Friday, April 29, 2016

ISRAEL TREADS LIGHTLY ABOUT THE GOLAN HEIGHTS ISSUE.

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)

LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

Israel treads carefully with claim to Golan-After PM says territory will remain under state’s sovereignty permanently, expert stresses situation on the ground has not changed and that annexation never took place-By Josef Federman April 29, 2016, 3:33 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

AP — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sparked a new diplomatic brushfire by declaring that the Golan Heights, seized from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, is and should remain “under Israel’s sovereignty permanently.”But following tough international criticism, Israeli officials said Netanyahu’s statements had been misconstrued and that a 1981 decision to apply Israeli law to the strategic plateau fell short of annexation.The debate offers a window into a more nuanced Israeli perspective that, despite statements from the country’s hard-line political leadership, continues to leave the door open, just barely, to a peace deal when Syria’s civil war finally winds down.For now, the debate is largely academic. Syria has been engulfed in civil war for nearly five years, and there is no end in sight. With Syria, and the Syrian side of the Golan, divided between Syrian troops and various rebel forces, there is nobody to talk to, even if Israel decided to open negotiations.But the Golan remains central to any future peace deal with Syria, and its fate is a key part of a 2002 Saudi initiative that offered Israel peace with the Arab world in exchange for a full withdrawal from all territories captured in the 1967 Mideast war. While that offer is usually connected to areas sought by the Palestinians, the Golan is also considered occupied land by the international community. Past Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu himself, have held talks with Syria about control of the Golan.So when Netanyahu convened his Cabinet for a first-ever meeting in the Golan on April 17, he triggered an international uproar by calling it “sovereign” Israeli territory.“The Golan Heights will forever remain in Israel’s hands,” he declared. “After 50 years, the time has come for the international community to finally recognize that the Golan Heights will remain under Israel’s sovereignty permanently.”The US, Israel’s closest ally, quickly criticized Netanyahu, saying the Golan is “not part of Israel.” Germany and the European Union also rejected his statement, as did the Arab League, 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Syrian government. And early this week, the UN Security Council took issue with him.“Council members expressed their deep concern over recent Israeli statements about the Golan and stressed that the status of the Golan remains unchanged,” said Council President Liu Jieyi, China’s ambassador to the UN He noted a previous 1981 resolution that said Israel’s decision to impose Israeli law on the Golan is “null and void.”Alan Baker, a former legal adviser to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said the parliamentary decision to impose Israeli law back in 1981 was “merely a means of governing” the territory. He said that previously, Syria had deferred to the local Druze population, whose secretive religion and customs were difficult to apply after Israel took over.He said Israel was careful not to annex the territory — a decision that would require additional parliamentary action — in order not to “prejudice” future border negotiations with Syria.“Israel has never claimed the Golan to be part of its sovereign jurisdiction,” said Baker. “That’s why in my opinion, the statement that was made was somewhat ill-advised.”In reality, Israel has in effect already annexed the territory and any thought of returning it to Syria is deeply unpopular with Israelis. More than 20,000 Israeli settlers now live in settlements on the Golan, according to official Israeli statistics.The territory, with its rugged terrain, open spaces and sweeping vistas of Syria and northern Israel, is a popular tourism spot that is home to high-end wineries, rustic restaurants and cattle farms. The native Druse population, who also number about 20,000 people, mingle freely with Israeli Jews and are eligible for Israeli citizenship.The system in the Golan is part of a legal kaleidoscope that Israel has created since the 1967 war. Shortly after the war, it annexed east Jerusalem, home to the city’s most important holy sites, in a move that also has not been internationally recognized. Under interim peace accords, military rulings and special stipulations, West Bank settlements are subject to Israeli jurisdiction, while Palestinians are subject to a combination of their own municipal and family laws, as well as Israeli military law for security offenses.In a statement this week, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon accused the Security Council of “ignoring reality” with its criticism.“With whom is Israel supposed to negotiate the future of the Golan — Islamic State? al-Qaeda? Hezbollah? The Iranian and Syrian forces that slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people?” he said. “The suggestion that Israel will withdraw from the Golan is not reasonable.”Still, he acknowledged that the Golan Heights is not part of “Israel proper,” even if Israeli law is enforced there.Netanyahu’s spokesman, David Keyes, said the prime minister’s comments “were a description of the reality on the ground,” and the Golan’s legal status has not changed.“The territory must remain under Israeli control for a simple reason. When Syria ruled the Golan, it was used as a staging ground for attacking Israeli civilians. It was mined and crisscrossed with barbed wire. It was a place of war. In the nearly five decades since Israel liberated the Golan, it has been used for agriculture, tourism and great wine. It is now a place of peace,” Keyes said.It remains unclear why Netanyahu decided to drag his Cabinet to the Golan, a three-hour trip from Jerusalem. It may have been a message to international negotiators not to forget Israeli interests as they try to end the Syrian war. It also may have been meant as a show of strength to domestic critics.Moshe Maoz, an expert on Syria at Israel’s Hebrew University, said the prime minister’s tough stand was “an affront and chutzpa” to the international community.“In my assessment, any government in Syria which will emerge after this mess will demand the Golan Heights,” he said.

