14.10.08

Watchman Report 10/14/08

Richard Viguerie: Unleash Sarah Palin!
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07675.shtml


MANASSAS, Virginia, (christiansunite.com) -- John McCain may have one chance left to win this election, the Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, Richard A. Viguerie, said. "He must free Sarah Palin to go after Barack Obama and the liberal Democrats, or he will almost certainly lose."

"The McCain campaign has put this 'pit bull with lipstick' on a leash. The campaign has surrounded her with people from the Bush administration. And as we can see from the wreckage of the Bush presidencies, these folks don't have the slightest clue how to make a case to the American people."

"McCain has to get rid of these Bush people around Palin, along with the lobbyists and the folks from the Washington PR firms, and replace them with principled conservatives who have experience making the case for conservatism."

Nationalizing the election along liberal-conservative lines is McCain's key to victory, Viguerie said. "America is a center-right country. So, for four decades, when elections break along the liberal-conservative fault line, the more conservative candidate wins."

"But the liberals are making this election about the record of the Bush administration and the GOP leadership in Congress - ironically, a record of cronyism and Big Government. That's why they're ahead."

Viguerie noted that, "John McCain has not been willing and able to cast this election as a choice between one side that is center-right and the other that is extremely liberal. Only Governor Palin can do that. She brings together all the types of conservatives - economic conservatives and religious conservatives, libertarians and 'values voters,' and people who are simply fed up with Washington's culture of corruption - and she appeals to millions of Americans in the center."

That, Viguerie said, "is why the Left hates her so much. And that is why she represents McCain's last, best chance." He said McCain must "remember why he picked Governor Palin, and unleash her to do what she does best."



Uncle Sam -- The Biggest Crook in America
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07670.shtml


WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- Don Swarthout, President of Christians Reviving America's Values and Patriotic Pastors asks, "Do you pay taxes? If you do, then why do you allow the Federal Government to steal your money from you?"

The Federal Government has stolen money from Social Security taxes which you have paid for years. When they collected more than they paid out our elected officials simply stole money from those taxes they collected and now they claim they do not have enough money left to pay the benefits they owe to you and me.

Now the Federal Government says that unless they TAX the people $700,000,000,000 dollars our economy will fail. Included in the original bail out was a group, known as ACORN, which is under investigation in 12 states for voter fraud. Yet the Federal Government was planning on giving ACORN some of your money. Barack Obama was once tied to ACORN and supposedly has done work for them.

Actually the Federal Government has no way of raising money to give away except by TAXING YOU! Swarthout asks; "Why do we allow the Federal Government to steal our money like we allow them to steal Social Security? Why do you and I allow the Federal Government to steal our money by their wasteful spending and by spending it on so called earmarks that are added to other bills?"

As citizens of the United States, we are supposed to be in charge of our government. Our government is not supposed to be in charge of us. Actually we should consider voting everyone out of office everyone who spends your money recklessly and WITHOUT YOUR APPROVAL!

Swarthout said, "Let's you and I take back the government of OUR COUNTRY by paying close attention to our government and by calling them every time they propose some stupid idea. The vast majority of people who called the United States Congress opposed the idea of a bailout! This proves how effective we can become!"



Reason for Bailout; Government Desperately Needs Money
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07676.shtml


WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- Don Swarthout, President of Christians Reviving America's Values and Patriotic Pastors has made an interesting observation about why our government wants the Bailout Bill so badly.

Swarthout said, "The Federal Government's reason for wanting to pass the Bailout is they desperately need your tax money. Their strong desire for such legislation has absolutely nothing to do with your well being."

Senator Barney Frank and many other elected officials have recently said publicly that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not in any trouble. Apparently, this was said to cover their tracks made when they forced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make mortgage loans to low income people who were totally unable to repay these loans.

In fact, one minority who may have been the first black woman elected to the Senate, wildly applauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for their wonderful management of their companies. She even made mention of the CEO's name, who also happens to be a minority, as a great leader of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now he is being criticized.

Now we know Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were forcing the lending of mortgage loans to totally unqualified borrowers. That and the greed of lenders are the primary reasons for the problems we now see in the financial markets of America.

We are also aware of the earmarks of 20% of the profits for ACORN were part of the original Bailout Bill and that Barack Obama has been strongly tied to ACORN.

Swarthout asked, "Why was an earmark ever a part of this Bailout Bill?"

Swarthout said, "I believe the reason for the Bailout is simply a "white lie" told by President Bush and elected officials to grab a large amount of money which will allow them to save the economy for the reason the government has to do anything it can to keep their tax revenues coming in."

"Why else would President Bush seek such a controversial bill just before an election? Sadly, the American people cannot believe anything they are currently being told by our elected officials in Washington. The reason behind the Bailout is our government is spending too much and must keep tax money coming in..." Swarthout said.



The Dow Jones on Wall Street gained 11.06% before closing Monday
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5643


The upward trend followed the announcement in Washington Monday, Oct. 13, that the

Bush administration is preparing to buy ownership shares in banks. The takeover, part of the $700 bn bailout plan, is intended to help revive the flow of credit. Europe's central banks unveiled similar rescue operations to shore up the banks decided on a eurozone summit in Paris Sunday. Asian, UK and European markets, followed by Wall Street, responded by lifting prices, although economic experts warned that recession signs were clear on the horizon, and not much cash will be left in the government purse after this splurge on the banks to relieve its victims.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, which closed with sharp downturns Sunday, was saved from worse damage from the global crash by the long High Holidays festival and the government's release of long-standing pension funds to prop up prices. The day started with ended with 10-16% plunges after a five-day holiday break during which global markets crashed. TA 25 closed with a 3.8% decline, TA lost 4.6% and bank shares slipped 1.9%. Worst hit were the real estate index which dived 8.9% and Tel-Tech 9.1%.

Earlier Sunday, caretaker PM Ehud Olmert rejected a proposal by Industry Minister Yishai for a $10bn rescue plan for Israel banks with safety nets for savers and depositors. The High Holidays end Wednesday, Oct. 22, to avoid global fallout. The Israeli market is closed for Succot, Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 13-14.

The UK government has made ₤37bn available for three troubled banks HBOS, Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB, virtually nationalizing them.



Pastors Unite to Protect Marriage
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07685.shtml


LA MESA, Calif., (christiansunite.com) -- As part of the effort to protect marriage in California, thousands of pastors and church members from across the state have joined forces to "get out the vote" on Nov. 4 - not in support of one presidential candidate over the other, but to pass Proposition 8, the Marriage Protection Act.

If passed, Proposition 8 will define marriage in the state as between one man and one woman, as a majority of California voters had previously upheld. However, in May, the California Supreme Court ruled to allow homosexual marriage. Pastors joined forces to collect more than the one million signatures necessary to call for an amendment to the state constitution, placing it on the ballot as Proposition 8, the Marriage Protection Act.

The effort is being spearheaded by a handful of key influential pastors in the state, organized by Dr. Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Church in La Mesa. Garlow explained why pastors all over California believe they must get involved in this issue:

"First, a judicial oligarchy - rule by a few - has robbed Californian's of their voice. We already voted on this - and we affirmed marriage by a 61% vote.

"Secondly, in countries where same sex marriage is legal, religious freedoms are lost, because it becomes illegal to speak out against the homosexual behavior and in favor of 'one man/one woman' marriage. Pastor Ake Green of Sweden, preaching from Romans chapter one about homosexuality, was arrested, tried, found guilty of 'disrespect' and sentenced to one month in prison. There are many such examples.

