Muslim Persecution of Christians worsens in Israel & Palestinian Territories; Influence of Islamic State grows

Mob violence against Christians, anti-Christian billboards and graffiti, and imams at major mosques preaching jihad and jizya:

�When you face a polytheist enemy [i.e. a Christian who worships the Holy Trinity], you should give him three options � they must convert to Islam, or pay the jizya [tax on non-Muslims], or else you should seek the help of Allah and fight them. You should fight them even if they do not fight you.� �Sheikh Issam Ameera, imam at the Al-Aqsa mosque, Jerusalem

Christians Suspect Islamic State Influencing Muslims in Palestinian Territories, Israel; Increased radicalization seen in attacks, rhetoric.

Morningstar News � June 11, 2015

Muslim billboard in Nazareth, threatening Christians.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (Morning Star News) � After months of Islamic State (IS) committing horrific violence in the Middle East and North Africa, Palestinian Christians say a large number of Muslims in the Palestinian Territories and Israel have become �radicalized� and are much more aggressive toward them.

Anti-Christian hostility boiling under the surface for years has come into plain view in the past few months in the form of physical attacks, incendiary religious speeches and inflammatory billboards, they said.

Palestinian Christian leaders said not all Muslims in the Territories and Israel have become extremists, and elders within the Muslim community are trying to dampen the effects of extremist ideology, but enough Palestinians have become radicalized that many Christians feel unsafe or, at minimum, openly unwanted. Whereas tensions between Christians and Muslims previously were seen as issues between individuals, there is now a definite �us vs. them� mentality from Islamic extremists, Christian leaders said.

�Since I was a child this has been happening in the Christian Quarter and in the Muslim Quarter [in Jerusalem�s historic Old City area], but not in this way,� said Rami Fellemon, a Palestinian Christian and director of Jerusalem Evangelistic Outreach, headquartered in East Jerusalem. �Many people are sitting here, and in their own mind they are thinking, �What the heck are we doing here in this country? Let�s leave the country.� Others have resentment toward Muslims now. They don�t understand why they are doing this in such a way.�

Ramped-up hostilities from radicalized Muslims come on top of attacks on Palestinian- and Christian-owned properties by ultra-Orthodox Jewish zealots, in addition to the day-to-day difficulties Israeli officials impose on Palestinians in the Territories.

�They feel like even more of a minority now and feel hated by both sides [Jews and Muslims],� Fellemon told Morning Star News. �It�s a terrible feeling. Feeling afraid. Feeling cornered. Feeling, �Maybe this is not my place. Maybe I just need to get out of here. I don�t want to deal with them. I don�t trust them anymore.��

Opinions differ as to when attitudes started to change in the Territories, but most agree it happened some time in 2014, either during a retaliatory military campaign by Israel against Hamas for the June 12 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, or when the IS territorial expansion in the Middle East started in earnest.

In February, Christians in Israel�s heavily Muslim town of Nazareth were alarmed to find a billboard posted downtown ordering them not to spread their faith or even talk about Jesus in a way that contradicts the Islamic version of His life.

Quoting from Surah 4:171 in the Koran, the sign reads in Arabic, �O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, �Three�; desist � it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son.�

Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

The billboard was placed just outside the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, which, according to tradition, was the site where the angel Gabriel told Mary that she had been chosen by God to give birth to Jesus, the promised Messiah. According to local media reports, area Christians are too afraid to ask to have the sign removed. None of the Christians interviewed by Morning Star News were willing to talk about the sign.

That month in East Jerusalem, in the Old City area, on Feb. 26 someone started a fire at a seminary building used by the Greek Orthodox Church near the Jaffa Gate. No one was injured, and although no one was ever arrested, ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups were widely thought to be responsible.

Islamist anti-Christian sentiment has not been limited to billboards. On May 1, Sheikh Issam Ameera, an imam at the Al-Aqsa mosque (built on the Temple Mount in the Old City area), posted online a video of a sermon entitled �The Islamic State is the keeper of religion and state� in which he essentially told fellow Muslims that they must be in a constant state of war and conquest against the �polytheist enemy�, i.e., Christians, as well as against Jews.

�Today, our honorable Islamic scholars talk about defensive jihad, �Fight for the sake of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress, for Allah does not like transgressors,�� Ameera says in the video. �In other words, you should always be polite, never go against anyone, and never point your weapon at anyone, unless someone attacks you. In all other cases, everything must be peaceful? No! When you face a polytheist enemy, you should give him three options � they must convert to Islam, or pay the jizya [tax on non-Muslims], or else you should seek the help of Allah and fight them. You should fight them even if they do not fight you.�

Ameera repeats that �polytheists� are enemies that must be fought with Allah�s help.

�Let the scholars hear this: You should seek the help of Allah and fight them � only when they fight you? No! When they refuse to convert to Islam, and refuse to pay the jizya,� he preaches. �In such a case, it is meaningless to let them keep enjoying their life in this world, eating from the sustenance bestowed by Allah, yet disbelieving in Him. No! Against their will, we shall subjugate them to the rule of Allah.�

Three days later, a disagreement between a Christian and a Muslim in the Old City escalated into a mob attack against Christians. According to several witnesses, 60 to 80 Muslims in their 20s rampaged through the Christian Quarter immediately after the argument, throwing stones at houses and businesses. The young men also attacked an area Ethiopian Orthodox Monastery, where they spray-painted anti-Christian messages on the building and destroyed a cross.

�When they came, it was a wave of anger that was � you cannot describe it, you cannot understand it,� Fellemon said. �Because when one kid is fighting with another kid, and 60 to 80 people come and start smashing doors and throwing stones on windows and doors of Christian families and smashing the cross of the convent, this is totally not about a kid hurting a kid. This is more about Islam and Christianity. It�s more about persecution.�

The attack on the Ethiopian monastery was considered particularly sinister because it took place two weeks after Islamic State released a video in which they beheaded or shot 28 Ethiopians for being Christians and threatened other attacks against Ethiopian Christians. The slogans spray-painted in the Christian Quarter caused concern among Palestinian Christians because they were the same statements made in the video, where IS called Christians �worshipers of the wooden cross.�

There is some debate as to what is causing the change in attitudes of Palestinian Muslims toward Palestinian Christians, particularly those of Muslim youth in the Territories. Christians are asking how far IS ideology has penetrated Palestinian society. Has IS arrived in the Territories, or are the anti-Christian attitudes there the natural outcome of other radical Islamic groups in the region since 1980s? There is evidence for both theories.

