Some Soliders Up in Arms After Officials Remove Cross From U.S. Military Chapel in Afghanistan

Some U.S. servicemen are up in arms after a large cross was removed from outside a chapel on a military base in northern Afghanistan. The base, called Camp Marmal, is German and hosts NATO forces. The chapel in question is an interfaith house of worship that is overseen by the U.S. Army.
Soldiers say that they felt comfort as a result of having the cross visible from the outside of the chapel. In an e-mail to Politico, one serviceman said, “Sometimes the Church and the ability to openly express religious views ultimately gets people through the deployments over here.”
According to this particular soldier, when he asked a chaplain what had happened to the cross, he was told that it needed to be taken down. The faith leader, however, didn’t share any additional information on the matter.
“We are here away from our families, and the chapel is the one place that feels like home,” added another service member. “With the cross on the outside, it is a constant reminder for all of us that Jesus is here for us.”
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/some-soliders-up-in-arms-after-officials-remove-cross-from-u-s-military-chapel-in-afghanistan/
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EGYPT MAY END PEACE AGREEMENT WITH ISRAEL

It's not only Israeli analysts who fear that even the cold peace between their country and Egypt may be in danger as Islamic forces rise in the wake of Egypt's revolution.

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday told the Washington Post that there is a "very strong possibility" that following upcoming elections, Egypt's new rulers will revoke the Camp David Accords.

That is especially true if the Muslim Brotherhood comes to power. The group is contesting over 50 percent of the parliament seats in the next election, and is currently the only major political party active in the country.

Abdullah said that Jordan will soon be "the last man standing" in terms of nations in the region that have friendly relations with Israel.

There are many who disagree with Abdullah's conclusions, and even the Post tried to qualify his statements by noting that so-called experts (presumably the same who failed to see the 'Arab Spring' coming in the first place) find talk of Egypt ending its peace treaty with Israel wildly speculative.

Those experts insist that Egypt wants to maintain its flow of American financial aid and military equipment, and won't do anything to jeopardize that. However, the Muslim Brotherhood and the many Egyptians who back the group have repeatedly stated throughout the revolution that they have no interest in continuing their nation's reliance on American backing, and that they view adherence to their radical Islamic ideals as far more important than Western money.

"The peace between Israel and Egypt is no longer holy," declared Egyptian diplomat and Secretary-General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi at a recent rally. "It [peace with Israel] cannot be considered equal to the holy Koran."

MORE: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/News/tabid/178/nid/22992/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Vatican Calls for Global Authority on Economy

The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment of a "global public authority" and a "central world bank" to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises.
A major document from the Vatican's Justice and Peace department should be music to the ears of the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.
The 18-page document, "Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority," was at times very specific, calling, for example, for taxation measures on financial transactions.
"The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence," it said.
It condemned what it called "the idolatry of the market" as well as a "neo-liberal thinking" that it said looked exclusively at technical solutions to economic problems.
"In fact, the crisis has revealed behaviours like selfishness, collective greed and hoarding of goods on a great scale," it said, adding that world economics needed an "ethic of solidarity" among rich and poor nations.

Read more: http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/vatican-economic-authority-pope/2011/10/24/id/415466

SITUATION IN SYRIA COULD SPELL DISASTER FOR ISRAEL AND THE WHOLE WORLD

Israeli officials have reportedly warned Syrian dictator Bashar Assad that if he uses the downfall of his regime as an excuse to launch missiles at Tel Aviv, Israel will respond with a massive assault against Syria, Lebanon and Gaza.

Unnamed Israeli government sources told News First Class that the threat was relayed to Assad via European intelligence agencies.

The Israeli counter-threat came just days after Iran's Fars news agency quoted Assad telling Turkey's foreign minister that he would launch hundreds of ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv if the West interferes in his violent crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Syria.

"If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv," Assad reportedly said.

Israel's threat included Lebanon and Gaza because Assad is said to have boasted that his own missile barrage on Tel Aviv would be complemented by Hizballah and Hamas attacks on Israel.

Were that scenario to play out, Assad is also reportedly confident that Iran would launch an attack on US warships in the Persian Gulf.

MORE: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/News/tabid/178/nid/22971/language/en-US/Default.aspx

OCTOBER 2: CONGREGATIONS VOTING TO LEAVE THE ELCA

1. St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI * first vote

2. Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Royal, IA * first vote

3. Danevang Lutheran Church, Danevang, TX * first vote

NO JEWS ALLOWED IN NEW PALESTINIAN STATE

The Palestinine Liberation Organization (PLO) ambassador to the US, Maen Areikat, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that the Palestinian state his regime is trying to gain recognition for at the UN next week should be free of Jews.

"I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated," said Areikat. Of course, any talk by Israeli politicians of removing Arabs from the Jewish state is immediately branded as racism and aggressively dismissed by the international community.

Israeli and Jewish leaders were incensed by the Palestinian official's remarks.

"It is advisable for the world's nations to take these statements into account when discussing the Palestinian request to establish an independent state," said Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who filed official statements of protest with the US and European powers.

Turning the tables on those who want to make Israel synomymous with history's most racist regimes, Minister of Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein noted:

"After an unending de-legitimization campaign and attempts to brand Israel an apartheid state, it appears it is the Palestinians who seek apartheid. ...[Areikat's] comments conjure up Judenrein motifs."

