Middle East Update

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. JULY 8 .. NO 121

IDF BEGINS EXHUMING HIZBULLAH BODIES FOR PRISONER SWAP :
In a clear sign that an Israel-Hizbullah prisoner swap is about to take place, IDF rabbinic authorities on Monday July 7 began exhuming the bodies of approximately 200 Hizbullah fighters killed in combat with Israel from a special cemetery for enemy casualties near Safed. The bodies are to be transferred to Lebanon in the first stage of the prisoner swap deal, under which captured IDF reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, presumed dead, will be returned to Israel in exchange for Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar and several other Hizbullah prisoners.

AHMADINEJAD SAYS ISRAEL AND US WON’T DARE ATTACK IRAN :
Experts say Iran has resumed nuclear bomb project
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday July 7 said his country would not stop enriching uranium, as demanded by the international community, and charged that Israel and the United States were too scared to attack his nation.

Read the rest »

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. JULY 2 NO 120

PA GLORIFIES CHILD MURDERER KUNTAR: By Hana Levi Julian
The P A leadership considers Lebanese arch-terrorist Samir Kuntar to be the epitome of the “ideal” PA prisoner, Kuntar, commander of a unit that attacked Nahariya in 1979, was convicted for the murders of four Israelis, including two toddlers. He has been serving four consecutive life terms in prison. This disgusting blot on humanity , Kuntar, first shot Israeli civilian Danny Haran on the Nahariya beach and drowned him in front of Einat his 4-year-old daughter. Kuntar then turned his attention towards the 4-year old. He took his rifle and then swung it across the toddler’s head, knocking her to the ground. He, then laid her head on a rock and beat her on the head until her skull was crushed and she was dead. This Lebanese Druze operative is likely to be freed from an Israeli prison within days if Hizbullah signs a prisoner swap deal for the return of the remains of IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, approved by the Cabinet on Sunday June 29

IRAN SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR SPYING FOR ISRAEL : (Reuters)
A court has sentenced an Iranian man to death on charges of spying for Israel, Iranian media said on Monday June 30.. “Ali Ashtari, who had been accused of spying for the Zionist state and charged with engaging in espionage for (Israel’s) Mossad intelligence service, has been given the death sentence,” the ISNA news agency said.

Read the rest »

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. JUNE 26 NO 119

ORLEV : FRENCH PRESIDENT NEEDS LESSONS IN HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY :
MK Zevulun Orlev, Chairman of Israel’s National Religious Party, said of the visiting president of France, “Sarkozy should stay here a bit longer in order to learn some history, namely, that Jerusalem never beloned to Islam, but only to the Jews. He should also take a geography lesson, and visit Sderot and the transient camps of the Gush Katif expellees before he proposes another [Jewish] expulsion and retreat to the 1967 borders.” “His friendship with Israel must be based on those two lessons,” Orlev said. MK Benny Elon (National Union) said he agrees that there should be two states, but with slight differences than Sarkozy’s proposal: “One state should be Jordan, on the east bank of the Jordan River, and Israel on the west side. No other state should be established be established between them.

COURT : GAZA CROSSINGS REMAIN CLOSED FOR NOW : by Hana Levi Julian
The High Court of Justice has ordered the government to keep the Gaza Crossings closed for the time being and told Major-General (res.) Amos Gilad, head the of the Defense Ministry’s Security-Diplomatic Bureau, to meet with the Shalit family. They discussed Sunday night June their son’s situation, and the court told Gilad to try to find a way to resolve the points of contention with the family, who demand that negotiations guarantee release of the captive soldier. Israel’s High Court of Justice on Monday evening June 23 dismissed an appeal filed by Schalit’s family against the ceasefire agreement between Israel and armed Palestinian factions in Gaza, charging that it does not include a prisoner exchange deal for his return.

Read the rest »

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. JUNE 19 NO 118

HAMAS CONFIRMS TRUCE OPERATES FROM JUNE 19 :
Five killed in group that kidnapped Schalit
A Hamas spokesman confirmed on Tuesday it has committed to an Egyptian-mediated truce with Israel set to go into effect at 6 a.m on Thursday June 19, though Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak cautioned it was “too early” to say that a deal would be in place by then.

U.S. COAST GUARD WILL BOARD SHIPS FROM IR AN: - Eli Lake (New York Sun)
The Coast Guard has begun searching any shipping vessel that has docked at an Iranian port within five port calls of coming to American shores. The designation of Iran on the Coast Guard’s terrorism list is likely to punish any major shipping lines that still include Iran on their trade routes to America

Read the rest »

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. JUNE 14 NO 117

ISRAEL MUSEUM DISPLAYS ANCIENT BOOK OF ISAIAH: by Hillel Fendel
The oldest existing Book of the Bible, found in the Qumran Caves I 1947, is on display in the Israel’s Museum Shrine of the Book, through mid-August. For the first time in 40 years, in honor of Israel’s 60th anniversary, the Israel Museum has put ancient scrolls of most of the Book of Isaiah on display. Entitled, “It Will Come to Pass in the End of Days,” the exhibit features a 2.6-meter-long (8.5 feet) scroll of Chapters 1-28, and another 2.38-meter-long scroll of Chapters 44-66. The scrolls of the Book of Isaiah, assumed to have been written somewhere around 120 BCE (only a few hundred years after he lived), are the oldest existing Biblical book in the world. They pre-date by some 1,000 years the oldest scrolls of the Book of Isaiah that had been extant until then.

