Maoz Israel Report - Birthing Israel, Changing History: The Balfour Declaration - Ari & Shira Sorko-Ram

November 16, 2017	Follow Maoz Israel Ministries
Birthing Israel, Changing History: THE BALFOUR DECLARATION      By Shira Sorko-Ram (As featured in the November Maoz Israel Report)           November 2, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Balfour Declaration, in which Great Britain declared that "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object..."        When Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas heard that Britain was preparing to celebrate the centennial of this famous document and all that it has represented concerning the rebirth of the state of Israel, he appealed to Arab leaders "to sue the British government for this historic crime that has brought upon the Palestinian people a tragedy from which it suffers to this day."        Abbas urged Britain "to atone for this crime" by taking a series of measures, including "apologizing to the Palestinian people; recognizing the Palestinian state without delay; revoking the Balfour Declaration, and issuing a new declaration in its stead that does justice for the Palestinians, and compensating the Palestinians for the suffering caused by the declaration, just as Germany compensated the Jews for the Holocaust."      Continue Reading...

Bordering on the Absurd - Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

Bordering on the Absurd

Friday, October 07, 2016 |  Charles Gardner  ISRAEL TODAY

Amidst the ongoing conflict over land allegedly occupied by Israel, what is the truth and why is there so much confusion? The Bible is quite clear about it: the Jews were promised this land (significantly more than they presently occupy) thousands of years ago (Genesis 17.8). But even on a political level, Israel has every right to this much fought-over real estate. It’s just that politicians have agendas, along with short memories.

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, at the United Nations, has called for a Palestinian state based on the borders proposed in the 1947 UN Partition Plan[1] – borders they rejected outright themselves at the time. So how is it likely to satisfy them now? Their real problem – then and now – is the existence of a Jewish state.

The 1947 UN plan recommended the land being divided to create independent Jewish and Arab states existing alongside one another. Even this was a betrayal of Jewish aspirations, for they had originally (through the 1920 Treaty of San Remo, which has never been superseded) been promised a much larger area including the land now known as Jordan.

But in a compromise designed to appease the wrath of dissenting Arabs, Britain imposed a ‘two-state solution’ by granting the region east of the Jordan River to the Arabs. It duly became known as Jordan. But memories are short, and there was soon talk of a further ‘two-state solution’.

Nevertheless, the Jews accepted the UN offer despite the fact that it represented only a fraction of the territory originally promised them. Yet the Arabs rejected it, and are still seen by many as the victims.

Now Abbas calls on the UN to declare 2017 “the international year to end the Israeli occupation of our land and our people.”[2]

But since when did it belong to the Palestinians, who did not exist as a people in 1947? In fact Jews from the region were more likely to be known as Palestinians then.

Following the War of Independence in 1948, Jordan (not the PA) illegally took control of Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem. But when threatened with annihilation by surrounding Arab countries in 1967, Israel won an astounding victory in just six days and duly captured this disputed territory, which was certainly never ‘Palestinian’.

Now Abbas is claiming that Jewish settlements in these territories are an obstacle to peace.[3]

But as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu put it, the conflict is not about settlements. “If the Arabs had said yes to a Jewish state in 1947, there would be no war, no refugees, no conflict. And when they finally say yes to a Jewish state, we’ll be able to end this conflict once and for all.”[4]

Or as he told the UN, the core of the conflict is the “persistent Palestinian refusal to recognize the Jewish state within any boundary.”[5]

As to the PA’s demand that a Palestinian state be free of Jews, Mr Netanyahu described that as “ethnic cleansing”, adding that “the concept of ethnic cleansing for peace is absurd”.[6]

Even U.S. President Barak Obama has got himself in a muddle over this, referring to Israel’s persistence in occupying “Palestinian land”, which is patently not the case, even in international law.[7]

Meanwhile the Israeli leader invited his PA counterpart to address the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and told him: “You have a choice to make. You can continue to stoke hatred, as you did today (at the UN), or you can confront hatred and work with me today.”[8]

However, Bibi was uncharacteristically upbeat about the future. Citing growing relationships with countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and even among Arab nations, he predicted that delegates would soon get calls from their leaders with a short message: “The war against Israel at the UN has ended.”[9]

But he was scathing about the General Assembly bias displayed last year when they passed 20 resolutions against his democratic state versus just three for the rest of the world where human rights violations abound.[10]

Britain was also taken to task by the PA president in his address at the UN for issuing the so-called Balfour Declaration in 1917, which promised to do all it could to create a homeland in Palestine (as the region was then known) for the Jewish people.[11]

In fact Abbas has threatened to sue Britain over this declaration, which he claimed had reaped catastrophe, misery and injustice for his people.

But Mr Netanyahu countered that if he went ahead with such an action, “he should also sue Cyrus the Great for letting the Jews come back to Israel to rebuild the Temple, and organize a class action suit against Abraham for buying a parcel of land in Hebron”.[12]

We must pray for greater understanding – amongst politicians, writers and clergymen – of the principle that blessing the Jews is the key to individual and national prosperity (Genesis 12.3). Palestinians and other enemies of Israel would save their beleaguered people so much heartache, poverty and strife if only they would buy into this principle – so well understood and practiced by the biblical Ruth.

