Showing posts with label Liberia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liberia. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

4 Countries Who Played Big Roles in Israel's Restoration - SEAN SAVAGE JNS.ORG


Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, an evangelical Christian, is a strong supporter of Israel. (Reuters photo)

4 Countries Who Played Big Roles in Israel's Restoration

SEAN SAVAGE/JNS.ORG  CHARISMA NEWS
Throughout the seven decades since it declared independence, Israel has waged an ongoing struggle for legitimacy, navigating the global arena to find its place among the nations.
While many factors went into Israeli independence, the United Nations Partition Plan of 1947 and subsequent Resolution 181 laid the foundation. As with any contentious vote, there was significant lobbying and horse trading involved. But ultimately, 33 countries voted in favor, securing the necessary two-thirds majority in the U.N. General Assembly for the establishment of a Jewish and Arab state in the former British Mandate of Palestine.
For Israel's 69th Independence Day, JNS.org looks at how four countries actively involved in the historic 1947 vote not only shaped Israeli history, but have robust current relationships with the Jewish state and might play key roles in the country's future.
Guatemala
This small and largely impoverished Central American country—with significant natural resources, rich history and vast biodiversity—represents an important partner for Israel as the latter seeks to build non-traditional allies worldwide.
Late last year, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales made a historic visit to Israel, where Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein noted the key role Guatemala played in the 1947 vote by enlisting 13 Latin American and Caribbean—the most from any regional bloc—to vote in favor of the partition plan.
"It could be that without Guatemala, the resolution on that fateful day would not have passed, and history would be very different," Edelstein said.
During his visit, Morales—a devout evangelical Christian—said he looked forward to bolstering agriculture, science, technology and security ties with Israel.
Liberia
As one of the few independent African states in 1947, Liberia's vote was essential to Zionist supporters. The country—founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century—came under intense lobbying from the U.S. which, at the time, threatened to cut its international aid.
Relations between Israel and Liberia have become increasingly important, especially in areas of international aid, agriculture and technology as the Jewish state aims to build relations with sub-Saharan Africa—a key priority of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel was on the frontline helping Liberia deal with the deadly and widespread Ebola virus as the disease raged in West Africa from 2014-2015, killing thousands. Last June, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf visited Israel, where she noted the Jewish state's support.
"Throughout my visit with my delegation we wanted to learn about the extraordinary developments which Israel has made, especially in agriculture, which we look at with wonder each time we see it," Sirleaf said. "You have done wonderful things in the field of water. There are a lot of similarities between Liberia and Israel."
Liberia's agriculture minister, along with a dozen high-level African officials, participated in an agricultural conference in Jerusalem last December. Later this year, Netanyahu is scheduled to attend a major African summit in Togo, where Liberia is expected to participate.
India
Unlike the other countries listed here, India voted against the 1947 partition plan, despite Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru famously being lobbied by Albert Einstein to support the resolution. India was in a similar situation as Israel at the time. Both countries were emerging from British colonial rule, and faced nationalist and religious conflict over proposed partitions. Nevertheless, Indian leaders were concerned with maintaining relations with the Muslim world, especially following their own messy partition with Muslim-majority Pakistan.
But the events of 1947 are in the past. In subsequent decades, India and Israel formed a deep bilateral partnership centered on defense and technology. In July, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become the first Indian head of state to visit Israel as the countries mark 25 years of diplomatic relations.
In recent months, India and Israel have signed new defense deals worth billions. In February, Modi approved the $2.5 billion purchase of an advanced anti-aircraft system, and another $1.5 billion in defense deals are set to be completed ahead of Modi's visit.
According to the Hindustan Times, "Though Israel is among the top four military hardware suppliers to India, with more than $1 billion in annual sales to New Delhi, the Modi government is keen to ensure that this visit is not focused on defense ties alone, but encompasses long-term economic and technological cooperation, resulting in a free-trade agreement."
Australia
Australia was one of four British Commonwealth countries voting for the creation of Israel, the others being South Africa, New Zealand and Canada. At the time, Australian External Affairs Minister H.V. Evatt chaired the U.N. committee that recommended acceptance of 1947's partition plan.
In May 1949, when Israel was accepted as a U.N. member, Evatt—who was serving as president of the U.N. General Assembly—welcomed the Israeli delegation, saying, "I look forward to the time when the wounds of the peoples of the Middle East will be healed, when we shall find friendships and, indeed, comradeship among these peoples."
Netanyahu in February embarked on a five-day visit to Australia, the first such trip for an Israeli prime minister, amid a growing focus on building Israel's relations with the Asia-Pacific region.
"Australia and Israel have a strong relationship, which is evident in a number of ways—not least of which has been Australian support for Israel politically, with the economic ties growing dramatically in recent years," Jeremy Jones, director of international affairs for the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, told JNS.org during Netanyahu's visit.
Jones added, "It is not unreasonable to think that the development of Israel's ties with Asia has given Australia—with its geographic, economic and political ties with Asia—a higher significance in Israeli diplomatic thinking."
This article was originally published at JNS.org. Used with permission.
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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Israel's Role in the Battle Against Ebola

