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Pope in Morocco urges Jerusalem be protected for all religions

Joint statement with king during visit to Rabat declares Israel’s capital the ‘common patrimony’ of Christians, Jews and Muslims

By AGENCIES – 30 March 2019, 11:28 pm

ope Francis and Moroccan King Mohammed VI called on Saturday for Jerusalem to be preserved as a symbol of peaceful coexistence where Jews, Muslims and Christians can be allowed to worship freely.

Pope Francis joined the Moroccan monarch in declaring the city the “common patrimony” of Christians, Jews and Muslims, on the first day of a visit to the North African country.

The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics was invited by King Mohammed VI for the sake of “inter-religious dialogue,” according to Moroccan authorities.

In a joint statement, the two leaders said Jerusalem was “common patrimony of humanity and especially the followers of the three monotheistic religions,” during the pontiff’s visit to Rabat.

“The specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the particular cultural identity of Jerusalem… must be protected and promoted,” they said in the declaration released by the Vatican.

The statement contrasted sharply with a joint communique put out by Mohammed and Jordan’s King Abdullah on Thursday vowing to safegaurd Jerusalem against attempts to change its Islamic or Christian identity.

The statement Thursday made no mention of any Jewish link to Jerusalem.

Improving relations with other religions has been a priority for the Argentine pontiff, whose papacy has been marred by a wave of child sex abuse allegations against clergy.

Addressing thousands of Moroccans who had braved the rain to attend the welcome ceremony, Francis said it was “essential to oppose fanaticism.”

He stressed the need for “appropriate preparation of future religious guides”, ahead of meeting trainee imams later on Saturday.

Catholics are a tiny minority in the country where 99 percent of the population is Muslim. The king is revered across West Africa as “commander of the faithful.”

Speaking at the ceremony at the Tour Hassan mosque and nearby mausoleum in Rabat, Francis defended “freedom of conscience” and “religious freedom.”

“Live as brothers,” he told a crowd of around 25,000, after arriving from the airport in his Popemobile, passing rows of Moroccan and Vatican City flags.

An estimated 12,000 well-wishers packed the esplanade outside the partly-finished 12th century mosque, some in traditional dress, according to Moroccan officials.

Some 130,000 people across Rabat watched the first stage of the pope’s visit, which was beamed onto giant screens, officials said.

Francis will also visit an institute where around 1,300 students are studying to become imams and preachers, teaching “moderate Islam” and backed by the king.

“It’s a very significant event, the first time that a pope is welcomed to an institute for the training of imams,” said Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti.

Rabat stepped up security ahead of the first papal visit to the North African country since John Paul II in 1985.

Buildings were repainted, streets decorated and lawns manicured for the pope’s two-day visit. (Click to Source)

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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DIVIDE AND CONQUER: POPE FRANCIS MEETS WITH MUSLIM KING IN MOROCCO AND DECLARES THAT JERUSALEM SHOULD NEVER BELONG SOLELY TO THE JEWS

Pope Francis joined the Moroccan monarch in declaring the city the “common patrimony” of Christians, Jews and Muslims, on the first day of a visit to the North African country. The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics was invited by King Mohammed VI for the sake of “inter-religious dialogue,” according to Moroccan authorities. The statement Thursday made no mention of any Jewish link to Jerusalem.

by Geoffrey Grider – March 30, 2019

Pope Francis and Moroccan King Mohammed VI called on Saturday for Jerusalem to be preserved as a symbol of peaceful coexistence where Jews, Muslims and Christians can be allowed to worship freely.

Just like everything that comes out of the mouth of the Roman pope, it was a tiny nugget of truth encompassed about with layers and layers of lies. Yes, Jerusalem is claimed by Jews, Christians and Muslims, absolutely, but of those three only the first two are mentioned in the bible as being ordained by God. The Muslims are the bastard children of Abraham, and are specifically mentioned in the Bible as have none inheritance. The children of Abraham through Hagar are to be “cast out” as we see here:

“For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”Galatians 4:22,23,30 (KJV)

So that takes care of Lie #1 of Pope Francis, let’s move on to the second whopper he told in Morocco. This idea that Jerusalem cannot belong solely to the Jews because it “has to be shared” is another oft-repeated fact that is just not so. The bible says  that the Battle of Armageddon, seen below in Joel 3, is fought over the fact that somebody, namely Antichrist, has “parted” God’s land of Israel in general, and Jerusalem in particular. That’s right, Jerusalem belongs to God.