"Third, our California Education Code (#51890) will permit children as young as kindergartners to be indoctrinated about homosexuality. In Massachusetts, when David Parker objected that his kindergartner was being taught homosexuality, he was arrested and jailed."

Through a combination of bi-weekly webinar calls helping thousands of pastors around the state and nation stay encouraged and on message, and a series of three satellite simulcast rallies linking hundreds of churches across California, the movement is keeping communication flowing among participants.

Thousands of volunteers have been recruited to phone lists of church members to encourage them to vote in support of Proposition 8. Other volunteers are also going door-to-door throughout California's 1,600 zip codes to poll likely voters, and they will then work to ensure that those in favor of Proposition 8 make it to the polls on Nov. 4.

Pastors are preaching sermons on the topic of marriage and the family during the month of October. Families are encouraged to vote together on "Family Voter Weekend" Oct. 18-19, casting absentee ballots in advance of the election, so that they are free to work to get other voters to the polls on Election Day.

Finally, church members throughout the state have committed to fasting and praying for the 40 days leading up to the vote - they began Sept. 24. Forty days is the length of time that Jesus fasted in the desert while preparing for his public ministry, and is significant in other instances in the Bible, as well.

These pastors and churches have joined across denominational and racial lines in the defense of marriage. Garlow works closely with African- American pastors Miles McPherson, senior pastor of The Rock Church in San Diego, and Phillip Goudeaux, senior pastor of Calvary Christian Center in Sacramento. From denominational to independent, from charismatic to evangelical, churches across the spectrum - such as Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter, led by Dudley Rutherford; and Cornerstone Church in Fresno, led by Pastor Jim Franklin - have locked arms in the effort.

Garlow reminds pastors and individuals around the state that "We are at one of those moments. This is the major change point of the last few decades. While the abortion issue is a foundational issue, the marriage definition issue is a survival issue. No single social issue has threatened to forever muzzle Bible believing Christians like this contest," he said.

"If we lose on this one, the culture loses. One person has astutely observed that 'we cannot win the culture war merely on Proposition 8, but we can lose it on Proposition 8.'"

Garlow concludes, "It is imperative that all pastors and Christian leaders view this for what it is: an irretrievable moment, with profound and lasting consequences. We must vigorously support Prop 8, as if our ministries and lives depend on it. Ultimately, they will."



Rescue the Old World Financial Order or Build a New One
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1361


This weekend sees make-or-break efforts by Western finance ministers and international financial institutions to produce a plan that will drag their economies back into equilibrium before the world's markets open Monday, Oct. 13. They are working to the dread drumbeats of turmoil, panicky investors and looming recession, which some economists predict will be more disastrous than the 1930s slump which led to World War II.

Two major rescue plans for the banking and financial systems by the US and UK have fallen short of luring fleeing investors back to the markets. In seven black days, crashing global indexes led by Wall Street - which tumbled 18 percent and London by 21 percent - followed by Asia, wiped $4.5 trillion off share values world wide. In the UK, it was calculated that one person goes bankrupt every five minutes. Iceland's entire economy is bankrupt.

The plan on the G7's table is essentially to partially nationalize almost half of the Western banking system by buying up stakes in troubled banks or shoring up the banking system as a whole.

In their statement Saturday, the G7 said that they were working on a rescue package tailored for each country within a common framework that would include recapitalizing banks, ensuring strong deposit insurance to protect savers and restarting frozen credit and mortgage markets.

Many leading Western economists strongly doubt that these measures will do the trick. DEBKAfile's sources note that what the Americans and British have been aiming for until now is to restore investor confidence in the existing financial system by increasing credit, the lifeblood of economies based on the free market.

But matters have gone too far for what is essentially a patching up job. The upheavals of the last two weeks have demonstrated that the entire system is discredited. Trust has been suspended not only in the financial system but in the ability of political leaders to come up with solutions to protect the individual investor and taxpayer.

The partial nationalization of banks in the US and Europe breaks with the rules of the free market, of which the United States is the global epitome - a major factor in its superpower status. While Asia has prospered by embracing free-market practices, resentment is deepening over its shortcomings for which the US is blamed.

The Columbia University Nobel-prize winning economist, Prof. Joseph Stiglitz told the Washington Post : "People around the world once admired us for our economy and we told them if you want to be like us, here's what you have to do – hand over power to the market. The point now is that no one has respect for that kind of model anymore given this crisis."

And of course it raises questions about our credibility. Everyone feels they are suffering because of us."

The only Western leader to address this problem head-on was Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. At a government session in Rome, Oct. 10, he revealed: "The idea of suspending the markets for the time it takes to rewrite new rules is being discussed." Berlusconi added: "They can't just be for one country, or even just for Europe, but global."

This remark was quickly retracted after a phone call from the White House in Washington, according to our sources, because it opens up the even more problematic question of who is competent to lead the rewriting of the rules. However, the IMF, high priest of the gospel that the market knows best, has already turned around and is calling for more international regulation and oversight on global finance, a further retreat from its basic tenets.

The looming leadership vacuum is fueling financial fears. The US president George W. Bush's presidency ends in January, Canada faces an election next week, Japan is on its third prime minister in a year; Britain's Gordon Brown is fighting sliding opinion polls.

Who will therefore lead the transition to a different, or even amended, world financial order? And how credible would a G7 or EU consensus be, given that so many major economic powers including China, Russia, India and Brazil, were excluded from their counsels?

Israel is suffering its own leadership crisis.

Friday night, Ronnie Bar-On, finance minister in the caretaker government headed by Ehud Olmert, went on record again as declaring that Israel's banks and financial institutions are solid. No Israeli bank is threatened with collapse, he insisted.

The corporate leaders (Lev Leviev, Eliezer Fishman and Nohi Dankner), whose bonds have plummeted on the Tel Aviv stock exchange, are equally sound and will recover, the finance minister stressed. As for the savers, who have lost 15-20 percent of their assets, they should not complain, said the minister, because in past years their value doubled. All he was willing to admit was that a new period was at hand.

By continuing to pour oil, the minister was gambling. The Tel Aviv Stock exchange opens for business Sunday, Oct. 12, after a six-day suspension due to Yom Kippur running into Saturday. It is unlikely that this market will sail unscathed through the global turbulence. Bar-On may have reason to regret that he did not announce an emergency plan in good time to protect savers and holders of pension funds, if not the banks.



European Leaders Seek `One Voice' to Counter Crisis
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=alhRZSkR0E3o&refer=worldwide


Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- European leaders met to forge a new set of measures to combat the credit freeze after their failure to act a week ago contributed to the worst sell-off in the region's stocks in two decades.

``I want Europe to speak with one voice for Europe and for the world because this is a global crisis,'' French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters as he greeted European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Sarkozy said he's seeking ``an ambitious, coordinated plan.''

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose government earlier this month rejected French suggestions to form a joint bank- rescue fund, said yesterday the euro region will implement ``the same toolbox of instruments.'' Merkel, Sarkozy and their counterparts in the 15-nation euro region are being forced to shift stance as a deepening slide in financial markets has threatened to tip Europe into a prolonged recession.

