Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Three pro-Israel activists face fines and jail for waving an Israeli flag at an anti-Israel rally in Vienna.
Austrian police are seeking a €100 fine or two days in jail for each of the protestors who showed their support for Israel at a December 8 anti-Israel rally that featured anti-Semitic slogans and death threats against Jews.
The charge against them states the activists "showed an Israeli flag at a rally in an extremely provocative way and manner that was visible for participants at the rally and thereby produced considerable offense and provocation among the Palestinian protesters."
Anti-Israel protestors were reportedly yelling the Muslim battle cry to massacre Jews: "Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning," and "Death to Israel."
When the three pro-Israel counter-demonstrators unfurled the Israeli flag, a scuffle broke out with Palestinian demonstrators. Police reportedly confiscated the Israel flag but permitted anti-Israel protestors to wave Palestinian and Turkish flags.
One of the activists, identified as "Matthias F." by Vice News, said the charge against them is "unbelievable. We simply held a flag." He said the men plan to appeal the penalty.
"It can't be that anti-Semitic slogans can be hollered and go unpunished while showing an Israeli flag is reason to be fined."
Growing up in a Muslim, Palestinian-refugee home in Kuwait, how could he have ever known that one single conversation would turn his world upside down? Experience Mark Halawa's incredible story in this new Israel Collective film.
Today's Hilarious feature - This is definitely the best episode yet.
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As dark falls, Adeeb Joudeh, a Muslim, makes his way through the stone alleyways of Jerusalem's walled Old City cradling the ancient key to one of Christianity's holiest sites.
Centuries ago, the imposing iron key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried, was entrusted to his family, one of Jerusalem's most prominent clans, says Joudeh.
He dates the arrangement back to the time of Saladin, the Muslim conqueror who seized the holy city from the Crusaders in 1187.
"Honestly, it's a great honor for a Muslim to hold the key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is the most important church in Christendom," Joudeh, 53, said.
Another of the city's oldest Muslim families, the Nusseibehs, were entrusted with the duty of opening and closing the church doors, a task they perform to this day. It requires firm fingers: The key is 30 cm (12 inches) long and weighs 250 grams (0.5 pounds).
Historians differ on the roots of the arrangement. Some researchers say Saladin most likely bestowed the guardianship upon the two families in order to assert Muslim dominance over Christianity in the city. It also had financial implications, with a tax from visitors collected at the door.
Documentation, however, only goes back to the 16th century, Joudeh said, displaying dozens of "Fermans," or royal decrees by rulers of the Ottoman empire, bestowing the key custodianship upon his family.
Jerusalem's Old City today houses sites that are sacred to all three major monotheisms. It and other east Jerusalem areas were captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel has since declared the entire city its undivided capital. This status is not recognized internationally and is rejected by the Palestinians who want East Jerusalem as capital of a state they hope to found.
Joudeh says his key is about 800 years old. Another copy he holds broke after centuries of use.
"I started learning this when I was eight years old. It's handed down from father to son," said Joudeh. "I have been doing this for 30 years, and I feel that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is my second home."
The Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic denominations share custody of the church, where tensions often run high over control of its various sectors.
Christianity scholar Yisca Harani said having Muslim families in charge of the key and the doors helps somewhat in keeping the peace between the denominations.
"The church is definitely a model of co-existence," Harani said.
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It all happened in the course of one night, and it happened quite suddenly.
Last Thursday night, I noticed that YouTube demonetized my interview with a former KKK Grand Dragon who is now an associate pastor in an African- American church, claiming it was "Not suitable for all advertisers"? Why wouldn't it be? It was a great, positive, redemptive story, one that the whole world should hear. Why flag it?
The demonetizing of this video was the first thing that got my attention, but I thought to myself, "It's probably because it has KKK in the title."
For months now, we had noticed that almost any video we had with "Islam" in the title would get demonetized. But when we would request a review from YouTube, some of the videos would get reinstated.
Still, we had seen a drop of more than 65 percent in our AskDrBrown YouTube income, despite producing more, not fewer, videos. What was causing this to happen?
We are a non-profit ministry, and every dime that comes in goes back into ministry work. Why the precipitous decline?
Well, no sooner did I see that the Grand Dragon video had been flagged than I spotted a note on our channel from YouTube. It explained that, if we had seen a drop in video income, it could be that our videos had been marked as not suitable for all advertisers.
That's when the shocking reality began to unfold.
It wasn't just a few videos here and there that were flagged. It was dozens of them. No, wait, it was pages of them. No wait, pages and pages of them.
Literally, in front of my eyes, I watched the pages grow: from two pages, to five, to seven, to 10, to 15, to 20, to 32 pages, each with 30 videos—so, more than 900 videos in all.
It wasn't individual videos being flagged. It was our account that was flagged.
Suddenly, the vast majority of our videos had been demonetized, since the content was ostensibly too controversial.
We're talking about videos like:
Part 1: Sarah from Brooklyn, where an 88-year-old Orthodox Jewish woman shares her delight in discovering my radio show (sounds pretty ominous, no?)
Does God Pray? (notice, nothing here about Islam, LGBT issues, or politics; nothing controversial at all other than a discussion of an interesting Jewish tradition)
Lee Strobel Shares His Testimony (yes, the same Lee Strobel whose testimony was enshrined in the Case for Christ movie; how dangerous!)
Debates I had with rabbis were flagged; powerful stories, like a Muslim woman being healed by Jesus, were flagged; videos where I answered questions like, "Should Christians Homeschool Their Children?" or "Did Jesus Claim to Be God?" were flagged, along with videos of spiritual encouragement (like the one encouraging believers to look to the Lord in the midst of chaos).
Teaching videos were flagged (like the one explaining that the preface to the King James Version of the Bible refutes King James-onlyism), along with motivational videos (like the one where I talked about how I lost 95 pounds). All these were flagged, along with the many videos that focused on LGBT issues or radical Islam or politics. Seriously?
For months, we've been hearing about the YouTube crackdown on conservative voices, especially those who have the temerity to confront certain "controversial" issues. And we've known that, with the ADL joining forces with YouTube, blatant censorship could be next.
We've watched as Prager U videos were temporarily removed. We've heard others cry foul as their videos were demonetized, most recently major internet players like Paul Joseph Watson Diamond and Silk. (Whether or not you agree with these voices, they deserve the same rights and privileges others have on YouTube.)
Still, it was quite a shock to see that the vast majority of our videos were demonetized in a single night. (When I posted this video on Facebook, I thought all our videos had been flagged; actually, just the vast majority were. The overall impact is virtually the same.)
Our YouTube channel is still young and growing. But we do have more than 900 videos posted, over 33,000 subscribers, and more than 5 million views so far. And we absolutely plan to use the medium of YouTube to reach as many people as possible.
But the company's recent actions, which are as indiscriminate as they are discriminatory, must be challenged and along with others, we plan to do that very thing. We are also working on alternate means to produce, fund and distribute our videos, so stay tuned for more information in the coming days.
For the moment, we're rejoicing in the opposition we have received, taking it as a good sign overall. And we're confident that if this door closes, God will open a better one.
Our immediate message to YouTube is simple: We will not be silenced.
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