The IS graffiti, scrawled word for word in the Christian quarter from the video of the slain Ethiopians, is thought to show that some Muslims are embracing IS ideology or, at minimum, are being influenced by it. Hizb al-Tahrir, an Islamist party in Palestine, has placed a recruiting billboard between Jerusalem and Ramallah inviting Muslims into IS and its caliphate. Ameera of the Al-Aqsa mosque is a leading member of the same party.

On May 11 the Islamic hostility appeared to be mitigated when a traditional elders council between Muslim and Christian leaders took place in Jerusalem. According to every Christian interviewed, the Muslim leaders apologized earnestly for the actions of those who attacked the Christian quarter. One Christian leader said they appeared to be almost shamed by the actions of the mob, which may show that the majority of Muslims in the Territories are tolerant towards the Christian minority.

The group issued an �honor pact� in which further attacks were foresworn. But on May 24, Muslims attacked another group of Christians near the Damascus gate. Details about the attack are scarce, other than that one man was slightly injured and that Israeli police broke it up.

Nashat Filmon, general director of the Palestinian branch of The Bible Society, said recent hostilities in Jerusalem could be the related to IS.

�The dark ideology of ISIS is spreading all over the region like cancer,� he said. �This is also including the Holy Land. Christians, overall, live here in peace and harmony with Muslims in Jerusalem and the West Bank, but incidents do happen from time to time, and it�s true that these incidents have recently increased, especially in the Old City of Jerusalem.�

He added that some incidents could have been inspired and encouraged by Muslim extremists �and ignorant individuals or groups or others who are interested in making a problem.�

Fellemon said that although he thinks IS may have some influence in the Territories, the terrorist group is a part of the larger problem of militant Islam in the Territories and not the other way around.

�Are they [those who attacked the Christian quarter] ruled by ISIS? I don�t think so,� he said. �Are they inspired by ISIS? It is hard for me to answer yes or no because ISIS is inspired by radical Islam. So maybe I would answer and say, �Yes, they are inspired by radical Islam.��

Filmon said the hostilities call for prayer in the Territories.

�Pray for the relationships between Muslims and Christians to be good despite all of the problems,� he said. �Pray that the Christians would act as they are called to be, �salt and light� and a living testimony. Pray against this dark, satanic, and attacking spirit of fundamentalism, and for the Christians to respond in a way that reflects Christ.�

Orthodox Bishop: �We Palestinian Christians Say Allahu Akbar�

I hesitate to comment much on this story, except to point out that zealous Muslims all over the world routinely scream "Allahu Akbar" when slaughtering their victims. Out of over 25,150 Muslim terrorist attacks since 9/11/01, I think it's safe to estimate that in upwards of 25,148 of them, the Muslim terrorists were screaming "Allahu Akbar" when they were shooting, stabbing or self-detonating. What Christian, Arabic-speaking or not, would want to self-identify with that phrase?

I might also point out that in Malaysia, the Muslim community has been using everything from threats and open persecution of Christians, to the country's legal system, to forbid Arabic-speaking Christians from referring to God as "Allah." Malaysian Muslims would likely be rioting in the streets (or firebombing the church) if a Christian hierarch there made such statements.

Lastly, the situation for Palestinian Christians is considerably more complex and precarious vis a vis Muslims than this interview indicates, as per these reports:

• Christian Arabs beatify their Palestinian nightmare
• Muslim threats and attacks force Christians out of East Jerusalem church
• Treatment of Palestinian Christians �Medieval�
• Jihadists persecuting Palestinian Christians in Gaza
• Palestinian Christians fear their country might become an Islamic state

Orthodox Bishop: �We Palestinian Christians Say Allahu Akbar�

The only Palestinian Orthodox Christian bishop in the Holy Land speaking about the suffering of Palestinian Christians, their unity with Muslims in the Palestinian struggle, about Orthodox Christian martyrs, and Ukraine.

Nadezhda Kevorkova � February 3, 2015 � Pravmir.com

Nadezhda Kevorkova is a war correspondent who has covered the events of the Arab Spring, military and religious conflicts around the world, and the anti-globalization movement.

Archbishop Sebastia Theodosios (Atallah Hanna), 49, is the only Orthodox Christian archbishop from Palestine stationed in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, while all other bishops of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem are Greeks. The Israeli authorities had detained him several times, or stopped him at the border, and taken away his passport. Among all Jerusalem clergymen he is the only one who has no privilege of passing through the VIP gate in the airport � because of his nationality. �For the Israeli authorities, I am not a bishop, but rather a Palestinian,� explains his Beatitude. When talking on the phone he says a lot of words you would normally hear from a Muslim: �Alhamdulillah, Insha�Allah, Masha�Allah�. He speaks Arabic, and the Arabic for �god� is Allah, whether you are a Christian or a Muslim.

Your Beatitude, what�s it like being the Palestinian bishop in the Holy Land?

Firstly, I�d like to confirm that I am the only Palestinian bishop in the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. A fellow bishop is serving in the city of Irbid in the north of Jordan; and there are also several Palestinian priests.

I take pride in belonging to this great religious institution that�s over 2,000 years old.

My church has been protecting the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the sacred items related to the life of Christ and Christian Church history.

I am proud of my religion and nationality, I am proud to belong to my fatherland. I am a Palestinian, and I belong to this religious people who are fighting for the sake of their freedom and dignity to implement their dreams and national rights.

I support Palestinians and share their cause and their issues. We the Palestinian Orthodox Christians are not detached from their hardships.

The Palestinian issue is a problem that concerns all of us, Christians and Muslims alike. It�s a problem of every free intellectual individual aspiring for justice and freedom in this world.

We the Palestinian Christians suffer along with the rest of Palestinians from occupation and hardships of our economic situation. Muslims and Christians suffer equally, as there is no difference in suffering for any of us. We are all living in the same complicated circumstances, and overcoming the same difficulties.

As a church and as individuals we protect this people, and we hope a day will come when Palestinians get their freedom and dignity.

For those coming to visit the Holy Land there are few opportunities to see how hard the Palestinians� situation is. What would you like to say to those wishing to understand better the Palestinian problem?

The Israel authorities treat the Palestinian people in a way we can never accept or approve, first and foremost because Israel treats Palestinians as foreigners, as if we were strangers in our land.

Palestinians have never been strangers either to Jerusalem or to the entire homeland. Israel is an occupation force which treats us as visitors or some temporary residents. But we are the native people of this land. We didn�t come here, we have always been here. In contrast, Israel appeared out of the blue.

