The deadly Ebola Virus is being tackled

 by Israeli Researchers [3]

Israeli UN Ambassador Warns Nations Against Terrorism 

“For behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.”  (Psalm 11:2)

Speaking before the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, condemned the Assembly's malignant anti-Israel bias and warned the international body to “stand with Israel and stand against terror before it’s too late.” “The international community has lost its way,” he said.  “This institution was founded to stand for truth, for justice, and for moral clarity.  This is no longer the case.” “It might be too much to ask you to stand on our side in this battle between civilization and barbarism, but at least have the decency to swallow your selective outrage while Israel wages war against the extremist groups seeking to eradicate the values that we all hold very dear.” Noting that Hamas is willing to see its own children killed for propaganda purposes, Prosor said that the international community must stop having the romantic view of Hamas as “freedom fighters.”

Ron Prosor (center right), Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN,

during the General Assembly meeting on the situation in Gaza.

Criticizing the Security Council for failing to adopt a strongly-worded resolution to press Israel and Hamas to end the conflict, Arab countries had requested the convening of the UN General Assembly. Referring to events in Israel and Gaza as a “cycle of suffering,” UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon said, "Do we have to continue like this—build, destroy, and build and destroy?" Ban asked.  "We will build again but this must be the last time to rebuild.  This must stop now." He also said the fighting in the territory “has raised serious questions about respect for the principles of distinction and proportionality in international humanitarian law.” Remarkably, although the UN expresses such criticism of Israel for the number of civilian deaths that have occurred in Gaza, it expresses no such outrage at Hamas for using Palestinians as human shields or for the ongoing traumatization of Israeli citizens by Hamas rockets.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) addresses the General Assembly

meeting on the situation in Gaza.  At Ban's side is Deputy Secretary-

General Jan Eliasson.

Ban Ki-moon also called for an investigation of the attacks on UN facilities.

 In a statement that seemed to call into question the use of UN schools and shelters for the launching of rockets, Ban said, “UN shelters must be safe zones, not combat zones.  Those who violate this sacred trust must be subject to accountability and justice.  Mere suspicion of militant activity does not justify jeopardizing the lives and safety of many thousands of innocent civilians.” Robert Serry, UN special envoy for the Middle East Peace Process, summed up each side’s concerns when he said, “The basic equation is: end the blockade on Gaza, address Israel’s legitimate security needs.”  He didn’t mention that the last time Israel allowed free access of materials to Gaza, they were exclusively used to prepare for war against Israel. Israel Ambassador Prosor reminded the Assembly that Israel had removed all of its people and settlements from Gaza in 2005.  But the actions of Hamas have reduced it to rubble. He pointed out that the only solution is the complete disarmament of Hamas who committed a double war crime by both rocketing Israel and using civilians as human shields. Prosor also condemned Ban’s lopsided suggestion of Israeli war crimes.  He said that if the UN spent one tenth as much effort investigating Hamas as it does investigating Israel, it would “reveal horrific war crimes on the part of Hamas.” 

A Palestinian student inspects the damage at a UN school at the Jabalia

refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.  Although it is still unknown who

is responsible, the UN immediately blamed Israel for the damage.

Hamas was firing on Israel from the vicinity of the school at the time it

was hit.

Indeed, the Lawfare Project, working together with the Center for Near East Policy Research, has found that not only does UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) allow the use of their schools for the launching of rockets thus making their children human shields, but they actually facilitate the recruitment and training of Palestinian children as both child soldiers and human shields.The organization has verified that among a list of other offenses, UNRWA itself has confirmed that Hamas “fired into the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza where, on July 24, 2014, a UNRWA school was hit."

Palestinian children pick through the rubble.

Outside of the UN, some people are risking all to stand for truth.

