women's health, two of Care Net's South Dakota pregnancy center affiliates joined the case.
The law requires women to be informed before an abortion that the procedure "will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being," and given the contact information of a local pregnancy center, as well other information about her health risks and pregnancy support available.
"This decision is remarkable at the national level," said Melinda Delahoyde. "It affirms the work of pregnancy centers that for years have been providing critical information to women considering abortion. And, it sends a clarion call to abortion providers that providing such information to women is straight- forward, truthful, and relevant to her pregnancy decision, and if withheld, deprives her of life-saving information.
"Most recently by the Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Carhart, and now from the Eighth Circuit, courts are affirming the fact that abortion holds considerable emotional health risks for women. All women considering an abortion must be informed of the scientific truth regarding the 'whole, separate, unique, living human being' within her. In the words of Carhart, let no woman experience 'grief more anguished and sorrow more profound' because she was never told the truth about abortion.
"With gentleness, compassion, and respect, pregnancy centers share the truth with women facing unplanned pregnancies. As a result, nine and out ten women who visit a Care Net pregnancy center decide to carry their pregnancy to term. As more women are informed about the facts and directed to the support of a local pregnancy center and other local support services, we will see abortion rates continue to fall in this country."
Care Net is a Christian, non-profit organization that seeks to facilitate the delivery of valuable, life- affirming, evangelistic ministry to people facing unplanned pregnancies and related sexual issues. Care Net supports the largest network of pregnancy centers in North America and operates, in conjunction with Heartbeat International, the Option Line call center and website that assist women in need 24/7.
Ancient text sheds light on Jewish-Christian links
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/ancient.text.sheds.light.on.jewishchristian.links/20309.htm
An ancient stone tablet discussed at a conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday may shed light on the links between Judaism and Christianity, experts say.
Israeli historian Israel Knohl said a message written on the tablet, which dates from the first century BC, showed the idea of a messiah being resurrected three days after his death was rooted in Jewish writings from before the time of Jesus's birth.
Knohl's analysis of the tablet, discovered more than a decade ago, is seen as supporting a theory believed by many religious scholars, that the idea of resurrection predated Christianity and can be found in Jewish writings.
"This sheds new light on the messianic activity of Jesus," Knohl, a professor of biblical studies at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, said of the ancient Hebrew text, much of which is missing or indecipherable.
"It proves that the concept of the messiah was already there before Jesus," added Knohl, who published his theory in the Chicago-based Journal of Religion in April.
The tablet, about one metre long with 87 lines of writing in ink, is known as the "Gabriel Revelation" because of the passages that convey a message from the Angel Gabriel.
Knohl told Reuters a key piece in his theory was based on a word in line 80 that, before he read it last August, was believed to be unintelligible.
"It was written awkwardly with two letters unclear," Knohl said. Using other examples from that period, he deciphered the word "haye", which meant "you will live". The complete sentence read: "In three days you will live, I, Gabriel, command you."
L Michael White, a professor of classics and Christian origins at the University of Texas in Austin, said religious scholars had long known that the idea of resurrection existed in Judaism before the Gabriel Revelation.
"But what was interesting was the notion of three days," White said.
He added that the three-day time period may have been rooted in the view held in ancient medicine that the body did not begin to decompose until the end of three days.
"SUFFERING MESSIAH"
Knohl said that, together with other references in the script to a "suffering messiah", this was a clear reference to the return to life after three days, later depicted in the New Testament with Jesus's resurrection.
"This is evidence that the idea of a suffering messiah, put to death and coming back to life after three days was known to at least a group of Jews," Knohl told the gathering of scholars at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Other researchers insisted the exact meaning of the text remained open to interpretation.
Devorah Diamant, a professor at Haifa University, said the script was not sufficient proof of Knohl's theory because some passages he referred to could be connected to other figures from the Bible and not necessarily the messiah.
"What he suggested is fanciful," Diamant said.
The conference marked 60 years since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some of the world's oldest texts which were found on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea.
The Swiss owner of the tablet, David Jeselsohn, said it was believed to have been discovered about 15 years ago near the eastern shore of the sea.
Knohl said the tablet was not linked to the Dead Sea Scrolls because it was found in a different place and had unique word usage.
Hamas calls for all-Palestinian West Bank terror offensive
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5421
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that Hamas media Wednesday night broadcast a call to all Palestinian organizations to enlist for an all-out terrorist offensive against Israeli military and civilian targets on the West Bank.