Israel's Role in the Battle Against Ebola

Tuesday, September 30, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff
Israel over the past month has been playing an increasingly central role in the global battle against the Ebola epidemic in West Africa that the UN Security Council recently deemed a “threat to international peace and security.”
Over 6,000 cases of Ebola have been reported and over 3,000 people have died of the disease in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since the start of the year. The actual numbers are estimated to be much higher, though most cases are concealed for fear of forced quarantine.
On at least two occasions in recent months Israel has quarantined people suspected of having contracted the virus during visits to Africa. Both cases turned out to be false alarms.
Israel has dispatched medical teams to Sierra Leone and Cameroon to train local doctors on how to better combat the Ebola outbreak. Sierra Leone has also requested medication for treating the symptoms of Ebola, and Israel has reportedly promised to provide.
There is no known cure for Ebola, though American drug company Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. has produced an experimental treatment known as ZMapp. The only problem is that the relatively limited supply of ZMapp has been exhausted, and the company says it will take months to produce more.
An Israeli biopharmaceutical company, Protalix, says it is ready to step in and fill the gap.
“Today our production capacity exceeds our needs, and we would certainly be happy to have the company producing the Ebola drug have us produce the drug for them. We would know how to do it effectively, in large quantities, and in a relatively short period of time,” a representative of Protalix told Channel 2 News.
Meanwhile, a smartphone app developed atop an Israeli-made platform is already having a major impact on the spread of Ebola.
Called “About Ebola” and available for both iOS and Android, the app’s makers successfully leveraged the Snapp platform to get the crucial software to market in a mere three days.
About Ebola has since been downloaded thousands of times by medical workers in the field and by residents of the affected areas. It has even been rapidly translated into local rural languages thanks to the flexibility of Snapp.
When the UN Security Council two weeks ago gathered in emergency sessions for the first time ever in response to a health crisis, Ambassador Ron Prosor said that “Israel is proud to be playing its part” in the urgent global effort to defeat Ebola.
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Saturday, August 9, 2014

Is Deadly Ebola Outbreak the First Bowl of ‘Revelation’ Judgment? - Jennifer LeClaire

Watchman on the Wall, by Jennifer LeClaire

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Is Deadly Ebola Outbreak the First Bowl of ‘Revelation’ Judgment?

