Quote: "Speaking in a quiet voice, Mr Laxton, who is charged with racially aggravated harassment, said: "I am embarrassed, to be honest with you. I offended somebody, I embarrassed the Foreign Office, I've caused anxiety to a number of friends and family and in particular I regret using foul language and I regret using imprecise language. "I regret very much the way in which this case came out in the media and the suggestion that I am anti-Semitic or racist in any way. I am not." "I fully accept that my comments suggested I felt that everybody in Israel was somehow responsible for that action."

If that isn't racism, I don't know what is. How this man is still managing to hold down his job at the British Foreign Office is beyond me. Unfortunately Mr Laxton isn't the only British politician who has espoused anti-Semitic sentiments. Former London Mayor Ken Livingston previously justified the use of suicide bombings against Israel, just days after the terror attacks on the London underground claimed the lives of over 150 people. And even the former British Prime Minister's wife, Cherie Blair, once gave a chilling justification of Palestinian suicide bombings when she said, "as long as young people feel they have got no hope but to blow themselves up you are never going to make progress". She made the unfortunate remarks just hours after 19 Israelis lost their lives in a massive suicide attack. In reality it is not the hopelessness and desperation of young Arabs that drives them to become 'shahids' and die for the sake of their cause. It is the Islamic culture of death that breeds this sort of macabre violence. And as long as Hamas and Fatah continue to indoctrinate their children into believing that death is good, and that to die in the process of killing a Jew merits special favour from Allah, there will be no peace in the Middle East. You can't negotiate with someone who desires your complete annihilation. Unfortunately this aspect of the conflict is largely ignored by the Western media. And it is this ingrained bias against Israel in the media that is largely responsible for the anti-Semitic undercurrent that is now sweeping across Britain.

There is hope. The Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, is able to change people's lives. As we have seen, the son of a Hamas minister, who was formerly involved in setting up terrorist attacks against the Jews, has become a born again Christian. He now has a God-given love for Israel, and although he lives in exile in the United States, he hopes to be able to return to his homeland someday. And I heard recently how a prominent terrorist-turned-politician in my own country has received Christ as his personal Saviour. His story is not unique. The Bible tells of how Paul, who formerly made havoc of the Church and persecuted this way unto death, became one of the greatest evangelists this world has ever known. So don't be consumed by hatred for the Muslims. But be a witness to them of the love of God and the saving power of Jesus Christ. You never know what might come of it.

1st Timothy 1:15
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Source Times Online

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad railed on the United States and Israel during his address to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday. The visit of President Ahmadinejad, who has publicly called for the state of Israel to be "wiped off the map", slammed "murderous Zionists" as being responsible for the global financial crisis and America as being responsible for much of the world's problems. The event was widely protested but Ahmadinejad's speech went ahead as planned, resulting in scathing criticism of the UN for allowing such anti-Semitic remarks to go unreprimanded. Israeli President Shimon Peres stated that it was "the first time in the history of the United Nations that the head of a state is appearing openly and publicly with the ugly and dark accusations of the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion'". The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is an anti-Semitic forgery that accuses the Jewish people of constructing a devilish plot to take over the entire world. During his address Ahmadinejad repeated his claims that the 'Zionist regime' would soon disappear...

Quote: ""Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters," he said in a speech to the UN General Assembly. Ahmadinejad also sharply attacked the United States and NATO, accusing them of acting as aggressors in Iraq and Afghanistan, and of starting those wars "in order to win votes in elections." "American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders," Ahmadinejad said. He reiterated Iran's insistence that its nuclear program is purely peaceful, not aimed at producing nuclear weapons.

Ahmadinejad also vowed that Iran will press on with its nuclear programme. His remarks follow the publication of new evidence by the International Atomic Energy Agency of Iran's attempts to modify their Shahab-3 missiles to carry nuclear warheads. The European Union is also warning that Iran was working on a nuclear weapons programme in the past, and that the country is approaching the capability of reconfiguring its enrichment process to produce weapons' grade Uranium. During a speech to delegates of the United Jewish Communities General Assembly, Israeli opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu warned that the world needs to act now in order to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons.

Quote: ""It's 1938 and Iran is Germany. And Iran is racing to arm itself with atomic bombs. Believe him and stop him," Netanyahu said of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "This is what we must do. Everything else pales before this."

In 1938 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler by permitting Nazi Germany to reoccupy Czechoslovakia in return for peace. But the plan failed. Over six million Jews would be sent to their deaths in Nazi concentration camps over the next few years. Today the international community is repeating the mistake of past generations, in attempting to appease a man who is bent on the complete annihilation of the Jewish state. But Hitler and the Third Reich are no longer. Babylon is no more. Egypt, Assyria, and the Greek and Roman Empires have come and gone. God's promises are everlasting, so you can guarantee that the Jewish state will outlive any government that seeks to set itself against the Mighty God of Jacob. But those who have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation have an even greater security than that of Israel. For the Bible says that all who believe on Jesus Christ for salvation have eternal life and shall never perish. Jesus Christ declares that no man is able to pluck us out of His hand, and adds that no man is able to pluck us out of His Father's hand (John 10:27-29). Not only do we have this double security on the outside, but we also have God's Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of us (John 14:16-17, 1st John 4:4). Do you have this security? You can have it through trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31).  