Israel nuclear reactor defects spark safety concerns-Calls for new safeguards at aging atomic research center after report uncovers 1,537 flaws at aluminum core-By Joe Dyke April 28, 2016, 7:43 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

AFP — Growing safety fears surrounding Israel’s largest but aging atomic research center have provoked fresh questions over its future and a dilemma over the secrecy of the country’s alleged nuclear arsenal.Israel, believed to be the Middle East’s sole nuclear power, has long refused to confirm or deny that it has such weapons.The Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday that a study had uncovered 1,537 defects in the decades-old aluminum core of the Dimona nuclear reactor in the Negev desert of southern Israel.The defects at the center, where nuclear weapons were allegedly developed, were not seen to be severe and the risk of a nuclear outbreak is very limited, the report said.However, there are growing calls for new safeguards and even a new research center — which could present the country with a decision on whether to acknowledge for the first time that it has nuclear weapons.The US-based Institute for Science and International Security estimated in 2015 that Israel had 115 nuclear warheads.At the same time Israel has strongly opposed other regional powers, most notably its arch-foe Iran, obtaining nuclear weapons.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was one of the most vociferous critics of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that was implemented in January, leading to the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran.Officially the Dimona center focuses on research and energy provision.But in the 1980s nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu, a former technician at the centre, alleged to a British newspaper that it was also used to create nuclear weapons.He was later jailed for 18 years for the revelations.-‘Waiting for disaster’-The core of the Dimona reactor was provided by France in the late 1950s and went online a few years later.Common practice is that such reactors are used for only 40 years, though this can be extended with modifications.Uzi Even, a chemistry professor at Tel Aviv University who was involved in the creation of the reactor, is concerned about the safety of the site and has campaigned for a decade for it to be closed — “so far, to no avail”.He called for it to be shut off for security reasons. “This reactor is now one of the oldest still operating globally,” he said.Michal Rozin, a lawmaker with the left-wing Meretz party, has called for a radical shakeup in policy in the light of the safety worries.“The nuclear reactor has no supervision besides the body that runs it, the Israel Atomic Energy Commission,” she wrote in a letter, seen by AFP, to the parliamentary foreign and defense committee.“We don’t need to wait for a disaster to make a change.”Israel’s atomic energy agency said in a statement that the country had the “highest international standards” of security and safety, adding that many reactors can last for far longer than 40 years.-‘Political matter’-While a challenge, safely closing a nuclear reactor and opening a new one is far from impossible, Arthur Motta, chair of Nuclear Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, told AFP.“Technically it is not a difficult problem,” he said. “Nuclear energy is so dense, the volume of a reactor that provides a whole city with energy is just (the size of) a building.”“It is more a political matter.”And there are a number of political reasons why the site has remained open, not least the thousands of jobs at risk, Even said.Building a new site could also see Israel pushed to officially declare its nuclear capabilities.While Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, officials do not formally confirm or deny the claims — a policy often dubbed deliberate ambiguity.As such, the country has yet to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty — which would require its sites to undergo regular inspection of its facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Motta explained. The IAEA declined to comment.“I don’t think we have the capability to build a new reactor (alone),” Even said. “And no one will sell us a reactor before we sign the non-proliferation agreement.”Writing in the Israeli daily Ma’ariv, investigative journalist and security specialist Yossi Melman called it a “strategic dilemma of the first order”.“If it were to sign the treaty (Israel) would be able to obtain nuclear reactors.”“But it would also have to declare and reveal what it has, nuclear-wise, and the monopoly it allegedly has on this in the Middle East.”

