Born-again Palestinian embraces Israeli soldiers
August 03, 2010 - Ryan Jones, Israel Today
Last month, Saed Awwad, a member of the Christian "he-man" group Team Xtreme, became a focus of attention at two reconciliation events in Tel Aviv.
When Team Xtreme was invited to participate in the Elav worship conference, organizer Rick Ridings of the 24-hour prayer ministry Succat Hallel was reportedly unaware of Awwad's Palestinian background. Once Ridings found out, Awwad was asked to share his testimony with the hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian young adults who had gathered there.
Awwad also shared his testimony at the Tiferet Yeshua Messianic congregation in Tel Aviv. Tiferet Yeshua pastor Ari Sorko-Ram, who also heads Maoz Israel Ministries and istandwithisrael.com, had teamed up with Ridings in funding room and board for the young Jewish and Arab participants at Elav.
At Tiferet Yeshua, as he had at Elav earlier, Awwad recounted how despite growing up in an Arab Christian home, he hated the Jews of Israel every bit as much as his Muslim neighbors. He actively took part in the First Intifada, hurling stones and anything else he could get his hands on at Israeli soldiers on a daily basis. Read full article...
I am completely shocked at such bloodcurdling comments...
Allegedly intelligent people denying facts and truths...Oliver Stone attacks Jews, Israel
July 26, 2010 Israel Today Staff
Prominent American film director Oliver Stone told London's Sunday Times at the weekend that the Nazi Holocaust wasn't really so bad, that the Jews control the media, and that Israel has been ruining US foreign policy for years.
In the interview, Stone blasted what he called America's focus on the Holocaust, and blamed it on "Jewish domination of the media." He said his upcoming documentary "Secret History of America" would put Hitler and his policies toward the Jews "in context."
In addition to getting Americans to focus too much on the Holocaust, Stone also accused Israel and American Jews of severely damaging US relations abroad. "They stay on top of every comment, the most powerful lobby in Washington. Israel has f***ed up United States foreign policy for years."
Stone also defended Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, insisting that Americans view him in an unfairly negative light, which, of course, is also the fault of the Jews.
Israel's minister for Diaspora Affairs, Yuli Edelstein, issue a statement decrying Stone's outburst.
"When a man of Stone's stature says such things, it could lead to a new wave of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism, and it may even cause real harm to Jewish communities and individuals," Edelstein warned.
Tisha B'Av: Time to stop mourning!
July 20, 2010 Israel Today Staff
Tens of thousands of Israeli Jews gathered at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on Tuesday to mark Tisha B'Av and publicly mourn the loss of Israel's ancient temples and the "Exile of the Divine Presence."
Millions more Jews from Israel and around the world joined in by reciting prayers of lamentation.
But Rabbi Chaim Richman, director of the Temple Institute of Jerusalem, insists the time has come to stop mourning and to turn Tisha B'Av into a day of yearning and anticipatory prayer, especially in light of the rebirth of the State of Israel.
"Tisha B'Av was not intended to be a day of perpetual mourning, but rather, a bridge to the future; the yearning and desire which our mourning inspires is designed to motivate us to rebuild," Richman wrote on the Temple Institute website.
Richman noted that while at least half of all Israelis want to rebuild the Temple (see next article), "we hear many excuses, such as 'who are we to rebuild the Temple? We are not ready. The time has not yet come. The Temple is a thing of the past.'"
But, the rabbi explained, this is not different than the attitude of the people of Israel during the time of the prophet Haggai, who urged the rebuilding of the Temple following the end of the Babylonian exile. "Thus said the Lord of Hosts: This nation has said, 'the time has not yet come.' But I say, it is time for the Temple of God to be rebuilt!" (Haggai 1)
"The renewal of Israel and the building of the Holy Temple is a process that has begun and is now unstoppable," concluded Richman. "This nation is preparing to 'rise up like a lion' (Numbers 23:24). We are moving ever closer to the day on which we can truly say, without jaded cynicism or facetiousness but with true sincerity, that Tisha B'Av is no longer relevant, for it will have turned into a day of gladness."
Poll: Israelis want their temple back
July 19, 2010 Israel Today Staff
Israelis on Monday evening marked the beginning of Tisha B'Av, the national day of mourning over the loss of Israel's ancient temples. The First Temple was destroyed 2,500 years ago by the Babylonians, and the Second Temple was demolished 2,000 years ago by the Romans.
