HHMI Newsgroup Archives

To:            heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject:       NewsWatch:  Israel's Covenant Land
From:          bsperlazzo@juno.com
NOTE FROM EDDIE:
     It is written ....
KJV Joel 3:2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my
people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and PARTED MY LAND.
KJV Zechariah 14:2 For I will GATHER ALL NATIONS AGAINST JERUSALEM to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the
women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
KJV Zechariah 14:12 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, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume
away in their mouth. 
 UNLESS the USA fights a "just war" against terrorism by isolating and destroying Yasser Arafat and the PLO and annuls UN 
Resolution 242 and 338 and show their support for the nation of Israel against the Islamic terrorists, we will NOT win this war 
against terrorism  because this is a CULTURAL / RELIGIOUS WAR that MUST be fought with SPIRITUAL WEAPONS. 
 If we don't understand the REAL issue of this "new war", the Bible is CLEAR on what will be the fate of the USA.
END OF NOTE
***************************************************************
NewsWatch: Israel's Covenant Land - Bill Koenig
September 9, 2001
PUBLIC STANDS AGAINST ISRAEL
"God said to Moses, 'I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I
not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their
pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.'" (Exodus 6:3-4, KJV)
"He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded
to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law,
and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, 'Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:'" (Psalm
105:7-11), KJV
In a remarkable turn of recent events, the nations of the world, many international organizations, and even Christian church groups
have publicly stated their positions, contrary to the Word of God, pertaining to Israel's covenant land. These public statements have
all occurred in the last 120-day period.
Moreover, there is no mention by any of these entities, which acknowledge Israel's right to her covenant land. There is no
acknowledgment to the plight of the Jews since statehood in 1948 and over the years at the hands of neighboring Muslim nations.
There is no mention whatsoever about the danger which Christian organizations are now facing throughout the world by Muslims.
Making matters worse, we now have "Christian" church organizations publicly taking totally misguided, misinformed, and apostate
positions against Israel, the "apple of God's eye" (Psalm 17:8, "A Prayer of David" KJV).
There has also been a major increase in the anti-Semitic propaganda being spread by the world's media pertaining to Israel.
We sense that the Lord is allowing these nations, organizations, church groups, the media, and various people groups to take their
stand publicly as the last statement before the Lord's harsh judgment comes against them.
The following events are great examples of the sign of the times:
Vatican Backs Palestinians
On Saturday, May 6, 2001, Pope John Paul II called for lasting peace in the Middle East on his trip to Syria. In the Jerusalem
Post, the Pope said he was in Syria to encourage all sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict to change their attitudes and seek lasting
peace.
"My pilgrimage is also an ardent prayer of hope," said the Pope. . . "It is time to return to the principles of international
legality: the banning of acquisition of territory by force, the right of peoples to self-determination, respect for the resolutions
of the United Nations, and the Geneva convention."
Putting the Pope's words into perspective, he not only called for lasting peace, but he also called for the Middle East parties to
respect the resolutions. In other words, the Pope is asking Israel to give up their land.
----
Bush, Powell Back Land Giveaway
On May 22, 2001, United States President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell publicly endorsed the Mitchell
Plan, which calls for settlement (covenant) land to be relinquished in exchange for peace.
----
CFR Backs Palestinians
According to Henry Siegman of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), in the International Herald Tribune on Tuesday, July 17,
2001, the Oslo accords failed to produce a permanent status agreement for any reasons, but "primarily and most importantly
because Israel never committed itself to the only goal that could have made possible such an agreement-a viable, sovereign
Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Without such a clearly defined goal, so-called confidence-building measures have no chance
whatever of achieving their purpose."
----
G-8 Backs Peacekeepers
On July 19-21, 2001, at their Genoa Conference, the Foreign Ministers of the G-8 industrialized countries (United States,
United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, and Russia), in a strongly-worded communiqu=E9 on the situation in Israel, backed
the call for independent observers to be deployed in Israel.
The G-8 leaders' statement said: "The urgent implementation of the Mitchell Report is the only way forward. The cooling off period
must begin as soon as possible. Violence and terrorism must stop. Third party monitoring, accepted by both parties, would serve their
interests in implementing the Mitchell Report."
---------
18 Churches Back Freezing Settlements and Call Israeli Action a Violation of International Law and UN Resolutions Documentation:
Text Of 18 U.S. Church Leaders' June 7, 2001, Letter To U.S. Secretary Of State Colin Powell:
"Few things have done more to destroy the hope and pursuit of peace through negotiations than Israel's unrelenting settlement activity.
Over these recent years, we have heard from our Palestinian Christian partners, and seen for ourselves, the destructive impact
of Israel's settlement policy -- separating village from village, confiscating more and more Palestinian land, creating friction with
its military checkpoints.