They are treating us as if we came here from elsewhere, as if we accidentally and recently strayed into this land. But we are the rightful owners of this land. We didn�t intrude into Israel. Israel intruded into our lives in 1948, and in 1967 it occupied Eastern Jerusalem. We have been here long before Israel. By the time Israel came here, our forefathers had been living here for many centuries.

This is why we cannot accept Israel treating us like strangers to our own homeland. I shall be honest and say it over again: both Christians and Muslims suffer the same from the Israeli authorities.

Is visiting Jerusalem as difficult to a Christian Palestinian from the West Bank as for a Muslim?

They don�t ask if a person arriving from Beit Jala or Ramallah to Jerusalem is a Christian or a Muslim. They only ask one question, �Do you have a permit to enter Jerusalem or not?�

The pass allowing a Palestinian to enter Jerusalem is issued by Israel. No one can come through without one. In pursuing its racist policy towards the Palestinian people Israel disregards different confessions. We are all targeted just the same. It all depends on getting a pass, whether you�re a Christian or a Muslim.

We all are their targets.

On top of that, Israel took control of a lot of property of the Orthodox Christian Church and is interfering with the internal affairs of the Church. They put pressure on the Palestinian Christians in all sorts of ways trying to force them to leave.

There is only one cause of suffering for both Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land.

The recent attack on the French satirical magazine triggered a wave of anti-Muslim marches in Europe. Netanyahu walked in the front row of such a march. What it your attitude to what happened?

We denounce the attacks in Paris which were committed by the people allegedly representing a particular religion.

But they do not represent any religion � they are murderers.

This attack was committed by the people, who claimed to have faith, but they definitely don�t represent Islam and cannot act on behalf of Islam, they only do harm and hurt the image of Islam through what they do.

At the same time, we denounce just as much terrorist operations in Syria and Iraq as we denounce the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Those who committed the terror attack in Paris and elsewhere, belong to the same groups that are engaged in terrorism in Syria and Iraq and attack sacred places, desecrate churches and kidnap religious leaders.

They attack women and children in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

We were witnesses of the terror act in Lebanon�s Tripoli just days ago which killed dozens of innocent people who were at a caf�.

We condemn the terror attacks in Paris and we equally condemn any such attacks in any part of the world. We strongly oppose the idea of connecting these attacks to Islam.

We are currently preparing for an international conference that religious figures � Christian, Muslim and Judaist � from many countries will take part in to assert that we, the representatives of the three monotheistic religions, are against terror, fanaticism and violence used under religious slogans. The conference might take place in Amman, Jordan.

To a Western mind, Allahu Akbar sounds like a threat. What do Christians of the Holy Land think about them?

We Christians also say Allahu Akbar. This is an expression of our understanding that the Creator is great. We don�t want this phrase to be related to terrorism and crimes.

We refuse to associate these words with massacres and murders.

We speak against using this phrase in this context. Those who do, they insult our religion and our religious values.

Those using these words while taking some unreligious, unspiritual, uncivilized actions are harming the religion.

Allahu Akbar is an expression of our faith.

One must not use these words for non-religion-related purposes in order to justify violence and terror.

Do people say Allahu Akbar in church?

Of course.

For us, Allah is not an Islamic term. This is a word used in Arabic to indicate the Creator who�s made the world we are living in. So when we say Allah in our prayers we mean the Creator of this world.

In our prayers and pleas, in our Orthodox Christian religious ceremonies we use exactly this word. We say, glory be to Allah in all times. We say Allah a lot during our liturgy. It�s erroneous to think that the word Allah is only used by Muslims.

We the Arab Christians say Allah in our Arabic language as a way to identify and address the Creator in our prayers.

Is this all about Christ? Was he the one to provoke a religious split in the Holy Land? Christians and Muslims recognize that Jesus Christ had been born, and they are awaiting his second coming, and the judgment day. Jews deny this however, and await their Messiah.

We Christians believe that Jesus has already come. We have recently celebrated Christmas as a reminder that Jesus came into this world, that he was born in Bethlehem, and began his road here in the Holy Land for the sake of all mankind, and for the salvation of the world.

So as far as we are concerned, Jesus has already come.

Jews believe that he hasn�t come yet, and await his coming. This is the main disagreement between Jews and us. We believe that Jesus has already come, whereas they don�t.

Despite this fact, we are not at war with Jews. We do not express aggression against Jews or anyone else in the world, despite any differences in our beliefs.

We pray for those who disagree with us.

When Jesus came into this world he didn�t tell us to hate, ignore, or be at war with one or the other; he didn�t tell us to kill this one or that one. He gave us one very simple instruction: to love one another. When Jesus told us to love one another this love wasn�t conditioned by what a person was like, or what he was doing. If we are indeed true Christians it is our debt to love all people, and to treat them with positivity, and with love.

When we see someone who�s sinful, lost, and distant from Allah and from faith, someone who acts wrongly, then it is our duty to pray for him although he might be different from us and our religion. When we have religious disagreements with people we pray that Allah would guide them the right way. Hatred, anger, and accusations of having a wrong faith are not a part of our ethics as Christians. This is the key disagreement and difference between the Jewish religion and ours. The Jewish religion that had existed before Christ is the religion of people who were awaiting Jesus� coming. Many Jews followed him, yet there were those who didn�t believe in him, and rejected him.

We know that Jesus was persecuted, and so were the early Christians. For instance, Herod the King killed thousands of babies in Bethlehem thinking that Jesus would be among them. The book of the Acts of the Apostles, as well as sacred tradition, talk about numerous instances of persecution of early Christians.

Despite that, we see each person who disagrees with us on religion as our brother, our fellow human. Allah created all of us, he gave us life, therefore it is our duty to love each person, and to pray for those who are mistaken or are misunderstanding, so that Allah would guide them the right way.

Is that why Christians and Muslims are persecuted?

We don�t divide the Palestinian people based on who is Christian and who is Muslim, who is religious and who isn�t, who is left or what party they are a member of. We don�t divide the people based on convictions and religion.

For the resistance it doesn�t matter whether they are Muslim or Christian.

Regardless of what their political views may be, all Palestinians actively support the idea that the Palestinian people should be able to exercise their rights and achieve their dream.

Yes, a number Christians have been killed since 1948 to this day. Some Christians have been driven away from their houses. Some Christian villages have been completely destroyed, and now there�s not a single house or resident there, for example, Al Galil in the Golan Heights.

Many churches have been attacked in Jerusalem; there have been attempts to seize their property and lands.