``Measures by euro-area governments to end the financial crisis have been uncoordinated and insufficient,'' said Juergen Michels, a Citigroup Inc. economist in London. ``Increasing risks of an economic disaster might force governments to set up more coordinated and more comprehensive measures.''

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown met Sarkozy, Barroso and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet. The leaders of the euro nations then gathered at 5 p.m. local time. The talks come after finance chiefs from the Group of Seven nations established guidelines on Oct. 10 for combating the credit crunch, while falling short of adopting new initiatives.

Draft Statement

The 15 euro countries may agree to guarantee interbank loans of as long as five years to break the credit-market freeze, according to a draft statement cited by Agence France- Presse.

Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the Eurogroup of euro-region finance ministers, said in a statement today that ``no financial institution of systemic importance'' can be allowed to fail. Juncker, who will take part in today's meeting in Paris, said that access to liquidity will be assured, efforts to unblock financial markets will be intensified and individuals' savings accounts will be protected.

``Some of us hoped it had had more teeth or more muscles to it, but at least it was endorsed,'' French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said in Washington yesterday, referring to the G-7 statement. Sarkozy has convened ``a meeting of all heads of states of the euro-group. Not to talk about it, but to actually put meat and muscles on the bones of that skeleton.''

`Quite Specific'

``I can assure you, you will not be disappointed, and it will be quite specific,'' she said.

Merkel said yesterday during a visit to eastern France that Germany backs ``coherent reaction in the euro-zone to the international financial crisis.'' In Paris today, she said joint action to shore up markets ``should be a sign of strength for the euro-zone.''

European benchmark stock indexes slid 22 percent last week amid an investor panic about the freeze in credit markets. The cost to protect corporate debt from default set new highs around the world and the rate banks charge each other for three-month loans climbed to record premiums over central bank benchmark rates.

Contracts on Europe's benchmark Markit iTraxx Crossover index, a measure of the cost to insure corporate bonds, soared more than 2 percentage points in the past month to 756.60 two days ago, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Anglo-Irish Bank Corp. Plc, Ireland's third-biggest lender, and ING Groep NV, the largest Dutch financial-services institution, plunged more than 42 percent, leading declines in banks and insurers last week.

Brown's Rescue

U.K. policy makers took the lead in planning to purchase stakes in banks hammered by losses on assets tied to mortgages. Brown set up a 50 billion-pound ($85 billion) program to invest in at least eight British lenders. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will tap some of the $700 billion financial-rescue package approved by Congress this month to buy equity in financial companies.

It ``made sense to implement measures in Germany and other European states like the ones in the U.S. and U.K.'' Commerzbank AG Chairman Klaus-Peter Mueller said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

A German program may allot up to 100 billion euros ($134 billion) to recapitalize private banks, state banks and insurance companies, Handelsblatt reported, citing unidentified officials. Merkel said the plan would involve ``providing banks with sufficient capital so that they are able to operate on their own -- and I don't rule out that there could be capital support.''

Initial Response

European officials last month rejected taking more concerted action. Lagarde said then she had ``decided to take no other measures'' than banning short-selling and German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck dismissed the need to ``adopt a comparable program'' to the U.S. program to buy distressed assets from banks.

At an Oct. 4 summit, leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, the ECB and European Commission stopped short of a regional rescue effort. They agreed to ease accounting rules, seek tougher financial regulations and weaken enforcement of competition and budget laws.

Today's Paris crisis talks, the second in as many weekends, reflects the speed at which the U.S.-led credit crunch has infected Europe's banking system, financial markets and economy. Governments this month have bailed out financial companies including Fortis and Dexia SA. The ECB cut interest rates this past week for the first time since 2003 and offered banks unlimited funding every week at the main refinancing rate.

Frozen Markets

Even so, Europe's credit markets remain frozen, like those elsewhere. The cost of borrowing euros for three months remains close to a record high, choking off access to cash for companies and consumers. That is pushing the 15-nation euro area toward its first recession since the single currency began trading in 1999.

``We have to reduce the cost of borrowing in Europe and there is room for that,'' Corrado Passera, chief executive officer at Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Italy's second-biggest bank, said yesterday.

Brown's government has also proposed guaranteeing loans between banks to thaw money markets. The G-7 refrained from endorsing the approach two days ago. The U.K. leader may renew his push today. The U.K. plans to recapitalize its biggest banks including Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and provide 250 billion pounds of bank loan guarantees.



Filmmaker Defends Anti-Islam Warnings
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/462094.aspx


CBNNews.com - Politician Geert Wilders may be the most widely known Dutchman in the world.

His short Internet film "Fitna" attacked Islam as a violent, dangerous religion, and has probably made him the most hated Dutchman in the Muslim world.

The Dutch government recently said that the threat level to the Netherlands from Islamic terrorists is "substantial" because of Wilders, a member of the Dutch Parliament and the founder of the Freedom Party.

The politician is an atheist who defends Judeo-Christian civilization, and has attacked Islam for years, calling Islamic culture "retarded." But it was his short film "Fitna" this year, about the violence in the Koran, that has put him squarely in the crosshairs of terrorists.

Many Muslims in the world would like to kill Wilders. He's lived for the past four years under state protection, with a death threat over his head, and with a number of Islamic nations around the world wanting to put him on trial for blasphemy.

Dale Hurd: What was the purpose of the film "Fitna?"

Geert Wilders: Our country, the Netherlands as many other countries is based on Christianity, is based on Judaism, is even based on humanism. But not on islam. And this is what I wanted to show people, not by using actors, but by using real images and real verses from the Koran, that the Koran is not just and old book from 1500 years ago.It's a book that is still very alive today. And people get a lot of wrong incentives from it today.

So I wanted to warn the people and I was quite successful, whatever you may think about "Fitna." In the Netherlands more than 3 million people watched it after 24 hours. And worldwide more than 20 million people watched it after two weeks.

Hurd: I'm sure people who have watched you provoke Islam over the years wonder if you have a death wish. Are you secretly daring Muslims to try to kill you?

Wilders: No and I'm not even provoking them as you said. I try to warn the people in the Netherlands and maybe even abroad and Western societies about the actual danger that Islam brings to our society and to our freedom.

Hurd: Do you believe that a moderate of democratic Islam can exist?

Wilders: No. I don't believe in it. I don't think there is a European Islam. There is no moderate Islam. Islam is, as I see it, a fascist ideology, full of hatred, submission and anything else that we should fight against. However, I make a distinction between the ideology, I believe islam is more an ideology than a religion and the people. There are of course, people, Muslims.I have nothing against Muslims who are not terrorists, who are.the majority of the Muslims in my country are law abiding people; are not terrorists at all.

Hurd: I've heard you call Islamic culture "retarded."

Wilders: It is a culture of backwardness, of retardedness, of barbarism.

Hurd: You've been called a racist. Do you believe in the superiority of whites?

Wilders: No, of course not. I am not a racist. I'm not even in contact with countries, with parties like the British National Party who believe in black and white. I am a Democrat, full stop.

Hurd: In your speech to parliament a few days ago, you referred to Muslim "colonists." What did you mean?

Wilders: Well, people that are coming to the Netherlands to stir up problems or who are in the Netherlands, they are not here to integrate. But to dominate. They don't give a d---, excuse my words, for all he criticism and all the culture that we have in the Netherlands today.

That's why I call them colonists. We have immigrants from Morocco who have been living here for 30 years who don't speak a word of Dutch.