Palestinian Christian and co-founder of the Emmaus Group, Christy Anastas, who is from Bethlehem, recently defended Israel in an open letter to her fellow Palestinians. Contrasting Israel's embracing of life and Hamas' embracing of death, she said that while Israelis are working to avoid Palestinian civilian deaths, “my own people, think of them as a credible sacrifice for their cause.” "What saddens me is that again, the suffering of millions of Israelis is not being highlighted, as if they are not human beings," she wrote.  "In the last week alone, over 750 rockets have rained on them yet the world, and my people, are not regarding this as a crime against humanity simply because no Israelis have been killed. "Under the Geneva Convention, firing missiles indiscriminately at civilian targets is a crime against humanity.  They have not considered how Israel cares for her citizens by building a network of bomb shelters, reinforcing buildings and public structures and providing early warning systems for her people." In contrast, she wrote, "The leaders of Gaza, given so much aid by the West, appear to have spent much of it on building and preparing for war, rather than helping or protecting the people.”  (Emmaus Group) She called on the Palestinians “to accept responsibility for their actions and restrain those among us who chose violence over diplomacy.”

Palestinian Christian and co-founder of the Emmaus Group Christy

Anastas.

Meanwhile, many of the journalists who should stand for truth have instead fueled the world’s sympathy for Hamas by not reporting Hamas activities. While some sympathize with the Palestinian cause and primarily film the women and children who are wounded, militants have intimidated many other journalists to not film them or their rocket launches. However, one news reporter for India’s NDTV, Sreenivasan Jain, did air coverage of a missile launching site being built under the cover of a tent in the courtyard of the hotel in which he was staying.  The hotel is located among densely populated apartment complexes. Jain described men coming and going with wires, cables, and other large items.  He managed to capture on video rockets being fired from that location.  Jain had witnessed rockets fired from the same location five days earlier, and identified the men as members of Hamas.  (NDTV) In yet another blatant use of Palestinians as human shields, a similar launch was captured by the English language French news television service France 24, showing a rocket launching pad about 100 yards from a UN building and about 50 yards from a hotel. The French journalist, Gallagher Fenwick, was forced to take cover during live coverage when the rocket was unexpectedly launched from the pad.  (Times of Israel)

 Israel chose not to counter strike either site.

Recently, there has been resurgence of global anti-Semitism in the guise of anti-Zionism fueled, in part, by the Israel-Hamas conflict and the resulting media coverage. Despite the rocket attacks against Israeli cities and the terror squads that enter Israel to kill innocent men, women and children, the world is turning against Israel in favor of Hamas which has painted itself in the world's media as the underdog. As Believers, we must not remain silent, but speak out in solidarity with Israel.

The deadly Ebola Virus is being tackled 

by Israeli Researchers [2]

US Pastors Visit Israel During Operation Protective Edge

“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  (Genesis 12:3)

Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the pro-Israel organization with 1.8 million members (founded by Christian pastor John Hagee), came to Israel for a three-day trip last week, with 51 pastors—one from each state and the District of Columbia. At a time when airlines and tour agencies have cancelled flights to Israel, the pastors came to show their support for the Jewish People and to offer encouragement to Israeli soldiers fighting for the existence of Israel. "There are still people in America who can distinguish morally between Israel and Hamas.  There are still people in America who appreciate what Israel is doing—not just to protect their own citizens, but we believe deeply that when Israel battles Hamas they're also protecting us in America," CUFI executive director David Brog said.  (CBN)

CUFI's Central Regional Coordinator, Pastor Lyndon Allen of Woodmont

Bible Church in Nashville and an Israel Defense Forces soldier.  (Twitter)

During their visit, the pastors were briefed by high Israeli government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The pastors then visited Sderot, the southern war-weary city, which has endured around 7,000 rockets launched toward it from Beit Hanoun in Gaza since 2000.  Only 1,800 yards from Beit Hanoun, a Qassam rocket travelling at 200 yards per second will take only 9 seconds to reach the people of Sderot. Arriving 24 hours into the 72-hour ceasefire, the pastors experienced two incoming rocket red alerts, which turned out to be false alarms.  They were an immersion experience into the realities of life in Israel, nonetheless. After lunch and a bird’s eye view of the region, they came face-to-face with the Iron Dome missile defence system and the soldiers that man it in Ashdod. The pastors also visited the wounded, as well as the father of Gilad Shaar, one of the three teens kidnapped and killed two months ago by Hamas.

Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar, and Eyal Yifrach were abducted and killed

on June 12 while on their way home from their yeshivas (Orthodox Jewish

high school) for no other reason than their being Jewish. 

“While Israel's been at war, our pastors and leaders have wanted to do something concrete to demonstrate their support and solidarity,” Brog said.  (globenewswire) Brog emphasized that the intent of the trip is to not only lend moral support to the soldiers but to show the world that not everyone agrees with those “shouting ‘death to the Jews’ on the streets of Berlin and Paris.” The trip follows the pro-Israel organization’s ad campaign, which ran full page ads on July 31 in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, and August 1 in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Denver Post, Chicago Sun Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and USA Today. Banner ads on major news websites have also been running, such as on Fox News and the Christian Post. The ad campaign had two purposes.  One was to help the US media understand Hamas’ true goals, and the second was to help Secretary of State Kerry see the true nature of Israel’s situation. CUFI's website encouraged readers to email Kerry and tell him that “now is not the time to ease the legal and justified blockade of Gaza.  Now is the time to destroy Hamas’ terror tunnels, remove Hamas’ missile stockpiles, and to demilitarize Gaza.”

New York Times CUFI ad encouraging support of Israel.

Treasure Trove of Temple Era Coins Found

"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a temple for sacrifices."  (2 Chronicles 7:12)

Last week, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the discovery of a treasure trove of 144 bronze coins dating from the fourth year of the Jewish Revolt against Rome. The coins are decorated with the image of a chalice that may have been like those used in the Temple, as well as the Arba Minim (Four Species) that are relevant to Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).  (Leviticus 23:40) The Four Species are traditionally known as the lulav (palm, myrtle, willow branches) and etrog (citron fruit).

 

The Arba Minim or Four Species (traditionally palm, willow, myrtle and citron)

are four plants mentioned in Leviticus 23:40 as being relevant to Sukkot. 

The coins were uncovered during excavations of a small Roman-era Jewish village at a site known as Hirbet Mazruk, prior to the expansion of Highway 1, the main highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.  When pottery shards were found there several months ago, the IAA expanded excavations. This site is located near the modern town of Abu Ghosh just outside of Jerusalem. The coins were uncovered amid the ruins of a small ceramic box and are identical in size and value.  They are thought to have been minted at the same time only months before the fall of the Second Temple. Judea District chief archaeologist Pablo Betzer, who is co-leading the team that discovered the coins, estimates their value at a quarter or one-eighth of a shekel.  (Times of Israel) Each coin bears the marking, “For the redemption of Zion” and “year four,” meaning they were created during the fourth year of the Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire that began in AD 66.  That would place their manufacture between spring of 69 and the spring of AD 70.The Great Revolt ended with the Temple’s destruction as well as the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in AD 70. “Evidently someone here feared the end was approaching and hid his property, perhaps in the hope of collecting it later when calm was restored to the region,” explained Betzer.  (CBN)

 

On Tisha B'Av, the fast that commemorates the destruction of the Temple,

the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced a 2,000-year-old trove of

rare bronze coins from the Late Second Temple Period.  (Photo: IAA)

The village in which the coins had been stored was one of those that had refused to submit to the Roman authority and had been destroyed.  It is believed that they were hidden in a wall or floor of the building being excavated. The announcement of the discovery was made Tuesday in order to coincide with the Ninth of Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Jewish Temple in AD 70. The finding of this trove of coins follows shortly after the discovery of an ancient coin at Bethsaida, north of the Sea of Galilee, where a team led by Professor Rami Arav of the University of Nebraska at Omaha uncovered a Roman coin minted during the years following the revolt with the words Judea Capta (Judea has been conquered). That coin, which dates to AD 85, celebrated the victory over the Jewish rebellion and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  It was issued by Agrippa II, the great-grandson of Herod the Great, who supported the Romans during the revolt.