Defying ban, Egypt’s Coptic Christians flock to Jerusalem-Nearly 6,000 pilgrims visit Israel for Orthodox Easter season, down from about 15,000 three years ago-By Times of Israel staff April 28, 2016, 10:13 pm

Despite a decades-old ban by the Egyptian Coptic Church, its members have been flocking to Jerusalem over the past few years, especially during the Easter season.Some 5,500 Coptic Christians have made their way to Israel for the pilgrimage this year, the Haaretz daily reported Thursday. That figure is a significant drop from three years ago, when it was estimated that 15,000 Copts, who follow the Julian calendar, arrived for the Easter season.Egyptian Copts were forbidden from visiting Israel by their late pope Shenouda III, who put the prohibition in place to protest Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem. Shenouda passed away in March 2012 at the age of 88, after leading the church for 40 years.Later that year, the church selected Pope Tawadros II as the new pope. According to the Egyptian news site Ahram Online, Tawadros also opposes pilgrimages to Jerusalem, but has refrained from enforcing the ban and thus paved the way for the thousands of pilgrims.Tawadros himself broke the ban in 2015 when he made a rare visit to Israel to attend the funeral of a senior church official in Jerusalem.The Coptic Church, however, insisted at the time his visit was not an official one.“The visit is to attend the funeral and nothing more,” church spokesman Boulos Halim said last November. “The position of the church remains unchanged, which is not going to Jerusalem without all our Egyptian [Muslim] brothers.”A 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty ended hostilities between the two neighbors. But anti-Israel sentiments still run high in Egypt and many there have accused Tawadros of betrayal.

ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST

1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

GENESIS 12:1-3
1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I (GOD) will shew thee:
2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3  And I will bless them that bless thee,(ISRAELIS) and curse (DESTROY) him that curseth thee:(DESTROY THEM) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

ISAIAH 41:11
11  Behold, all they that were incensed against thee (ISRAEL) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing;(DESTROYED) and they that strive with thee shall perish.(ISRAEL HATERS WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED)

ISRAELS TROUBLE

JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.

DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)

Hamas says Jerusalem bus bombing proof of ‘resistance-Ismail Haniyeh praises ‘heroic action’ of terrorist Abu Srour, 19, who killed himself and wounded 20 people in April 18 attack-By Times of Israel staff and AFP April 29, 2016, 2:07 am