“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” Joel 3:1,2 (KJV)

Isn’t it funny how whenever the Roman pontiff talks about Jerusalem, he never mentions that it is the capital of Israel and as such is not up to be shared by whoever feels like grabbing a piece of it? He speaks of Jerusalem like a commodity that can be bought and sold, and indeed it will be. By Antichrist in the time of Jacob’s trouble.

Pope in Morocco urges Jerusalem be protected for all religions

FROM THE TIME OF ISRAEL: Pope Francis joined the Moroccan monarch in declaring the city the “common patrimony” of Christians, Jews and Muslims, on the first day of a visit to the North African country. The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics was invited by King Mohammed VI for the sake of “inter-religious dialogue,” according to Moroccan authorities.

In a joint statement, the two leaders said Jerusalem was “common patrimony of humanity and especially the followers of the three monotheistic religions,” during the pontiff’s visit to Rabat.

“The specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the particular cultural identity of Jerusalem… must be protected and promoted,” they said in the declaration released by the Vatican.

The statement contrasted sharply with a joint communique put out by Mohammed and Jordan’s King Abdullah on Thursday vowing to safeguard Jerusalem against attempts to change its Islamic or Christian identity.

THE STATEMENT THURSDAY MADE NO MENTION OF ANY JEWISH LINK TO JERUSALEM.

Improving relations with other religions has been a priority for the Argentine pontiff, whose papacy has been marred by a wave of child sex abuse allegations against clergy.

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Addressing thousands of Moroccans who had braved the rain to attend the welcome ceremony, Francis said it was “essential to oppose fanaticism.”

He stressed the need for “appropriate preparation of future religious guides”, ahead of meeting trainee imams later on Saturday.

Catholics are a tiny minority in the country where 99 percent of the population is Muslim. The king is revered across West Africa as “commander of the faithful.”

Speaking at the ceremony at the Tour Hassan mosque and nearby mausoleum in Rabat, Francis defended “freedom of conscience” and “religious freedom.”

“Live as brothers,” he told a crowd of around 25,000, after arriving from the airport in his Popemobile, passing rows of Moroccan and Vatican City flags.  (Click to Source)


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Palestinian official: ‘Nikki Haley needs to shut up’

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American Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley faced criticism earlier this month from a top Palestinian official after a recent U.N. security council meeting in which she directly called out Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on his lack of “courage and the will to seek peace” in the Middle East.

Haley charged that Abbas “rejected any American role in peace talks” and “insulted the American president.” Abbas has said that Palestine would not accept the United States as mediator in their conflict with Israel.

In response, Saeb Erekat, Palestinian Liberation Organization’s secretary general and member of parliament for the Palestinian government, called Haley “impudent” and said she should “shut up.”

The exchange was a product of the United States’ recent decision to move their Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and President Donald Trump declaring Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Erekat suggested that the U.S.’s actions amount to attempts at staging a “coup” against the “Palestinian political system,” according to The Times of Israel.

“Nikki Haley needs to shut up and realize that the Palestinian leadership is not the problem,” Erekat said. “Instead, the problem is the Israeli occupation and the policies it continues to pursue. I’m not saying that the we don’t make mistakes; every society and every government makes mistakes.”

“U.S. and Israeli officials are saying that any Palestinian leader who insists on East Jerusalem becoming the capital of Palestine and is committed to the right of return, in accordance with United Nations resolution 194, should be removed from power and replaced,” he added.

During Haley’s speech to the U.N. on Jan. 25,  she encouraged leaders to acknowledge the U.S.’s efforts in promoting peace in the Middle East while simultaneously denouncing the recent actions of Abbas, who has shown that peace may not be his top priority.

