Palestinians signal readiness to start peace talks

clipped from news.yahoo.com JERUSALEM – The Israeli government has effectively frozen new Jewish construction in Jerusalem's disputed eastern sector, municipal officials said Monday. The decision was made despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public insistence that building would not be stopped in the face of U.S. pressure. It remained unclear if the slowdown constituted a formal moratorium or how long it would last, but the move reflected Netanyahu's need to mend a serious rift with the U.S. over Israeli construction on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state as Washington tries to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. In an interview Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signaled he would be ready to start indirect peace talks with Israel, after weeks of hesitation. "If we see there is a freeze, we will not sit quietly and the prime minister knows that," he said. "This coalition will not allow the prime minister to freeze building in Jerusalem."

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Palestinians 'pleased' with Obama

clipped from www.wnd.com Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama JERUSALEM – In an unprecedented move, the U.S. has been conducting negotiations with Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, according to a senior PA negotiator and sources in the Israeli government. The U.S. has been calling for the resumption of indirect talks, with Obama administration officials publicly proposing to serve as a go-between to facilitate dialogue between Israel and the PA. A senior PA negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said rather than act as an intermediary, the U.S. has been negotiating with Israel on behalf of the PA, assuming all Palestinian positions and bargaining with Israel from the Palestinian side. Yesterday, Israel's Haaretz newspaper quoted confidants to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating the Israeli leader told them he would oppose attempts to impose a peace plan on Israel. Palestinians 'pleased' with Obama

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Clinton Bows to Russian Support of Iran

clipped from www.weeklystandard.com President Biden, a lower-level, Israeli government agency announces its intent to build more housing units in East Jerusalem and the Obama administration goes nuclear, condemning the announcement as though it was a violation of some sacred agreement between the two countries—which of course it wasn’t. The Israeli government, in turn, apologizes for the timing of the announcement but is told that this will not be enough. Israel now must, according to the administration, “prove” it wants peace. Vladmir Putin has announced his government’s intention to complete construction of the Iranian nuclear plant at Bushehr this summer, in spite of the fact that the United Nations has declared Iran to be in non-compliance with the its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Clinton mildly complains about the Russian announcement Russian foreign minister, bluntly tells Clinton and the world that the construction will indeed go forward.

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World diplomats urge resumption of Mideast talks

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com MOSCOW -- International diplomats on Friday called on Israel and the Palestinians to return to peace negotiations with the goal of creating an independent Palestinian state within two years. They reiterated their condemnation of Israel's latest move to add Jewish housing in disputed east Jerusalem but did not escalate criticism of the Jewish state. The so-called Quartet group of Mideast negotiators met in the Russian capital to set the stage for peace talks in which the United States would be a go-between. Those indirect talks, also called proximity talks, would be the first under the Democratic Obama administration and the hawkish Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At a news conference after the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke approvingly of indications Netanyahu is ready to address her country's concerns. Clinton said she expects to see Netanyahu in Washington next week.

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Muslims Furious Over Israeli Decision to Highlight Ancient Link

Image by Jungle_Boy via Flickr

Revelation 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

clipped from cnsnews.com (CNSNews.com) – A decision by the Israeli government to include a location with an almost 4,000 year-old link to the origins of Judaism in a list of 150 national heritage sites has sparked an uproar among Muslims – and drawn the disapproval of the Obama administration. Two days after Palestinian Authority (P.A.) chairman Mahmoud Abbas warned during a visit to Brussels that it could ignite a “religious war,” Palestinians clashed Thursday with Israeli soldiers in Hebron. The radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad has called for a “day of anger” on Friday. The Old Testament also records that Hebron was the capital of the kingdom of Israel for seven years before King David moved to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5). Rabbis consider the Cave of the Patriarchs the second holiest site in Judaism, after the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Hebron as a city is also one of Judaism’s four holy cities, the others being Jerusalem, Tiberias and Tzfat.

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