To mark the day, the Knesset TV Channel conducted a survey asking Israelis if they desire the building of a Third Temple. A 49 percent plurality said they do. Only 23 percent said they do not want a Third Temple.
However, 48 percent said they don't think the State of Israel should take active steps to reclaim control of the Temple Mount and build a Third Temple there. Israelis across the board fear the hostile and violent international and Muslim reaction that such a move would certainly evoke.
The Muslim authorities that today control the Temple Mount play off those fears, and Jews are rarely allowed to visit the site. Jews and Christians alike are forbidden to utter prayers or carry Bibles atop the Temple Mount.
New luxury mall opens in Gaza City
July 19, 2010 Israel Today Staff
focusing on this tiny coastal strip completely ignored the mall's opening.
The residents of Gaza City - capital of the most destitute territory on earth, if mainstream media reports are to be believed - joyously celebrated the opening a new luxury shopping mall at the weekend.
The grand opening of Gaza Mall was a carnival-like experience complete with clowns and other entertainers.
Despite the significance of the event for local residents, the thousands of foreign media correspondents who spend nearly all their time
Journalist and media analyst Tom Gross, who has made it his mission of late to call out the press on its biased reporting on Gaza, noted that apparently the new mall doesn't fit with the popular image of Gaza as a land wallowing in squalor thanks to the limited Israeli embargo on it.
"On a day when (because EU Foreign Policy Chief Baroness Ashton is in Gaza) the BBC and other media have featured extensive reports all day long on what they term the dire economic situation in Gaza, why are they not mentioning the new shopping mall that opened there yesterday?" Gross asked.
Gross also noted that the mall is clear evidence that Palestinian and European accusations that Israel is denying Gaza building materials are outright lies.
Visit Tom Gross' website for additional information and a number of photographs from the Gaza Mall's grand opening.
Jewish masses lay claim to the Temple Mount
July 13, 2010 Israel Today Staff
More than 10,000 Israeli Jews gathered at the foot of Jerusalem's Temple Mount on Monday night to remind their own government and the international community that the biblical holy site belongs to them.
Israel National News reports that those gathered recited a "pledge of allegiance" to a Jewish Temple Mount where one day a temple to the God of Israel will again stand.
Speakers at the event decried the fact that today pretty much everyone except Jews are allowed to ascend the Temple Mount freely. Muslim authorities currently control the Temple Mount, and foreign non-Jewish visitors are allowed to ascend the plateau with little or no trouble. But Jewish visitors are regularly turned away by police if there is any fear of a violent Muslim reaction to their presence.
Jews and Christians both are forbidden to pray atop the Temple Mount or to carry Bibles into the compound. Numerous times, Muslim authorities at the site have chased down and driven off Jews and Christians spotted saying silent prayers.
Palestinian leader calls for Arab invasion of Israel
July 08, 2010 Ryan Jones, Israel Today
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, branded a "moderate" by the international community, let his true colors show during a recent meeting with writers and journalists when he stated that he would favor a pan-Arab military offensive against the Jewish state.
The official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on Tuesday wrote that when Abbas met recently with media figures at the home of the Palestinian ambassador to Jordan, he recounted that during an Arab League Summit in Libya in March he told his fellow leaders that he still preferred war against Israel, but could not do it alone.
"We are unable to confront Israel militarily, and this point was discussed at the Arab League Summit," said Abbas. "There I turned to the Arab States and I said: 'If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it.'"
The Arab states of the Middle East have tried at least three times to militarily destroy Israel, but each time ended up losing territory to the Jewish state.
The "Palestinian crisis" that was birthed after Israel's liberation of Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank") in 1967 is seen by many Israelis as nothing more than a more calculated and patient approach to ultimately removing Israel from the map.
Yasser Arafat admitted as much in 1993 when he told fellow Palestinians in a pre-recorded message played on Arab television as he signed the "Oslo Accords" that his PLO's guerilla tactics and eventual land-for-peace diplomacy was a phased strategy that would lead to the complete replacement of Israel with another Arab Muslim state:
"Do not forget that our Palestine National Council accepted the decision in 1974. It called for the establishment of a national authority on any part of Palestinian land that is liberated or from which the Israelis withdrew... This is the moment of return, the moment of gaining a foothold on the first liberated Palestinian land."
The 1974 decision referenced by Arafat was the PLO's official acceptance of a phased strategy for destroying Israel, as opposed to the more direct strategy of military conquest that had been employed up until the Yom Kippur War a year earlier.