As a Moabite, Ruth was seen as a ‘foreigner’, yet she blessed her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi in staying by her side for her return to Judah (not Palestine) after losing her husband and sons. As Boaz put it, she had left her father, mother and homeland to come and live with a people she did not know. And his prayer for her was: “May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” (Ruth 1.11f)

As with Ruth, who came from present-day Jordan, most Palestinian leaders are also foreigners from various Arab lands in the region (for example, PLO founder Yasser Arafat was Egyptian). The idea of Palestinian nationality was a political invention of recent times to provide an excuse for driving out the Jews. But we praise God for the growing number of Arabs and Palestinians who are being reconciled with their Jewish brothers through the atoning death of Jesus on a cross outside Jerusalem.

Pray that eyes will continue to be opened to the wondrous truth expounded by St Paul in his letter to the Gentile Ephesians, reminding them that they were once “separated from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…” (Ephesians 2.12–14)

---

1. Bridges for Peace, September 23 2016  ↩
2. United with Israel, September 23 2016  ↩
3. Arutz–7/Jerusalem News Network, September 11 2016  ↩
4. United with Israel, September 25 2016  ↩
5. United with Israel, September 23 2016  ↩
6. Arutz–7/JNN, September 11 2016  ↩
7. Obama told the UN: “Surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land.” (Arutz–7, JNN September 27 2016)  ↩
8. Bridges for Peace, September 23 2016  ↩
9. Jerusalem Post/JNN, September 24 2016  ↩
10. JNN, September 24 2016  ↩
11. Bridges for Peace, September 23 2016  ↩
12. Jerusalem Post/JNN, September 24 2016  ↩

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Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon, and Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com

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Cash for Killers: US Funding Palestinian Terrorists? By Erick Stakelbeck CBN News Correspondent

Cash for Killers: US Funding Palestinian Terrorists?

By Erick Stakelbeck

CBN News Correspondent

Friday, June 27, 2014

Obama administration officials have praised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as someone with whom Israel can do business.

Yet he recently chose to do business with those committed to Israel's destruction.

Abbas struck a deal with Hamas making the U.S.-designated terror group part of a united Palestinian government.

Although that unity deal may soon be dead following Hamas's alleged kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, Abbas's initial embrace of the terror outfit raised serious questions about his commitment to peace.

Financing the Flames

"Peace doesn't have a chance because peace doesn't pay," said award-winning investigative journalist Edwin Black. "Because anytime that they want some income, all they've got to do is commit an act of terrorism."

In his latest book, Financing the Flames, the New York Timesbestselling author details how the Palestinian Authority rewards terrorists who have killed Israelis.

"As soon as a terrorist commits an act of terrorism against an innocent civilian in Israel -- whether that's cutting the throat of a child or stabbing a man standing at a bus or blowing up a building," Black said. "As soon as that man does that, he goes on a special salary from the Palestinian Authority, under Palestinian law -- a law known as the Law of the Prisoner."

The more Israelis killed, the bigger the financial reward.

"He gets a graduated salary depending on how heinous the crime is," Black continued. "If he kills five people and gets five years, he gets one salary. If he kills double that number and gets double the sentence, he gets double the salary. And so this actually incentivizes the misery, mayhem, and carnage that the terrorists commit."

Black told CBN News this is a long held policy. He spent time on the ground interviewing Israeli and Palestinian officials and found that the PA does not hide this cash-for-killers program.

"There's an entire ministry, called the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners, that actually oversees the distribution of this money and there is its counterpart in the civilian sector known as the Prisoner's Club," Black explained.

"Now this money constitutes some of the best salaries in the Palestinian Authority," he continued. "So you can literally go from poverty to wealth in the Palestinian Authority by committing an act of terrorism."

"This amounts to about 6 percent of the Palestinian budget," he said. "This money is paid on a priority basis. You can make as much as $3,000 or $4,000 a month while in prison just for committing this act of terrorism."

US Footing the Bill?

According to Black, some of the money can be tracked back to American taxpayers because the U.S. currently provides $400 million per year to the Palestinian Authority.

"There's a law against any of our money benefitting terrorism," Black said. "But in point of fact, approximately 6 percent of all the money we fund to the Palestinian Authority is probably diverted by them to fund terrorists' salaries."

"The money comes. It goes right to the prisoner. The prisoner signs a P.O.A. -- a power of attorney. He transmits that money to his bank account, to his lawyer, to his girlfriend, to his family, to his mother, to his organization," he explained.

"And this is the system we have in place. Our State Department knows it. Our administration knows it," Black told CBN News.

In the wake of Abbas's deal with Hamas, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced legislation that would cut funding to the Palestinian Authority.

The Obama administration, however, plans to continue engaging the PA -- meaning more terrorist salaries paid for, in part, by U.S. taxpayers.