The immediate response was a bombing attack on an IDF vehicle on Route 60 south of the West Bank town of Hebron. No one was hurt.
Our sources add that Hamas is not threatening to end the Gaza truce.
Its West Bank terror offensive was announced to counter the IDF’s crackdown for the past week on its burgeoning presence on the West Bank by shutting down its institutions and sources of funding. The last straw for the Islamist Palestinian group was Israel’s military raid Tuesday of the Beit al Mal business mall in Nablus. The soldiers shut the center down for business, along with Hamas-owned bakeries and other profitable concerns.
DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources report that in Cairo, the talks Egyptian intelligence minister Gen. Omar Suleiman has been holding with Hamas leaders from Damascus and Gaza have reached an impasse over scaled up Hamas demands of Egypt and Israel:
1. Egypt must pledge the immediate reopening of the Rafah border terminal twice or three times a week without waiting for Israel to concur as required by international accords.
2. Israel must allow twenty times the present tonnage of goods to transit the Sufa and Nahal Oz crossings into Gaza
3. Israel must transfer to Hamas in Gaza the share of customs duties due to the Gaza Strip (proportionate to its population), which are deducted on incoming Palestinian commodities, instead of handing the entire sum to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
Their leaders do not threaten outright to end the informal truce in Gaza, but they are avoiding discussing the fate of the Israeli soldier Hamas kidnapped more than two years ago.
Two Israeli Bedouin brothers indicted as al Qaeda spies
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5420
The Shin Bet, assisted by the Israeli police and border guard, detained in late May two residents of the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel, Omar and Taher Abu Sakhut, aged 20 and 21, on suspicion of joining al Qaeda through the Internet and passing classified information on Israeli targets for attack.
Wednesday, July 9, they were indicted at the Beersheba district court.
Taher Abu Skhut first contacted al Qaeda in early 2006 and started passing information on the locations and security of Israeli military camps, strategic installations and crowd centers - entirely through the Internet.
He was asked to describe access and security at Tel Aviv’s Azrieli Towers, one of the tallest and busiest high-rise commercial buildings in the country, and at Ben-Gurion international airport. His al Qaeda controllers also told him to go around the West Bank and fix on easy points of entry for infiltrating central Israel. The teams of terrorists planned to reach the West Bank from Saudi Arabia via Sinai and from Iraq via Jordan.
Taher, later joined by his brother Omar, proposed that al Qaeda put them in touch with the incoming terrorists to help them reach their Israeli targets.
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror experts note that several al Qaeda leaders have boasted in recent video and audio bulletins of cells they have planted in the Israeli Arab community. Among them were Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahri and leaders of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Egypt's Christian-Muslim gap growing bigger
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/egypts.christianmuslim.gap.growing.bigger/20308.htm
The divide between Egypt’s Coptic Christian community and the Muslim majority is growing bigger as an increasing number of Christians are cutting ties with Muslim neighbors and turning to the Church for all their social needs.
Many Christians in Egypt are now sending their children to schools run by the Church, letting their children play on all-Christian soccer teams, and moving to all-Christian neighbourhoods. The trend is in part a reaction to increased persecution by Muslim extremist groups that have grown in Egypt in recent years.
“When we all go together as Christians on those things (vacations to holy sites), we feel like we’re one,” said Ayad Labid Faleh, a Coptic Christian living in a Christian neighbourhood in Cairo, to The Washington Post. “We’re secure, and we’re able to relax,” he said.
But across town in a Muslim neighbourhood, a man fondly recalls memories of Christian childhood friends. Now, he said, all the Christians have disappeared from the neighbourhood.
"We used to eat together, play together," said Abdul Aziz. "Honestly, I don't understand how it has come to this."
However, Aziz believes it is the Christians who have decided to change the relationship.
"They didn't used to sit to one side like this. They used to mingle. Now their lives are all centred around the church," he said.
"I get the feeling they don't want me to be part of their life. I get the feeling they are being told to be like this," he said. "And it makes me defensive."
For centuries, Christians and Muslims have lived side-by-side in peace. The Apostle Mark founded the Coptic Church in the 1st century when he brought Christianity to Egypt. Then Muslims brought Islam to Egypt in the 7th century. After several centuries of conversion, Egypt now has a Muslim majority.
Some have pointed to Coptic Pope Shenouda III as the reason for Christians' growing isolation. Shenouda has implemented programmes to make the Church more central to the daily lives of Copts.
