Israel | Ain't Complicated

A Hinge of History

Israel’s former (and now, newest) prime minister said that in reference to Iran.

“A hinge of history” — that’s got a poetic gong to it.

I don’t know what kind of knell this has, though: “the entire world should start worrying.”

Netanyahu said that as well. In reference to Iran also.

Netanyahu: US must end Iran nuke drive, or Israel may attack

The primary imperative for the United States and President Barack Obama is to put an end to Iran’s nuclear race, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said before his swearing-in Tuesday, adding that if the US failed to do so Israel might be forced to resort to a military strike on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear installations.

[…]

The Iranian drive for a nuclear weapon was a “hinge of history,” he said, emphasizing that all of “Western civilization” was responsible for preventing an Iranian bomb.

“You don’t want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs,” Netanyahu said of the Iranian regime. “When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran.”

OK, so Israel has made these threats before.

But a new day may be dawning in this mess as Netanyahu takes power. Let’s hope it isn’t a new day brought forth by flashing man-made light brighter than our sun.

I suppose those who see a neocon behind every bush have much more to worry about now. And maybe neo-conservatives should be feared as well as imagined. I don’t pretend to know. I inform; you decide. 🙂

Heads Up

So…what’s in the headlines this morning?

An Urgent Message from David Wilkerson

AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE – EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US.

More Americans say they have no religion

A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out o of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.

Wikipedia scrubs Obama eligibility

Wikipedia, the online “free encyclopedia” mega-site written and edited entirely by its users, has been deleting within minutes any mention of eligibility issues surrounding Barack Obama’s presidency, with administrators kicking off anyone who writes about the subject….

World Bank offers dire forecast for world economy

In a bleaker assessment than those of most private forecasters, the World Bank predicted Sunday that the global economy would shrink in 2009 for the first time since World War II.

China’s Navy expansion “no threat to others”

China’s plans to add aircraft carriers to its fleet and an historic long-distance mission by its navy are aimed only at protecting the country and its trade interests….

“Iran crossed nuclear tech threshold”

In a chilling indication that Iran’s arms program is advancing steadily, Israel acknowledged for the first time that Teheran had mastered the technology to make a nuclear bomb on the same day that the Iranians announced they had successfully tested a new air-to-surface missile.

Syria: Peace With Israel Possible

Syria President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Monday that a peace deal with Israel was possible but that normal relations would only be possible if Israel ended its conflict with the Palestinians.

There. I don’t know how long that took. But it was quite a while. It would have been faster, but I did it between other computer and online projects. It’s much more efficient for me that way.

Now, make it a good day.

Is Israel Gearing Up?

Here’s a bedtime story for you:

Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Iran has built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, United Nations officials acknowledged on Thursday.

In a development that comes as the Obama administration is drawing up its policy on negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme, UN officials said Iran had produced more nuclear material than previously thought.

One nuke, eh?

If the UN was wrong before, is it still wrong?

And more importantly, what’s Israel going to do about it?

(And what do you propose to do about it?)

Woes in the Holy Land

You can help!

Here are the first three paragraphs of something I just posted on another of my sites:

Times are tough in the USA. But in the Holy Land….

GAZA CONFLICT: The recent conflict in Gaza caused the deaths of more than 1,000 people, injured thousands more, and destroyed or damaged 21,000 homes. The war increased the woes in this troubled part of the world, known as the Holy Land.

After the militant group, Hamas, continued firing rockets into southern Israel, ignoring repeated warnings, Israel began air strikes the weekend of December 28 and later moved in with tanks. This recent conflict is part of the long-running feud between Israel and the Palestinians. As always, many innocent people — families, children, and the elderly, both Jewish and Palestinian — suffer the consequences.

CAM has been working diligently with our contacts in Israel to supply food parcels to hundreds of needy families in Gaza (mostly Christian, but also some Muslim). We also plan to distribute Christian literature in Gaza. On the Israeli side, where people are traumatized by the rocket fire, we will distribute care packages.

You can help!

Will you?

February 14

On this day in 1977, I think I gave her a Valentine card.

1803 — Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of US Congress that conflicts with the Constitution is void. What would he have to say today?!

1835 — The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.

1849 — James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken. Subsequent Presidents have shown an inability to kick the habit.

1859 — Oregon is admitted as the 33rd US state.

1876 — Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray apply (though not jointly) for a patent for the telephone.

1899 — Voting machines are approved by the US Congress for use in federal elections. “It will eliminate fraud, confusion, and disenfranchisement.”

1912 — Arizona is admitted as the 48th US state.

1945 — On the second day of the bombing, the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden, Germany. So that’s how The Greatest Generation fought?! Imagine the uproar if that had been done in Iraq and Afghanistan!

1949 — Israel’s Parliament (the Knesset) convenes for the first time. Praise God!

1977 — Mark Roth gives Ruby Yoder a Valentine card for the first time. I think that’s right!

1989 — The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit. GPS is twenty years old today. Wow!

2009 — What’s noteworthy that happened today?

The Toll of War

So much sadness and pain both hidden and contained in this next sentence!

Moawiya Hassanein, head of Gaza medical emergency services, told AFP the number of Palestinians killed since the Israeli operation was launched on December 27 was now 512, including 87 children.

Allow me a question, though.

Suppose the Israelis were in Gaza and the Palestinians were in Israel.

And suppose the population and military weights were also reversed.

And suppose it were the Palestinians attacking the Israelis.

Would the death toll be the same for Israelis as it is now for Palestinians?

What Comes Next?

That’s the question.

But I have something different in mind with it than you might expect.

So read this first:

Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes Saturday, killing at least 155 and wounding more than 310 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in recent memory.

As you were “inputting” this information into your head, what came next?

I don’t mean what comes next on the ground in the Middle East.

I mean, after you learned of the above airstrikes, what came next in your thoughts and attitudes?

Read it all