Israel: We Cannot Sit By and Watch Syrians Die

Thursday, December 05, 2013 |  Israel Today Staff  

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Israeli Goodwill

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon this week said the Jewish state is increasing efforts to provide humanitarian aid to average Syrians, noting that Israel cannot sit idly by and watch its neighbors die.

During a tour of the northern border, Ya'alon told Israel's Channel 2 News, without going into detail, that Israel is providing food, water, baby food and other humanitarian assistance to Syrian villages just beyond the frontier.

"We can not sit by in the face of humanitarian difficulties – not while they need preparations for winter and for other needs we can work to help them with," said Ya'alon.

Many of the villages in question have been isolated from the rest of the country by Syria's ongoing civil war. Many are strongholds for rebels forces, and have been besieged by government troops.

It is notable that Israel continues to do everything it can to help the Syrians, despite the fact that the two nations are still officially at war and that Syrian forces have repeatedly taken "pot shots" at Israeli soldiers on the Golan Heights over the past year.

Ya'alon stressed that Israel would respond harshly to all aggression, but would not allow those attacks to deter it from providing all the assistance it can to those in need.

Meanwhile, Israeli army officials told the Times of Israel that the military field hospital set up on the Golan to help treat wounded Syrians has seen recent improvements.

Speaking on the subject, Col. Dr. Tarif Bader, the Head of the Northern Medical Command, told the news site that over 500 Syrians have been "afforded tax-payer-funded treatment at Israeli hospitals... I don’t know who the wounded belong to and I don’t care. I don’t know what ethnic group he belongs to or what side he’s fighting for. The only criteria is need."

PHOTO: Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon looks into Syria from the Golan Heights.

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French: Arafat Was Not Poisoned

French: Arafat Was Not Poisoned - ISRAEL TODAY

Thursday, December 05, 2013 |  Tommy Mueller  

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Palestinians

Forensic scientists from France have found no evidence that former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned, a conclusion many had already reached even before the French confirmed it.

However, a research group from Switzerland last month said it had found high levels of the chemical polonium in Arafat's remains.

Arafat died in a French hospital in 2004 after more than a month of severe stomach and digestive problems. At the time, French doctors were unable to provide a definitive cause of death, and were not allowed to perform an autopsy. Arafat was then hurriedly buried in Ramallah.

Arafat continues to be revered by Palestinians as a national symbol, and the anniversary of his death is marked as a national holiday, complete with violent demonstrations.

In 2012, the Palestinian leadership finally allowed Arafat's tomb to be opened and samples to be taken to determine how he died. However, results were surprisingly long in coming.

Arafat's widow, Suha - a Christian who lives in Paris - had always maintained that her husband was murdered by Israel. Following the release of the Swiss test results, Suha blabbed incessantly about the "crime of the century." But, Swiss experts immediately questioned the publicized test results, noting that polonium decays rapidly, and after so many years since his death, it should be barely, if at all, detectable on Arafat's corpse.

The French now have another explanation for the radioactive traces on Arafat's corpse: radon gas is believed to be emitted from somewhere near the tomb.

For the Palestinians, Israel has always been the "only suspect" in Arafat's demise. Israel repeatedly denied the charge, even though there was plenty of evidence that Arafat was directly involved in numerous terrorist attacks against the Jewish state.

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Ahava Love - Jesus (Yeshua)

Published on Dec 4, 2013

Artwork depicting Jesus (Yeshua) with instrumental background.

I created this video with the YouTube Slideshow Creator (http://www.youtube.com/upload)

