David Singer

You conveniently and deliberately ignore the illegal settlements and the illegal eviction of the Palenstians from those areas since '67.

Why don't they count in your grand scheme?

Why don't you reject Iam Joseph's racism ... it is an improvement that you haven't thanked himn for his support though.

Good man.

'Your proposal to get rid of Israel certainly has the support of the Arab League...'

Quite wrong and you know it. Why do you bother with such deliberate lies?

The Arab League has offered to guarantee Israel security of it's borders ... if set as in '67.

keith

You seem blissfully unaware that the Muslim fanatics are also pushing Christians, members of your own faith, out of their lands. Talk to some Copts, or Lebanese Christians. Jews aren't the only ones copping the wrath of the Islamists.

Count the Druze, Baha'i and Samaritans, now sheltering in Israel, or for that matter the Palestinian Christians. Allow Israel to disappear and the next blood bath will be the Christian world. I would have thought that you would have some concern for your Christian brethren there even if you have no compassion for over 800,00 Jews pushed out of Arab countries.

The West Bank was in fact once part of Jordan. The idea of returning it to Jordan is in fact a long standing one, assuming Jordan wants it back. The Gaza strip was part of Egypt but the Egyptians have so far declined to include it again in their territory.

"They began as dozens....but now they are hundreds"

who? radical settlers.

I actually thought there were more of them, but it seems not. Still, the important point is 2fold.

1/ The trend. (increasing...growing)
2/ The Objective (New Temple)

this was brought out this morning on an ABC report. A settler was interviewed and when asked "Where does it end?" responded without even the slightest hesitation "The rebuilding of the Temple".

These folk are living with the same mindset of Nehemiah's day..of Joshua... and they are using the same methods and motives.

-God gave us this land.
-When in a war, one must fight.

The reader can form his/her own opinions about the rightness or wrongness of this movement, in terms of his/her own understanding, but I simply bring this out in support of my own mantra which is:

"The history and future of the Middle East (and the world) hinges on Jerusalem."

Believe....mock... argue.. disagree... dispute...accept.. it makes not a scrap of difference to the ultimate outcome, which will be the events of Matthew Ch 24 and 25.

Then, the only question which will be important is "Am I a sheep or a goat"

A report about this:

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2008/09/26/rise-of-radical-settler-movement/

<<Hard-core right-wing settlers have responded to limited army operations in recent weeks by blocking roads, rioting spontaneously, throwing stones at Palestinian vehicles and burning Palestinian orchards and fields all over the West Bank, a territory that Israel has occupied since 1967.

…In Jewish settlements like Yitzhar, an extremist bastion on the hilltops commanding the Palestinian city of Nablus…a local war is already being waged. One Saturday in mid-September…scores of men from Yitzhar rampaged through the Palestinian village, hurling rocks and firing guns, in what the prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, described as a “pogrom.” Several Palestinians were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.>>

What this last paragraph does not say, is that it was in response to a Palestinian who burned down one of the Jewish homes, and stabbed a 9 yr old boy while fleeing.

To the settler Jews... the West Bank is Biblical "Samaria" and non radical jews are now adopting this term in stories.

Let us all watch.......and wait..... and pray, but most of all, be ready.

Keith:

In claiming that my statement that getting rid of Israel has the support of the Arab League is "deliberate lies" you continue to display your pathetic ignorance of the Arab-Jewish conflict. The following facts support my claim:

1. The many wars fought between Israel and its Arab enemies since 1948.

2. The Arab boycotts to destroy Israel economically.

3. The Arab League endorsement of the PLO as the sole spokesman of the Palestinian Arabs endorses the PLO Covenant which contains the following provisions:

"Article 19: The partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the state of Israel are entirely illegal, regardless of the passage of time, because they were contrary to the will of the Palestinian people and to their natural right in their homeland, and inconsistent with the principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the right to self-determination.

Article 20: The Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine, and everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void. Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong."

Don't come back and try to squib the issue by telling me these provisions have been repealed. They have not despite all the "weasel words" (your term) used by the Arabs claiming they have.

Whether you agree with my view on their non-revocation or not do you endorse these statements in the PLO Covenant Keith or do you reject them?

Just an "I endorse" or " I reject" answer will suffice. No need for a long winded and insulting diatribe.

Disagree with my statements by furnishing facts in rebuttal if you will. Don't simply answer them by calling me a liar or some of the other choice epithets you use to seek to discredit me and others who don't accord with your viewpoint

Polycarp

You really must learn something about Judaism. And about the press.

A TV interview of one person is hardly a real statement. Particularly when the press is looking for scandal and making news into entertainment, and that includes the ABC.

The number of Jews who actually want a third temple is minimal. The Temple represents a long discarded view of the religion. And the belief that Samaria is a gift from God hardly ranks in an Israeli population most of whom barely believe in God.

The truth is that Israel in the 19th century was a semi-desert, with a very small population, according to Turkish census. There were always a few Jews, descendents of those who had stayed after the wars with Rome. (Rome had only forbidden the Jerusalem region to Jews). Others Jews arrived, many from Muslim lands and from Russia and Poland to swell the population. Jerusalem already had a majority Jewish population.

There was no such state as Palestine. Jews were forced out of Jerusalem by Arab invaders as well as from places like Hebron and Tiberias, later the Israelis reclaimed their homes after the Arabs launched a series of unsuccessful wars on the new state. They also established the settlements, a controversial step, although these were often in land allocated to the Jews by the UN.

You should also be careful about blogs many of which are by biased people (both ways). The anti-western Islamic movement is very active. Remember the remarks of Hilaly? This is not to be anti-Muslim, but some, claiming to be believers have an awful agenda. The Islamic republics have an incredibly bad record of human rights (stoning, enslavement of women etc) which they hide by getting Islamic dictatorships represented on UN Commissions where they vote against any censure moves against them.