no one can see!

Biblical-Like Sandstorm Hits Israel... no one can see!

Jewish women and tourists pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Biblical-Like Sandstorm Hits Israel

“Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion?”  (Job 36:29) Israelis woke up under the cover of a massive sandstorm.  The cloud of yellow dust impacted visibility reducing it to only one to three kilometers (0.5–2 miles). Extremely warm, muggy weather exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit accompanied the early September phenomenon in such places as Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee.
 

Sandstorm over Zikhron Yaakov, a town 35 kilometers (22 miles) south
of Haifa.  (YouTube capture)

And what was the culprit?  Apparently the sandstorm had been inching in from Iraq and Syria where it has been swirling for several days. “It is not clear what caused the exceptional sandstorms in Syria,” Israel Meteorological Service Climate Department head Dr. Amos Porat said.  “They did have some weather activity and strong winds, but not on a scale that can account for what happened.  We are trying to find an explanation.” The air quality and visibility was so poor that domestic airlines Israir and Arkia canceled flights to the southern city of Eilat.  Ticket holders were offered transportation by bus. Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry warned residents to stay inside and to avoid outdoor physical activity.  The Magen David Adom (Israel’s version of the Red Cross) reported that over 600 Israelis have been treated for shortness of breath and other respiratory problems exacerbated by the weather.  The pollution level in Jerusalem was the highest in the country—173 times its normal amount with 5,000–7,000 micrograms of dust particles per cubic meter—the worst level ever in the 75 years of record keeping. A satellite photo taken from 497 miles in space shows Israel, the Sinai, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria covered in a brownish-yellow fog.  The data indicated that the dust rose to a level of 2,000 feet.

 
 

NASA satellite image of a major dust storm in September
2015 that enveloped heavily populated areas in the Middle
East and North Africa, including Israel.

The sandstorm is reported to have caused several deaths in Syria and grounded President Assad’s air force.  In Egypt, four ports on the Suez Canal were closed due to poor visibility. Hebrew University’s Professor Daniel Rosenfeld, an expert on climate change, noted the rarity of such a storm, commenting, “I don't remember a time when such a large quantity of dust arrived from the direction of Syria, all without powerful winds.  The major dust storms usually arrive at the end of winter from North Africa, and are accompanied by strong winds.” Noting that scientists are still at a loss to explain what has happened, Rosenfeld suggests that it might be linked to a change in farming practices in Syria since the beginning of the civil war there.  Some wonder if God might be saying something to Syria and to Israel, which has decided it cannot absorb any of Syria's refugees due to the country's small size. "Israel is a small country, a very small country, that lacks demographic and geographic depth; therefore, we must control our borders, against both illegal migrants and terrorism," Netanyahu told ministers at his weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. Looking to the Bible for answers, we see that in ancient Israel, a great sandstorm is one of the curses that would befall Israel for not obeying God’s commandments (Deuteronomy 28:24). That sandstorm would result in Israel’s destruction. In contrast, last anomaly, merely resulted in major inconveniences and the nation of Israel united again under a cloud.
 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara
leave Israel amidst a sandstorm for an official visit to
London.  (GPO Photo by Avi Ohayon)

Netanyahu Visits Britain as EU Votes to Label Israeli Products

"An unplowed field produces food for the poor, but injustice sweeps it away."  (Proverbs 13:23) Known as the “Met” to locals, London’s Metropolitan Police were well-prepared for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit with British Prime Minister David Cameron. Brandishing automatic weapons, bulletproof vests, helmets, masks and sunglasses, they carefully protected Netanyahu from a terror attack as he met with Cameron to discuss a shared cooperative approach to the defeat of militant Islam. The weapons carried by the police were believed to be German-made Heckler and Koch G36 assault rifles capable of firing 750 rounds a minute.  Driving blacked-out Land Rovers, they joined an even larger fleet of vehicles involved in security for the controversial world leader. With the ongoing threat of militant Islam and especially the threat from the Islamic State known as ISIS impacting both nations, Netanyahu told a press conference before meeting with the British Prime Minister at Downing Street, “The Middle East is disintegrating under the twin forces of militant Islam:  The militant Sunnis led by ISIS and the militant Shiites led by Iran.” Netanyahu added, “I believe that we can cooperate in practical ways to roll back the tide of militant Islam both in the Middle East and in Africa altogether.”