There are Christians in Israeli prisons � not as many as Muslims, but there are some. The Christian community is smaller in general, but we have our own martyrs who were killed and prisoners who spent years and years behind bars.

Christians suffer under the Israeli occupation just the same as Muslims � the entire Palestinian population suffers under it. They don�t distinguish between us.

Are there any special aspects when it comes to Christians living in the Holy Land?

Here�s one of the many examples, connected to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Holy Trinity Cathedral located in the western part of Jerusalem belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church, but after 1948 Israel used the situation in Russia to its advantage and seized some of the buildings around the Cathedral, using them as police quarters and a prison with torture practices.

When someone says �moskobiya�, referring to something connected to the Moscow Patriarchate, something holy and spiritual, the first thing that comes to the mind of a Palestinian living in Jerusalem is torture, police, interrogation and prison.

In Nazareth, for example, the word �moskobiya� is associated exclusively with the old Russian school where the Palestinian cultural elite, scientists and politicians studied. Although it was closed after the 1917 Revolution in Russia, its fame lives on.

So it�s only for the Palestinians in Jerusalem.

What do Palestinian Christians, I mean Orthodox Christians first of all, think of the Ukraine crisis?

Overall, we are deeply concerned with the divide in Ukraine. We still believe all Ukrainian Christians must stay within the fold of the Mother Church that is the Moscow Patriarchate.

I wish the Ukraine crisis would resolve through dialogue so that we see reconciliation and an end to violence and bloodshed.

Christians do not need wars, killings and massacres. This political crisis must be resolved in a peaceful way. The Church must work hard to ensure that the divisions are bridged and overcome.

The Orthodox Church in Ukraine is strong because most of the people preach Orthodox Christianity.

Divisions must be healed. We really hope that the efforts by the Moscow Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Constantinople will help to re-unite the Ukrainian Church.

I believe the split can be reversed and those who broke away could come back. But in order for that to happen we need humility, belief and strong will.

We pray for the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Muslim leader in Israel: �Entire earth� will be �subordinate� to caliphate

Joins numerous Muslim world leaders and clerics in predicting Islam's ultimate victory over the entire world.  

via Robert Spencer,  Jihad Watch � October 26, 2014

Iran�s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad himself once said: �Have no doubt� Allah willing, Islam will conquer what? It will conquer all the mountain tops of the world.� 

Sheik Ali Al-Faqir, former Jordanian minister of religious endowment, said this on Al-Aqsa TV on May 2, 2008: �We proclaim that we will conquer Rome, like Constantinople was conquered once�� 

Hamas MP and Islamic cleric Yunis Al-Astal said this, also on Al-Aqsa TV, on April 11, 2008: �Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad.�

Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the most prominent and renowned imam in the world, in writing about �signs of the victory of Islam,� referred to a hadith: 

�The Prophet Muhammad was asked: �What city will be conquered first, Constantinople or Romiyya?� He answered: �The city of Hirqil [i.e. the Byzantine emperor Heraclius] will be conquered first� � that is, Constantinople�� Romiyya is the city called today �Rome,� the capital of Italy. The city of Hirqil [that is, Constantinople] was conquered by the young 23-year-old Ottoman Muhammad bin Morad, known in history as Muhammad the Conqueror, in 1453. The other city, Romiyya, remains, and we hope and believe [that it too will be conquered]. This means that Islam will return to Europe as a conqueror and victor, after being expelled from it twice � once from the South, from Andalusia, and a second time from the East, when it knocked several times on the door of Athens.�

_____

Israeli Islamist Leader Kamal Khatib: Jerusalem Will Be Caliphate Capital; PA TV Cuts Interview Off 

MEMRI, October 17, 2014:

In an interview with the official PA TV channel, Sheik Kamal Khatib, deputy leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, said: �Jerusalem will not be only the capital of the Palestinian state, but also the capital of the coming righteous Islamic caliphate.� After he repeated his views several times and said that �the entire Earth� would �become subordinate to the Islamic caliphate one day�, PA TV cut the interview short.

Following are excerpts from the interview, which aired on October 17, 2014.

Interviewer: Let us first watch what you said at the Al-Aqsa Mosque this week.

Kamal Khatib: I have said it before, and I say it again: Allah willing, Jerusalem will not be only the capital of the Palestinian state, but also the capital of the coming righteous Islamic caliphate�

Crowd member: Say: �Allah Akbar!�

Crowd: Allah Akbar!

[�]

In studio:

Interviewer: Sheik, we listened to what you said at Al-Aqsa earlier this week. You said that Jerusalem would be the capital of the Islamic caliphate. What caliphate are you talking about?!

Kamal Khatib: In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. First, I am proud to have said this at the gates of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, from the frontline trenches of defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and not on Facebook or other social media. I�m not good at constructing theories. I�m only good at field work. While talking about the future of Jerusalem, I emphasized that Jerusalem would be not only the capital of the Palestinian state, but the capital of the coming righteous Islamic caliphate as well.

Interviewer: This brings to mind the ISIS organization. It is ISIS that is calling for an Islamic caliphate in the current circumstance.

Kamal Khatib: This is a simpleton�s understanding of history. The term �Islamic caliphate� has existed for 1,300 years�

Interviewer: But throughout the history of Islam, Jerusalem has never been the center or capital of any Islamic caliphate. Cairo, Baghdad, Damascus, and other cities were caliphate capitals, but not Jerusalem.

Kamal Khatib: Its time will come.

[�]

Interviewer: Are we expected to wait for the establishment of the Islamic caliphate in the Arab world, and only then liberate Jerusalem?

Kamal Khatib: Who says so?

Interviewer: It is supposed to be the capital of an Islamic caliphate that does not exist�

Kamal Khatib: I said that Jerusalem would be �not only� the capital of the Palestinian state. This was meant to emphasize that Jerusalem should be and will be the capital of the Palestinian state, but if we take more pride in the status of Jerusalem� Look, Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, and Riyadh are all capital cities, but when I say that Jerusalem will become the capital of all capitals, this means that it will have a higher standing than all those capitals. These cities will be capitals of provinces, of states, but Jerusalem will be the capital of the [Caliphate] state � and I�m not referring to the one in northern Iraq and northern Syria.

[�]

Interviewer: But you haven�t answered my question regarding the caliphate. Where will it be? In Iraq? In Syria? In the Arab Mashriq? In North Africa?

Kamal Khatib: The Prophet Muhammad said that the Islamic caliphate would encompass the Earth.

