News for July 31, 2005

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World-Wide ‘Shema’ Wednesday (July 31, 2005) - An appeal has been made to every Jew around to world to simultaneously read the first lines of the prayer known as Shema: “Hear O Israel, The L-rd is Our G-d, the L-rd is One” on Wednesday. The prayer is intended to ask for Divine help to prevent violence toward the planned expulsion of Jewish residents from Gaza and northern Samaria and for Divine intervention to cancel the plan. The prayer is organized under the motto, United We Stand, Divided We Fall. The prayer will be recited at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem and at 2 p.m. in New York. Children around the world also are being asked to pray together the following night, one day before the beginning of the new Hebrew month Av. Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu will lead the Thursday night prayer at the Western Wall. An unidentified group of women initiated the call for the children’s prayer, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Israel (12:30 p.m. in New York). Chabad (Lubavitch) leaders said they are encouraging children to attend the prayer rally at the Western Wall, where more than 20,000 children are expected.

Pope Refuses to Back Down; Porush: Vatican Returns to Hatred (July 31, 2005) - The Vatican told critics of its failure to condemn terror against Israel it “cannot take lessons” from others on what to say. MK Porush said the pope has returned to a policy of hatred of Jews. Israel initially expressed anger that the new, Pope Benedict XVI, omitted Israel in his condemnation recent Arab terror in Egypt and Britain. After the Vatican did not respond, except for issuing a statement that it could not react to every attack in Israel, the Foreign Ministry charged Pope Benedict with encouraging violence against Jews. The Vatican responded, “The Holy See [pope] cannot take lessons or instructions from any other authority on the tone and content of its own statements.” It added that the pope’s predecessor, John Paul, often refused to condemn Arab terror against Israel because Israel's retaliations were “not always compatible with international rights.” more...

Unraveling Jesus’ mystery years in Egypt (July 31, 2005) - “Behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” - Matthew 2:13
How much do we really know about Jesus? Not as much as we might think, according to a new film documentary focusing on the little-known childhood of Christianity’s savior. Titled “Jesus in Egypt,” the film is based on a book of the same name by author Paul Perry, widely known for his work on near-death experiences. Like Perry’s book, the film focuses on the flight of Jesus’ family to Egypt from Israel after King Herod threatened to “destroy” the boy Jesus, as St. Matthew wrote in the New Testament. The film was prepared by a team led by Perry that includes Florida archaeologist John de Bry, 61. De Bry is a veteran of many projects, including a quest for the ships of the pirate Capt. William Kidd off Madagascar in 2000. more...

More people sight mysterious craft in the skies (July 31, 2005) - MORE people have contacted the Bracknell News UFO hotline after seeing mysterious objects in the sky above Bracknell Forest. Myrtle Brain, of Murrellhill Lane, Binfield, saw a “flying saucer” in the sky above her home on Wednesday last week. She said: “It was saucer shaped with lights on the bottom and a light on a dome. I was just mesmerised, absolutely mesmerised.” She watched the object hovering above fields near her home for over 20 minutes at about 11pm. She said: “It didn’t move at all. It just hovered there for ages and then it disappeared. It was just as if the lights went out.” Mrs Brain said that she only saw the object because she had gone to lock the front door as she was going to bed. She said: “If I hadn’t done that I never would have seen it. “I have never seen anything like that before and I doubt I ever will again. I really don’t know what it was. The only thing I can think is that, if it wasn’t anything to do with the military, it was related to crop circles. “There is definitely something out there if all these people have seen it.” more...

Israel: Militant Attacks Would Spur Military Operation (July 31, 2005) - Israel would launch a massive ground operation if Palestinian militants fire on Israeli soldiers and settlers during next month's Gaza pullout, the deputy defense minister said Sunday. In such a scenario, the evacuation of settlers would be halted for 10 days to two weeks while Israeli forces occupy Palestinian towns near the Jewish settlements, said Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim (search). Boim told Israel Radio the ground operation would be massive, on the scale of the “Defensive Shield” offensive of 2002, in which Israel reoccupied West Bank (search) towns in response to a series of suicide bombings.

Abbas moves to Gaza for pullout (July 31, 2005) - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has announced he is moving his office to Gaza until the completion of Israel’s withdrawal from the territory. He said he would be co-ordinating the Palestinian side of the withdrawal, and mediating between different factions. The run-up to the pullout has seen renewed clashes involving militants, Palestinian police and Israeli forces. Israel, which has occupied Gaza since 1967, plans to start evacuating all 21 settlements in about three weeks’ time. more...

Police Plan to Block Anti-Pullout March to Gaza (July 31, 2005) - The Yesha Council of Settlements says its plans for the Sderot rally will not change and that marchers will also head for Gush Katif from Ofakim and Netivot. Settler leaders emphasized Saturday that the objective is to stage a non-violent yet effective protest akin to the one at Kfar Maimon two weeks ago, with one goal being to pin down large contingents of security forces before the disengagement to hamper the evacuation of Gush Katif. The police’s southern district informed the Yesha Council categorically that marchers would not be allowed to advance on the Kissufim checkpoint. Police are threatening to be “more determined than sensitive.” “We won’t let them reach Kissufim even if that means employing force, mounted police, water canons and any other means. They won’t reach Gush Katif,” senior officers vowed Saturday. more...