"For over twenty years our churches have appealed to the U.S. government to require Israel to cease this transfer of its civilian
population into occupied territory, a clear violation of international law and United Nations resolutions. Each
administration has spoken in opposition to the settlement activity, only to watch the settlements increase and expand as Israel ignores
the advice.
"It is time for the United States to do what it must to bring Israel's settlement activity to an end. We urge you to make clear
to Israel and the Palestinians that the United States is committed to a negotiated end of Israel's military occupation of the Gaza
Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem as called for in U.N.S.C. Res. 242, and that an immediate freezing by Israel of its
settlement activity including `natural growth' is imperative. It will likely require considerable diplomatic pressure, and possibly
economic pressure as well, to convince the government of Israel to recognize that this is a major policy concern of the United States.
The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
Bishop Vicken Aykazian
Diocesan Legate and Ecumenical Officer
The Armenian Orthodox Church
Rev. Brother Stephen Michael Glodek, S.M. President
Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Mens' Institutes
Rev. John L. McCullough
Executive Director
Church World Service
Bishop Donald J. McCoid
Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod
Chair, Conference of Bishops
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Rev. Fr. Alexander Karloutsos for
Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos
Ecumenical Officer
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Bishop William B. Oden
Immediate Past President
The Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church
The following heads of churches and faith-based organizations joined the delegation in endorsing this expression of concern and
appeal to Secretary of State Colin Powell:
Bishop McKinley Young
Presiding Bishop, 10th Episcopal District
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The Rev. Dr. Robert H. Roberts
Interim General Secretary
American Baptist Churches USA
Mary Ellen McNish
General Secretary
American Friends Service Committee
Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America
The Rev. Dr. Richard L. Hamm
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
in the United States and Canada
Rev. Judy Mills Reimer
Executive Director
Church of the Brethren General Board
The Rev. H. George Anderson
Presiding Bishop
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Michael E. Livingston
Executive Director
International Council of Community Churches
Rev. Dr. Seung Koo Choi
General Secretary
Korean Presbyterian Church in America
Dr. Ron J. R. Mathies
Executive Director
Mennonite Central Committee
Rev. R. Burke Johnson
President
Moravian Church - Northern Province
Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar
General Secretary
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
General Secretary
Reformed Church in America
Archbishop Cyril Aphrem Karim
Archdiocese of the
Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch
for the Eastern USA
John Buehrens
President
Unitarian Universalist Association
The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ
Bishop Melvin G. Talbert
Ecumenical Officer
Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church
---------
 World Council of Churches (WCC) Action
On August 3, 2001, a WCC consultation on the Israeli-Palestinian problem decided, in coordinated ecumenical action, to form a small
consultative group for the purpose of developing "realistic" proposals for action with local and international partners in seven
areas:
 coordinating advocacy with governments. 
 boycotting goods produced in Israeli settlements in the "occupied" territories. 
 strengthening the "chain of solidarity" through prayer vigils. 
 resisting the destruction of property and uprooting of people from their homes and land. 
 encouraging and enabling the presence of ecumenical monitoring teams. 
 improving communication, interpretation, and media reporting on the conflict and its causes.
 increasing church, ecumenical, and inter religious delegations to and from Israel and the OPT.
It was also agreed that, together with the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) and local churches, the WCC will develop a
coordination point for ecumenical action in Jerusalem, and explore the possibility of linking it with an international coordination
center.
Picking up on a recommendation of the visiting delegation, it was agreed to propose to the WCC Executive Committee, meeting September
11-14, that it consider a special focus on "ending the violence of occupation in Palestine" in the framework of the Decade to Overcome
Violence, and possibly call for an international conference on the subject.
As Jean Zaru of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre in Jerusalem noted, "Occupation is violence, and in the Decade to
Overcome Violence, we have to expose the structural violence of occupation."
---------
China Backs Palestinians
On Friday, August 24, 2001, Chinese President Jiang Zemin vowed, after his meeting with Yasser Arafat, that he will continue backing
Palestinian Authority Chairman Arafat's position in Middle East peace negotiations, and he condemned Israel's use of "excessive
force" against the Palestinians.
 European Union (EU) Plan to Destroy Israel
On August 22, 2001, Yuval Steinetz, a member of the Knesset (Likud Party), stated in a careful analysis of the two common European
positions in a Jerusalem Post article, entitled "Europe versus the Jewish state," that the EU supported the Palestinians' "right of
return" and objected to almost any Israeli defense operation, suggesting that Israel's adversaries in the Middle East might find
some hidden partners in their mission to destroy the Jewish state.