“President Abbas declared the landmark Oslo Peace Accords dead. He rejected any American role in peace talks. He insulted the American President. He called for suspending recognition of Israel. He invoked an ugly and fictional past, reaching back to the 17th century to paint Israel as a colonialist project engineered by European powers,” Haley said in her speech.

“A speech that indulges in outrageous and discredited conspiracy theories is not the speech of  a person with the courage and the will to seek peace,” she added.

Coming to Abbas’ defense, Erekat reiterated that Palestinians are not seeking a battle with the U.S.

“We don’t seek a confrontation or a fight with the U.S. administration,” Erekat said. “On the contrary – they are the ones taking several steps.”

Erekat’s comments come just weeks after Palestinians set their sights on challenging Trump’s U.S. embassy move in the International Court of Justice. (Click to Source)

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UNESCO chief receives Israel’s withdrawal notice: ‘I regret this deeply’

Audrey Azoulay’s confirmation of Israeli departure comes after last minute scramble to submit paperwork; Jewish state will leave UN’s cultural arm on December 31, 2018

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Israel has formally notified the UN’s culture and education body of its withdrawal from the organization, two months after it announced it would follow the US by walking out over resolutions critical of the Jewish state.

In a statement UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said she had been officially notified on Friday that Israel would leave on December 31, 2018.

“I regret this deeply, as it is my conviction that it is inside UNESCO and not outside it that states can best seek to overcome differences in the organization’s fields of competence,” she said.

Azoulay’s announcement came after Israel scrambled to ensure it wouldn’t be forced to remain in the organization for an extra year due to concerns it wouldn’t be able to file the necessary paperwork on time.

In a statement Thursday, Israel’s envoy to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen said that he had made a last-ditch attempt to submit a formal letter announcing Israel’s intent to leave the organization, showing up at the door of the cultural agency’s Paris offices with a box of chocolates along with the paperwork. But he couldn’t find anyone willing to sign for receipt, as the offices were closed for the year-end holidays.

However, the Israeli notice was able to reach Azoulay in the end.

A week ago Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would leave the organization, two months after the US formally announced its own withdrawal — partly due to UNESCO’s anti-Israel bias.

In order to leave at the same time as the US — at the end of 2018 — Israel had to formally hand a letter of intent to Azoulay at least one year ahead of time.

“Today we made an attempt to submit our formal letter of withdrawal, ending the State of Israel’s membership of UNESCO,” Shama-Hacohen said Thursday. “I went there today, along with my assistant, and we first gave the security guards a box of chocolates for the new year and to sweeten the fact that we were disturbing them.”

The envoy said he explained the situation to the guards, but they said they were not permitted to sign for any mail, nor were they allowed to accept any official documentation.

Shama-Hacohen said he was eventually able to enter the organization’s offices, “and we reached a deal with them that would allow us to write on the letter that we had attempted to hand it to them but they had refused.”

He then emailed the letter to the director-general and she agreed that she would view this as an official notification that Israel intended to leave, he said.

Shama-Hacohen pointed out the positive relationship Israel had with Azoulay, who was appointed the organization’s new head in October, and said he hoped that she would succeed in ridding the organization of its political agenda and “turn it back into a professional organization.”

UNESCO is best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions, but it also works to fight violent extremism, improve education for girls, promote Holocaust understanding, defend media freedoms, and encourage science on climate change.

In recent years, however, Israel has been infuriated by resolutions that ignore and diminish its historical connection to the Holy Land and that have named ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites.

Still, the Israeli withdrawal reportedly contains a provision noting that Jerusalem will walk back the decision should UNESCO conduct reforms and change its attitude towards Israel before the end of next year. (Click to Source)

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The Holy City, a ‘burdensome stone’

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The head of a messianic Jewish ministry says Jerusalem has definitely become the “burdensome stone” prophesized in the Old Testament.

Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, warned U.N. members earlier this week that President Trump “will be watching” to see who votes to condemn the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Trump had threatened to cut off financial aid to any country that supported the U.N. resolution. Most countries didn’t heed the warning as the General Assembly approved the anti-U.S. resolution 128-to-9 with 35 abstentions on Thursday.