Interviewer: The whole world?!

Kamal Khatib: Yes, the whole world will become subordinated to the Islamic caliphate one day.

Interviewer: Really? The entire world will turn into an Islamic Caliphate?

Kamal Khatib: Yes.

Interviewer: The West? Russia? Latin America?

Kamal Khatib: This does not mean that Islam will be imposed upon these peoples.

[�]

ISIS is a small group that was created by the West as a pretext to come to the Islamic countries of the East. Obama said yesterday that this war would last three years, and his deputy said that this war would last 30 years. They did not come here just because of an organization they say has 50,000 men. They came in order to fight the Islamic enterprise�

The interview is cut off by the PA TV

ADL, Defamation, & Indoctrination of Israelis (2009)

Peace Propaganda And The Promised Land: U.S. Media & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2004)

Greek Orthodox Archbishop: 'Hamas Used Church to Fire Rockets' (VIDEO)

"Christ tells us we must love each other, our neighbors, and our enemies... No other religion says that except the Christian faith." � Archbishop Alexios of Gaza

The source news report for this post.

by George Thomas, CBN News � August 8, 2014

GAZA STRIP -- Air raid sirens sounding in the Eshkol Region on Wednesday afternoon turned out to be a false alarm. The 72-hour ceasefire appears to be holding for now.

Hamas is not only using mosques to launch attacks against Israelis. It has also used a church compound.

Archbishop Alexios is Gaza's most prominent Christian leader. His decision to open his church to 2,000 Muslims escaping the war surprised many of Gaza's residents.

"Christ tells us we must love each other, our neighbors, and our enemies," Bishop Alexios told CBN News. "No other religion says that except the Christian faith."

Alexios and the estimated 1,500 Arab Christians who live in the Gaza Strip walk a fine line between trying to stay alive and the Bible's command to share God's love. Since Hamas' 2007 takeover of Gaza, residents say it's imposed strict Taliban-style Islamic laws on the people.

"Islam is the rule of this place and whatever Hamas says we must obey or face consequences," Alexios explained.

[This is a classic description of what the dhimma contract imposes on Christians living under Muslim tyranny. These are not "Taliban-inspired laws," but rather are commanded in the Quran and drawn expressly from the Sira (the Life of Muhammad) and the hadiths (sayings by and about Muhammad), and were first codified in the Pact of Omar, the first caliph after Muhammad.]

Now he's now concerned about what comes next after the guns fall silent and missiles and rockets stop flying.

"There's a lot of anger on the street. We need forgiveness and love to flow," he said.

Alexios took CBN News to the roof terrace outside his office to show how Islamists used the church compound to launch rockets into Israel. He refused to discuss details on camera for security reasons, but days after the war started, Israeli missiles targeted an area close to the church sanctuary.

Little is left of one of two minarets that used to stand tall here, not too far from the Mediterranean. It was a major mosque in the area and was reportedly hit by seven Israeli missiles.

The Israeli government said places like mosques and hospitals in densely populated areas are routinely used by Hamas to fire off their rockets.

Just around the corner from the church, Mohammed, a resident of Gaza, sat in complete shock.

"I picked up the phone and the Israeli army said I have five minutes to get out of my house -- they were going to destroy it. I had 60 people living in my apartment and had to get them out," he recalled.

Mohammed's three-story apartment complex was destroyed. He and his five brothers and their families lived in the building. The word on the street is the brothers are tied to Hamas and used the apartment to store weapons, a claim Mohammed denies.

Asked why Hamas is interested, he said, "The Israelis attack schools, they attack hospitals, they attacked mosques. You ask them. They know why. I don't know why."

This week, Israel's military released a map of Gaza showing dozens of positions from which Hamas rockets were fired. Dramatic footage from drones flying above the Strip also shows Hamas firing from populated areas.

Back at the church, Bishop Alexios said he's not out to pick a fight with Hamas or Israel. He simply wants to serve people.

"We are disciples of Jesus [and] we must give love to everyone without condition," he said.

Orthodox Archbishop in Gaza: Hamas fired rockets from church

by Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart News � August 8, 2014

Archbishop Alexios, the Greek Orthodox Christian leader of Gaza, told CBN News on Wednesday that Hamas had used the church to fire rockets at Israeli civilians prior to the 72-hour ceasefire. The church was also being used at the time as a shelter for Palestinian civilians of all faiths who were fleeing the war's bombs and rockets.

Hamas used the church and the civilians as human shields--a war crime under international law--in order to deter Israel from striking the rocket launchers, and to cause Israel maximum public relations and diplomatic damage if it did return fire. At least two United Nations facilities housing civilians were struck in that fashion.

Though the White House called Israel's actions in those instances "indefensible," and other world powers rushed to condemn Israel, few bothered to consider that they were playing directly into Hamas's hands, and creating an incentive for Hamas and other terror groups to continue to use the same deadly tactics in future.

The outrage that might have ensued if Israel had struck a church--instead of merely a UN facility--would have been formidable, and could have greatly complicated efforts to rally support for Israel among Christians in the U.S. 

Hamas violated the 72-hour ceasefire Friday morning and launched a barrage of rockets at Israeli civilians.

Should India support Palestine or Israel: Ten hard facts on India's international stand and foreign policy in the light of its national interests and realpolitik

[This post has been written after Indian government voted in support of Palestine, inviting criticism from pro-Israel ideologues who thought BJP government would change its policy]

1. India is seen as a responsible nation world over, government has to be careful of its standing too while voting at UN or other fora, can't go by wishes of individuals. 

2. On TV debates, right-wing panelists say that 'Arabs never supported India'. So? Who asks to support them? Must ditch 'em, if needed. Who stops!

3. India is already doing business with Israel. We get lot of oil from Arab countries. Millions of Indians live in Gulf and send foreign currency here. This is never mentioned in TV debates. In fact, there are more Indians (60 lakh) in Arab countries than in USA and Britain together (45 lakh). 

What are the stakes for us to suddenly turn our back on these countries? Of course, if you simply love Israel because it kills Arabs or Palestinians [read Muslims], then let us talk straight, don't beat the bush [strategic interests, yes we know]. On channels you talk of real-politik and sermonise that we must keep our interests supreme, rather than going for 'passion' or becoming 'world guru, then friends, these are real interests.

4. The only difference is that Arab countries don't claim credit and aren't interested much in PR in India. The NRIs in these countries are mostly from South India, and the North Indian-media glosses over it. 