Arab Leaders Accuse Bush
On August 27, 2001, Arab leaders stated that President Bush was siding with Israel and that the United States was responsible for
Palestinian deaths because he did not place more pressure on Israel. However, the Arabs seem to forget that the Palestinians
were offered enormous concessions, one year ago at Camp David, which Arafat turned down. They also forget that the U.S. brokered
the Tenet cease-fire plan, which never began due to the on-going violence, and that Colin Powell went to the region the next week to
help calm things.
France Compares U.S. to Pontius Pilate
On Thursday, August 30, 2001, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine accused the Bush administration of neglecting the Middle
East, likening the U.S. "inaction" to the biblical portrayal of Pontius Pilate washing his hands of Jesus' fate. "Their
wait-and-see policy risks of seeming like Pontius Pilate," Vedrine told Le Figaro newspaper in an interview published Thursday. "We're
waiting for them to become more engaged, in accordance with their international responsibilities and the exceptional influence they
have on the protagonists in the conflict."
-----
*NCC Secretary General Condemns Israel
Text  of Dr. Edgar's Letter to Five Church Leaders in Jerusalem
August 30, 2001
His Beatitude Ireneos I
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
His Beatitude Michel Sabbah
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem
The Rt. Rev. Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal
Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
The Rt. Rev. Bishop Munib A. Younan
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan
We greet you in the name of Christ.
At this tragic moment in history marked by an increase of violence in the Holy Land that directly affects the life of your
communionities we at the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA reconfirm our solidarity with you, your churches and
your people in the struggle toward justice and peace in Israel/Palestine.
In previous statements and related actions, we have affirmed our support for the rights of Palestinians, for a shared Jerusalem and
for reconciliation and peace with justice in the Holy Land. This week, we found it necessary to urge our government to press Israel
to comply with its agreement to withdraw its army from Beit Jala. We are relieved that an apparent withdrawal is underway. We have
also expressed our dismay at the actions of the Israeli army that threatened human life, posed the possibility of an expanded
occupation and also desecrated holy places. Moreover, we are asking the Bush Administration to support the deployment of multinational
observers with the aim of promoting peace, justice and security in the Occupied Territories.
Our churches seek to be agents of reconciliation and of peace among people of all faiths, ethnicities and cultures. Therefore, with
you, we will continue to urge both the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to end the cycle of violence, which
increasingly is destroying human lives and property and defiling holy places. We call upon both parties to resume dialogue toward
the day when all in the Holy Land can live in justice and peace.
As we pray for you, we also solicit your prayers and blessings for our ministries. We remain,
Yours in Christ,
The Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary
National Council of Churches
cc: Middle East Council of Churches
----
 NCC Secretary General Condemns Israel
August 30, 2001.
Dear President Bush:
We write today to express grave concern about recent events in the Middle East, in particular, the recent occupation of the town of
Beit Jala by the Israeli military. We appreciate that your Administration called for the Israeli military to withdraw, and
urge you to continue to press the government of Israel to comply.
We would especially like to voice our distress regarding the Israeli military's occupation of the Lutheran church in Beit Jala
and other of its properties including an orphanage and school. We view this occupation of a Christian site for military purposes as
extremely serious, and urge you to communicate with all parties the concern that the violence not spill over into places of worship of
any faith. We believe all places of worship are sacred.
Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar
General Secretary
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
----------
Church Delegation Calls For Israeli Withdrawal
On Wednesday, September 5, 2001, A United States church delegation at the U.N. conference against racism said that financial
reparations are due for slavery and colonialism and that Israel should withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory.
These comments originated from the National Council of Churches (NCC), and the delegates came from the United Methodist Church, the
Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ. and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
UN Backs Palestinians
The final declaration of the UN World Conference Against Racism, adopted September 8, 2001, in Durban, South Africa, is accompanied
by a program of action, including the following points on the Israeli - Palestinian Situation:
 We [UN World Conference] are concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupation.
 We recognize the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent state.
 We recognize the right to security for all states in the region, including Israel.
 We call upon all states to support the peace process and bring it to an early conclusion.
 We recognize the right of (Palestinian) refugees to return voluntarily to their homes and properties in dignity and safety,
and urge all states to facilitate such return.
----
Links to Letters from the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches
Consultation on Israeli-Palestinian conflict decides on coordinated ecumenical action
8 August 2001 - http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/news/press/01/25pu.html 
Documentation: Text Of 18 U.S. Church Leaders' June 7, 2001, Letter To U.S. Secretary Of State Colin Powell -
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/01news69d.html 
Church delegation calls for slavery reparations
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20010906-75563017.htm 
Edgar Writes Bush, Jerusalem Church Leaders With Concern About Israeli Military Occupation Of Beit Jala -
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/01news69.html 
-- 
Koenig's International News - http://watch.org  
****************************************************************

Return to Newsgroup Archives Main Page

Return to our Main Webpage


©2011 Hebraic Heritage Ministries International. Designed by
Web Design by JB.