Source Arutz 7, YNet News, Jerusalem Post, Tehran Times, Israeli Insider

The Israeli Tourist Ministry has been asked by the British Advertising Standards Authority to remove a photograph of the caves of Qumran in an tourism advertisement, after the agency pointed out that viewers could be misled into thinking that the visitor attraction was located within the 'green-line'. The Israeli Tourist Ministry has complied with the ASA's ruling, and the offending photograph has been replaced with one of Masada, the mountain top fortress at which the Jewish people made their last stand against the Romans. While Qumran is not located within the 1948 armistice line, which has become the internationally recognized boundary for the state of Israel, the site was part of Israel's heritage and is of significant historical interest to the Jewish people. And as another official in the Israeli government pointed out, advertisements run by the Palestinian Authority show Ben Gurion airport as the major airport of 'Palestine', yet there hasn't been a whisper of complaint from the ASA.

Quote: "Moshe Feiglin, head of the Likud's Jewish Leadership faction, responded with sarcasm to the British stance. "They’re right," he said. "After all, everyone knows that the famous hidden 'Palestinian' scrolls were found in those caves." Feiglin added that "not far away, in Masada, the heroic battle took place between the 'Palestinian' zealots and the Roman Legion. In addition, the Western Wall is of course nothing more than a remnant of the 'Palestinian' Holy Temple that was destroyed 2,000 years ago."

Unfortunately this is just the latest in a long line of anti-Semitic pronouncements now emanating from Britain. Most recently the University and College Union proposed reviving a motion calling for the boycott of Israeli academia, designed to punish Israel for its 'occupation' of the Palestinian territories, even after the move was declared illegal last year. It seems that Britain is drowning in a sea of anti-Semitism, with condemnations of Israel emanating from our mainstream churches, our trade unions and our universities. What is it about the Jewish people and the state of Israel that seems to attract such scathing criticism from the nations? Why is the United Nations Human Rights Council preoccupied with condemning Israel, while human rights abusers such as Saudi Arabia and Iran are given a clean slate? The answer is their unique relationship with the God of Israel. The Bible states that following their rejection of the Messiah, the Jewish people would be driven out of their land. They would suffer terrible persecution, and would wander from place to place, finding no rest for the sole of their feet. And history shows that in every place where the Jewish people have settled, they have been driven out.

Deuteronomy 28:64-65
And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, [even] wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:

But the Jewish people have been brought back to the land of Israel. Not because they were greater than any other nation, for the Bible says they are a stiffnecked and hard hearted people (Exodus 32:9). But the Lord was jealous for His holy name which they had profaned among the nations, and in His mercy and love He brought them back to the land He gave to their fathers.

Ezekiel 39:25
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;

It took the Holocaust to bring them back to their land, and it will take the time of Jacob's trouble to bring them back to their God (Jeremiah 30:7). But praise God that through the blindness of Israel, salvation has come to the Gentiles (Romans 11:25). Praise God that we can know the Living and True God, the Mighty God of Jacob, through faith in Jesus Christ. God has not cast off His people (Psalm 94:14, Romans 11:2). He will deliver them in a coming day, and as we see hatred of Israel increasing, we can rejoice that the day of deliverance is at hand. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).

Genesis 49:22-24
Joseph [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

Source Arutz 7, Jerusalem Post

It has recently been revealed that General Merrill McPeak, appointed military advisor to US Presidential candidate Barack Obama, blames American Jewry and Evangelical Christianity for the failures of the Middle East peace process. Obama's campaign has been marred by a series of damaging revelations, in which advisors close to Obama have been found to espouse anti-Semitic views and support of radical extremist organizations. One such individual is Obama's former pastor, the very un-reverend Jeremiah Wright. On the Sunday following the September 11th attacks, Wright announced from his pulpit that US Foreign Policy was to blame for the deaths of over 3000 people who lost their lives that day. Wright's church newspaper has published articles written by Hamas leaders which compare the terrorist organization's charter, calling for the liberation of 'all Palestine' through violent means, to the American Declaration of Independence. The articles defended suicide bombings and rocket attacks on Israeli civilians as legitimate acts of resistance supported under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Obama has publicly distanced himself from his former pastor, and claims not to have been present when the above incidents occurred. But even Wright admitted in an interview in February of last year that Obama may have to leave his church for a time so as not to harm his chances at running for the presidency.