Hurd: So you see Islam growing, you see a government you don't believe cares enough. So where is the Netherlands headed on this issue?

Wilders: The biggest problem we face today is the dominant political culture is one of cultural relativism. Most of the political elite really do believe in cultural relativism - really do believe that all cultures are equal. Wereas I believe they are not equal.

I believe the Christian and the Jewish culture is far better. And I'm not ashamed to say it. I'm not a racist to say that the Christian culture is better than the Islamic culture. There is an enormous gap between the political elite and the vox populi.

The people see that our country is changing. They see in their streets, in their neighborhoods, in their cities, in their villages; they see that it's often not the Netherlands anymore. They feel they live in "Little Morocco" or "Little Turkey."

We have an Islamic intifada today. I'm not exaggerating. In many, many cities in the netherlands. This is a problem. And the government looks the other directiuon and ignores it and puts it under the carpet, all the problems.

Hurd: Are you tired of living with a death threat over your head?

Wilders: Well, not tired, but sometimes - not sometimes - I wish I didn't have it. And I am not exaggerating if I say I lost my freedom. I lived in prison cells for half a year and army barracks and moved two places.

My life changed a lot and I can manage, and people don't have to have sympathy for me because I feel I have a mission. My mission is very strong, and I really believe in it. And I know that if we really don't get a sense of urgency and act and defend our culture, defend our freedom, that it's too late.



EU flag and anthem revived by MEPs
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/2823052/EU-flag-and-anthem-revived-by-MEPs.html


The flag, a politically correct motto and Beethoven's Ode to Joy will all be used more by the European Parliament as it tries to help citizens identify more easily with the EU.

But Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party and an MEP himself, has accused his parliamentary colleagues of "trying to ram them down our throats".

MEPs said: "Symbols are vital elements of any communication process."

The politicians stated they "convey an emotional image of the underlying values of the organisations they represent."

With this in mind, they have decided to make more use of the flag and the motto "United in Diversity." It is to be printed on all material emanating from the European Parliament.

More controversially, the finale from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Ode to Joy, is also to be played more at official occasions.

It has unfortunate associations, having been used previously to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday and as the anthem of a socially divided Rhodesia under Ian Smith.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany had said that eliminating the use of symbols was a key difference between the EU constitution, which was rejected in French and Dutch referenda in 2005, and the Lisbon Treaty which followed.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, has also welcomed their reduced importance, telling the House of Commons last July: "It is good that the symbols, flags and anthems, which distracted attention from the discussion of the European constitutional treaty, are done away with so that we can focus on what will make the EU useful to this country - jobs, climate and energy, the issues that matter to ordinary people."

Mr Farage told The Times: "We were told that the symbols would disappear .. now they are trying to ram them down our throats."



EU ministers keep Russian partnership on hold
http://euobserver.com/9/26919


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Despite pressure from some EU capitals, the union's foreign ministers stopped short of resuming talks on a new EU-Russia partnership treaty, temporarily put on ice in September due to Russia's military presence in Georgia.

"It is very difficult to flag up the exact date," said French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner when asked about prospects of the talks. Speaking in Luxembourg after a meeting of EU foreign ministers, he cited the dispute over two areas inside South Ossetia and Abkhazia as the reason for the current hesitation.

The EU decided on 1 September to postpone negotiations on an EU-Russia strategic deal until Russian troops withdraw from Georgian territory "to the line preceding the start of hostilities" by 10 October.

According to today's ministerial conclusions, Russian troops have withdrawn from the zones adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia - an essential additional step in the implementation of the agreements of 12 August and 8 September.

However, the fact that they continue to operate in the Akhalgori district and the upper Kodori valley - zones inside South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but previously controlled by Georgian authorities - is causing problems.

"It is a judgement call for the heads of state and governments," Mr Kouchner said, referring to an EU leaders' summit later this week (15-16 October).

The issue will also come up at the international talks in Geneva on 15 October - a platform designed to debate the future security in the breakaway regions and Georgian refugees' right of return.

According to media reports, the 27-nation bloc is split over when the union should put out its hand to Moscow. Germany and Italy are reported to be leading the camp of those who are lobbying for a speedy resumption of the strategic talks.

"We should think about whether we are doing ourselves a favour by stalling the negotiations," German deputy foreign minister Guenter Gloser was cited as saying by AP, adding the EU has "a strong interest in the partnership and co-operation agreement".

According to Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini, Russia has demonstrated a "constructive" attitude.

Meanwhile, a number of member states - namely Austria, the Baltic States, Poland, Sweden or the Czech Republic - claim the time is not ripe.



NATO stirred into anti-piracy action by overlap with E. African jihadist terror
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5639


On Oct. 3, DEBKA-Net-Weekly 367 reported that the capture of the Ukrainian arms vessel, Faina, had placed Somali piracy at the center of the war on terror. This development is beginning to stir the world powers into action against the long-running scourge. On Oct. 9, sixteen days after the Faina's capture, NATO defense ministers meeting in Budapest finally agreed to send warships "soon" to Somali waters to safeguard vessels threatened by pirates.

Six more ships were hit in the last week.

Some East African counter-terror sources report that, while previous Ukrainian arms shipments were covertly diverted from Kenya to Darfur, some also reached the hands of Islamic militias in Somalia, who are ruled by the notorious Abdullah Mohamed Fazul, the slippery al Qaeda chief in East Africa. He has been on the run for two decades since masterminding the 1998 attacks on US East African embassies, but this has not stopped him engaging in terrorist activity.

During August and September, Fazul was on the move, sighted in such places as Mombasa, Kenya, and the coastal town of Malindi. There, some sources report he negotiated the purchase of part of the Faina cargo from its Kenyan buyers. He need the arms to share out between his Somali insurgent following and the cells associated with al Qaeda in Uganda and Tanzania.

On Sept. 15, Ugandan security agencies went on high alert following intelligence reports that the wanted man may have been planning an attack in reprisal for Kampala's support for African Union peacekeeping operations in Somalia. Fazul was said to be recruiting. The entire East African region went on alert to net al Qaeda's East African mastermind who, unlike his master, Osama bin Laden, does not keep his head down but flits from place to place.

According to one theory prevalent in counter-terror agencies, Fazul was short of funds for buying the Faina's entire arms cargo, so he traded off with a tip-off to the pirates of the approaching arms vessel on the understanding that his men would receive part of the shipment at cut price.

The USS Howard guided missile destroyer and several other Western warships have been standing by for 10 days monitoring movements aboard and around the Faina at anchor 7 miles from the Somali port of Hobyo, a stronghold of the local Islamic Resistance Movement which is linked to al Qaeda. It has been fighting for nearly two years to overthrow the Mogadishu government.

The US destroyer's captain is under orders not to move in unless an attempt is made to offload the $30 m worth cargo of 33 T-72 tanks, RPG rocket-propelled grenades, ZU-23 automatic anti-air guns or let it reach the Islamist terrorists on shore.

Although Moscow first announced the missile frigate Neustrashimy (Fearless) was speeding to the rescue, the warship has not yet arrived.

DEBKAfile's military sources add that the frigate is meanwhile escorting a Russian flotilla led by the Peter the Great around the ports of Libya and Syria. Only then, will it head to Somalia.