Major U.S. aid recipients that ignored Trump’s threat and supported the resolution included Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Joining the U.S. is opposing the resolution were Israel, Guatemala, Honduras, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands, and Togo.

The U.N. move followed a call by Muslim leaders for the world body to recognize East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. Jan Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, points out that Jerusalem doesn’t appear anywhere in the Quran.

“Jerusalem is honestly rather irrelevant to the Islamic world,” she explains. “It may be perhaps their third or fourth most significant location, but unfortunately they’re seizing on President Trump’s declaration of a week or so ago.”

Markell views the vote as “just the further fulfillment of Zechariah 12:3, where Jerusalem is becoming the burdensome stone – at least to portions of the world that do not want to accept … the action that [President Trump] took.”

The ministry leader points to another serious warning in the Bible.

“Joel 3 promises judgment on anybody who divides God’s land – and I just hope we don’t have a president who would do that now,” she shares. “I hope and pray we don’t ever get a president who will divide the land.” Markell says that judgment will come to any nations that do.

Ambassador Haley said the vote will make no difference on U.S. plans to move its embassy to Jerusalem, but it “will make a difference on how Americans look at the U.N., and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the U.N.”

“And this vote will be remembered,” she warned. (Click to Source)

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Jerusalem: A cup of trembling

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“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about… And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.”- Zechariah 12:2-3

Is it any surprise to see the nations of the world in an uproar over Jerusalem? It is a city that lay essentially in ruin for two millennia, unworthy of international attention, and making little noise or news. Now the nations of the world, including the United Nations, regularly debate the fate of this city, while the Muslim nations even threaten warfare of their Jihad.

Today rather than a backwater town of poverty and desolation as described by Mark Twain on his visit here in 1867, Jerusalem has become a vibrant and modern city at the hand of the Jewish people since its capture in 1967. The holy places of the three major religions have now found honor and preservation and freedom under their custodianship, and archaeological discoveries are lovingly uncovered nearly daily testifying to Jewish history and presence, and preserved in the exquisite Israel Museum.

But last week the president of the United States declared America’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which has ignited a firestorm of objection around the world, from Rome to Mecca to Tehran. Never mind that nothing whatsoever has changed from the day before the declaration, and the Israeli parliament and supreme court and administrative buildings remain where they have been since the state’s founding in 1948, the declaration has stirred the already simmering and irrational pot. Even Christians of the Middle East have condemned the statement that the Jews may have any right to Jerusalem, including Christians in the town of Bethlehem where Jesus the Jew was born.

The Prophets of the Bible have previsioned such a state of affairs. This same city from which came forth the Torah, and in which the Messiah was crucified and rose in resurrection, and his disciples brought that word to the world, is mentioned countless times in the Scriptures as sacred to G-d, both in the past, present, and future. Jerusalem is never once mentioned in the Quran, written many centuries after the life of Yeshua, and millennia after Moses. Jerusalem is called the city and capital of David the Jew, going back to the 10th Century BC, and remains at the center of the biblical accounts throughout, right to the final book of Revelation.

After two destructions by foreign invaders, and two exiles from the Holy City, the Jewish people have once again returned to the city of their origins to restore its fortunes, just as written in the Prophet Joel, chapter 3:

For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat (Hebrew: Yah has judged), and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.”

There is little doubt that the parting of the Holy Land is central to all nations in their political programs to solve the longstanding great controversy. But the prophets Joel, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Micah and others foresee a day of reckoning over Jerusalem, when the preserved of Israel will be made into a sharp threshing instrument, and they will look upon him whose feet shall stand once again upon the Mount of Olives, which is in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is built upon a threshing floor purchased by King David, and remains to this day a threshing floor separating chaff from wheat, and all false doctrine from the reality of Truth*. It is a place of threshing for individuals and nations, a burdensome stone of stumbling for many, and one that cannot long be ignored. (Click to Source)

*Isaiah 41:14-16; 17:13; 29:5; Micah 4:13; Ezekiel 36; Zechariah 12-14; Jeremiah 24:6; 32:40-42; Revelation 11.