Despite co-founding the PLO with Arafat, Abbas has long been whitewashed by an international community eager to impose its idea of peaceful conflict resolution on the region. That is why Abbas' remarks in Arabic, such as the one above, are regularly ignored by the world media and Western leaders. But Israelis warn that his views, and the influence they have an the Palestinian general public, ensure that a genuine and lasting peace is impossible to achieve.
Concert for Gilad Shalit -
Zubin Mehta and Shlomo Artzi
Even in the Midst of Criticism by the World, God Seems to be Blessing Israel
by Aimee Herd, BCN Breaking Christian News, June 28, 2010
And, I find it both interesting and honoring that God seems to be using Christians to bring much of the blessing!
I must admit, I was surprised to read recently that, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Staticstics, this past month of May brought record-breaking tourism to the Holy Land.
And, even while hostility toward Israel appears to be increasing globally, it's obvious to me that God still has His hand on His beloved nation.
The David TowerIn a news release by Sean McCartney of Infinity Concepts, statistics state that 309,000 tourists visited Israel in May 2010, marking the 6th consecutive month of record-breaking tourism there. (Photo: David Tower, Israel/ Paul Segal)
Over 1.4 million tourists have visited Israel since the beginning of the year, an increase of 42% over the same period last year and 11% more than 2008, which was Israel's record year for tourism to date.
The increase, maintains McCartney, may be partially due to Infinity's campaign with the slogan, "Visit Israel—you'll never be the same," and how it has dramatically increased the amount of Christian tourists.
President and CEO of Infinity Concepts, Mark Dreistadt noted, "For Christian travelers to Israel, the single greatest comment is the spiritual change that they experience. Israel is the land of the Bible. There is no other place like it on earth! There are many enjoyable vacation destinations in the world, but only Israel connects you with the roots of your faith in a way that is truly life-changing."
Regardless, one would think that the continued clashes with Hamas and the situation in Gaza, it would greatly hurt the tourism industry—a vital part of Israel's economy. But it hasn't. In fact, they are breaking records from the influx of visitors.
Sounds like God's favor to me. And, I find it both interesting and honoring that God seems to be using Christians to bring much of the blessing!
Prayer Alert!!!!
The conflict is far from being over; just the contrary, it looks like it's going to begin just now... Several more ships have set sail toward the Israeli coast for Gaza in order to break through the blockage. Iran has announced to send their marines in order to escort the flotilla to "teach Israel a lesson", as reports Arutz Sheva. This is an obvious act of provocation! It is not about aid supplies nor has it been the first time: Gaza even prohibited the import of the goods from the Mavi Marmara, which means they didn't want them, for the didn't need them! Apart from that: the expiry date of the medicine supplied was more than a year out of date... Who is shipping such a dangerous garbage and calling it "aid supply"???
The following articles will show the proceedings of the present situation. I simply cannot grasp the fact that the world knowingly twists the reality and claims evident lies as truth... A new pseudo-reality is being created... Let's not forget into whose hands this is playing...
Why does nobody mention the fact that Israel is driving tons of aid supply each day into Gaza? Clearly and verifiably there is no humanitarian crisis (several articles here). Openly the Palestinians boast that they won't keep quiet before Israel has vanished from the map - yet the nations remain silent, they simply ignore it. This is what the Palestinians are counting on and ingratiate themselves with the politians, human rights organizations, etc... When will the world wake up? As mentioned before, it won't take long before things will explode in Middle East. Yet this then is biblical prediction...
It shocks me to see that my own country Germany seems to draw away from Israel... especially Germany... have we not learned from our past??? I want to draw your attention once again to Zecharia 12-14. Please read these chapters!!! As far as I understand it, things described there are evolving infront of our very eyes!
Report: Israel, US preparing for war with Iran
June 24, 2010 Israel Today Staff
A flurry of news reports over the past week indicate that Israel and the US are readying for an imminent military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
On Wednesday, Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported that about a week ago a squad of Israeli military aircraft landed at a military airstrip in Saudi Arabia, of all places. It was reported earlier this month that Saudi Arabia had agreed to let Israel pass through its airspace in order to strike Iran.
The Israeli aircraft reportedly landed at the airport in Tabuk in northwest Saudi Arabia, which according to the report will act as the central base of operations for the Israeli air campaign against Iran.
Fars cited a local Saudi resident who said the Israeli presence and cooperation between the ruling local Saudi prince and the Jewish state was the talk of the town.