Lebanese Christian strongman's Tehran visit underscores Iran's grip on Lebanon
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5645


It would have been unthinkable for any Middle East Christian leader to pay his respects to the ayatollahs in Tehran before the indecisive Israel-Hizballah war of 2006 and the subsequent collapse of US and Israeli positions. But now, the once pro-West Lebanese Christian strongman, Gen. Michel Aoun, who has become a close ally of the Iranian surrogate Hizballah and Syria, is leading the way.

He drew encouragement from two developments:

1. The Bush administration's quiet collusion with Iran over the deal which broke a long political deadlock in Beirut and brought Michel Sleiman to the presidency. That deal was part of a broader package of Washington-Tehran understandings that covered cooperation for taming the violence in Iraq and America's renunciation of its military option against Iran's nuclear installations.

Aoun decided that to build up his position in Beirut, he too would do well to avail himself of Iran's support.

2. The political and military inertia paralyzing the Israeli government in the face of the collapse of UN Resolution 1701. That measure, negotiated by the would-be prime minister Tzipi Livni to end the 2006 war, was called a flop even by Israel defense minister Ehud Barak. Iran and Syria have openly flouted the measure month after month by topping up Hizballah's arsenal with improved weaponry, including rockets capable of reaching almost all of Israeli territory and a highly-advanced anti-air defense system. Israel has not lifted a finger to interfere with these violations.

This led the ambitious Lebanese general to conclude that Iran was on the winning side of current Middle East disputes and therefore the right sponsor for his bid to replace his fellow-Christian, middle-of-the-road Gen. Michel Suleiman, as president.

Aoun flew to Tehran shortly after the visit to Beirut on Oct. 6 of two senior US officials, Assistant Deputy Secretary of State David Hale and Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense Mary Beth Long. They came in response to an appeal from the Siniora government and president for help against the threatening Syrian troop and tank buildup on Lebanese borders.

Washington issued Damascus with a sharp warning not to invade Lebanon. Damascus responded by pouring more troops into additional border sectors.



The 'Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank'
http://www.stangoodenough.com/?p=161


The Land of Israel is the biblical, historic and exclusive homeland of the Jewish people. It is Israel's country. Although swallowed and made part of other empires through the ages, it has never been the national homeland of any other people.

At the heart of the Land of Israel lie the mountains of Israel, known since ancient days as Samaria and Judea. Today all who reject Jewish ownership of, and sovereignty over, these lands call them the "West Bank" or, more particularly, the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

In all of history the land has only been known as "the West Bank" for 19 brief years. But the name has stuck - and has been successfully employed to deaden awareness and resistance from Bible-believing people.

This land constitutes the bulk of what the world wants to give to the Arabs for the creation of a Palestinian state. For decades, the small nation of Israel has been under relentless international pressure to surrender it. Today, as 2008 and the second Bush administration are coming to a close, it increasingly looks like this land will indeed be taken from the Jews to appease the Arabs. And this as Jews and Christians look largely disinterestedly on.

Jewish and Christian readers, let me tell you a little about this "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

The "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank" is the very cradle of Jewish civilization.

In the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank" Israel's founding fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, lie buried.

Their wives lie with them or, as in the case of Jacob's wife Rachel, in Bethlehem - in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

Rachel's Joseph is also buried in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank" - in Shechem.

It was on the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank" that Abraham stood when God told him to look to the north, to the south, to the east and to the west, promising that all the land he could see would be given to his descendants, "forever."

Jacob was traveling through the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank" when he lay down to sleep, and dreamed of a staircase reaching into heaven, with angels descending and ascending as God spoke from on high saying: Jacob, the land on which you are lying is the land I am giving to you and your descendants after you as an everlasting possession. That place is called Bethel, or Beit El. It is in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

Joshua, Moses' successor and that great Israeli conqueror is buried in the Mountains of Ephraim, in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

For close on 400 years the nation of Israel worshiped God in the Tabernacle at Shiloh, in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

Gideon was threshing wheat in Ophrah, in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank" when the Angel of the Lord called him to judge the Israelites. Other judges, including the famous Deborah, lived in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

Ruth met Boaz, who wooed and married her in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

Their grandson, the Shepherd King David, was born in Bethlehem, in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank." For the first seven-and-a-half years of his reign he ruled in Hevron - or Hebron - in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

Ancient Jerusalem, which David then established as the capital of his kingdom, is in the heart of the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

The heart of Jerusalem is the Temple Mount. Site of Solomon's splendid first Temple and the Exiles-rebuilt second Temple, it is in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank."

And here, in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank" God's shekinah glory rested visibly on the only place the Almighty calls "holy."

Is it clear yet? Can it possibly be any more so?

Indeed it is clear. Those who do not see it simply don't want to.

I want to tell you something, dear Christians and Jews. The roots of Am Yisrael (the nation of Israel) are planted deeply and irremovably in the "Israeli-occupied Arab West Bank." Judea and Samaria is the cradle of Jewish nationhood. Permitting these territories to be given to another people (who, as every historian must testify, have never had a national homeland there or anywhere else) is to allow the Jews' roots to be cut off. This nation - which has survived two millennia of dispersion precisely because its roots have been in these lands, and because their hope never died of one day returning to that land as their ancient prophets repeatedly reminded them they would - will not survive the severing of those roots.

Cut the Jewish people off from the place where they began and they will be left withering, then rendered extinct. No nation can live without its roots.

Neither can any faith. Christianity cannot survive without Israel.

The gentiles nations have rejected the Jews' claim to these lands; have rejected their historic ties and and insist on treating Israel as a modern-day, 60-year-old democracy, and nothing more.

In so doing, they have rejected Israel's God.

All who worship the God of Israel must oppose them, or join them in opposing Him.



'Lost' synagogue reopens in Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017521458&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


A group of rabbis, politicians, philanthropists and right-wing activists gathered Sunday in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City to celebrate the reopening of a synagogue located about 100 meters from the Temple Mount.

"We are here today to mark the return of a Jewish presence to this house of prayer," said Rabbi Shmuel Rabbinovitz, rabbi of the Western Wall and the holy sites.

"Any claims leveled at us by Muslim leaders that we are trying to take control of the Temple Mount are downright lies. According to Jewish law, it is forbidden to go up on the Temple Mount because we are all ritually impure," he went on. "We must not allow the incidents in Acre to influence this joyous occasion. This synagogue is place of prayer and peace."

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski also rejected claims that reopening the synagogue was a belligerent act.

"I am astounded when I hear people who attempt to turn a simple act of restoration into a battle for control. This synagogue was deserted because of Arab violence. But that does not mean what we are doing now is violent just because some people say it is," he said.

Laurie Moskowitz Hirsch, daughter of Irving and Cherna Moskowitz, the philanthropists who bought the property rights to the synagogue and funded the refurbishing, told The Jerusalem Post that strengthening Jewish presence was the best remedy for Arab violence.

"The best answer for all this [the violence in Acre] is to bring in a large Jewish presence," said Moskowitz Hirsch. "And that means buying properties. I see the Ohel Yitzhak project as part of our ongoing effort to strengthen a Jewish presence. If the Arabs want to stay, they should behave."

The Ohel Yitzhak Synagogue - which was abandoned in 1938 by a group of haredi Jews calling themselves Shomrei Hachomot (Guardians of the Walls), in the wake of waves of Arab violence - is closer than any other Jewish house of prayer to the Temple Mount, according to Rabbinovitz.