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Europe’s “Arab Street” Rises Up

Palestinians Protest Trump Announcement

  • Hamas called for a “Day of Rage” — as opposed to the days of peace and harmony the terrorist group ordinarily calls for — but this did not spill out very far.
  • In Stockholm, meanwhile, the new “locals” contented themselves with setting light to the Star of David rather than to real live Jews as their compatriots in Gothenburg had tried to do.
  • The fabled “Arab Street” had been meant to rise up. And it did rise up. But not in the Arab world… instead it lit up in Europe.

It is now a fortnight since President Trump made his historic announcement about the status of Jerusalem. The speech which announced that America would drop the pretence that Jerusalem is not the capital of the State of Israel was relayed live around the world. Across the major networks and the world’s front pages the response was almost unanimous. They proclaimed this a major foreign policy blunder which would lead to any number of problems including — many predicted — an immediate “third intifada.”

The world’s cameras immediately turned to Bethlehem where a small group of enterprising Palestinians burned an American flag for the cameras. This picture went around the world. Otherwise, not very much appeared to be happening. Hamas called for a “Day or Rage” — as opposed to the days of peace and harmony the terrorist group ordinarily calls for — but this did not spill out very far. The Friday immediately following the announcement might have been a flashpoint, tempers being famously frayed after the act of afternoon worship. And yet, as the BBC’s veteran reporter Jeremy Bowen tweeted from the scene, “At Damascus Gate in Jerusalem press pack outnumbering demonstrators.” The fabled “Arab Street” had been meant to rise up. And it did rise up. But not in the Arab world.

In London, the American Embassy was the scene of a protest called for by a number of prominent left-wing and Labour party activists as well as a some Muslim groups. The Labour MP Andy Slaughter was among those who addressed the crowds. This swiftly arranged protest soon degenerated into the usual anti-Semitic rally, with the crowds chanting “From the Rivers to the Sea Palestine will be free” (that is “There will be no Israel at all, not even a sliver of the land”). And the crowd also chanted “Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud”. That is, “Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.” For the crowd outside the American embassy in London, threatening Jews with the memory of the seventh century obliteration of a Jewish community near Medina was clearly an entirely appropriate move.

Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, a man carrying a Palestinian flag and wearing a keffiyah headed to a heavily Jewish quarter of the city. There he proceeded to smash in the windows of a kosher restaurant. The whole thing was caught on camera. Again it appeared to make perfect sense to the assailant. The American president recognised Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel and this man headed out to carry out a replay of Kristallnacht at a Jewish business on a Dutch street.

Further north, the situation was worse. In Sweden, the nation’s new local traditions immediately followed President Trump’s speech. Spontaneous protests erupted in the city of Malmö on the Thursday and Friday evenings after the Jerusalem announcement. In a city whose name has become a byword for the new, imported form of European anti-Semitism, the crowd shouted chants such as “We’re going to shoot the Jews”. Further north, in the city of Gothenburg, things got even uglier. On Saturday night, a group of around 20 masked men attacked the local synagogue, hurling objects and Molotov cocktails. At the time of the attack, there was a youth event happening at the community centre connected to the synagogue. The 20-30 young people attending the event were herded down into the building’s basement as the gasoline began to be smelled. In Stockholm, meanwhile, the new “locals” contented themselves with setting light to the Star of David rather than to real live Jews as their compatriots in Gothenburg had tried to do.

In Germany, crowds of people recently imported into the country burned the Star of David, as well. Although German politicians condemned the action, taking place as it did in the centre of Berlin, there is little they can do about it. Last year there were 470 anti-Semitic incidents in the German capital alone. This constituted an increase of 16% in the single year from 2015 to 2016. Stories like that of a Jewish schoolchild — the grandson of Holocaust survivors — being forced to leave his Berlin school earlier in the year after being attacked by Muslim students, is just one story that is making some Germans nervous.

In Germany, however, as in Sweden, Holland, Britain and every other country in Western Europe, there is no point in merely being nervous. It appears that the instinct that really has a point is wilful optimism. After this recent spate of attacks, the former Swedish politician Carl Bildt summed up the view of an entire establishment. While lamenting the anti-Semitism and misogyny of many migrants from the Arab world, Bildt wrote:

“Most refugees coming to our country from Muslim countries have adjusted to the values of tolerance central to our society. The fact that many of these people have often fled different systems of intolerance helps that process.”