"They would rather starve than see their prisoners, who are their heroes, go without remuneration for the acts of violence that they have committed against innocent civilians, homes, buses, trains," said Black. "It's an astonishment. And I think it's time for America to wake up."

Watch the video: Cash-for-Killers-US-Funding-Palestinian-Terrorists

Netanyahu to Abbas: I expect your help in rescuing our boys

Netanyahu to Abbas: I expect your help in rescuing our boys

June 16, 2014 Israel Hayom

Shlomo Cesana, Gideon Allon, Yori Yalon, Shlomi Diaz, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

In first conversation between the two leaders in over a year, prime minister says: Terrorists kidnap innocent children, while we save lives of Palestinian children in our hospitals • Yair Lapid urges "zero tolerance toward terrorism."

For the first time in over a year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, demanding assistance in rescuing three Jewish teens believed to have been abducted by Hamas terrorists.

Gil-ad Shaer, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frenkel have been missing since Thursday night, when they hitchhiked home from a school near Hebron.

"I expect your assistance in returning the abducted boys home and in capturing the kidnappers," Netanyahu told Abbas. "The Hamas kidnappers came out of Palestinian Authority-controlled territory, and returned to Palestinian Authority-controlled territory."

"This incident reveals the nature of the kind of terror that we face. Terrorists kidnap innocent children, while we save the lives of sick Palestinian children in our hospitals. That is the difference between our humane policy and the murderous terrorism against us. You must understand the implications of your partnership with Hamas -- it is bad for Israel, bad for the Palestinians and bad for the region."

Abbas condemned the kidnapping, issuing a statement saying, "The Palestinian Authority would like to reiterate the importance of not being dragged into violence on any side, especially in light of the fact that our position is that we must continue to work intensively to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners."

Abbas stressed that the "Palestinian security forces were making every effort to maintain peace and stability and to prevent the situation from devolving into chaos."

Meanwhile Monday, the diplomatic-security cabinet convened another special session where defense officials briefed ministers about the developments in the investigation and the potential retrieval of the missing teenagers.

"These teenagers were kidnapped and the kidnapping was carried out by Hamas," Netanyahu told reporters on Sunday, further pledging "serious consequences" should any harm befall the three.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement Sunday that the "United States strongly condemns the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers and calls for their immediate release. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and we hope for their quick and safe return home."

"We continue to offer our full support for Israel in its search for the missing teens, and we have encouraged full cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian security services," Kerry said.

"We understand that cooperation is ongoing. We are still seeking details on the parties responsible for this despicable terrorist act, although many indications point to Hamas' involvement. As we gather this information, we reiterate our position that Hamas is a terrorist organization known for its attacks on innocent civilians and which has used kidnapping in the past."

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon leveled harsh criticism at the Palestinian Authority Sunday, saying, "The Palestinian Authority, which some call moderate, has just recently struck an alliance with Hamas, a terrorist organization that advocates the murder of Jews and aspires to overrun Judea and Samaria. Hamas is responsible for the abduction of these boys and we will know to exact a heavy price from its leadership, anywhere and at anytime we see fit to do so."

"We need to deal Hamas a massive blow, not negotiate with them," International Relations, Intelligence and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told Channel 10 Monday. "Israel's security forces are sparing no effort to find the boys and they're doing a fantastic job. We will continue with our efforts and -- just as important -- we will punish those responsible for this."

Steinitz criticized Abbas, saying that while "Hamas is primarily responsible for the abduction, the PA is also responsible, whether they like it or not. The PA is also responsible because it's cooperating with terror groups."

Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who serves on the Ddiplomatic-Security Cabinet, said Sunday, "The safety and security of the Israeli public mandates the State of Israel exercises zero tolerance toward any act of terrorism and subject its perpetrators to severe punishment. I urge everyone to support our security forces and allow them to do their job using all the resources at their disposal."

Tourism Minister Uzi Landau blamed the U.S. for the situation, saying, "The American administration's willingness to recognize the Abbas-Hamas government is encouraging terror. It has compromised the safety of Israeli citizens."

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said Sunday that security forces were "operating under the assumption that the boys are alive. We will not rest until we bring them back."

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said Israel "will know who to exact a price from these heinous kidnappers. Once the three are back we will know how to deal with the Palestinian leadership, as well."

MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor) said Sunday that "we have to do everything within our power to bring the boys home. Israel's concern for its sons is one of its fundamental values and it makes us stronger -- not weaker."

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told Israel Radio Monday that officials in the U.S. and Europe were critical of Hamas over the abduction, and added that Israeli missions worldwide were instructed to increase their public diplomacy efforts, specifically by illustrating how the link between the PA and Hamas has contributed to the abduction.

Abbas, he said, was beginning to understand the mistake he made in partnering with Hamas.

Hanegbi stressed that the security collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian security forces was ongoing.

"Our hearts go out to Gil-ad, Eyal and Naftali, and their families. Our security forces are sparing no effort to find them and bring them home," President-elect Reuven Rivlin posted Sunday on his Facebook page.

"One cannot imagine the cruelty and cowardice of those who would abduct young boys making their way home. All of Israel is praying for their safe return."