Sunday, January 28, 2007

The Middle East in Focus

This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:

"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." (Isaiah 41:13)

1. Iran says it received Russian air defense missiles - Ynet News

Iran has received a Russian air defense missile system, the Iranian defense minister said Wednesday.

2. U.S. to more than triple aid to Lebanon for military, reconstruction - Int'l Herald Tribune

The United States plans to more than triple its economic aid to the fragile democratic government in Lebanon as U.S. business executives detail new investment and development plans in the tiny, troubled country.

3. News Analysis: Against odds, U.S. pushes forward on Mideast peace talks - Int'l Herald Tribune

It would be hard to imagine a less-promising moment for the United States to restart serious Palestinian- Israeli peace negotiations.

4. Al-Qaida No. 2: PA Chair Abbas is a 'traitor,' sold Palestinian land - Ha'aretz

Al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri on Tuesday urged Palestinians to abandon Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, calling him a "traitor" who had sold his religion and Palestinian land.

5. Israel faces nuclear Holocaust warns Gingrich - Ynet News

The Israeli people are facing the threat of a nuclear Holocaust, former US Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich warned the Herzliya Conference held by the Institute for Policy and Strategy at IDC Herzliya on Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, he said, the United States could lose a few million people or a number of cities to a terrorist attack with weapons of mass destruction.

6. Pilgrims' road to Temple unearthed in City of David dig - Ha'aretz

At the end of the 19th century, the archaeologists Bliss and Dickey discovered a short piece of road dating back to the Herodian period in Jerusalem's City of David. The road ascended from south to north in the direction of the Temple Mount.