Mr. Bildt, like so many other politicians of his generation, is now willing to admit some truths about the effects of mass migration which he would never have admitted even a few years ago. But the successor to silence turns out to be this blind, wilful optimism. It recognises that, sure, some of the migrants come to us with rampant Jew-hatred. And sure, some of them do not like women or gays. But in time they will become as friendly towards Jews as any other European.

Perhaps Mr Bildt is right to have his optimistic vision of the migrants becoming just like everyone else. Or perhaps — and a lot rides on this — he is wrong. Considering that possibility, all of these recent events present the most ominous possible warning-sign. Events such as those since President Trump’s announcement should be sending up the clearest possible flare. Yet it is one that too few people are still willing to see. It is taking people time to recognise that the fabled “Arab Street” did light up in recent days. But it lit up in Europe. (Click to Source)

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Haley Vetoes Jerusalem Resolution; Slams Obama For Not Backing Israel a Year Ago

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(CNSNews.com) – As U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley on Monday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution seeking to overturn President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, she also sharply criticized the Obama administration’s decision a year ago not to back Israel in the same forum, calling the implications of that move “a stain on America’s conscience.”

Monday’s resolution was backed by all other 14 members of the council – the ten temporary members and permanent members Russia, China, Britain and France – but Haley declared that she was casting the sole dissenting vote “proudly.”

“The fact that this veto is being done in defense of American sovereignty and in defense of America’s role in the Middle East peace process is not a source of embarrassment for us,” she told the meeting in New York. “It should be an embarrassment to the remainder of the Security Council.”

Haley challenged the right of other nations to tell the U.S. where it should decide to locate its embassy – and warned that some other Security Council (UNSC) members may have cause to fear similar interference in their domestic decision-making.

“I suspect very few member-states would welcome Security Council pronouncements about their sovereign decisions,” she said. “And I think of some who should fear it.”

(Five of the current members of the UNSC – China, Russia, Egypt, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan are ranked “not free” by the democracy watchdog Freedom House. Two others – Bolivia and Ukraine – are graded “partly free.”)

Haley recalled that Trump made it clear in his Dec. 6 policy announcement that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital does not prejudge “final status” negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. And she disputed that the move jeopardizes peace efforts.

“What is troublesome to some people is not that the United States has harmed the peace process – we have, in fact, done no such thing. Rather, what is troublesome to some people is that the United States had the courage and honesty to recognize a fundamental reality,” she said.

“Jerusalem has been the political, cultural, and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people for thousands of years. They have had no other capital city,” Haley continued. “But the United States’ recognition of the obvious – that Jerusalem is the capital and seat of the modern Israeli government – is too much for some.”

Haley used the opportunity to distance the Trump administration from its predecessor’s decision not to veto a controversial resolution targeting Israel.

President Obama’s decision to abstain rather than veto resolution 2334 allowed passage of a measure that describes areas disputed between Israelis and Palestinians – including the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City and the location of the holiest site in Judaism – as “occupied Palestinian territory.”

Haley pointed out that resolution 2334 also “gave new life to an ugly creation of the Human Rights Council: the database of companies operating in Jewish communities.”

The HRC “creation” referred to by Haley is widely seen as benefitting the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign, by identifying companies which will then be targeted by pro-Palestinian activists. Resolution 2334 requires all countries “to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967.”

“This is an effort to create a blacklist, plain and simple,” Haley said. “It is a stain on America’s conscience that we gave the so-called BDS movement momentum by allowing the passage of Resolution 2334.”

Haley took a final swipe at the Obama administration, putting its abstention last December into historical context.

“For decades, Israel has withstood wave after wave of bias in the U.N. and its agencies,” she said. “The United States has often stood beside Israel. We did not on December 23, 2016.”

“We will not make that mistake again.”

