Israel: Israeli Arabs land
19 Jul 2013Israeli bulldozers demolished a Bedouin village in southern Israel for the 53rd time on Tuesday. Families in Araqib managed to re-build five of the sheds and Palestinian and Israeli activists are due to visit the village to help rebuild the rest of the structures. On Monday thousands demonstrated across Israel and Palestine against a plan to displace 40,000 Bedouins from land they had always lived in but for which they have no proof of ownership. The Israeli government plan addresses the matter of unrecognized Bedouin villages in southern Israel. The plan allows the Bedouin to own 45,000 acres of land that is registered in the name of the State of Israel and they will be eligible for 62.5% of land that they own. Last month the Knesset approved the first reading of the bill to legalise Bedouin settlement in the Negev, but not before a heated debate during which the Arab MKs tore up the bill. See: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169921#.UeZ2lW1lhGM
Pray: for the 90,000 Bedouins at risk to be able to retain their communal and social fabric peacefully and for the state to give communities access to basic services and infrastructure, such as electricity and running water.(Ex.22:21 & Lev.19:33)
More: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=614293
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman said Iran was moving at a ‘crazy pace’ toward obtaining a nuclear weapon and he hoped Israel would be able to make the correct decisions. He also said there was no doubt Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons and the international community had done nothing while 90,000 people were massacred. He noted Hezbollah has missiles that can reach anywhere in Israel and expressed concern about a situation in which any terrorist group could strike Israel. The Strategic Affairs Minister said Israel was not ruling out any scenario in the Syrian civil war, including a victory by the Assad regime and warned that the S-300 anti-aircraft system that Russia plans to sell to Syria could potentially be used to shoot down civilian aircraft over Tel Aviv. Israel has not publicly taken sides in the Syrian conflict but it has launched air strikes inside Syria to destroy weapons it believed were destined for Hezbollah, which is allied with Assad.
Pray: for those in authority to be God fearing and recognize that they are accountable to Him for each decision and action. (Pr.9:10)
More: http://www.worthynews.com/top/israelhayom-com-site-newsletter_article-php-id-9579/
Israel: Gaza Strip blockade eased
19 Jun 2010
Israel has announced it will ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip and allow more civilian goods to enter the Palestinian territory. It comes amid growing international pressure to end the embargo. An Israeli commando raid on an aid flotilla attempting to break the naval blockade of Gaza last month was widely condemned. Israel and Egypt tightened the blockade after the Islamist Hamas movement took control of Gaza in 2007. The decision to ease the land blockade, agreed by Israel's security cabinet after a two-day meeting, will see the expansion of the number of products Israel will allow into Gaza via border crossing points. The naval blockade will remain in place. The only item singled out in an Israeli government statement is a plan to allow in construction materials for civilian projects, but only under international supervision. Pray: for an easing of the tensions between the Palestinians and Israelis, and that Gazans would have all they need to rebuild their communities. (Pr.12:20) More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/10338199.stm
Israel: Elections and racism
26 Oct 2013On Tuesday Mayoral candidates in Jerusalem started the morning with prayers at the Western Wall. In Tel Aviv flyers calling for replacement of the incumbent mayor referred to him as 'Don' Huldai. On Tuesday Israelis voted for mayors and other local officials in 191 cities, towns and local authorities. In some areas votes were cast not on how well their municipality will be run but on how to ‘save’ Jewish women from the clutches of Arab men. While the far-right rise in Israeli national politics has made headlines, less attention has been paid to how this has played out in day-to-day relations between Israeli Jews and the country's Palestinian-Arab minority that comprises a fifth of the population. Israel's local elections have brought a tide of ugly racism to the fore, especially in a handful of communities known as ‘mixed cities’, where Jewish and Palestinian citizens live in close proximity.