Steve Martin, Love For His People

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  Standard YouTube License

19th Century Photos of Jerusalem Now Digitized by New York Public Library

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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19th Century Photos of Jerusalem Now Digitized  by New York Public Library Posted: 03 Dec 2013  The digitizing of vintage photographs continues in archives and libraries around the world. Last year the New York Public Library digitized its photographic collections and posted them online. The photos in the Library's Dorot Jewish Division include hundreds of 19th Century pictures of Jerusalem and Palestine. Below we post several of the pictures taken in the first years of photography by pioneers such as Félix Bonfils and Auguste Salzmann. The images were captured by their early cameras while the region was under Turkish role, and years before World War I, the emergence of the Arab nationalist movement, Theodore Herzl's Zionist movement, and the creation of the State of Israel.  Rare picture of Jews at the Western Wall, with signature of Félix Bonfils (NYPL Digital Gallery,1894). Most early photos of this area were taken at ground level  and did not show the tiny area where Jews were permitted to pray.  Inside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. Other collections possess this photograph, but few are of similar  quality and clarity. (NYPL Digital Gallery, circa 1870). Another view of the inside of Jaffa Gate by Auguste Salzmann  (NYPL Digital Gallery, 1856) Damascus Gate by Auguste Salzmann (NYPL Digital Gallery, 1856)  Zion Gate, also known as David's Gate, by Salzmann  (NYPL Digital Gallery, 1856) Lions Gate, also known as St. Stephens Gate, by Salzmann  (NYPL Digital Gallery, 1856) Jews praying at the Western Wall by Robertson, Beato & Co. (NYPL Digital Gallery, 1857)  Click on photographs to enlarge.  Click on the captions to view the original pictures. Responsible Archivists Preserve Their Photographic Treasures

Archaeologists Uncover First-Ever Find in Jerusalem

CBNNews.com

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Israeli archaeologists have uncovered a first-ever find in Jerusalem: an impressive building dating to the second century B.C., the time period of the famous Maccabee family, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced this week.

The family is associated with the holiday of Hanukkah.

The discovery is from the Hasmonean Period, when the Hasmonean Dynasty ruled ancient Judea and surrounding areas from 141-37 B.C. It began with a descendant of the Maccabees, Simon Maccabaeus, some two decades after his brother, Judas the Maccabee (hammer) defeated the Seleucid army in a rebel revolt.

The Seleucids imposed their Greek culture on the Jewish people and forbid them to keep the Sabbath and circumcise their sons - both Biblical commandments.

They also defiled the Temple in Jerusalem by erecting idols and sacrificing a pig on the altar of God.

The Maccabees led the revolt against the Seleucids and eventually rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem. Hanukkah means "dedication."

Despite more than 100 years of excavations, this is the first time such a building was found.

"This discovery bridges a certain gap in Jerusalem's settlement sequence," excavation directors Dr. Doron Ben Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets said.

"The Hasmonean city, which is well-known to us from the historical descriptions that appear in the works of [the Jewish historian] Josephus, has suddenly acquired tangible expression," they said.

Numerous pottery vessels and more than 40 silver and bronze coins were also found in the building.

The building in the City of David just outside Jerusalem's Old City Walls is about four meters (about 13 feet) tall and covers an area of around 64 square meters.

It's walls are more than three feet thick and are made of roughly hewn limestone blocks arranged as headers and stretchers.

"These indicated the structure was erected in the early second century BCE and continued into the Hasmonean period, during which time significant changes were made inside it," the IAA said.

Hanukkah's Last Night - the 8 Candles Lit by the Server (Shamash) Candle - The Light of the World

Hanukiyah on the 8th night

The Light of the World

Jesus Christ

Yeshua HaMashiach

The Eternal Oil

The Everlasting Messiah

We lit the eight candles 

with the shamash candle,

the Server, 

in celebration of this 

last night of Hanukkah.

May Yeshua (Jesus) be the 

Light in your world.

Blessings and ahava,

Steve & Laurie Martin

Love For His People

TBN Plans Celebration Program on Paul Crouch's Life

CBNNews.com 

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

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The life of Trinity Broadcasting Network co-founder Paul Crouch will be celebrated publicly on television this coming week.

The program will air from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. PST this Sunday and on Monday at 2 p.m. PST.

Crouch died Saturday at the age of 79 from heart problems.

Friends of the Christian television pioneer said he never let his health problems slow him down in the work he believed God called him to do.

Condolences are still pouring into TBN.

"I'll miss my friend, but there is joy in heaven where millions of people are thanking him for sharing Jesus with them," Evangelist Arthur Blessitt wrote.

CBN Founder and Chairman Pat Robertson expressed sadness at his friend's passing. He said Crouch's ministry will have a lasting impact around the world.

"Paul was a pioneer in Christian television; the channels and studios that Paul built around the world are an incredible achievement and will live on as a permanent legacy," Robertson said. "All of us at CBN mourn his passing and our prayers are with the Crouch family."

Website: CBN News