Last week’s Jerusalem bus bombing carried out by member of Hamas shows the Islamist movement’s “determination” to continue resisting Israel, the head of the terror group in Gaza said on Thursday.Addressing thousands of supporters in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh praised the “heroic action” of Abed al-Hamid Abu Srour, 19, who killed himself and wounded 20 people, including a teenage girl who was seriously hurt, in the April 18 attack.Haniyeh said the bombing “shows that Hamas and the sons of Hamas are committed to resistance and determined to pursue the intifada (uprising).”“We say to the Zionist occupier that our people can no longer stand the blockade [on the Gaza Strip].”“It is our right to have a port and an airport,” in Gaza, he said.Israel maintains a security blockade on Gaza to prevent Hamas, which openly seeks to destroy Israel, from importing weaponry.Abu Srour, from Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, was identified as the bomber who placed the explosive device on board the number 12 bus in the Talpiot neighborhood.The Shin Bet said several Hamas members from Bethlehem have been arrested in connection with the attack after an intensive manhunt by the security service, police and the IDF.The attack marked the first suicide bombing in the wave of Palestinian terrorism that erupted last October. Hitherto, the attacks — stabbings, shootings and car-rammings — had been characterized as “lone wolf” incidents. Hamas has been encouraging attacks on Israelis, and several plots are said to have been thwarted by security forces.The bomber came from a well-known Bethlehem clan, some of whose members have a history of terrorism and violence against Israel.The announcement came a day after Hamas said the bomber was a member. Israel had placed the details of his identity under a gag order.The Hamas announcement fell short of a full claim of responsibility for the attack.The terror attack broke weeks of relative calm in the city after a six-month wave of Palestinian stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks seemed to be subsiding, and raised fears of a return to a type of violence not seen in Jerusalem for years.Bus bombings were common during the Second Intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s, but Monday’s attack was the first bomb targeting a bus in Jerusalem since 2011, when a British tourist was killed by a bomb planted next to a bus stop.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night promised to “find whoever prepared this explosive device.”“We’ll settle the score with these terrorists,” he said.Judah Ari Gross and AFP contributed to this report.

2 Palestinian women try to stab soldier in West Bank, one is shot-Troops at checkpoint open fire on would-be attacker, her companion apprehended without incident-By Times of Israel staff April 28, 2016, 9:20 pm

Israeli troops thwarted an attempted knife attack by two Palestinian woman against a female soldier at a military checkpoint on a West Bank road on Thursday evening.The two women approached the checkpoint and tried to stab the soldier. One of the women was shot by troops at the scene and the other was apprehended without incident, according to reports. The would-be attacker who was shot sustained serious injuries.The incident occurred at a checkpoint near Beit Horon on Route 443, one of two main highways connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.None of the soldiers was injured in the incident.The attempted attack came a day after a Palestinian woman and young man attacked border guards with a knife at the Qalandiya crossing in the West Bank, and were gunned down by forces on the scene.No Israeli forces were injured in that incident, but the two assailants were killed in the attempted assault, police said.Qalandiya and the adjacent crossing between the West Bank and Israel have been frequent hotspots of conflict in the violence that has rocked Israel since October.Twenty-nine Israelis and four non-Israelis have been killed in the wave of attacks. Some 200 Palestinians have also been killed, some two-thirds of them while attacking Israelis, and the rest during clashes with troops, according to the Israeli army.Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.

UN to meet on ‘protection of Palestinian civilians’-Security Council sets informal briefing called by Egypt, Senegal, Venezuela and Malaysia for May 6-By AP and Times of Israel staff April 28, 2016, 11:14 pm

UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council will hold an informal meeting on May 6 on the protection of Palestinian civilians, an issue the Palestinians have pressed for decades and say is more needed now than ever.Palestinian Authority Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said four council members — Egypt, Senegal, Venezuela and Malaysia — are organizing the meeting which will hear briefings from a legal scholar, an Amnesty International representative and others.Last October, the UN sent the council a study on precedents in addressing the protection of civilians in conflicts around the world.Mansour told reporters Wednesday that the meeting is a first step toward action that the Security Council must take.“Our desire is to find any form of protection to protect our people from the brutality of this occupation,” he said.Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon responded to the announcement of the council meeting saying: “The Palestinians are continuing to lie to the world and turn to the international community with ridiculous claims instead of focusing their efforts on fighting terror and incitement.”Twenty-nine Israelis and four foreign nationals have been killed in a wave of Palestinian terrorism and violence since October. Over 170 Palestinians have also been killed, some two-thirds of them while attacking Israelis, and the rest during clashes with troops, according to the Israeli army.Danon and Mansour last week turned a UN Security Council debate into a shouting match, as they exchanged cries of “Shame on you!” over the ongoing violence.Danon broke away from an address to the council and demanded that the Palestinian representative condemn acts of terrorism.“Shame on you for glorifying terrorism!” Danon said.“Shame on you for killing Palestinian children!” Mansour shot back.On Wednesday at a New York press conference, Mansour said Israel, like the Nazis, labels its opponents as terrorists. Danon said the ‘despicable’ comparison warranted condemnation from the international community.AFP contributed to this report.