Margaret Chan
World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan addresses the media after a two-day meeting of its emergency committee on Ebola, in Geneva Friday. West Africa's raging epidemic of Ebola virus is an "extraordinary event" and now constitutes an international health risk, the WHO said. (Reuters/Pierre Albouy )
It's official. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa an international public-health emergency. Stopping the global spread of this deadly—and generally fatal—virus will demand a swift, mass response.
"Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own," WHO Chief Dr. Margaret Chan said at a news conference in Geneva, according to an Associated Press report. "I urge the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible."
Over 900 people in West Africa have died—and those are only the ones we know about. Ebola experts are warning of an African apocalypse in the face of an unprecedented outbreak that has left hundreds lying dead in the streets, The Daily Beast reports.
 "The disease is uncontained and out of control, the international response has been a failure," Ken Isaacs, vice president of Program and Government Relations for Samaritan's Purse, told The Daily Beast. He thinks the reported number of infections and deaths "represent just 25 to 50 percent of what is happening."
Dr. Heinz Feldmann, chief of virology at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told the AP that the "situation is very critical and different from what we've seen before. There are so many locations with transmission popping up, and we just need more people on the ground."
Prophets Claiming God Sent a 'Plague'
Now, Liberia's church leaders are claiming the deadly outbreak is a plague God has sent to punish the nation for "immoral acts" such as homosexuality. Liberia's Daily Observer reports that more than 100 bishops, pastors, general overseers, prophets, evangelists and other ministers of the gospel who are part of the Liberia Council of Churches have resolved:
"God is angry with Liberia, and that Ebola is a plague. Liberians have to pray and seek God's forgiveness over the corruption and immoral acts (such as homosexualism, etc.) that continue to penetrate our society. As Christians, we must repent and seek God's forgiveness."
Are Liberia's prophets and pastors right? Is the Ebola outbreak God's judgment on the nation for immoral acts? And, if so, shouldn't we expect it to spread to the doorsteps of Europe, Asia and America, whose citizens are practicing many of the same immoral sins? Or is this just one small piece of the bigger end-times picture? Consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 24 in context to the age:
"For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matt. 24:5-14).
Discerning the Signs of the Times
Let's look at the landscape as it compares to Jesus' words. Persecuted Christians are being run out of Iraq en mass. There is war in the Middle East, airplanes being shot out of the sky over Ukraine, drug wars south of the U.S. border, and, of course, culture wars over God's Word in many nations.
Meanwhile, a man-made famine is on the horizon in Sudan, an huge earthquake just hit Hawaii as it waits for two hurricanes to clobber its shores, an earthquake in China on Wednesday left nearly 600 dead. Earlier this week, earthquakes hit Johannesburg, South Africa; Indonesia; and Napa County, California. And an earthquake just hit Greece this morning.
A couple of days ago I asked on my Facebook page, "What are your thoughts on the Ebola outbreak? I am praying about this and its prophetic implications. Is God speaking to you about this?" I got hundreds of responses. Some think the Ebola outbreak is the first bowl of judgment in the book of Revelation. Others say judgment is coming. Still others think the news of the virus is just fear and propaganda.
How Should Christians Respond?
I don't think the Ebola outbreak the first bowl of judgment—but I don't think it's propaganda either. We need to rightly interpret the signs of the times (see Matt. 16:3). This is certainly not the first time we've seen deadly outbreaks of viruses, but we should take notice when experts like Isaacs make these kinds of warnings:
"I think we are going to see death tolls in numbers that we can't imagine. If we do not fight and contain this disease, we will be fighting this and containing this in multiple countries across the world. The cat is, most likely, already out of the bag."
No, I don't think it's the first bowl of judgment. Believe me, there won't be any wondering or speculation when the first bowl of judgment is poured out. But I do believe it's time for the church to rise up and stop playing patty-cake with pastor on Sunday. I do believe it's time for saints to hit their knees in intercession for the lost—and the living. I do believe we need to settle in our hearts the reality of Psalm 91 and refuse to walk in fear. I do believe that we need to recognize the signs of the times and respond accordingly. What do you believe?
Jennifer LeClaire is news editor of Charisma. She is also director of IHOP Fort Lauderdale and author of several books, including The Making of a Prophet and The Spiritual Warrior's Guide to Defeating Jezebel. You can email Jennifer at jennifer.leclaire@charismamedia.com or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
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