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with British Prime Minister
David Cameron in London.  (GPO photo by Avi Ohayon)

Referring to the present Iran agreement with the US and other European powers, the Israeli Prime Minister said, “All responsible countries must cooperate in order to stop Iran's terrorism and aggression which, to my regret, will only increase as a result of the agreement.”  Netanyahu identified three things on his agenda with Cameron: security, peace and technology, including joining forces with Britain over cyber-security. He also said that he was ready to “immediately” resume negotiations with the Palestinians, “with no conditions whatsoever.” The previous day saw clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters outside the Downing Street office. The Israeli Prime Minister visited Britain as over 108,000 people added their signature to a petition calling for Netanyahu’s arrest for war crimes, sufficient to bring the issue up for debate in the British parliament.

 

United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron welcomes Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to 10 Downing.

Meanwhile, in an ongoing effort “to become a real political player in the Middle East peace process,” the EU parliament voted 525 to 70 to require the labeling of Israeli products produced in the territories, including Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. With yet another attempt to force a diplomatic solution without the Palestinians having to return to the negotiating table, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said that the move to label Israeli products was discriminatory and had “a sharp smell of boycott.” The resolution stipulates that there be no agreements with Israeli companies or institutions that have business with the settlements. “When we told them this was a boycott they blew up and really lost their minds,” a senior Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem told Haaretz.  “We told them that labelling products from the settlements is like a door that once opened cannot be closed.  We made clear to them that we did not see this as a technical step, but as a political step against Israel in every sense.”

 

As part of his official visit to the UK, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu
and his wife Sara visited the British Library in London on Thursday night,
where they were briefed about the original 1917 Balfour Declaration and a
volume of Theodor Herzl's writings that the Prime Minister's father had
edited in 1937.  The Netanyahus also viewed a Passover Haggadah,
Tanakh, an edition of the Talmud (Tractate Bava Kama) and other volumes.
(Arutz Sheva)

The resolution also has articles stipulating actions against EU companies that do not conform to its dictates. Article 12 calls for the EU to take “concrete measures towards settlers, including the adoption of a non-contact policy and visa ban, excluding settlement products from the EU internal market and freezing EU-Israeli relations.” Prime Minister Netanyahu likened the resolution to actions of the Nazi era. “We remember history and we remember what happened when the products of Jews were labeled in Europe,” he said.  “It’s a distortion of justice and of logic, not to mention that it does not advance peace.” "The roots of the conflict are not territories and the roots of the conflict are not the settlements," he added. Of the 28 EU foreign ministers, those from Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and others did not sign the resolution.

 

Muslim men and women enjoy free access to the Temple Mount, while
Jewish visitors must be guarded from Muslim harassment. 

Hamas-Backed Harassment Groups Banned on Temple Mount

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”  (Psalm 34:8) Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has signed a decree that bans two Islamist activist groups, Murabitun and Murabatat from the Temple Mount. The two groups are guilty of routine harassment of Jewish visitors to the holy site, intimidating them, and stopping them from praying or even being present there. “The goal of the Murabitun and Murabatat is to undermine Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount, change the reality and the existing arrangements, and harm freedom of worship.  They are linked to—and are directed by—hostile Islamist organizations,” a statement from the Ministry’s office said.

 
 

Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount must be guarded from malevolent
groups that seek to harm and harass Jews on the Mount.

The statement emphasized that the two groups, one for men and one for women, formed “a central component in the creation of tension and violence on the Temple Mount in particular, and Jerusalem in general.” The Ministry describes their activities as engaging in “dangerous incitements” involving tourists, worshipers, and visitors to the Temple Mount that can lead to violence and endanger lives. The members of the group are drawn from the more activist Arab communities in the north of the land and are being bussed to the Temple Mount daily. Ya’alon said the ruling was necessary to protect national security and the public order.  Precedence for the law is actually drawn from a similar emergency law established during the Mandate period by the British government to confront Jewish paramilitary organizations during the years prior to state independence in 1948. In announcing the decree, Ya’alon said that Israel “allows freedom of worship to all of its citizens and to the tourists who visit it, irrespective of religion, and it sees this as a basic, central, and important value.  But we have no intention of allowing violent elements that incite [violence] to harm public order and threaten the peace of worshipers—especially in a sensitive and holy site like the Temple Mount.” Jewish activist Yehuda Glick who has been fighting for three years for the right of Jews to worship on the Mount said, “Thank God, Better late than never.  I have appealed to the police since this whole thing began in 2012.  It took a while, but the state made the right decision.”