The Temple Mount has long been a flashpoint for Jewish-Arab tensions. In 1990, rumors that Jews planned to start rebuilding the Temple sparked Arab riots that resulted in casualties. In 1996, Israel opened an archeological tunnel just outside the compound, leading to violent Arab demonstrations. In September 2000, a visit to the Temple Mount by Ariel Sharon triggered more violent demonstrations that led to what later became known as al-Aksa Intifada.

The celebration of the opening of Ohel Yitzhak came amid severely strained relations between Arabs and Jews after five days of sporadic violence in Acre, one of the few cities nationwide where Arabs and Jews live side by side.

However, participants in the Ohel Yitzhak ceremony, while aware of the disturbances and the potentially volatile atmosphere, focused on the joyous occasion of the refurbishing of one of Jerusalem's most important synagogues.

Known also as the Ungarin Shul after its Hungarian Jewish founders, Ohel Yitzhak, built in 1904, also housed a yeshiva in which students studied Torah 24 hours a day. The founders of the synagogue, who were disciples of the 18th-century scholar Rabbi Moshe Sofer - known as the "Hatam Sofer" - felt that their proximity to the Temple Mount obligated them to engage in perpetual study.

According to Ateret Kohanim, an organization that facilitates the purchasing of land in the Jerusalem area, the courtyard was purchased by the Hungarian Jewish community from the Muslim Khaladi family. Rabbi Yitzhak Ratsdorfer, a Belz Hassid and diamond merchant, financed the building of the synagogue.

In its heyday, about 5,000 Jews lived in the neighborhood, which is part of the Muslim Quarter today. Arab violence that began in 1921 and reached a peak in 1938 resulted in the abandonment of Ohel Yitzhak. Members relocated to Mea She'arim, and the building was rented to Arabs until the 1948 War of Independence.

During the 19 years of Jordanian rule that ended in 1967 with the Six Day War, the synagogue was almost totally destroyed. After Israel took control over the Old City, a book store was opened up on the ground floor of the synagogue, the only part of the building left intact.

Eventually Mati Dan, director of Ateret Kohanim, encouraged American Friends of Everest, a nonprofit organization directed by the Moskowitz family, to purchase the building rights from Shomrei Hachomot.

In addition to funding the building of the synagogue, the Moskowitz family also funded an extensive archeological dig that uncovered, among other things, a huge Second Temple-era staircase that led to the Holy of Holies.



Rabbis and Sheiks set up joint forum to calm Acre
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5641


Jewish and Arab religious leaders of the northern Israeli town of Acre agreed to join hands to calm the outbreaks that roiled the northern Israeli town for four days. Also Monday, Oct. 13, Tawfiq Jemal, the Arab driver who triggered the Yom Kippur Eve riots was detained on suspicion of reckless driving above the legal speed, endangering lives and offending religious sensibilities. A reinforced police contingent of 700 officers stays in Acre to keep the peace.

DEBKAfile reported earlier:

Israeli police chiefs played down the seriousness of the outbreak in the mixed northern town of Acre, which began with a noisy Arab motorist speeding through a Jewish street on Yom Kippur Eve, Oct. 8 and ended with an Arab mob screaming "Itbakh al Yahoud" (Slaughter the Jews)as they smashed and looted Jewish shops.

The ancient town of some 60,000 souls (of which one-third are Arabs) on Israel's Mediterranean coast north of Haifa had settled down Wednesday night to pray and fast on the Jewish Day of Atonement, on which vehicular traffic customarily stops all over Israel, when a car driven by an Arab resident hurtled at high speed down a mostly-Jewish street on the eastern side of the town.

Witnesses reported that pedestrians fled in panic from its path. The driver refused requests to turn down his blaring radio, whereupon a group of Jewish youths smashed his car windows. He parked, ran into one of the houses and pelted the crowd outside with household objects and curses.

Fifteen minutes later, four more cars drove up packed with Arab youths. They careened around the predominantly Jewish neighborhood shouting "Allah is Great" and "Death to the Jews." Meanwhile hundreds of young Arabs swarmed through Acre's main thoroughfare, Ben-Ami Street, smashing and looting hundreds of Jewish shops. They overturned parked cars and knocked over traffic lights, Hebrew signboards and fences. The next two nights, Jewish youths got into stone-throwing fights with Arab youngsters in revenge. Three Arab apartments were torched.

The police commissioner Dudi Cohen's first attempt to play the episode down and assign equal guilt to both sides was held responsible for the escalation. Mayor Lankri said the police were too soft in handling the initial incident. The driver was detained four days too late.



'Both religions must live together'
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017526138&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Following the first quiet night in Acre since the outbreak of Arab-Jewish violence on the eve of Yom Kippur, President Shimon Peres arrived in the divided town and met with Arab and Jewish leaders. The president expressed surprise over the good will that existed between the two sides, and stressed the need to keep the clashes from boiling over and spreading to other mixed towns.

"I was pleasantly surprised by the strength and the will to dialogue and make peace," Peres said following the meeting in Acre city hall. He congratulated Israel's chief rabbis for coming to Acre on the eve of Succot to try and bridge the gaps between the leaders of the Jewish and Arab communities. "We must prevent the spreading of riots and prevent anyone coming to physical harm. The sadness over all that has happened notwithstanding, I am glad that no one was hurt."

During the meeting with Peres, Acre leaders decided to assemble an inter-religious forum that will be compiled of rabbi and sheikhs, who will be charged with taking to the streets to calm the charged atmosphere. Peres explained that the point of the forum was to track the developments on the ground and try to maintain the tentative quiet established in the city.

"We can differ in terms of religion, but not in terms of the law," the president said, calling for the delicate coexistence to be upheld. "Both religions must be capable of living with a sense of mutual respect, and pray to a god who is one to us all."

The fact that no one had been killed in the initial outbreak of riots is "a miracle" and should be attributed to the police, Peres said. "It is important to state that at this point we are at a precipice and we must stop the deterioration. Everyone must speak to their respective publics and calm the air."

Despite the relative calm that established itself prior to the president's visit, police were planning to maintain a special presence in the city over Succot.

"Police forces will continue to emphasize preventing vandalism to religious symbols and civilians from coming to physical harm," Police Chief Insp.-Gen. David Cohen said. Cohen held a situation assessment with police commanders in the North ahead of the holiday. He stressed that the forces were instructed to show no tolerance to any who disrupted the peace.



Gaza Palestinians plant anti-tank IED trap on Israeli side of border
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5644


DEBKAfile's military sources report that Israel military scouts uncovered a high-powered anti-tank IED trap near Kissufim on the Israeli side of the Gaza border Sunday, Oct. 12. It was composed of four large interlinked devices rigged to blow up in sequence.

A fifth bomb just inside Gaza was located to detonate when Israeli reinforcements and emergency teams came up to tend to the casualties from the first series of explosions.

The IDF command believes the hand behind the bomb trap was the Iranian-backed Jihad Islami. It was intended to provoke a military clash with Israel forces chasing the bombers into Gaza that would shatter the ceasefire that has been more or less in place since June 20.

According to intelligence sources, Jihad Islami has determined to torpedo the truce in order to derail the Hamas-Fatah fence-mending talks taking place in Cairo under Egypt's aegis. Jihad may even have contracted the Dorghmush clan, which is at daggers drawn with Hamas, to set up the bomb trap.