Highway 1 exit to Abu Gosh, which is near the site where the coins

were discovered.

The deadly Ebola Virus is being tackled by Israeli Researchers-[1]

Jerusalem

                                                                

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:  'May those who love you be secure.  May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.'  For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, 'Peace be within you.'”  (Psalm 122:6–8)

  

Israel and Hamas Negotiate in Cairo

"Those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness."  (James 3:18)

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators held a second round of indirect talks on 12, Tuesday 2014 aimed at finding a lasting end to the five-week confrontation. Because the Hamas charter calls for the destruction of Israel, the teams do not deal directly with one another at the headquarters of the Egyptian General Intelligence.  The proposals and counter-proposals are being shuttled between the two teams by mediators. "We are facing difficult negotiations," senior Hamas member Mousa Abu Marzouk said.  "The first truce passed without notable achievements.  This is the second and final ceasefire."  (JPost) Egypt brokered the 72-hour ceasefire that ends today (August 13, 2014).

Israel's Army Radio has reported that the five-person

Israeli team in Cairo comprises senior defense

official Amos Gilad, Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen,

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s associate

Yitzhak Molcho, Maj. Gen. Nimrod Sheffer, the head

of the IDF’s Planning Directorate, and the Coordinator

of Government Activities in the Territories Yoav

Mordechai (above).

On Sunday, 10,Agust, 2014 it was uncertain whether the Israeli negotiation team would return to Cairo after Hamas resumed firing when last week’s 72-hour ceasefire ended. Two Hamas rockets were fired into southern Israel at 3:30 a.m. Friday.  By Sunday night, the terrorist organization had lobbed another 100 rockets at Israel. Last week, reports estimated that Hamas likely had 3,500 rockets left in its arsenal. While Israel had approved extending last week's truce, Hamas officials refused, even spewing threats against Israeli civilians. "When Hamas broke the ceasefire, when Hamas launched rockets and mortar shells at Israel, they broke the premise of the talks," said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev.  "There will not be negotiations under fire."  (Fox News) During this week's round of talks in Cairo, Hamas’ primary demand is for Israel to lift a land and sea blockade that was imposed in 2006 after Hamas kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. It is also demanding an extension of the fishing zones, and the creation of an open seaport, an airport, the opening of border crossings into Israel and Egypt, eased travel restrictions for Gazans, and the payment of the salaries of former Hamas government clerks, among other demands. There is good reason for concern that a Gaza seaport would mean free movement of any tools—of war and otherwise—into Gaza, since 350 truckloads of imported building supplies were diverted to construct each of Hamas' terror tunnels—constructed for the murdering and kidnapping of Israelis.  (Bloomberg)

The Israeli delegation is reported to be essentially demanding a return to the understandings reached at the end of Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012.

It is offering eased access to Gaza, with Israel supervising access to Gaza from its side, and Egypt supervising access from its side.  Both Israel and Egypt would work together to prevent Hamas from rearming. As well, Egypt is apparently demanding that Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority deploy security troops to the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and Gaza. Izzat al-Risheq, a Hamas official in Cairo, said he was not opposed to a “partnership” with the Palestinian Authority (PA). “We have notified President Abbas and the brothers in the Palestinian Authority thatwe are ready as of now—rather than today—to hand over the Rafah terminal to President Abbas,” Risheq said. He also said that there were no objections to Abbas and the PA overseeing the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. “We support the formation of a national body headed by a clean, transparent and professional personality, to be in charge of the reconstruction,” he said.  “Everyone is facing a crisis; Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.  International and regional realities have changed and we must interact with these circumstances for the sake of our people and cause.”  (JPost)

Hamas fires rockets at Israel from a densely populated area in Gaza.