 
 

The Temple Mount is Judaism's most holy site and the third most holy site
for Muslims.  But while Muslims are free to form relaxed study groups on
the Mount, Jewish visitors are not even allowed to appear as though they
are praying.  They are harassed while they visit and monitored closely be
the police for any sign of an action that Muslims might find offensive.

At the same time, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the former mufti of Jerusalem (religious head), called the decision “illegal, illegitimate and inhumane.” Using it as an excuse to incite more violence, he said, “This is an assault on al-Aqsa, because these women [Murabatat] defend al-Aqsa.  It shows that the Jews covet al-Aqsa mosque and want to drive all Muslims out of it.”  Recent experiences on the Mount have been very unpleasant for non-Muslim visitors. In a piece for The Jerusalem Post, journalist Lahav Harkov described her experience visiting the Temple Mount as humiliating. But as humiliating as it was, she was surprised to learn that her experience was mild and that “the norm is for Israeli Jews to be treated like dangerous criminals just for wanting to walk around.” “From the start, the sense was that the police work for the Islamic Wakf, which manages the site, and not for the citizens of Israel.  They treated us with disdain, and catered to and tried to anticipate every inane complaint by Wakf staff,” she wrote. “‘Don’t make this a hard day for me,’ the police officer sneered at us.  ‘No praying.  No bowing.  No lying on the ground.  No singing.  No dancing.’”

  

Aerial shot of the Dome of the Rock portion of the Temple Mount.

And although she dressed modestly, according to Orthodox Jewish tradition, her clothes were challenged.  Women wearing black, members of the Murabatat, harassed her, as well as her mother and sister, yelling “Allahu akbar (God is greater).” Three Temple policemen and 12 Waqf bodyguards surrounded her tour group at every step. “I was frustrated,” Harkov wrote.  “I’m not used to being treated like I’m guilty for existing.” In another revealing incident, an Orthodox man had asked the police for permission to drink from a nearby fountain.  Instead, they gave him a bottle of water. The police then arrested him for saying the required blessing before sipping water.

 
 

While Muslims are permitted to drink water from fountains on the Temple
Mount, Jewish visitors are prevented from doing the same.

In a similar incident, a boy was arrested by the police when he went to the Temple Mount to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah and was caught saying the Shema prayer of belief in one God aloud. Although the courts have repeatedly defended the rights of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, the police are threatened by these Hamas-funded groups. Wishing to avoid a violent outburst by these hired attackers, the police routinely bar Jewish visitors who even appear to be worshiping in order to keep the peace, as Harkov discovered on her tour. As she listened to her guide and pondered the redemption that would come to the world, beginning on the Temple Mount, a policeman warned her, “You can’t close your eyes and cry.  That's like praying.”

 

The United Nations approved flying the Palestinian flag at the UN.

Palestinian Flag, Wave at UN

“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”  (Isaiah 59:19) Although a so-called Palestinian state does not exist, it nevertheless gained further status at the UN last few weeks back when a resolution was approved allowing the flag of Palestine to wave among the banners of the other member states. This action prompted outgoing UN Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor to quip that if the Palestinians wanted to pass a resolution at the UN General Assembly that the world was flat, it would be approved. “In my four years, I have seen hypocrisy, I have seen duplicity, and I have seen a triple standard—one for democracies, one for dictatorships, and a special standard designed only for Israel,” said Prosor.
 