Saudi Arabia does not have formal relations with Israel, and publicly refers to the Jewish state as an enemy. But Riyadh is just as fearful of an Iranian nuclear bomb as Israel, and would likely resort to any means to avoid having its regional economic influence disturbed.
At the same time, Iran's Press TV reported that a very large contingent of US ground forces had massed in neighboring Azerbaijan. The independent Azerbaijani news website Trend confirmed the report.
Those reports came just days after the Pentagon confirmed that an unusually large fleet of US warships had indeed passed through Egypt's Suez Canal en route to the Persian Gulf. At least one Israeli warship reportedly joined the American armada.
US embassy staff told to avoid road opened to Palestinians
June 22, 2010 Israel Today Staff
Further demonstrating the ludicrous nature of international pressure for Israel to prematurely ease security measures against the Palestinians, the US Embassy in Tel Aviv this week told its staff to avoid using a highway connecting Jerusalem to Tel Aviv at night after it was recently reopened to Palestinian traffic.
Highway 443 was the scene of numerous murderous roadside attacks up until 2002, when Israeli security forces finally banned all Palestinian traffic on the road.
Earlier this year, left-wing Israeli activists playing off American pressure for Israel to ease the living conditions of Palestinian Arabs, successfully petitioned Israel's Supreme Court to reopen the road to Palestinian traffic. They argued that the ban constituted unfair collective punishment.
Israelis that use the road regularly argue that it is unfair for their lives to be put at risk just so Palestinians can reach their jobs or homes a few minutes faster.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security detail has also forbidden him to use the highway in light of the Supreme Court ruling, which was implemented earlier this month. During the few weeks since the road was reopened to Palestinian traffic there have been several stone-throwing attacks against Israeli motorists.
Grocery store in Gaza. Where is the "human crisis"
the world is speaking of??? Photo by Israel Today.
In today's edition of Arutz Sheva I found an article on a critical German TV report from June 10 on the passengers on the "Gaza-Flotilla" who apparently were not really "peace activists". Watch the translated report - interesting...!
Arab to Jews: You cannot make peace with us
June 20, 2010 Israel Today Staff
A top Syrian businessman at the weekend insisted that the Middle East peace process is a farce, and that there will never be peace or coexistence between average Arabs and the Jews of Israel.
"Don't let the moderate Arab leaders delude you," Yasser Kashlak, who is of Palestinian descent, said on Hizballah's al-Manar television, "[you] cannot make peace with us."
"Our children will return to Palestine, you have no reason for coexistence," he continued. "Even if our leaders will sign a peace agreement, we will not sign."
Kashlak is financing a flotilla of ships departing from Lebanon with the intent of breaking the Israeli maritime blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. He said the Jews of Israel should seriously consider getting on those ships and returning to Europe, as they will never find peace in the Middle East.
During his tirade, Kashlak referred to the Jews as "Europe's refuse," suggesting that Jews are foreign to the Middle East, a concept those supportive of the "Palestinian cause" have long advocated. It ignores the fact that there has been an unbroken Jewish presence in the region for at least 3,000 years. That presences has been documented by successive ancient empires from the Assyrians to the Babylonians to the Persians to the Greeks and, most thoroughly, by the Romans.
Kashlak's remarks also ignored the general consensus that relations between average Palestinians and Jews on the ground in Israel were far better before the introduction of Yasser Arafat's PLO as the representative of the Palestinians. In the absence of the Arab leaders Kashlak derides, and the extremist Muslim figures they opened the door to, most Jews and Arabs tend to get along.
Peres reiterates: Gaza blockade could end tomorrow
June 20, 2010 Israel Today Staff
The world accuses Israel of imposing an inhumane and unjust blockade on the Gaza Strip. But Israeli leaders stress that the blockade could end in a single day if only Gaza's terrorist rulers would renounce their ways and come to the negotiating table.
Israeli President Shimon Peres reiterated that message in an address to the annual Jewish Agency gathering in Jerusalem on Sunday.
"Would Gaza leaders denounce terror, stop the building of tunnels and shooting missiles, stop attempting to kidnap Israeli soldiers and release Gilad Shalit who was abducted on Israeli territory, there would be no need for any sort of closure or blockade," said Peres. "If Gaza would turn to peace, she would have peace and there would be no need for flotillas."
Peres said he and other Israeli leaders still don't understand why after removing every Jews from Gaza in 2005, "the rulers of Gaza started to fire thousands of missiles against civilian life in Israel. For what reason? For what purpose?"