  

Meanwhile, a poll published Thursday by the Israel-based Interdisciplinary Centre, Herzliya, reveals that 72 percent of Gazans favor a peace agreement with Israel and 92 percent want a long-term truce with their Jewish neighbours. Although many Palestinians are silent about Hamas oppression, Gazans seem to be growing increasingly at odds with their Hamas leaders, who have cost many their security by attacking Israel from behind human shields—including homes, hospitals, schools and the people themselves. One firsthand account from a source in the IDF says that during the ground operation in Gaza, he encountered a Hamas terrorist carrying a child in one arm and shooting a gun with the other. Director of Messiah's Mandate International, Ron Cantor, writes on Facebook a reminder that while Hamas was elected to the Palestinian legislature in Gaza in 2006, 2007 saw the group seize the Strip illegally from the PA through a violent takeover. "They are not a legitimate government, but a Taliban-type group that seized power illegally.  And Israel has no reason to negotiate with them.  Nor John Kerry for that matter," Cantor writes.  "They need to be defeated and de-armed." "I will make peace your governor and well-being your ruler.  No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise."  (Isaiah 60:17–18)

Health staff in Guinea suit up in special protective gear that prevents

human-to-human transmission of Ebola.  (Photo credit: ECHO)

Israeli Researchers Tackle the Ebola Virus

Since running its course in 1976 after its first known outbreak in Africa, a current outbreak of Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses in the world, is raging in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The virus has been recognized in 1,779 cases this year, with health workers seeing a 90 percent fatality rate in the current outbreak in West Africa.  It is the largest outbreak on record. The deadly disease, marked by painful symptoms and hemorrhagic fever, has taken the lives of 1,600 since March.  (Times of Israel) The New York Times reports that Patient Zero was a 2-year-old, whose death from Ebola on December 6 was not diagnosed until March. Going unchecked for three months in a border town of Guinea, the Ebola virus killed the child’s sister, mother, and grandmother and moved across the border into Sierra Leone and Liberia, devastating entire villages, and has penetrated certain towns in Nigeria.  (ABC) "Villagers are fleeing as if it were a civil war, which increases the spread of Ebola," said Eyal Reinich, an Israeli with Doctors Without Borders.  "They disappear into jungles and other places and become vagrants.  So we’re constantly finding the virus in places we didn’t know about."  (Haaretz)

MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders) health staff in

protective clothing are sprayed down with a disinfectant when exiting the

isolation ward.

Reinich said he has seen Ebola outbreaks four times—three in Guinea—and that "the current outbreak is the worst." “The fear in the street is terrible,” Reinich said.  “If an epileptic person falls, everyone reacts hysterically and nobody helps him.” Another Israeli, United States-born virologist and physician Leslie Lobel, has focused the last 12 years studying Ebola, traveling four times a year to Uganda to study the genetic makeup and immune responses of rare Ebola survivors. Lobel, in partnership with his co-principal investigator Dr. Victoria Yavelsky and the United States military and the Uganda Virus Research Institute is currentlydeveloping a vaccine for Ebola that would make humans immune to the virus. Lobel earned his MD and doctorate in virology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in New York and has served as faculty at Ben-Gurion University's Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics, since making aliyah with his family in 2002, during the Second Intifada. “I figured that I should first focus on a serious virus—and Ebola is a very serious disease, lacking a cure and fatal in the majority of cases.  It is also a biodefense threat.  I thought human antibodies could be very useful for treating this viral disease,” Lobel said.  (JPost)

 

While the World Health Organization (WHO) works to contain outbreaks,

they do not fund research to develop therapeutics.  This European Mobile

Lab unit helps with Ebola diagnoses.  (Photo credit: EMLab)