But Christian solidarity in Egypt is needed given the persecution endured by this community. Christians are discriminated in all areas of society, from economic opportunity to political representation. A Coptic congregation, for instance, needs to get presidential approval before they can construct a church whilst Muslims can build a mosque without this special permit.
Egypt’s lack of religious freedom was apparent earlier this year in a high-profile court case involving a Christian convert from Islam. The country’s highest court ruled that the convert could not legally change his religion to Christianity because according to sharia (or Islamic law), Islam is the final and most complete religion.
Convert Muhammad Hegazyhad had filed the unprecedented case because his wife was about to give birth to their first child and he wanted his daughter to openly be raised a Christian.
In Egypt, a child’s registered religion is based on the father’s official faith. Therefore, since Hegazy is officially Muslim, his daughter would not be able to enroll in Christian religious classes at school, wed in a church, or attend church services openly without harassment under Egyptian law.
Hegazy and his wife, who is also a convert from Islam, were forced into hiding after filing the case because of numerous death threats. Several of his lawyers also received death threats, forcing some to give up the case.
The Coptic Christian population in Egypt, with an estimated population of six to eight million, is the largest Christian community in the Middle East.
Al Qaeda responsible for attack on US Istanbul consulate, three Turkish police deaths
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5419
Three Turkish policemen and three gunmen died in a shootout at the entrance to the US consulate in Istanbul Wednesday, July 9. Three terrorists, identified by Istanbul police as Turkish members of al Qaeda, were killed after failing to break through to the consulate. The terrorists pulled up in a white car and opened fire on the consulate’s police post. Police fired back, resulting in a three- to five-minute gun battle. The fourth terrorist who drove the car fled.
In a separate attack in E. Turkey, three German tourists were kidnapped by Kurdish (PKK) rebels, the local governor reported. They were part of a 13-member on a climbing expedition on Mount Ararat in Agri province.
The PKK rarely attacks tourists, focusing mainly on guerilla operations against military targets in southeast Turkey.
Iran tests 2,000-km, one-ton capable Shehab-3 missile
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5418
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. "The Iranians should stop the development of ballistic missiles, which could be used as a delivery vehicle for a potential nuclear weapon, immediately."
The Tehran TV bulletin Wednesday, July 9, announcing the test-launch of the Shehab-3 missile, one of nine launched from an undisclosed desert location, stressed that with a 2,000 km range it could reach Israel.
DEBKAfile reports: Two other types of missile with shorter ranges were also fired as part of the Great Prophet III war games launched two days ago by Revolutionary Guards navy, air force and ground units. Along with the statement, Guards air force commander Hossein Salami said: "We are ready to defend the integrity of the Iranian nation."
Tuesday, the senior IRGC Navy cleric said: If the US attacks Iran, “we will immediately strike back at Tel Aviv. Our first target is Tel Aviv and only then will we attack US shipping in the Persian Gulf.” Monday, a US-UK-Bahrani naval exercise began to drill measures for protecting Gulf oil installations.
Convert Couple Arrested, Tortured and Threatened in Iran
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07377.shtml
(christiansunite.com) - On June 3, a newly converted Christian couple was arrested by police for holding Bible studies with Muslims in their home and attending a house church. Makan Arya (31) and Tina Rad (28) were seized from their home in east Tehran after one of Makan's relatives informed security police of the couple's Christian activities.
Their four-year-old daughter was left behind, ill and unattended. The couple was taken to an unknown jail where they were severely beaten and interrogated for four days. Makan was accused of "activities against national security" and Tina of "activities against the holy religion of Islam." The authorities threatened to take their daughter away to a religious institution and warned them that they could be imprisoned on charges of apostasy or fabricated drug charges if they didn't stop their Christian work.
Eventually the couple was pressured into signing a statement claiming they had not changed their religion from Islam and promising that they would stay away from their house church and other Christians. After a court hearing, Makan was freed on bail charges of $20,000 (CAD) and Tina upon payment of $30,000 (CAD).
The couple returned home to find that the window of their shop had been smashed by local Muslims. On June 23, Makan received a letter threatening him with continued attacks if he did not put up evidence of his Islamic faith on the front of his shop, to which he responded by hanging pictures of Muslim leaders on his window.
Ask God to strengthen the hearts of these believers to proclaim His Name without hesitation or fear (2 Timothy 1:5). Pray for healing, especially for Tina who currently cannot walk as a result of her mistreatment in detention.
For more information on persecution facing Christians in Iran, visit www.persecution.net/country/iran.htm.