Much of the international community acknowledges that Hamas and its terrorist allies have wrongfully targeted Israeli civilians with their missiles, but view it as a far bigger crime for Israel to practice what they call "collective punishment" against the people of Gaza. What they and even Peres fail to note, however, is that in 2006, the people of Gaza and the rest of the Palestinian-controlled territories overwhelmingly voted for Hamas to take over their government.
Lebanese flotilla to Gaza to be crewed by women
June 20, 2010 Israel Today Staff
A Lebanese ship preparing to set sail from Beirut to break the Israeli maritime blockade of Gaza is crewed entirely by women.
Dubbed the "Mariam" in honor of the Virgin Mary, the ship will carry 50 women, most of them Christian and the rest Muslim, along with cancer medication. Many of the women are also suffering from cancer.
The ship's leader, Samar Alhaj, told the Nazareth-based Israeli Arab radio station Radio A-Shams that using women in such a way is "the new secret weapon" against what she described as "the thieving enemy."
Alhaj insisted that the Israel, which has warned it will not allow the ship to reach Gaza, will use unprovoked violence against the female crew. When Israel intercepted a five-ship flotilla from Turkey earlier this month, the boarding party was forced to resort to deadly force against the crew of the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara. However, the other four ships were seized and redirected to Israel without violence, as their crews did not attack the Israelis.
The Lebanese ship is being sponsored by Hizballah. The group's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, personally tasked Alhaj with leading the mission. Alhaj is the well-known wife of a Lebanese security officer believed to have participated in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was an opponent of Hizballah and the group's Syrian allies.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noting that Israel will intercept the ship, and that if the international community wants to avoid the possibility of another loaded confrontation, it should preempt the provocative flotilla.
(June 18, 2010) - According a report by Arutz Sheva in their today's edition, the UN is showing a forged film on the events of "Gaza-Flotilla" and denies rectification to Israel...
Israel, Palestinians and Egypt oppose lifiting Gaza blockade
Monday, June 14, 2010 Israel Today Staff
That's right. It's not only Israel that opposes lifting the partial blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in the face of mounting international pressure. The Palestinian Authority and Egypt, too, recognize that such a move would be disastrous for the region.
The European Union was scheduled to meet on Monday and use the recent deadly Israeli raid on a so-called "humanitarian aid" flotilla to Gaza to escalate pressure on Israel to lift the embargo entirely.
European leaders have insisted that the Gaza blockade is "unsustainable" and constitutes unfair collective punishment (in doing so they ignore that the general public of Gaza actually voted Hamas into power).
Ahead of that meeting, Israel's Foreign Ministry published a document insisting that the embargo, and in particular the naval blockade, is working, and that Hamas is struggling to remain in power.
Israel received unexpected backing on this front from Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas when he told US President Barack Obama last week that the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza should not be lifted. Abbas said that while he supports a slight easing of the embargo, removing it entirely, especially the naval blockade, would be seen as a victory for Hamas and boost the terror group considerably.
That according to European diplomats who spoke to Israel's Ha'aretz daily newspaper.
The Europeans also said that Egypt had made clear that it opposed lifting the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza, as doing so would make it impossible to verify what was entering the Hamas-ruled territory.
Of course, both Egypt and the Palestinian Authority took advantage of the opportunity presented by the flotilla raid to condemn Israel as an oppressor.
Reports on the conflict concerning the Gaza-Flotilla Mavi
Marmara and the various reactions and actions thereof
you can find here from its begin on May 31 until June 8, 2010
New Development in Israel: Temple Mount Police Allow Rabbi to Prostrate Himself in Prayer
Teresa Neumann, Breaking Christian News BCN, May 27, 2010
"In ancient times, Jews who ascended the Mount fully prostrated themselves as part of the prayers there. The regular Jewish prayer services in synagogues include several instances of bowing in the direction of the synagogue's Torah Ark, and partial prostration is carried out on some holidays."
FOUNDING EDITOR'S NOTE: While these Orthodox Rabbi's do not accept Jesus (Yeshua), might it be the beginning of Israel finally realizing they need something more than their rituals? Might it be that G-D is preparing them to receive even the Messiah? We know that day WILL COME. -Steve Shultz, BCN.