5. Indian Muslims are with national interest. The expectation or support is on humanitarian grounds. Government should strike balance, use diplomacy and see its interests. If needed, stand with any country, who stops the Viraat government? Don't play politics on us, using our names. 

6. During nuclear deal issue also, it was suggested that Indian Muslims wer against it though it was the biggest lie http://www.anindianmuslim.com/2008/07/indian-muslims-stand-on-nuclear-deal.html  

7. Then, there is another argument, 'how can we vote along with Pakistan on the same issue'. This is the reflection of the mentality, 'If your enemy is doing the right thing, you should do the wrong thing just because it is your enemy'. So if Pakistan goes on to vote for saving girl child at an international forum, will India oppose it? 

8. Truth is that only one country was against the vote for probe on war crimes. It was USA which patronises Israel. Many other countries who have major disputes among themselves, voted in favour. We are not in a position to be Israel's patron, do we want to look like its lackey, and reduce ourself to such level without any genuine benefit. 

9. Some journos and self-styled ideologues who think they were behind BJP and Modi's victory, feel they know more about national interests than Govt! Surely, Narendra Modi government knows what is in India's interests.

10. But it doesn't mean that your love for Israel, outgrows your love for your own country and the respect of your nation and its standing. Gaza killings are surely not an humanitarian issue for you, but tell us the real strategic reason, you want India to shift its international position?

Right now, the disgusting tweets that show their love for Israel, more than India, are revealing exactly the same: That sections of right-wing are so obssesed with Israel and are anti-Muslim to such an extent, that they are disowning the BJP government which they considered their own till days ago.


[This post has been written after the outrage by many self-styled strategic affairs experts and 'super patriots', who felt that India under Narendra Modi, shouldn't have voted to censure Israel at BRICS and opposed its vote on UNHRC probe for war crimes against Israel]

Read the post on 'Indians support Palestine despite propaganda' HERE
Read the post 'Irony for Israel: The world calls it a Nazi state, even Jews opposing Israel' HERE
Read the post 'Jews suffered genocide, now commit similar atrocities on Palestinians' HERE

India supports Palestine at BRICS summit and UN, opinion poll shows Indians too stand against Israel: 75% Indians support Palestine, just 15% for Israel

Of late, we often hear that the public opinion in India is shifting and is now inclined towards Israel.

You don't need to rake your brains to think about those who are behind this new found knowledge about Indian masses & public opinion.

On Monday, a journalist tweeted that within three decades, India has become one of the most pro-Israel nations.

There was nothing to substantiate this insight though. He didn't reveal what made him believe that Indians were no longer pro-Palestine.

Right-wing folks have been trumpeting their admiration for Israel. In India, the unique thing is that the same group also eulogizes Hitler.

Clearly, any state that commits mass murders, brutality and genocide is their ideal, with no moral issues for them. The vocal right-wing supporters can keep claiming that Indians are turning pro-Israel, because propaganda works to an extent.

The BJP victory or the Congress loss doesn't mean that Indian have become pro-Israel or anti-Palestine.

In fact, for a large number of Indians, it may not be an issue to align with one side. For them, it will be of siding with humanity. If any ordinary person sees the images of innocents killed in Gaza, he or she would naturally support the victim. 

Just seven decades ago, we won our independence from an imperial power that also used brutality as a state weapon against the subjects.

However, the propagandists know that if they keep repeating lies, half-lies, assumptions and their beliefs, it will have some impact on others too.

But the biggest shock for the Israel-supporter propagandists in India came on Tuesday.

India voted in support of UN resolution on Gaza, calling for investigation against Israel. Suddenly, there was silence among the pro-Israel Twitterati, as they rued and expressed sadness at the Indian stand.

For them, it was almost unbelievable that a BJP government led by Narendra Modi would continue the traditional Indian policy on Palestine. Self-styled ideologues who think they have brought Narendra Modi-led BJP to power, were upset and said that it was unexpected.

After the Indian vote at UNHRC, a journalist Sadanand Dhume, who lives in  USA, also claimed that mood in India was pro-Israel. Other pro-BJP journalists termed Indian vote as 'monumental blunder'. Indian call for implementation of UN resolution, was criticised by them.

MEANWHILE. In Rio, the Prime Minister also signed the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) censure of Israeli offensive in Gaza. What more? Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj says Indian policy towards Palestine remains unchanged.

And if you want to know about public opinion. Check this opinion poll by Hindustan Times on who should India support in the Middle East conflict. While 75% say Indians should be supporting Palestine, just 15% say that the country should stand by Israel. LINK TO THE POLL

This is the situation when it is well-known that right-wing has a disproportionately big presence on the internet. So there is no sign that Indians have turned pro-Israel, en masse. The propagandists can, of course, chant otherwise. 

Chetan Bhagat's tweet on killings in Gaza leads to outrage on Twitter: Sick, inhuman comment or just his view!

Chetan Bhagat's shocking tweet about the killings by Israel in Gaza, led to outrage on social networking website Twitter on Wednesday.

Bhagat tweeted, "What is happening to Gaza isn't fair but sadly that is the only way sometimes terrorist organizations and their supporters learn to behave".

The tweet just when Israel has killed over 200 Palestinians, many of them innocent children, in cold blood, angered Twitterati.

A twitter user with the handle@Homer2bart tweeted, 'Chetan bhagat probably doesnt' have a kid. He knows nothing about how families feel when they lose their kids in such tragic incidents".

They expressed shock and surprise that how he could write with such indifference about civilian deaths in Palestine.

Twitter uses termed Bhagat's tweet as reflecting his 'insensitivity', 'sick mind', 'inhumanity' and 'cheap thinking' for his apparent justification for the killings of innocents. Bhagat, who has written a few novels, later tweeted, that his three tweets should be read together.

"Anyone posting them selectively quoting them out of context", he wrote. But there were angry responses. Another user Vishakha wrote, "kisi apne ka khoon jab dekhte hai tab ye intellectual thoughts koi kaam nahi aate'. [When you see the blood of your near and dear ones, intellectual thoughts don't work]

But there were some tweeples who supported him too. Many said that though his statement might be inhuman or condemnable, he had a right to express his views. And that, at least, one knew where our 'celebrity author' stood on the issue of Israel-Palestine, especially, the humanitarian crisis that it has become. 

Check Chetan Bhagat's twitter account AT THIS LINK.

Irony for Israel: When the world calls Israel a 'Nazi state', Jews also oppose its atrocities on Palestinians

Would Jews who suffered enormously in holocaust could have imagined that their State would one day kill innocent children, almost the same way, as the Nazis did in Hitler's Germany?