Rein in Assad,’ US tells Russia after Aleppo hospital bombing-As February 27 truce threatens to unravel, Washington, UN condemn deadly strike that killed at least 20 people-By AP and AFP April 28, 2016, 11:59 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

The United States and the United Nations on Thursday condemned an air strike on a hospital in Syria’s Aleppo, with Washington demanding that Russia restrain its Syrian ally.UN officials also voiced alarm at the “catastrophic deterioration” of the situation in Syria and appealed on world powers to salvage a February 27 truce.But in Aleppo, fighting on Thursday between rebels and regime forces killed 53 civilians — the highest toll for a single day in a week of violence that has cost more than 200 lives, according to a monitor.The Syrian army was meanwhile poised to launch an offensive against rebels who control part of the northern city.Secretary of State John Kerry expressed “outrage” over Wednesday’s air strike that hit Al-Quds field hospital in Aleppo’s rebel-held Sukkari neighborhood.He said it appeared to be “a deliberate strike on a known medical facility” and said Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar Assad, must restrain the Damascus regime.“Russia has an urgent responsibility to press the regime to fulfill its commitments under UNSCR 2254, including in particular to stop attacking civilians, medical facilities, and first responders, and to abide fully by the cessation of hostilities,” Kerry said.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called attacks that target civilians “inexcusable” violations of humanitarian law.“There must be accountability for these crimes,” he said.The city’s last remaining pediatrician and three children were among the 20 people killed in the air strike overnight on the hospital, which was supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF).A civil defense group known as the White Helmets said 30 people were killed in the strike on the hospital and a nearby block of flats. It said there were still victims buried under the rubble and that the rescue work continued.The chief Syrian opposition negotiator Mohammed Alloush blamed the Assad government for the deadly airstrikes. He said the latest violence by government forces shows “the environment is not conducive to any political action.”We condemn the destruction of the Al Quds hospital in #Aleppo, depriving people of essential healthcare. Hospitals are #notatarget, #Syria— MSF International (@MSF) April 28, 2016-Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, said in a series of tweets that at least 14 patients and staff were among those killed, with the toll expected to rise.“Destroyed MSF-supported hospital in Aleppo was well known locally and hit by direct airstrike on Wednesday,” it said.A video posted online by the White Helmets showed a number of lifeless bodies, including those of children, being pulled out from a building and loaded into ambulances amid screaming and wailing. It also showed distraught rescue workers trying to keep onlookers away from the scene, apparently fearing more airstrikes.Alloush, who was one of the leading negotiators of the opposition in the Geneva talks, described the airstrikes as one of the latest “war crimes” of Assad’s government.“Whoever carries out these massacres needs a war tribunal and a court of justice to be tried for his crimes. He does not need a negotiating table,” Alloush told the AP in a telephone interview. “Now, the environment is not conducive for any political action.”The February 27 ceasefire has been fraying in the past weeks as casualty figures from violence mount, particularly in Aleppo and across northern Syria. Airstrikes earlier this week also targeted a training center for the Syrian Civil Defense, leaving five of its team dead in rural Aleppo.Since April 19, nearly 200 people have died, including at least 44 in an airstrike on a market place in rebel-held area in northern Idlib province, as well as dozens of civilians in government-held areas from rebel shelling.The UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, briefed the UN Security Council via videoconference about the largely stalled indirect talks between the Western- and Saudi-backed opposition and envoys from Assad’s government, which has the backing of Moscow.He said that after 60 days, the cessation of hostilities agreed to by both sides “hangs by a thread.”“I really fear that the erosion of the cessation is unraveling the fragile consensus around a political solution, carefully built over the last year,” de Mistura said in his council briefing obtained by The Associated Press. “Now I see parties reverting to the language of a military solution or military option. We must ensure that they do not see that as a solution or an option.”The talks foundered last week after the main opposition group, called the High Negotiating Committee, suspended its formal participation in the indirect talks with Assad’s envoys to protest alleged government cease-fire violations, a drop in humanitarian aid deliveries and no progress in winning the release of detainees in Syria.