Our Middle East sources report that Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas failed Sunday to persuade Syrian president Bashar Assad to bring his influence to bear on Hamas leaders to be more accommodating in the Cairo talks. Assad shrugged off Abbas' appeal and extended a frigid welcome to his Palestinian visitor.



Three Palestinian terrorists die in battle with Syrian troops
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5640


The melee erupted between Syrian special forces and suicide fighters of the Palestinian radical Fatah al-Islam in the Yarmoukh refugee camp in South Damascus. According to DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources, it was prompted by the arrest in Syria some weeks ago of the Palestinian group's leader Shaker al Abassi, who is associated with al Qaeda in Iraq. Damascus disclosed that a bomb vest was attached to the body of one of the three Palestinian killed in the battle, but did not name the date of the incident.

Our military sources report that last week, Syrian air force intelligence stopped five Fatah al-Islam suicide killers from blowing themselves up in the middle of the crowded Damascus' Abbasi Stadium. They could have killed hundreds of people.

That near-disaster may well be linked to the Yarmoukh incident - or else Syrian security forces are cracking down on Fatah al Islam cells in general.

Only ten days ago, 17 people, including a senior intelligence officer, were killed by a bomb car planted near two Syrian security installations on the highway to Damascus airport. Syrian sources have suggested that Arabs from outside the country were responsible. However, when the episodes are taken together, they lead security experts to trace the source of the trouble to the Palestinian refugee camps around Damascus.



Another Iraqi Christian murdered in Mosul
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5646


A businessman gunned down in his shop Sunday was the 12th Christian killed in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul since Sept. 28 in the worst violence targeting this minority in five years. Prime minister Maliki has deployed 1,000 police to patrol the four largely Christian districts of Mosul and set up checkpoints at churches, as some 3,000 have fled the city. Three homes of Christians were blown up Saturday.

The Iraqi authorities have not named the hand behind the murders of Christians except as an "anti-government groups working with criminal gangs." DEBKAfile's sources believe the campaign is waged by local radical Sunnis working with al Qaeda cells, which are still present in Mosul despite US operations.

The US military has detained six suspected "anti-government fighters" in Mosul one of whom is in believed to be in contact with a "foreign terrorist."

Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako said: "We are the target of a campaign of liquidation," and called on US forces to do more to protect Christians and other minorities.

The 800,000 Christians living in Iraq in 2003 have shrunk by a third as many fled the country, said Sako. In March, the body of the Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Paul Faraj Rahho was found in a shallow grave in the city two weeks after he was abducted.

United Nations special representative to Iraq Staffan de Mistura is concerned by the spike in the violence targeting the Christian communities in recent days. The agency had provided help to 102 families and emergency assistance on Sunday to another 400, he said.



GFA Leaders in India Join Dharna and Peace March Against Persecution
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07671.shtml


NEW DELHI, India, (christiansunite.com) -- Gospel for Asia leaders in India have joined with the heads of other churches, ministries and Christian institutions in a five-day rally in New Delhi to protest the ongoing atrocities against Christians in Orissa and other Indian states, even as GFA President K.P. Yohannan reported new persecution against the beleaguered believers.

Called a dharna, the event is an Indian method of seeking justice, traditionally by sitting at the door of one's debtor or wrongdoer and fasting until justice is obtained. This dharna began Sunday and will last until October 2, Mahatma Ghandis' birthday, when a peace march will end at the Raj Ghat, Ghandi's cremation site.

A one-day dharna was held at Raj Ghat last week to draw the attention of the government to the continuous violence against Christians. Representatives of other minorities joined with the Christians in this peaceful protest, and the decision was made to conduct the longer dharna this week.

"I believe the Lord is going to use this event," Dr. Yohannan said, "and I have instructed our leaders all over India to seek out other Christian leaders and meet with them and stand with them in this time of persecution."

GFA-related leaders participating in the dharna include Bishop Simon John, the Rev. Thomas Varghese, a number of senior staff members from GFA's Delhi office and staff members from a local GFA Bible college.

"Bishop Simon John is one of the most visible Christian leaders in North India speaking out against the abuse of the Christians in Orissa and other states," Dr. Yohannan noted. And at the one-day dharna, he was joined by H. D. Deve Gowda, a former prime minister of India.

Gowda came to New Delhi and sat with the Christian leaders. He criticized what he called "the continuous inhuman acts of the Bajrang Dal," the so- called "Hindu warriors," and appealed to the central government to stop the atrocities against the Christians.

"But sadly," noted Dr. Yohannan, "even as the dharna is going on, the situation in Orissa continues to get worse. But little is being reported to the outside world now because the media is being kept out, even as entire villages are being destroyed."

In a telephone report from India, Dr. Yohannan shared some of what the radical anti-Christian groups are doing.

"The politicians in New Delhi need to know that even now, the radical Hindus are going through many districts, putting a Hindu flag on the Hindu houses to identify them," he explained. "Then they are going to the Christian homes and giving them so many days to convert, or they will destroy their houses. When the Christians refuse to renounce their faith, the Hindus go through and tear down their houses."

Even late last week, he said, an article on the front page of a leading newspaper called the situation "awful," and reported that the government of Orissa is still not taking action.

"I pray that this dharna, along with the prayers of Christians around the world, will have an effect on the government," Dr. Yohannan declared.

In the meantime, he said, things grow worse, even in the places where Christians are seeking refuge.

"One of the worst things I've heard is that the police are harassing the people in the refugee camps-- some 15,000 Christians who fled for their lives--and trying to force them to go back to their villages, where the police know they will be attacked and possibly killed," Dr. Yohannan said. "I just have one thing to say to the Christians in the West: Keep on praying!"

The dharna will end at 2 p.m. Thursday with a peace march to Raj Ghat, where the Christian leaders will present a memorandum to top government officials calling for action to prevent further persecution of Christians and other minorities.

Gospel for Asia is an evangelical mission organization based in Carrollton involved in sharing the love of Jesus across South Asia.



Christians targeted by bombs in relief camps in Orissa, India
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07672.shtml


(christiansunite.com) - For the sixth week, VOMC continues to receive reports of violence against Christians in Orissa, India.

On the evening of September 29, Christians in three relief camps in Kandhamal district were the targets of bomb attacks. The explosions began at approximately 7:00 p.m. and went off in the villages of Nuagoan and Mahasinghi and the town of Baliguda.

Hindu militants continue to use violence and intimidation against Christians in the camps in an attempt to forcibly convert them. Several Christian families in the camps succumbed to pressure from militants and "reconverted" to Hinduism in exchange for being allowed to return to their homes in Ladapadar village.

Fresh violence is also persisting outside the Kandhamal camps, including burnings and bombings of homes and church buildings.

Pray for safety and protection for believers in the relief camps. Pray that Christians in India will stand firm in their faith despite severe pressure to deny Christ.

More information on the persecution of Christians in India is available at www.persecution.net/india.htm. A new video feature on the problems in Orissa is now available. Go to www.persecution.net/in-2008-10-01.htm.



Church hall burned and believers threatened in Sri Lanka
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07677.shtml


(christiansunite.com) - On September 23, a mob of approximately 60 people led by a Buddhist monk and a local politician set fire to a partially constructed church hall belonging to the Prayer Tower Church in Mailankulama, Puttlam district, Sri Lanka, according to a September 25 report from the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka.

Several Christians who tried to intervene in the attack were assaulted. Police officers were eventually able to disperse the mob. However, around midnight some of the attackers threatened to kill Christian children if they attended school the next day.