And that many would term Israel as Nazi state! Further, the state of Israel would defend itself despite the wanton killings, refuse to accept the truth, disregard international opinion, and remain adamant, just like the perpetrators of Holocaust, seven decades ago.

What is happening today in Gaza [Palestine] is a tragedy. And how, the country [homeland] of the most persecuted group of people on earth, gets involved in such massacres, is equally a tragedy for mankind.

Across, the world, organisations, leaders, individuals of standing, are equating Israel's brutal killings of children, women and elderly, with Nazi Germany.

Even more, the Jews themselves, are saying it. Gaza is a virtual prison and is termed as 'concentration camp'. In America and several other countries, Jews are opposing Zionism and the policies of Israel. There are Jews protesting against the bloodbath in Gaza, and raising banners, saying that they are opposed to Israel's aggression.

How world sees Israel, which isolates itself, refuses to learn from its own experiences

African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, has termed Israeli military operation in Gaza strip, with the Nazi war against Jews.

ANC condemned the action as 'barbaric attacks' and that 'Israel has turned occupied territories into permanent death camps.

See the link comparing Israel's offensive to atrocities by Nazis, at this link, HERE

Many countries in Middle East, Asia and other parts of the world apart from Human Rights group have made similar comparison.

But what should serve as a wakeup call for the state of Israel is that even Jews are openly speaking up against the country's acts against civilian population in Gaza. TV star Roseanne Bar, who has Jewish ancestry, said that Israel was acting like Nazis.

She wrote this on her blog when there was similar attack on Gaza, last time. The comments drew strong reactions. She had written, "Israel is a NAZI state. The Jewish soul is being tortured in Israel". Read about it HERE.

Then, musician Roger Waters [who was earlier with Pink Floyd] made a similar assertion.

He compared modern state of Israel with Nazi Germany. The veteran rock star's comments had angered Zionists and pro-Israel lobby.

But he said that it was not anti-semitism. The report is HERE.

Brett Wilkins, in Digital Journal, wrote the article under the headline, 'Israel is much closer to Nazi Germany than Iran is'. [LINK].

The Committee for Remembrance Education, [Belgium], equates treatment of Palestinian Arabs by Israelis today with the treatment of Jews by Nazis in the 40s. See an earlier part to this article below:


MUST-READ
Jews suffered holocaust, now inflict it on Palestinians

Read to find out the historical issue, the problem of Palestine, how Europe persecuted Jews and later shifted the problem to Middle East, the sufferings of Jews, the manner in which Muslims saved persecuted Jews, and then the modern era--the Israel-Palestine conflict. READ IT HERE

Islamic State Caliphate Threatens Attack on Israel, with Nuclear Weapons

"Tel Aviv will fall as fast as Mosul when the time is right... Do you think that we do not have access to nuclear devices?  The Zionists know that we do... we will not hesitate.� � ISIS Source

Related: Terror army gets hands on load of 'low grade' uranium, able to create 'dirty bomb' - Fox News (and this is just what the MSM is leaking out).


via IRAQ INVADERS THREATEN NUKE ATTACK ON ISRAEL

ISIS focus on 'destroying Zionist regime' to 'liberate Palestine'

by F. Michael Maloof, WND � June 23, 2014

WASHINGTON � The well-organized army of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, claims it has access to nuclear weapons and a will to use them to �liberate� Palestine from Israel as part of its �Islamic Spring,� according to a WND source in the region.

Franklin Lamb, an international lawyer based in Beirut and Damascus, said the move is part of the ISIS aim of creating a caliphate under strict Islamic law, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to Iraq.

Lamb, who has access to ISIS fighters and sympathizers, said ISIS has been working with a �new specialized� unit organized at the beginning of 2013 to focus �exclusively on destroying the Zionist regime occupying Palestine.�

Lamb added that the ISIS �Al-Quds Unit� is working to broaden its influence in more than 60 Palestinian camps and gatherings from Gaza, across �Occupied Palestine,� or Israel, to Jordan and from Lebanon up to the north of Syria �seeking to enlist support as it prepares to liberate Palestine.�

[ISIS is already seizing power in Gaza. "Al Quds" is the traditional Islamic name for Jerusalem. Muslim Brotherhood imams and leaders in Egypt and elsewhere, as well as Islamic extremists all around the world � even in the West � seek to take control of Al Quds and destroy the state of Israel as part of the establishment of the Caliphate.]

ISIS is also know as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. �Sham,� or �Greater Syria,� refers to Cyprus, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and southern Turkey.

ISIS also is known as DAASH, the Arabic acronym for al-Dawlah al-Islamiyah fi al-Iraq wa-al Sham.

The Sunni militant group, which has taken over much of the Sunni region of Iraq, could leave the Shiite-dominated region of the country and head toward Jordan and Turkey.

Lamb said that in Iraq alone, some 6 million Iraqi Sunnis recently have become supportive of the ISIS lightning strikes in the Sunni portion of the country.

Some of the Sunni supporters are secular, such as the Naqshbandia Army of former top officials of executed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. As WND reported, the Sunni group may have given ISIS access to its ongoing sarin production facility in northwestern Iraq.

WND also reported ISIS already has captured towns bordering Iraq and Turkey.

The militant group also has steamrolled through the Iraqi desert in the west and taken over the major al-Walid crossing with Syria and the Turaibil crossing into Jordan.

Lamb said ISIS has established a capital for its caliphate in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

�The Islamist organization believes it currently has massive regional support for its rapidly expanding �revolution of the oppressed,�� Lamb said.

ISIS estimates it will take 72 months to �liberate� �Occupied Palestine,� or Israel, according to Lamb.

Lamb quoted an ISIS member as saying: �Zionists call us masked, sociopathic murderers, but we are much more complicated and representative of those seeking justice than they portray us.

�Are we more barbaric than the Zionist terrorists who massacred at Dier Yassin, Shatila, twice at Qana, and committed dozens of other massacres? History will judge us after we free Palestine.�

Lamb said ISIS can do what no other Arab, Muslim or Western backers of resistance have been able to accomplish.