Corbyn: There is no anti-Semitism problem in Labour-UK opposition leader denies party is failing to tackle anti-Jewish sentiment, says it is ‘very sad’ that Ken Livingstone had to be suspended-By Times of Israel staff April 28, 2016, 8:45 pm

British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn denied Thursday that the party had an anti-Semitism problem, as former London mayor Ken Livingstone became the latest member to be suspended for anti-Semitic comments.“[T]here is not a problem. We are totally opposed to anti-Semitism in any form within the party,” Corbyn said, according to the Guardian. “The very small number of cases that have been brought to our attention have been dealt with swiftly and immediately, and they will be.”The Labour leader said that it was “very sad” that disciplinary measures had to be taken against Livingstone, who was suspended for bringing the party “into disrepute.” Earlier Thursday, Livingstone, who sits on Labour’s national executive, told the BBC that Hitler initially “was supporting Zionism… before he went mad and ended up killing 6 million Jews,” and who charged that “the Israel lobby” in the UK had for decades tried to “smear” all critics of Israel as anti-Semites.The comments triggered outrage within the party and among the British Jewish community, with Labour MPs openly calling for Livingstone to be suspended. John Mann, who heads the All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism, confronted Livingstone in a scene caught on camera, calling him a “fucking disgrace” and “Nazi apologist.” Mann was summoned by the Labour leadership over his outburst.Corbyn rejected suggestions that Labour was failing to tackle anti-Semitism and vowed to flush out any other such cases.“It’s not a crisis. There’s no crisis. Where there is any racism in the party it will be dealt with and rooted out. I have been an anti-racist campaigner all my life,” he said. A bitter critic of Israel, Corbyn himself has come under fire in the past for referring to Hamas and Hezbollah representatives as “friends.”He suggested that the complaints of anti-Semitism in the party were triggered by its high level of grassroots support.“I suspect that much of this criticism that you are saying about a crisis in the party actually comes from those who are nervous of the strength of the Labour Party at local level,” Corbyn said.Livingstone made his comments as he defended Labour MP Naz Shah, who was also suspended from the party on Wednesday, after it emerged that she had posted comments on Facebook calling for Israel to be dismantled, compared Israelis to Hitler, and posted pro-Hamas tweets.“There’s been a very well-orchestrated campaign by the Israel lobby to smear anybody who criticizes Israeli policy as anti-Semitic. I had to put up with 35 years of this,” Livingstone told the BBC, striking a distinctly less conciliatory note than Shah herself, who publicly apologized for the posts.“Frankly,” Livingstone also said, according to the Guardian, “there’s been an attempt to smear Jeremy Corbyn and his associates as anti-Semitic from the moment he became leader. The simple fact is we have the right to criticize what is one of the most brutal regimes going in the way it treats the Palestinians.”British politicians, Jewish groups and Israel’s ambassador all condemned the former London mayor for his comments, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews saying Livingstone should be kicked out of Labour altogether.“If anyone has gone mad, it is Ken Livingstone,” said Rabbi Danny Rich, the chief executive of Liberal Judaism in Britain. “Claiming Hitler was a Zionist is not only a huge historical perversion, but it directly equates Nazism and Zionism. It suggests they share objectives and values; it is guilt by association. It is hard to think of a more offensive linkage.”Corbyn, who was elected Labour leader in September, told the BBC on April 11 that anyone making anti-Semitic statements “is auto-excluded from the party.” This policy was announced amid intense media scrutiny of Labour in connection with several incidents of hate speech against Jews.

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