Not only was the group's ascension not blocked at the Mount, as in previous attempts on Passover, but police on the Mount were even courteous and friendly. more click here
On the Mount (Photo: Israel National News)(Jerusalem, Israel)—A report from Arutz Sheva states that on May 25 a large group of hareidi-religious Jews ascended the Temple Mount and received friendly service from the police there—unlike the harsh police treatment that Jews typically receive on the Mount in recent years. One of the Jews was even reportedly allowed to fully prostrate himself in prayer, facing in the direction of the location of the ancient Temple—which is now occupied by a Muslim mosque.
Founder of "Jews for Jesus" went home
Evangelische Nachrichtenagentur idea, 21. Mai 2010
San Francisco (idea) – Moishe Rosen, Founder of the international mission organization Jews for Jesus passed on to be with our Lord on May 19 in San Francisco, California.
Raid against Israeli Goods
German edition of Israel Today, May 20, 2010, ih Redaktion
Thousands of Palastinian volunteers und police have raided shops and apartments of their own people in search for goods produced by Israel and particularly settlers. Whatever they found was being confiscated and later burned on a pile. Like this foodstuffs, cleaning supplies and plastic hoses for irrigation among others, were being distroyed. This was the first campaign of its kind, to search for Israeli produce. It was organized by a special group that had been set up especially for this reason, in order to hinder the sales of Israeli produce in Palastinian territories as well as in Jewish settlements.
"Israelis – go back to Europe"
from the German edition of Israel Today, May 18, 2010
After officials of the Palestinian National Authority, PNA, finally agreed to the peace talks, the official PNA TV station was broadcasting a totally different message. Last week, a program was seen in which an appeal to all Israelis was made to go back to their former countries like Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia and Ethiopia in order to make space for the displaced Palestinians to come back and settle in Haifa, Akko and Jerusalem. Yet the countries that had expelled Jews were not being mentioned. The Israeli organization "Palestinian Media Watch" picked up that broadcast and translated it. Itamar Markus of PMW said that the TV programs by the PNA are a better indicator as to where the wind is blowing with the Palestinians than the statements made toward foreign press media.
Palestinians don't like Israelis quoting from Bible
May 16, 2010 Israel Today Staff
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat last week blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for quoting from the Bible in order to draw a connection between Jerusalem and the Jews.
In his Jerusalem Day address to the Knesset marking the 43rd anniversary of the reunification of the city under Israeli control, Netanyahu highlighted the prominent place Jerusalem holds in the Jewish Bible, where it is mentioned no fewer than 850 times (including the times the city is referred to as "Zion").
A day later, Erekat told Reuters that he found it "distasteful, this use of religion to incite hatred and fear."
Erekat insisted that the eastern half of Jerusalem is "an occupied Palestinian town" that must be surrendered by Israel.
The Palestinians have worked hard over the past few decades to erase the Jews' millennia-old history in Jerusalem, including claims that there never was a Jewish temple atop the Temple Mount and that Jesus was in fact a Palestinian Arab.
PA television replaces all Israel with ‘Palestine’ on map
By ICEJ News, 18 March 2010
According to Palestinian Media Watch on Tuesday, the new children’s teaching program “Chicks” being aired on the official Palestinian Authority television station includes a segment showing the entire country of Israel covered by a map of “Palestine.” The phrase “Explore Your Country” is written in English and Arabic on the side of the map. Such a program is another effort by PA broadcasting authorities to delegitimize the State of Israel, said PMW director Itamar Marcus. “If you look at Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades; all of these terror groups use the exact maps as the PA. The only difference is the PA map doesn’t have rifles on it,” said Marcus. These maps “absolutely” represent a denial of Israel’s existence, he said.
Palestinians adamantly deny Jewish-historic connections to the nation
Palestinians against acceptance of Israel as a Jewish nation
November 04, 2009, newsletter of German edition of Israel Today
One of the conclusions of Israels for the current peace process is for the Palestinians to accept Israel as the national and historic home of the Jewish people. Yet this past week, the PA authorities under Mahmud Abbas refused this again by saying that the Jews had no historic ties at all to the land and are foreigners or intruders. In a PA TV show on October 22, a leading Palestinian historian and a high official of the PA said that Israeli Jews had no connections with whatever nation of the Mid East and that they would invent archaeological finds in order to support their wrong statements. The Palestinians themselves, in contrast, would have a history of 4000 to 5000 years in this land. They also said that Palestinians were Arabs und thus being successors of Abraham who, however, wasn't even born 4000 years ago. These past decades unleashed an avalanche of historic findings which testify to a close and rich history of the Jewish people in the region, whereas there is almost no find at all older than 1.300 years when Muslims conquered the region.