He quoted the ISIS member as saying: �All countries in this region are playing the sectarian card just as they have long played the Palestinian card, but the difference with ISIS is that we are serious about Palestine and they are not. Tel Aviv will fall as fast as Mosul when the time is right.�

The WND source said ISIS appears �eager� to fight Israeli armed forces �in the near future despite expectation that the regime will use nuclear weapons.�

�Do you think that we do not have access to nuclear devices?� Lamb quoted the ISIS member as saying. �The Zionists know that we do, and if we ever believe they are about to use theirs, we will not hesitate. After the Zionists are gone, Palestine will have to be decontaminated and rebuilt just like areas where there has been radiation released.�

ISIS access to nuclear weapons could come from Sunni Pakistan, which is home to more than 30 terrorist groups. Pakistan possibly has transferred nuclear weapons to the chief bankroller of its nuclear development program, Sunni Saudi Arabia, as WND previously has reported.

The Saudis, who also have provided billions of dollars to ISIS, have threatened to acquire nuclear weapons if Iran were to develop its own.

The WND source said ISIS denies any interest in training and directing foreign fighters to attack Europe, claiming its goals are to establish the al-Sham caliphate and �liberate Palestine.�

The source said the West, and especially the Israelis, may already be aware of ISIS plans and tactics to take over �Palestine.� He said Western intelligence sources were in possession of an �encyclopedia of information� obtained by Iraqi intelligence less than 48 hours before Mosul fell two weeks ago.

He said an ISIS messenger who was captured and �under Iraqi torture� turned over more than 160 computer flash sticks with the detailed information.

�The U.S. intelligence community is still decrypting and analyzing the flash sticks,� Lamb said.

He indicated that the information already has been handed over to members of Congress, some of whom are sharing it with the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

�The current sense on Capitol Hill is reported to be that the Obama administration is not in the mood to share anything with Israel these days and certainly not with the Netanyahu regime which it loathes,� he said.

Lamb said only time will tell whether or not ISIS reaches both of its objectives. He added that if the �Zionist regime� can be ejected from Palestine, it will set in motion �historic currents� that will be �rather different from the Ehud Olmert-Condoleezza Rice fantasy of �a New Middle East.�

�In any event,� Lamb said, �it is unlikely that Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Lebanon among other countries in this region are going to look much like what George Bush and Dick Cheney and their still active neo-con advisers had in mind when they were beating the drums for a U.S. invasion of Iraq, Libya and now Syria and Iran.�

ISIS Now Openly Operating in Gaza � Flags Seen Waving at Funeral

"Israeli and other western intelligence services have warned that the group�s influence is spreading and may have set down roots in the coastal enclave."

Algemeiner � June 29, 2014

ISIS military convoy in Iraq. (Photo: Twitter-nayelshafei)

Mourners in Gaza were seen carrying black flags of the bloody Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group at a funeral on Sunday for one of two terrorists Israel targeted in an airstrike on Friday, Israel�s Ma�ariv daily reported.

Analysts said this was the first such open sign of local support for the group (also known as the �Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant�), which is engaged in fierce battles for control of Iraq, and in Syria, in order to create a unified Islamic caliphate.

Israeli and other western intelligence services have warned that the group�s influence is spreading and may have set down roots in the coastal enclave.

The Israeli Air Force struck Osama Has sumi, 29, and Mohammad Fatzih, 24, with a direct missile, as they traveled in a vehicle along the Gazan shore.

�Militants, like Hassumi and Fatzih, attacking Israel from Gaza, are not safe, do not have immunity, and will not be free to plan, plot and operate,� IDF Spokesman Lt.-Col. Peter Lerner said on Friday.

�We will continue to strike the instigators and agitators with patience, determination and precision. Gaza rocket terrorism does not pay,� he said.

Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya�alon said in Friday that the IDF would foil �rocket fire on Israel or attempted attacks on our civilians or troops. We will hunt down those who carry out or plan [these attacks], like we did today.�

While it is unclear if either of the two were, in fact, directly backed by ISIS, the IDF said the two were behind volleys of rockets fired into Israel over the last two weeks, and belonged to the �Salah e-Din Brigades� of the Popular Front.

Meanwhile, Hamas, which controls the strip, �categorically denied Egyptian security claims that ISIS terrorists infiltrated Sinai through Gaza tunnels,� according to the al-Kassam website.

On Saturday, Iyad Bazam, a spokesman for the terror group, called the claims, �blatant lies,� and said they were �part of the ongoing Egyptian smear campaign against the Gaza Strip.�

On Saturday night, six rockets fired from Gaza struck Israel, with two hitting a populated building.

�Over the course of the weekend 12 rockets hit Israel and over the past two weeks 25 rockets hit Israel. Approximately 50 rockets were launched at Israel over the past two weeks,� the IDF said in a statement.

�In response to the rocket attacks that hit Israel earlier this evening and in order to prevent further attacks on Israeli civilians, an IAF aircraft targeted three terror activity sites and three concealed rocket launchers in the southern Gaza Strip, a weapon manufacturing site in the northern Gaza Strip and a terror activity site and weapon manufacturing site in the central Gaza Strip,� the statement read.

More here, with video...

Bartholomew: Christians united, real catalysts for peace in the Middle East

We live in interesting times:

The Ecumenical Patriarch arrives today in Rome to take part in the prayer meeting with Pope Francis, Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas. The scope of the prayer meeting goes beyond immediate results.

Pravmir � June 7, 2014

Istanbul (AsiaNews) � The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew arrives tonight in Rome to participate in the prayer for peace tomorrow, at the invitation of Pope Francis.

The pontiff has invited Israeli President Shimon Peres and the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to pray for peace in the war-torn Middle East where the Christian element is about to disappear.

In his letter of invitation, the Pope says that the presence of Bartholomew is �an act of continuity of their common pilgrimage to Jerusalem �. A true gift.�

In the message, the pontiff thanks Bartholomew for his insistence on a meeting in Jerusalem �which was a true gift of the Lord to worship together in those holy places and to join in prayer at the tomb of Christ, the foundation of our hope.�

Bartholomew has stressed that tomorrow�s prayer of takes on a very important significance that goes beyond any immediate results: it wants to show that it is the privileged task of Christians to be the true voice of peace in the world, in accordance with the dictates of our Lord expressed in the apostolic tradition of the true united Church.

In short, true unity among Christians is the real catalyst for true peace in the world and is the only answer to the existential problems of our small planet.

To those Christians who are hesitant towards these initiatives, the ecumenical patriarch reiterated what was said in Jerusalem: �I walked with my brother Francis of the Holy Land without the fears of Luke and Cleopas on their way to Emmaus (cf. Luke 24 13-35), but inspired by a living hope, as we learn from our Lord�.

Bartholomew also sees preparations for the celebration of 1700 years since the Council of Nicaea � of which he spoke in Jerusalem with the pope � as part of the path to peace in the world.