Ron Prosor, Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

“I thought I had seen everything,” Prosor continued.  “But I have to admit, this time, the Palestinians managed to take cynicism to a whole new level.  The goal of this resolution is a photo op.  The Palestinians want to bring together world dignitaries and the media to gather around and watch as [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] Abu Mazen raises a flag.  They plan to use the prestige of the UN as a backdrop for this charade.”  In his last speech before the world body as he completes his four-year term as ambassador, Prosor said that rather than flying the Palestinian flag they should fly the white flag of surrender since they had given up having any principles. He noted that the resolution was not only procedurally flawed having been brought to a vote without any of the required debate or discussion, but that it now allowed the Palestinians to manipulate the institution for its own public relations purposes. In addition, it violates several agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that states the PLO will not take unilateral actions toward statehood outside of direct negotiations

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution deciding that
the flags of non-member observer states shall be raised at its headquarters
in New York and United Nations' offices following the flags of the
member states.

Palestine gained non-member observer status at the UN in 2012.  The only other international body with non-member status is the Vatican. Prior to this resolution, only member states were allowed to have their flags flown. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN representative said that the resolution is like the light of a candle to keep Palestinian hopes alive. “It is a symbolic thing,” he said, “but another step to solidify the pillars of the state of Palestine in the international arena,” adding that the initiative had the potential to “give our people some hope that the international community is still supporting the independence of the state of Palestine.”  Of the 193 UN members, 119 voted in favor with 45 abstaining, including most of the 28-nation EU. Only eight countries voted against the proposal: Israel, the US, Canada, Australia, Palau, Micronesia, Tuvalu and the Marshal Islands. The only other international body with non-member observer status, the Vatican, was included in the resolution; however, the Vatican, which did not co-sponsor the resolution, is not planning to fly its flag at the UN headquarters in New York before Pope Francis visits the UN later the month of September.  The Palestinians are planning to have Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas raise their flag when he addresses the General Assembly September 30th.

Muslim women and child on the Temple Mount in "East" Jerusalem.

Majority of East Jerusalem Arabs Prefer Israeli Citizenship

“The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west.  All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.’”  (Genesis 13:14–15) A recent Washington Institute for Near East Policy poll indicates that in the event of a two-state solution, a slight majority of Jerusalem Arabs, 52%, would prefer to be Israeli citizens rather than Palestinian. On the other hand, 45% say they would prefer to be Palestinian citizens in a Palestinian state. The same poll revealed that 70% support the two-state solution and “recognize the Jewish people's right to a state.” The results of this survey indicate a 12% rise from a similar one held by the institute in 2011 when 40% said they would prefer Israeli citizenship. The present poll reports more realistic views for those Arabs living in Jerusalem compared with those living in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip where only 13% and 11% respectively support the right of the Jews to a state. But while 40% of the Jerusalem Arabs say Jews have some rights, almost none of those living in Judea and Samaria and Gaza agreed.

 

This map shows Israel's districts,
including Judea and Samaria,
which are also called the West Bank.

The findings were presented last Tuesday by survey head David Pollack, Fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.  Pollack believes that access to social and economic benefits afforded by citizenship and not political or ideological affiliations to Israel attract east Jerusalemites.  Forty-seven percent say they are actually politically independent. This independence could be because the governing powers of Judea-Samaria (the Palestinian Authority) and Gaza (Hamas) do not officially operate in east Jerusalem. Even so, 61% still support armed conflict with Israel, including vehicular terrorist attacks, and 39% declare their support of the Hamas terrorist group rather than the Palestinian Authority. On a side note, only half, about 19%, of Gazans reportedly support Hamas compared to 11% of residents in the West Bank where Hamas operatives are sometimes arrested. The results of the poll were reported on Israel’s Channel 2 News.  Data reported by the institute show a rise in the number of requests by Palestinians living in East Jerusalem for Israeli citizenship from 114 applications in 2003 to between 800 and 1,000 per year now.  About half are actually granted. Pollack comes to three conclusions about the data that can help us analyze the news better: “First, the findings suggest that benefits from practical coexistence may produce a more moderate mindset. “Second, partisan affiliation may not be a good guide to underlying attitudes. “And third, most important, those who care about both democracy and peace would do well to pay more attention to the desires of the Palestinians who actually live in Jerusalem, not just of those who claim to speak on their behalf from outside the city.”

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