MORTAR ALERT SYSTEM TO BE INSTALLED IN GAZA BELT REGION—AND THE IRON DOME SYSTEM:: by Hana Levi Julian
Residents of Gaza Belt communities will soon have at least a few seconds’ warning of incoming mortar attacks launched by Palestinian Authority terrorists in Gaza. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has authorized the IDF to install a new mortar alert system in the area, adapted from the radar and warning system developed in Israel and already being used by the Israel Air Force. As well the “Iron Dome” (Kipa Barzel) anti-missile defense system was set to be tested Thursday June 12 , according to Defense Ministry officials, one day later than its originally-scheduled test date. The system, which is designed by Rafael Military Industries (Israel’s Weapons Development Authority) neutralizes short-range missiles such as the homemade Kassam rockets and short-range Iranian-made Katyusha missiles

Read the rest »

GOSPEL PUBLICITY LEAGUE REPORT No 468

JUNE 2008

BIBLE PROPHECY PROVES THE BIBLE TRUE (Part 3)
DEUTERONOMY, the 5 th book of the Pentateuch, not only rehearsed the history of Israel since Sinai and the statutes which concerned the people, but also forced Israel to confront the promises of blessings and cursings for obedience OR disobedience.

About 1,400 years before the manifestation of Israel’s Messiah, Israel’s God promised “to establish thee an holy people unto himself…..if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord they God.”. He not only promised them loads of blessings for obedience, but He also promised them a series of curses for disobedience to His simple commandments. You MUST read this list of judgments in Deut:28-15,68 and then learn from Israel’s history of disobedience, that all of the Fathers pronouncements came true.

Again Bible prophecy proves the Bible true!

Read the rest »

PRESENT DAY EVENTS AND THEIR MEANING FROM THE BIBLE
The Gospel Publicity League, P.O.Box 4129 Edgeworth NSW 2285 Australia

JUNE 2008 TO SEPTEMBER 2008 ISSUE No. 468

ISRAEL’S RESTORATION AT 60: HOW MUCH LONGER?

In normal circumstances, in 1948, it was not thought possible that Israel could survive 12 months. Only those of us who respected Bible prophecy knew that Israel’s revival as a nation was something special. But none of us expected to be contemplating an Israel, sixty years later, still in a state of trouble and uncertainty as it is today. The Bible promise was, and still is, that Jesus would return and rescue Israel out of dangers from her neighbours but it is taking far longer than we thought.

Read the rest »

GPL … MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. JUNE 7 …. NO 116

ROCKET BARRAGES SLAM Western Negev:
IDF kills Palestinian militant in Gaza
Scores of Kassam rockets and mortars launched by Palestinian terror militias pounded Israeli communities in the Western Negev on Friday June 6, as hopes for a truce with Hamas in Gaza floundered. In response to a mortar attack which killed and Israel, an air strike on Central Gaza killed a Hamas militiaman. IDF troops shot and killed a Palestinian Authority terrorist after identifying a group of gunmen in the area around the Judean city of Hevron Thursday afternoon.

NEW YORK CITY’S SALUTE TO ISRAEL PARADE: - Marissa Gross (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
The Salute to Israel Parade officially began in 1965 and today draws over 100,000 marchers. The presence of politicians has significantly increased since the parade’s founding, when only the Israeli ambassador and a few American politicians appeared. The parade is a barometer for the community and the attendance suggests American Jews’ sense of comfort and security in the U.S. The participants, the themes that are chosen, and the dynamics of the parade itself reflect how American Jews relate to Israel and to themselves.

Read the rest »

GPL … MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. JUNE 2 …. NO 115

HIZBULLAH RETURNS IDF BODY PARTS: ISRAEL FREES SPY: by Hana Levi Julian
Israel released convicted Hizbullah spy Nissim Nasser on Sunday morning June 1 - and in return, received a box allegedly containing body parts of Israeli soldiers. “We today are handing over some of the remains of a number of Israeli soldiers who were killed in the July war and who the Israeli army left in Lebanon,” said the Hizbullah spokesman, upon Nasser’s arrival.

884 HOUSING UNITS TO BE BUILT IN JERUSALEM: RICE UNHAPPY: by Gil Ronen
Construction and Housing Minister Ze’ev Boim is scheduled to announce Sunday the publication of new tenders for construction in greater Jerusalem, in advance of the 41st Jerusalem Day, which will be celebrated Monday. The tenders have already been approved by the government. They include 121 housing units at Har Homa in southern Jerusalem and 763 units in five different parts of Pisgat Ze’ev, the city’s northern neighborhood. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is in Amman, Jordan, called for the building to cease. In a joint press conference with PA-Fatah head Mahmoud Abbas, she said: “We continue to support the American position that the construction in the settlements must stop. Their enlargement, which does not conform with the Road Map obligations, must be halted.”

Read the rest »

GPL … MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. MAY 27…. NO 114

ISRAEL ECONOMY LEAPS, DOLLAR PLUNGES: by Hillel Fendel
Israel’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by an annualized 5.4% in the first quarter, as the dollar continues to fall against the shekel, which is now an internationally recognized currency. The Central Bureau of Statistics further reported this week that business product rose by 6.1% in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, as of this week, the Israeli shekel has become legal tender internationally, now that Israel has been made an official member of the international CLS (continuous linked settlement) clearing system. Israeli shekels can now be used in trading on markets overseas, banks the world over can convert shekels into other currencies, and Israeli companies and firms can settle payments in shekels either by check or bank transfer to their customers’ overseas accounts.

Read the rest »