Russia Upset But 'No Hysterics' Over U.S. Shield
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/russia_us_missile_defense/2008/07/09/111362.html
TOYAKO, Japan — Russia will consider how to retaliate over a planned U.S. missile shield but wants to continue talks on the issue with Washington, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.
Washington and Prague signed a deal on Tuesday to place a tracking radar in the Czech Republic as part of a system the United States says is needed to protect against any missile attack from countries such as Iran.
Russia is sensitive to any Western military build-up near its borders and says it considers the U.S. missile shield plans a direct threat to its security.
"We are extremely upset by this situation," Medvedev told a news conference on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, where he was attending a summit of the Group of Eight leaders.
"We will not be hysterical about this but we will think of retaliatory steps," he said without specifying what measures Russia might take.
Russia's foreign ministry warned on Tuesday that Moscow would be forced to take undefined military measures if the missile shield was deployed, a response which dismayed Washington.
U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Russia's response "predictable, if disappointing".
"I still hope that Russia will look at the actual threat environment, look at the fact that the Iranians are developing ever-longer ranges of missiles which they apparently intend to test and that the Russians will see that this is not aimed at them," Rice told a news conference in Sofia.
Previous president Vladimir Putin proposed to Washington and NATO last year to set up a joint system of early warning to trace any potential launch from the volatile South. Moscow offered use of a radar station it hires in ex-Soviet Azerbaijan.
"There has been no reaction," Medvedev said. "They are conducting sleepy talks with us and that means that the (U.S. shield) idea will be realised."
"It is completely obvious that, after the signing of the agreement, a new stage in implementing the idea of the missile shield has started," he added.
The missile shield dispute is one of a complex of disputes between the United States and Russia.
Rice was due in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on Wednesday for a visit Moscow will be watching closely. Tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi are rising over the Russian-backed separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Putin, who handed over powers to Medvedev in May and is now his prime minister, warned in 2007 that Russia could aim missiles at European countries if the U.S. missile shield plans went ahead.
Russian generals have threatened to deploy tactical missiles in neighbouring Belarus and to resume production of short and medium-range nuclear missiles in response to Washington's missile defence plans.
But Medvedev, who met U.S. President George W.Bush on the sidelines of the G8 summit on Monday, said dialogue on the Missile Shield issue should not be stopped.
Putin, who now serves as prime minister after handing over powers to Medvedev in May, warned in 2007 that Russia could aim missiles at European countries if the U.S. missile shield plans went ahead.
Russian generals have threatened to deploy tactical missiles in neighbouring Belarus and to resume production of short and medium-range nuclear missiles in response to the shield plans.
NATO allies Poland and the Czech Republic were once part of the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact.
Medvedev, who met U.S. President George W. Bush on the sidelines of the G8 summit on Monday, said dialogue on the Missile Shield issue should not be stopped.
"We are not closed to further negotiations and we will continue these," he said.
Medvedev and Bush, who will hand over powers to a successor after elections in November, agreed at a meeting in Japan that maintaining dialogue and close ties between the leaders was important both for the two states and for the global stability.
"I think we are leaving a very strong relationship," Rice said in Bulgaria.
"But it's a complicated relationship because whenever you have a relationship this big, and with this many elements, there are going to be elements of both conflict and cooperation, and both are evident in the relationship with Russia."
Beijing Police Knock Down Door with Hammer and Evict Christian Rights Activist Hua Huiqi and Family
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07375.shtml
BEIJING, (christiansunite.com) -- CAA has learned that Christian rights activist Hua Huiqi was evicted from his home at 8:30pm Beijing time, on July 2. Hua and his family were resting in their rental apartment at 633 Unit 6, 6th floor of the Dushixinyuan apartment complex Chongwen District, Beijing when PSB officials led by officer Yang Jian used a 10lb hammer to break down the doors and locks of Hua's apartment. Hua's brother was beaten by police officers and suffered severe eye damage. Hua and his family, including his 90 year old father, were forced onto the street with their furniture at 11:10pm. Hua and his family are in search of a new home and are currently being hosted by a Christian family in Beijing.
The Chinese Government has expressed its intentions to either detain Hua until September 20, a date well after the Olympic Games, or to remove Hua and his family completely out of Beijing during the Games. The CPC has branded Hua and other human rights and religious activists as "troublemakers" and is adamant about keeping such people from attending the Games in August.