Pray: against racist language and fear-mongering in Nazareth, Karmiel, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Galilee and wherever communities are segregated on an ethnic basis. (Is.9:1-3)
Israel: Direct peace talks every two weeks
28 Aug 2010
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed direct peace talks every two weeks between himself and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas as ‘The only way to solve problems in the Middle East.’ The Palestinians intend boycotting the meetings if Israel fails to renew the freeze on settlements in the West Bank. The EU condemns Tel Aviv for jailing pro human rights activist Abdullah Abu Rahmeh for protesting against the West Bank wall. The proposal, drawn up by the premier and his men Wednesday night, will be submitted September 2, when peace talks begin in Washington. ‘In the Middle East, serious negotiations require direct discreet and consistent encounters, among the leaders on major issues’. The International Court of Justice declared the construction, begun in 2002, illegal in 2004. Israel has always maintained that the 'security barrier' is to prevent suicide attacks from taking place. Pray: for ongoing consistent communication that would enable each person to see things with different eyes. (Mal.4:2) More: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Netanyahu-proposes-direct-peace-talks-every-two-weeks-19293.html
The Israel Air Force (IAF) struck two targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Wednesday, in response to Palestinian terrorists' violation of an informal cease-fire agreement. A fragile hours-long calm came after four days of violence with 200+ rockets fired from Gaza and 26 Palestinians killed in IAF strikes - 22 believed to be terrorists. Hostilities began Friday after the IDF killed two Islamic Jihad terrorists charged with plotting a cross-border terror attack from Sinai. Wednesday’s direct hits came in response to a Grad rocket fired into the southern town of Netivot. IDF Chief of Staff said that rocket attacks such as the one in Netivot would be met with Israeli air strikes. Schools were cancelled in towns and cities located between 7 km to 40 km from the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that ‘quiet will bring quiet’ but warned Israel would strike anybody trying to attack it.
Pray: God's protection for innocent lives caught up in this latest fracas and His wisdom in all decisions to be made. (Ps.16:1)
More: http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=261773
Israel: Citizens protesting Palestinian release
22 Aug 2013Recent protests by hundreds of Israelis in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv reflect indignation over the decision to release 104 Palestinian prisoners - many of them convicted terrorists guilty of murder. Polls show 85% of the Israeli public is opposed to their release. Terror victims’ organizations have been vocal in opposition to the government’s decision and are supported by Israelis across the political spectrum. Prisoners' crimes range from cold-blooded murder of people by placing bags over their heads and then shooting them, to Molotov cocktails killing women and children travelling in busses. Protests are also stirring on social media. A Facebook circulated info-graphic compared Israel’s releasing terrorists for the sake of peace, to the United States releasing all the terrorists of Guantanamo Bay in exchange for peace talks with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. A protestor whose brother was murdered by one of the terrorists to be freed said the government are giving the wrong message to Israeli youth ‘that their blood has no worth’.
Pray: for those in authority, that God would reveal his way forward for all negotiations and agreements. (Deut.29:29)
Israel: Christian couple harassed
11 Jul 2011A Jewish ultra-Orthodox group singling out Messianic Jews for abuse is harassing a couple they claim are manipulating minors into becoming Christians. The group, Yad L’Achim, placed leaflets around the home of Serge and Naama Kogen, in a suburban community West of Jerusalem, and took out a full-page ad in a local newspaper giving the couple’s address and telling residents they were part of a missionary group ‘targeting’ the community. The Kogens are native Israelis and hence not part of any missionary group. About 20 of the group’s supporters demonstrated outside the couple’s home denouncing them over megaphones for 90 minutes. The protests came after Yad L’Achim lost a court case against the Kogens and their congregational leader accusing them of ‘proselytizing’ minors. During the protest, a distraught 16-year-old girl, the alleged target of the couple’s ‘missionary’ efforts, said all of Yad L’Achim’s claims were false.
Pray: for the harassment of this couple to end and for courage for their congregation as they live out their faith. (Ps.133:1)
More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/israel/article_114414.html