Judenrein was the term used by the Nazis to describe the goal of their campaign to cleanse Germany and Europe of Jews.

Speaking of the Nazis, former US National Security Council official said that it appears the planned Palestinian state will be the first nation since World War II-era Germany where Jews are forbidden to live by law.

The UN General Assembly is scheduled to start deliberating on recognizing a Palestinian Arab state on September 21. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will address the assembly on September 23, the last day of the first session of deliberations.

MORE: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/News/tabid/178/nid/22948/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Geologists on Canary Islands commence study on El Hierro swarm of 6000 quakes

September 15, 2011 – CANARY ISLANDS – The Canary Islands Government says it has commenced an in-depth geological survey of El Hierro, the smallest of the islands, in an effort to determine the source of an earthquake swarm. The unprecedented seismic activity commenced on 19 July. In excess of 6,000 earthquakes have been recorded up to 14 September 2011. More than two dozen tremors were recorded during Wednesday (14 Sept.) alone. The vast majority of the tremors have been recorded in the northwest of the 278.5-square-kilometre island at El Golfo, the location of a massive landslide that created a 100-metre high tsunami almost 50,000 years ago. The earth tremors have ranged between 1 and 3 magnitude, the National Geographic Institute (IGN) reported. However, the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands and Actualidad Volcánica de Canarias have both reported a sizeable decrease in the number of tremors recorded during the first two weeks of September, compared to the latter half of August. The National Geographic Institute confirmed on Wednesday that it has commenced a geological study of the epicentre of the tremors in the town of Frontera. Local officials admitted that the origin of the seismic movements could be volcanic, but further examination is required.
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http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/geologists-on-canary-islands-commence-study-on-el-hierro-swarm-of-6000-quakes/

Marking 9/11, Israeli Leader Warns of ‘Ultimate Terrorist Nightmare’

CNSNews.com) - Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu marked the tenth anniversary of 9/11 by warning that the struggle against terrorism is "at its peak," with Islamic radicals set on achieving the "ultimate terrorist nightmare."

"This struggle is not over," he said during a cabinet meeting on Sunday. "We are still in the thick of it. It is clear that it will be indescribably huge if the radical Islamic forces or regimes acquire the ultimate weapon - weapons of mass-destruction - and the terrorists will stand together and will be able to operate under the nuclear umbrella of a radical regime, or even with tools for mass-destruction that they will acquire."

More: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/marking-911-israeli-leader-warns-ultimate-terrorist-nightmare

'Turkish Turkish Navy sending 3 warships to eastern Mediterranean'

Turkey is planning to send three warships to the the Eastern Mediterranean to defend against Israeli vessels if necessary and ensure freedom of navigation for Turkish ships, Today's Zaman reported on Monday.

The Turkish ships will provide protection for ships bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and confront Israeli warships outside of Israel's territorial waters if necessary, according to the report.

More: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=237670

Turkey: Warships to Escort Gaza-Bound Aid Vessels

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan threatened Thursday to dispatch Turkish warships to escort aid ships from his country to Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Erdogan also said that Turkey had taken steps to stop Israel from unilaterally exploiting natural resources from the eastern Mediterranean, according to Al Jazeera's Arabic translation of excerpts of the interview, which was conducted in Turkish.
Erdogan's comments came as Turkey downgrades diplomatic ties with Israel and heated up rhetoric against the Jewish State in the aftermath of the publication of the UN Palmer Commission report on the Mavi Maramara raid and Israel's refusal to answer Turkish demands to apologize for the incident.
Read more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/147697

PA Turns Tables on Obama, Uses His Speech to Back UN Bid

The Palestinian Authority has turned the tables on President Barack Obama, using an old speech to support its campaign for the United Nations recognition that he opposes.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his aides have launched an all-out media and diplomatic assault ahead of this month’s scheduled Arab League request to the United Nations that it declare the PA an independent state based on its unilateral demands.

President Obama has been adamant that Abbas reach his goal through the American-sponsored “peace process” that calls for direct talks with Israel.

However, the president, in his usual smooth and convincing oratory, told the U.N. General Assembly last year, "When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel.”

More: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/147637

IDF Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg says the 'Arab Spring' may bring an 'Islamic Winter' - and War

'Arab Spring' revolutions have destabilized the region and raised the likelihood of war, top general says.

"It looks like the Arab Spring, but it can also be a radical Islamic winter," IDF Home Front Command chief Major General Eyal Eisenberg said during a speech at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv on Monday.

"This leads us to the conclusion that through a long-term process, the likelihood of an all-out war is increasingly growing," Eisenberg said.

"Iran has not abandoned its nuclear program. The opposite it true; it continues full steam ahead," he said.

"In Egypt, the army is collapsing under the burden of regular security operations, and this is reflected in the loss of control in the Sinai and the turning of the border with Israel into a terror border, with the possibility that Sinai will fall under the control of an Islamic entity."

"In Lebanon, Hezbollah is growing stronger within government arms, but it has not lost its desire to harm Israel, and the ties with Turkey aren't at their best," He added.

Referring to what he characterized as the possibility of a "radical Islamic winter," Eisenberg warned "This raises the likelihood of an all-out, total war, with the possibility of weapons of mass destruction being used."

More: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/147568