In the morning of June 28, Saturday, as Congressmen Wolf and Smith left the Washington Dulles Airport, they were greeted by the Ambassador from China Mr. Zhou Wenzhang. Instead of a pleasant farewell from Zhou, the ambassador slyly remarked "We hope there are no surprises." Without hesitation Congressman Smith replied, "Life is full of surprises."
Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) and Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) flew to Beijing in order to gauge the situation concerning China's pre-Olympics human rights and religious freedoms records. The congressmen were set to meet with human rights lawyers, activists, victims and family members of persecution, individual religious believers as well as US Embassy officials. Through the facilitation of China Aid Association the two congressmen along with two senior aids were set to have dinner with a group of Chinese human rights lawyers on Sunday evening at hotel but were unable to meet with them due to interference by Chinese Government officials. The 8 lawyers scheduled to meet with the congressmen were:
Fan Yafeng
Li Baiguang
Li Heping
Li Fangping
Jiang Tianyong
Teng Biao
Zhang Xingshui
and Li Dunyong
Li Heping, Li Baiguang and Ten Biao were all recipients of the NED's award for human rights defense in Washington DC of this year. Tiang Biao was scheduled to receive the award in DC in mid- June, but was forbidden by Chinese Government officials from traveling out of the country after the CPC confiscated his passport.
"Surprises" did happen quickly.
Hours before the meeting with Reps. Wolf and Smith, Li Heping, Jiang Tianyong, Li Fangping, Zhang Xingshui and Li Dunyong were warned not to attend the meeting or they would face severe consequences. They were either followed by PSB or forced to ride with PSB cars in order to be "protected". Teng Biao and Li Baiguang were given the opportunity to take a "forced vacation" in the suburb of Beijing accompanied by 4 PSB officials.
In a separate incident two PSB officials waited in the lobby of the apartment building of independent writer Yu Jie, as he left for Sunday worship service they escorted him into their car and maintained that he stay with them until the Representatives had left. Ironically the policeman complained to Mr. Yu that he had to use his own car due to the lack of police vehicles available in Beijing.
With a last minute's arrangement, the Congressmen were fortunate enough to have dinner with Pastor Zhang Mingxuan, president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, and his wife. Early Sunday afternoon, the Reps. also visited Beijing Showang House church which was raided by PSB in May (and they were welcomed by church members), and later attended a Mass service at a Government sanctioned Catholic Church.
On Monday morning, the Congressmen delivered a list of 734 Chinese political and religious prisoners when they met with Mr. Li Zhaoxing, the Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee of People's Congress and former Foreign Minister. They urged Mr. Li to help immediately release those Chinese rights defenders. On Monday afternoon the Congressmen met with the wife of Pastor Zhang Rongliang. Zhang, or Uncle Z, was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison before a criminal court for his involvement with the House Church Movement in China.
One final surprise was from the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao who criticized the congressmen's attempt to meet with those Chinese "troublemaking" citizens. Liu told reporters in a regularly scheduled news conference Tuesday. When asked what law or regulations prevented foreign officials from such meetings, Liu refused to discuss. Well, one officer of Beijing Municipal PSB revealed the answer when asked the same question by a foreign reporter, "it's an internal top secret."
The actions taken by the CPC during the Congressmen's visit shows a brazen and apathetic attitude toward the improvement of its human rights record. In light of the Beijing Olympics less than a month away, China remains deaf to the international community's outcry to stop its persecution of religious groups.
China Claims to Bust Radical Muslim Gang
http://www.newsmax.com/international/oly_china_security/2008/07/09/111329.html
BEIJING -- Chinese police shot dead five members of a radical Islamic separatist group in western China, state media reported Wednesday, as officials called for an all-out security push ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
No hard evidence was offered to back up the claim, although a leading terror expert said such incidents underscore the significant threat Beijing faces from an al-Qaida-linked radical group fighting for independence in the predominantly Muslim far western Xinjiang region.
With the games just weeks away, Chinese officials are ordering increasingly draconian security measures, with a dual ring of hundreds of checkpoints due to go up around Beijing starting next week.
State media accounts of Tuesday's raid in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi, said two other members of the group were hospitalized with injuries and eight others detained.
The group, all members of Xinjiang's indigenous Uighur ethnic group and including five women, brandished knives and swore to fight to the death after more than a dozen police officers surrounded their apartment, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
"The suspects confessed they had all received training on the launching of a 'holy war,'" Xinhua said.
Xinhua said the group sought independence for Xinjiang and planned to slaughter members of China's majority Han ethnic group who have streamed into the region, 1,500 miles west of Beijing, since it was occupied by communist troops in 1949.