Monday was only the second time the U.S. has vetoed a UNSC resolution in the past decade, having last done so in 2011 – also killing a measure relating to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Over that same period Russia has vetoed 17 resolutions (11 relating to its ally the Assad regime, in addition to texts concerning Bosnia, Georgia, Zimbabwe, Burma and Ukraine) and China has vetoed eight (relating to Syria, Burma and Zimbabwe). (Click to Source)

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Is the United Nations Fulfilling Ancient Biblical Prophecy?

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On Dec. 21, 2017, the U.N. united as one to stand against one city on the planet: Jerusalem. Twenty-five centuries earlier, the prophet Zechariah wrote these words from the Lord, “I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle” (Zech. 14:2a) Did the U.N. just move us one step closer to fulfilling this ancient prophecy?

Before answering this question, let’s look at the events on the ground.

First, the U.N. once again distinguished itself for hypocrisy by targeting Israel for its criticism—specifically, America’s support of Israel—while remaining silent on so many issues of world importance.

What has the U.N. been doing during the horrific war in Syria? Where has the U.N. been during the attempted genocide of Christians in the Middle East? Decades earlier, what did the U.N. have to say about Tiananmen Square in China or Saddam Hussein’s chemical warfare against the Kurds? Yet when America recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the U.N. is an uproar.

As I noted previously, groups like UNWatch.org have documented the U.N’.s consistent policy of singling out Israel for rebuke and condemnation while virtually ignoring atrocities committed on a mass scale by other nations, including Israel’s neighbors.

To give one case in point, during the UN General Assembly’s 61st session (2006-2007), “the time spent by ambassadors on enacting the 22nd anti-Israel resolution of the year was time not spent on passing a single resolution on Sudan’s genocide in Darfur.”

So, while Sudanese Christians were being slaughtered en masse by Muslim soldiers and gangs, the U.N. General Assembly spent its time enacting 22 anti-Israel resolutions.

In 2015, as noted by Israeli journalist Noga Gur-Arieh, “At the closing of the 59th U.N. Commission on the Status of Women … only one political resolution was passed; one that accuses Israel of mistreating Palestinian women, in all aspects of life.”

A similar resolution was passed in 2016 by the same U.N. Commission.

So, of all the nations on earth, only Israel was singled out for its alleged mistreatment of women.

That’s why Abba Eban, Israel’s legendary diplomat, once remarked, “If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.”

Second, in anticipation of the U.N. vote, the United States handled things exactly as it should have: with a strong word of rebuke and warning.

After all, different international leaders did not simply call President Trump and say, “We strongly differ with your recognition of Jerusalem.” Instead, in the most public forum available, 128 nations stood together to condemn America for doing was what right and righteous, declaring our decision “null and void.”

Nikki Haley’s words to the UN before the vote said it all: “To its shame, the United Nations has long been a hostile place for the state of Israel. Both the current and the previous Secretary-Generals have objected to the U.N.’s disproportionate focus on Israel. It’s a wrong that undermines the credibility of this institution, and that in turn is harmful for the entire world.”

Good for you, Mrs. Haley. Call the U.N. on the carpet.

Then, after articulating all the good our country does around the world, along with its support for the U.N., she rebuked the U.N. for disrespecting America, saying, “The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation. We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations, and so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”

And finally: “America will put our embassy in Jerusalem. That is what the American people want us to do and it is the right thing to do. This vote will make a difference in how Americans look at the U.N. And this vote will be remembered.”

Here, here, Ambassador Haley!

Third, the seven nations that stood with Israel and America today are a most unusual group, consisting of Guatemala, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Togo and Palau. Honestly, now, how many of us heard of some of these countries before? And how many of us could locate some of them on the map?

Whether it was out of economic dependence on the USA, a connection to Israel, or something else, these nations should be remembered for good in the days to come. They did what was courageous and correct.

As for the countries that abstained (35 in all), two (the Czech Republic and the Philippines) already stated they are considering relocating their embassies; a number of African nations have developed solid ties with Israel; some might have considered their need for American dollars and others might have remembered Israel’s kindness to them (such as Mexico, which was greatly aided by Israel after their disastrous earthquake in September, although Mexico did use its floor time to speak critically).