Quote: "I just shared with, I was trying to remember who it is, somebody in public life was asking me about Barack, and I said listen, Barack might be forced by the media and/or by supporters to be very absent from this church and to put distance between our church and himself. As a politician, he might be forced into that. I have not talked to him about that at all. It's just that my read just of the blogs and what the right-Christian-wing leaders have said about him being a part of our church over past three months says this is — you think it's ugly now, it's going to get worse, it's going to get much worse. For survival's sake, as a politician he just might have to not — not that I love you less, I love me more. I'll never get elected as long as they keep harping on this. And that's — again, I haven't talked to him about that at all.

It makes one wonder exactly what Barack Obama believes. And now the man who has been chosen to be Barack Obama's military advisor has been found to hold anti-Semitic views, blaming American Jewry and its influence on US Foreign Policy for the failures in the Middle East, instead of putting the blame on those who are perpetrating and sponsoring terrorist acts. General McPeak has also criticized born-again Christians, saying they are actively seeking to bring about Armageddon in the Middle East in order to hasten the return of Jesus Christ...

Quote: "In a 2003 interview with The Oregonian, McPeak intimated that American Jews control the country's Middle East policy. The general also claimed that Jews and Christian Zionists manipulate U.S. policy in Iraq. "Let's say that one of your abiding concerns is the security of Israel as opposed to a purely American self-interest. Then it would make sense to build a dozen or so bases in Iraq," the general said. "Let's say you are a born-again Christian and you think that Armageddon and the rapture are about to happen any minute, and what you want to do is retrace steps you think are laid out in Revelations, then it makes sense," he said.

There does seem to be a hint of anti-Semitism in McPeak's views. First of all, without giving any justifiable reason for his statement, McPeak infers that seeking Israel's security is opposed to America's self-interest. In reality it is in America's interests to seek Israel's security. Israel leads the world in the fields of medicine, science and technology. Israel is a thriving democracy in the midst of a sea of tyrannical regimes that seek to control their people through fear and intimidation. Israel has a free press, unlike most of the nations surrounding it. Israel now has one of the most advanced airforces in the world. Israel's army has been fighting the war on terror for the past 60 years, whereas America is only now beginning to realize the scope of the threat now posed by Islamic extremism. It is in America's best interests that Israel survives. If Israel loses the war on terror, we all lose it. Secondly, McPeak seems to infer that the existence of the state of Israel is the prime cause of conflict in the Middle East. In reality it is Islamic extremism that is causing the instability, and not only in the Middle East but throughout the entire world (Genesis 16:12). The Jewish state has a religious (Leviticus 25:23), historical and legal right (Genesis 23:16-18, Jeremiah 32:8) to possess the land. The Jewish people have more right to the land of Israel than the United States will ever have to the North American continent. Thirdly, McPeak suggests that American Jewry and their influence on US foreign policy is to blame for the problems the country is experiencing in the Middle East. It beggars belief that a tiny group of Jews, not numbering more than 6 million people, can be blamed for the ills of an entire country numbering over 250 million people. That a tiny group of law-abiding citizens can dictate the foreign policy of the US government! It beggars belief because it is simply not true. McPeak's opinions would have found a welcome home in Nazi Germany, and still do in many parts of the Arab world. Added to this tirade of anti-Semitism, McPeak claims that evangelical Christians are bent on bringing about Armageddon, just so they can hasten the rapture and the return Jesus Christ. Just as Jews were blamed for the burning of the Reichstag prior to the Second World War, so perhaps Christians will receive the blame for the outbreak of the battle of Megiddo during the tribulation period. In reality, McPeak ignores the fact that what was prophesied in the Bible will, and is, coming to pass just as God has said, and there is absolutely nothing anybody can do to hasten or delay its fulfilment. McPeak is ignorant of the truth of Scripture, and that is revealed through his statements in this interview. The fact that the events spoken of in the Bible are now coming to pass, and that many Christians are attesting to this fact, is not because we have willed it so, but because these things must shortly come to pass (Revelation 1:1). Abraham attempted to fulfill God's prophecies before their time, and that is what got us into this mess in the first place (Genesis 16:3-4). But it seems that McPeak's views will continue to be propagated throughout the world as we draw nearer to the time of Christ's return. During the tribulation period, the Bible states that the Antichrist will make war with the saints, and seek to destroy the power of the holy people (Daniel 7:21, Revelation 12:17, 13:7). And he will be given that authority for three and half years. But Jesus Christ is coming back. We are living in the last days. The events foretold in the Bible over 2000 years ago are now beginning to come to pass. If Jesus Christ came today, would you be ready to meet Him? Have your sins been forgiven? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

Revelation 22:7, 12, 20
Behold, I come quickly: blessed [is] he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book... And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be... He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 

Source Media Matters, WorldNetDaily, LittleGreenFootballs, CBN