Israeli Initiative – Chapter 9: How Much Rehabilitation Costs

By Yoav Sorek It is complicated to determine the cost of rehabilitation. It is a process that demands careful and weighty analysis of many factors. The rehabilitation of refugees in host countries requires resources and infrastructure projects in order to improve the refugees’ lives, providing employment and education and freeing hundreds of thousands from their…

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The Great Liberation

By Victor Sharpe I was re-reading an article from May 26, 2003 titled, “The Divine Zionist Roadmap” written by Rabbi Eliezer Waldman. It dealt with the liberation of Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel, in that miraculous Israeli victory of June, 1967 over Arab genocidal aggression. It also dealt with the liberation of the ancient…

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Chapter 5 – Reading the Holy Scriptures

By PAT HUTCHENS, A rework of Imitation of Messiah by Thomas A. Kempis— Truth is what we are to look for when we read the Bible, not clever or interesting words. The Bible should be read in the same spirit in which it was written – a spirit of humility and total dependence on the…

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Not Worthy of Worship

By Dexter Van Zile Anglican Priest Naim Ateek recently toured Washington state in support of his most recent book, A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation (Orbis, 2008), in which he falsely accuses Israel of perpetrating a “slow and creeping genocide” against Palestinians – who have one of the fastest growing populations in the world. Apparently,…

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Faith Lessons: Mt. Tabor

by Daniel McCabe Transfiguration of Jesus John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” From its peak in ancient days one could look out on the distinctive tribal flags of Naphtali and…

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Party on world

By Stan Goodenough Today, as midnight arrives in country after country, explosions of celebration are set to rend the skies, from over the Opera House in Sydney (GMT minus 10 hours) to over Pearl Harbor in Hawaii (GMT plus 10 hours). Wherever the Gregorian calendar is held to, toasts will be drunk, fireworks fired, dances…

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Israeli Initiative – Chapter 8: How Much UNRWA Costs

By Yoav Sorek As we mentioned in previous chapters, UNRWA is an expensive and inefficient agency, with a budget of $541.8 million in 2008 that rose to $649.9 million in 2009. This budget increases as UNRWA registers more refugees each year, due to its policy of counting descendants of refugees of the 1948 War of…

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Reaction – A Strategic Danger to the State of Israel

By Yoav Sorek While the right is busy battling the temporary building freeze, it seems that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using all his force to move towards a major strategic decision that is similar to Sharon’s disengagement. There are many signs pointing to this move: Attempts to add Kadima to the coalition, sharing secrets…

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Israeli Initiative- Chapter 7: How Refugees are Treated Around the World

By Yoav Sorek In previous weeks, we presented the history of UNRWA and its failures as an organization meant to deal with the Palestinian refugee problem. Last week, we presented some information on UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, as a contrast to UNRWA and a possible partner for future refugee rehabilitation. The Israel Initiative proposes that…

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Power Prayer: The Great God

O FOUNTAIN OF ALL GOOD, Destroy in me every lofty thought, Break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds, Annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness, Implant in me true lowliness of spirit, Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence, Open in me a fount of penitential tears, Break me, then bind me up; Thus…

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Let These People Go!

by Yoav Sorek The Associated Press recently published an article exposing the various ways residents attempt to escape from the Gaza Strip. Desperate Gazans fake fatal diseases in order to get permission to enter Israel and receive medical care, or pay hundreds of dollars to smugglers and counterfeiters in order to cross the border to…

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Israeli Initiative- Chapter 6: UNHCR and its Achievements

By Yoav Sorek In previous weeks we have presented the history of UNRWA and its failures as an organization that is mean to dela with the Palestinian refugge problem. This week, we present some information on UNHCR, the U.N. ‘s other refugee agency, as a contrast to UNRWA and a possible partner for future refugee…

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Chapter 4 – Prudence in Actions

By PAT HUTCHENS, A rework of Imitation of Messiah by Thomas A. Kempis— Do not put too much stock in what people say, or even in what you yourself think. Instead, with a sense of caution and with much patience, test everything as to whether it is of God. Our own human nature is prone…

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Dare to Dream of a Rebuilt Temple

by Michael Freund Something astonishing, even alarming, is taking place in the battle over the future of Jerusalem. Even as Palestinian rioters run amok on the Temple Mount, egged on by the radicals of the Islamic Movement, much of the anger and dismay in the Israeli and international press is being directed, ironically enough, at…

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Chapter 3- Knowledge of the Truth

By PAT HUTCHENS, A rework of Imitation of Messiah by Thomas A. Kempis— Blessed is the one who reads and does what God says in the Holy Scriptures. Our own judgments and feelings often deceive us and we discern only part of the truth when we do hear it. What good does it do to…

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Israeli Initiative- Chapter 5 – UNRWA and its Link to Terror and Hamas

By Yoav Sorek As we mentioned last week, UNRWA claims to be a neutral organization, but has proven time and again to be a puppet of the Palestinian National movement and of terror. In this chapter, we will specify how UNRWA is linked to these dangerous groups. UNRWA As a Support for the Palestinian National…

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Dare to Dream of a Rebuilt Temple

by Michael Freund Something astonishing, even alarming, is taking place in the battle over the future of Jerusalem.  Even as Palestinian rioters run amok on the Temple Mount, egged on by the radicals of the Islamic Movement, much of the anger and dismay in the Israeli and international press is being directed, ironically enough, at…

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