The report said police had been hunting the gang since it attacked a beauty salon in May and were forced to open fire Tuesday when the alleged radicals charged out of the apartment after tear gas was fired into it.
Calls to the police spokesman's office in Urumqi rang unanswered Wednesday, and a security guard at the Chenguan Garden community where the raid reportedly occurred hung up the phone when asked about the incident.
Authorities have previously accused Xinjiang separatists of attempting to crash an airliner in March and planning to kidnap athletes and journalists during the games.
The Urumqi shootings come amid high government anxiety over security for the Olympics. Authorities, who have already taken extraordinary measures to ensure safety, issued a reminder Wednesday that many items would be banned at venues, from long-handled umbrellas to radioactive materials to cigarette lighters.
At a rally for Olympic organizers Wednesday, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping called security the single most important task for organizers ahead of the games.
"A safe Olympics is the biggest indicator of the success of the games," Xi, tasked with supervising overall Olympic preparations, said in a speech at the Great Hall of the People, seat of China's legislature.
"A safe Olympics is also a key indicator of the positive reflection of our nation's image," he said, underscoring the national prestige communist leaders have invested in the Aug. 8-24 games.
China claims Tibetan forces allied with the exiled Dalai Lama and Xinjiang separatists are seeking to torpedo the games with violent plots.
No evidence has been provided to support the claims; critics accuse Beijing of using terrorism accusations to silence even peaceful dissent and often portraying ordinary criminal acts or civil unrest as terrorist-inspired.
Like Tibetans, Xinjiang's indigenous Uighur ethnic group has a distinct language and culture, and extremists among them long have waged a low-intensity struggle against Chinese rule. Many have been sentenced to long prison terms or death on separatism charges.
Xinhua did not say if the alleged Urumqi gang was affiliated with any known terrorist groups. Beijing typically blames attacks on the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, a militant group that demands separation from China, and which Washington claims is linked with al-Qaida.
Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based terrorism expert, said China faces a "significant threat" from the ETIM, but is poorly equipped to analyze and respond to the danger.
Harsh Chinese restrictions on expressions of Uighur identity and Islamic practice have radicalized sections of the Uighur population, Gunaratna said. And the ETIM, which operates training bases along China's borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, has increasingly shifted its focus from Xinjiang independence to global jihad, he added.
"China lacks sophistication in its approach," Gunaratna said in a telephone interview, referring to recent reports that authorities tore down a mosque in Xinjiang in retaliation for not enthusiastically promoting the Olympics.
"They need to build bridges with the Muslim community to isolate the radicals," he said.
Despite heavy security, Xinjiang groups will likely still attempt attacks in Beijing to "spoil the mood" of the games, Gunaratna said.
Christians Respond after Philippines Storm
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/406337.aspx
CBNNews.com - ILOILO, Philippines - In the Philippines, Christians are responding to last month's devastating typhoon that killed more than 1,000 people.
A mini "tsunami" is how the people of Iloilo, one of the hardest hit provinces, described Super Typhoon Feng Shen as it wreaked havoc in their province.
Crisanto describes how from the rooftop of their neighbor's house, they saw their own home swept away by the raging waters.
Rosie showed the only possession she was able to save - her Bible.
"We were stranded on the roof with our children for almost two days with no food. I just kept reading and reciting verses from the Bible and this made me strong," Rosie said. "I thank God that all of us are alive."
The Tayo family was not as fortunate. Nine members of their family drowned in the flood.
John is the lone survivor of his family. He lost both his parents and five siblings.
When asked how he was able to survive, he said, "I swam! I was not afraid because I know how to swim. But my brothers and sisters, they were all afraid.
John now lives with his grandfather. They found comfort when visiting Christians prayed for them.
Pastor Stanley Flores says the tragedy has given the Christians the opportunity to demonstrate God's love by meeting the spiritual and material needs of the people. He is happy that the Christian organization, Operation Blessing, has arrived to give relief goods to the victims.
Operation Blessing helped to replace some of the rice lost in flooded government store houses. Pastor Stanley and other Christians here believe, in the midst of catastrophe, God is calling Filipinos to repent for the sins of the land.
"Righteousness exalts a nation. I believe God has a message for our province and the nation and especially the leaders in government, that we must turn away from wickedness and really pursue righteousness," Pastor Stanley said.
"There should be unity in the body of Christ, particularly in prayer."
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