Already, “U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley invited representatives of countries who didn’t vote in favor of the United Nations General Assembly’s Jerusalem resolution to a reception as ‘thank you for your friendship to the United States.'”

Donald Trump has always appreciated loyalty.

But what of the matter of ancient prophecy? Is there a connection between the U.N.’s vote and the Bible?

I would say yes, for at least three reasons: 1) The vote confirms international hostility towards a Jewish Jerusalem. 2) The vote reminds us that the biblical authors were inspired when predicting that an end-time coalition of nations would come against a Jewish Jerusalem. 3) The vote tells us that, just as Scripture indicates, the city of Jerusalem alone is the whole world’s business (see Zech. 12:3).

Of course, this does not set a time frame for a united attack on a Jewish Jerusalem, and we don’t know if “all nations” (in the words of Zechariah) means every nation on earth or simply a worldwide coalition. But, after watching the last 2,500 years of history, coupled with the U.N.’s anti-Jerusalem vote this week, it’s hard to read the Bible and think that the writers just guessed things right. What are the chances of that? (Click to Source)

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Sanhedrin Declares: UN Vote Is Nations Choosing Blessing or Curse

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“When all the nations of the earth gather against her. In that day, I will make Yerushalayim a stone for all the peoples to lift; all who lift it shall injure themselves.” Zechariah 12:3 (The Israel Bible™)

In a special session of 71 elders, the court of the nascent Sanhedrin called on the nations of the world to take their prophesied role in building Jerusalem by not voting against the declaration of the President Trump in the United Nations, emphasizing that this was an auspicious moment that will decide their fate, whether for blessing or curse.

The General Assembly is scheduled to vote Thursday on a resolution that would express “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.” This vote comes in response to President Trump’s speech two weeks ago in which he acknowledged Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The UN resolution also calls on countries not to move their embassies to Jerusalem.

The Sanhedrin prefaced its declaration with a verse from Isaiah.

In all of My sacred mount Nothing evil or vile shall be done; For the land shall be filled with devotion to Hashem As water covers the sea. Isaiah 11:9

The declaration reads:

The nations should now take this opportunity to advance their required role in building God’s House in Jerusalem, the House of Universal Peace, on Mount Moriah, as prophesied in the Bible in order to bring about the long-awaited world peace.

Nations that vote for this evil decree via their representatives are instruments of destruction and their fate is sealed, as has been the case throughout history for those nations who have chosen the path of evil.

For the nations that have, until now, come against Jerusalem this vote is an opportunity to leave their evil ways. If not, they are sealing their own fate and will see judgments from heaven. The nations that support the US president’s declaration will gain merit in heaven.

We emphasize that this vote does not affect the prophecies concerning Jerusalem as the City of God since God’s word is eternal. It is Jerusalem’s fate to be a Light Unto the Nations.

Any nation that desires life will act intelligently and support the declaration of the United States.”

Rabbi Hillel Weiss, the spokesman for the Sanhedrin, explained the proclamation in simpler terms.

“Every child who learns the Bible knows that if you bless Israel, you will be blessed, and if you curse Israel, you will be cursed,” Rabbi Weiss told Breaking Israel News, citing the verse.

I will bless those who bless you And curse him that curses you; And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you. Genesis 12:3

“This does not come from any special powers that Israel has and it is not for our benefit,” Rabbi Weiss explained. “Israel is God’s tool in this world for testing the hearts of men. By their actions towards Israel, men and even entire countries, show their feelings towards God. Right now, the world is being called upon, nation by nation, to display this.”

This vote in the UN General Assembly comes just two days after an identical vote in the UN Security Council. In that vote, the US stood alone as 14 countries voted to condemn the president’s recognition of Jerusalem. The US Ambassador Nikki Haley vetoed the resolution, preventing it from passing.

This series of events stands in stark contrast to what took place exactly one year ago, when, in the final days of his presidency, Barack Obama chose not to use a veto to block a UN Security Council vote declaring the Israeli presence in Jerusalem to be illegal. President Trump, who had already won the election but was awaiting his inauguration, posted a nearly-prophetic tweet. (Click to Source)