Another church member who had tried to protect the building was also threatened with death by the militants on both September 23 and 24. The arson attack was the second in the district in recent months as another church building was burned down on August 17.

Pray that attacks on Christians and church buildings in Puttlam district will cease (Psalm 33:14-22). Pray that those who act with hostility against Christians will repent and be drawn to faith in Christ.

To learn more about the struggles Christians in Sri Lanka face, go to www.persecution.net/srilanka.htm.



Three More Christians Killed in Orissa; Opposition in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07679.shtml


ORISSA, India, (christiansunite.com) -- Three more believers were martyred and twelve others were severely wounded in a fresh wave of violence in Orissa, India, on September 30. The latest attacks occurred in villages near Kandhamal, which has been the epicenter of violence against Christians since August 22.

The violence in Orissa came as attacks in two other Indian states targeted a Christian pastor and a GFA-related center for children.

An estimated 30 Christians have been killed and thousands of others have lost their homes since Hindu extremists went on a rampage after their leader, Swami Laxmananda Saraswati was murdered. His followers are seeking revenge for his death, for which Christians have been blamed. However, Maoists have claimed responsibility for the murder.

A Gospel for Asia correspondent in Orissa said Tuesday's attacks came at 4:30 a.m. when mobs of as many as 5,000 Hindu extremists attacked three separate villages. The extremists burned down about 150 homes and three churches. The Indian media reports that police opened fire in an attempt to disperse the violent forces.

The mob also reportedly attacked the local police station, demanding that two people arrested in connection with the ongoing riots be released. Media reports from within the country also indicate that the extremists have blocked all roads in and out of the area of the attack with rocks and boulders to prevent police from bringing in additional forces.

Since the violence began August 22, six people who attended GFA-related churches in Orissa have been killed by the Hindu extremists, who have personally attacked more than 2,000 believers from these churches. The extremists have also burned down 630 homes belonging to believers who attend GFA-related churches and destroyed 22 churches were GFA missionaries serve as pastors.

Many Christians are still hiding out in the dense jungles surrounding their villages. They are suffering from the effects of starvation, disease and monsoon flooding that wrecked the state in September.

With the continued violence and the roads blocked, it is impossible for GFA Compassion Services teams to get into Orissa to distribute aid.

Missionary Beaten in Uttar Pradesh
Gospel for Asia missionaries are also dealing with persecution in Uttar Pradesh, where Hindu extremists have attacked a pastor and have set their sites on a GFA-related center for children.

On October 1, the extremists attacked a church in Magapatti, Uttar Pradesh. The pastor of the church, who is a GFA missionary, was badly beaten in the attacks.

The extremists have also been systematically threatening the parents of the children in the center for the past few weeks. The center was closed as a precaution and no children were on site when the extremists attacked the missionary.

Christian Aid Workers Forced Out of Bihar
Another gang of anti-Christian extremists forced out Christian aid workers attempting to help survivors of flooding in Bihar. The incident occurred on September 25 in the state's Purnia district where aid workers were assessing needs and handing out cards for people to exchange for supplies. The group was planning to help at least 2,500 families.

The extremists accused the group of taking advantage of the situation to lure the people into Christianity by offering relief materials.

The aid workers, who have been in Bihar since September 1, were able to move their base to another area and continue operations.

Gospel for Asia is an evangelical mission organization based in Carrollton involved in sharing the love of Jesus across South Asia.



Shandong House Church Raided, Hymnals and Cross Confiscated
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07680.shtml


SHANDONG, China, (christiansunite.com) -- On September 20, 2008 at 9:30 a.m., approximately 20 plainclothes officers raided City Glory Gospel Church in Yantai, Shandong province. Officers forced members of the house church to register their names and leave the meeting site. Authorities also confiscated the property of the Christians, including the collection box, a large cross, Bibles and hymnals. Officials told the church members they had been tipped off about the meeting.

Pastor Liu and his wife, who were visiting from Taiwan, were speaking on prayer and parent-child relationships to the approximately 60-member congregation when the meeting was raided. Section Chief Sun Jing from Yantai Municipal Bureau of Religion and Director Sun Liping from Zhifu District Bureau of Religion showed their identification. Other officials were present, including the Deputy Director of the Municipal Bureau of Religion and authorities from the Public Security Bureau and Bureau of Security. Four of the officials were holding camcorders and cameras.

Pastor Liu, his wife and one church member were each taken to different rooms for more than two hours of interrogation. Afterwards, police demanded Pastor Liu and his wife no longer have contact with the church.

Law enforcement officials took the hard disk from one church member's computer and copied all the content. They also seized the collection box, a large cross, 15 Bibles and 42 hymnals. Officials later returned the Bibles, but on September 27 the church received a "Notice of Hearing on Administrative Penalty" and "Notice of Administrative Penalty" from the District Bureau of Religion. The Christians were told that the official charge is "setting up a gathering site without approval."

Send your letters of support for City Glory Gospel Church to:

Director Sun Liping
Zhifu District Bureau of Ethnic Religious Affairs of Yantai Municipality
76, Shifu Street, Zhifu District, Yantai
Tel: 0535-6215520

Director Qu Xiangwen
Yantai Municipal Bureau of Ethnic Religious Affairs
17-3, W. Yuhuangding Road, Yantai
Tel: 0535-6252597
Fax: 0535-6240140
Section Chief Sun Jing: 0535-6240113



Authorities destroy historic Christian building in Vietnam
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07682.shtml


(christiansunite.com) - On September 19, government authorities bulldozed a building in Hanoi, Vietnam after a long-standing land dispute between Christians and officials, according to a September 26 report from Compass Direct.

The building, which once served as the Vatican embassy and residence, was seized in the mid-1950s by the government. Late last year, Christians began holding prayer vigils and protests in response to the government's refusal to give back the land.

In February, government leaders promised to negotiate a settlement with the believers over the property on the condition that the prayer vigils ceased. The government took no action, however, and Christians resumed the vigils in August.

Christian leaders are calling the government's response to the believer's peaceful protests a serious setback to the religious freedom in Vietnam. Authorities are reportedly planning to use the leveled premises for a library and park.

Pray for the government to change its mind and act justly in this situation. Pray that the Lord will continue to strengthen Christians in Vietnam in their hearts, minds, and bodies as they face opposition to their faith.

For more information on the persecution of Christians in Vietnam, go to www.persecution.net/vietnam.htm.



Attack on church building in Kenya
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07687.shtml


(christiansunite.com) - The Redeemed Gospel Church building in Garissa, Kenya was attacked by a group of approximately 50 Muslim youths who stormed into a worship service on September 14, according to a September 29 article from Compass Direct.

The mob threw stones at the congregation, damaged the pews and walls, destroyed the pulpit and burned a church banner. The attack was sparked by tensions between local Muslims and Christians over a mosque that was constructed three metres from the church building in June 2007.

Upon the mosque's construction, the Christians complained that it blocked the church's entryway. Local authorities proposed that the Christians relocate to a new worship site but the believers refused to do so, arguing that the solution was only temporary.

At last report, the Christians were being prevented from returning to the ransacked church building and did not have a new building in which to worship.

Pray that these Christians will be encouraged to continue meeting together for worship despite opposition (Hebrews 10:23-25). Pray that Christ would work in the hearts of those who oppose Him, so that they too will know the Good News

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