Religion News & Religious Videos: Religion News // Current

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16 hours ago

A Jews View: Visit to Gaza was an assault on sense of justice

By Joyce Ravitz
When I was growing up, my parents instilled in me the knowledge that Jews were hardworking people who would not stand for injustice. My Jewish education taught me that Jews were obliged to fight against discrimination and other wrongs whenever they occurred. And we met discrimination ourselves. My parents left the Lower East Side and I grew up in a small Pennsylvania town. My uncle, brother and I were the only non-Christians in the school system. A friend asked to see my horns. It was difficult. No wonder I returned to the Lower East Side.

When I was 13, my grandmother took me on a pilgrimage with Hadassah (the Zionist women’s organization) to Israel in 1956. I remember the wonderful feelings I had traveling around this new exciting pioneer state. This land opened its doors to people who had survived the Holocaust, to people who had been banished from their homes because they were Jews. The United States and other countries did not let these refugees enter their borders but, in essence, gave them a small piece of land on which they could resettle. It was a time of hope and passionate belief in how special Israel was and would become. I grew up believing that a people who had no land were given a land that had no people.

I am heartbroken and appalled by what Israel, the land I loved, is doing in Gaza today. On my trip in late May of this year, I witnessed physical and psychological damage from the Israeli occupation of Gaza. Israel had been blockading Gaza — by air, sea and land — for years before this recent December and January assault. The years-long blockade itself threatened the lives of adults and children. Most Gazans were unable to get medication or go to hospitals. Think of what your life would be like without ordinary items, such as fabric, thread, needles, candles, matches, mattresses, sheets, blankets, cutlery, crockery, cups, glasses, musical instruments, books, tea, coffee, chocolate, sesame seeds, nuts, crayons, clothing and shoes. These have not been allowed legally into the Gaza Strip for years. People in Gaza essentially live in a prison colony that they cannot leave.

Yes, Hamas sent rockets into nearby cities. And yes, these rockets violated international law since they were aimed at civilians. Israel returned with sophisticated weapons and an all-out assault on areas densely populated with Palestinian civilians who cannot leave, killing more than 1,400 people, including many children. Thirteen Israeli soldiers were killed during the December-January bombing. The number of deaths is disproportionate for Israel’s claim to be acting in self-defense.

I can’t ignore the context of this violence. Palestinians have been struggling by legitimate means to end the occupation of Gaza. The proper Israeli response to such actions should be a true withdrawal from the occupied territories. Israel still controls key aspects of day-to-day Gazan life, even though it withdrew the military bases and settlements. I ate at a beachside cafe watching Israeli gunboats patrol the Gaza coast. Do prisoners control a jail because they are the only workers in the laundry, library and kitchen?

During the December assault, the residents of Gaza were told to go to safe areas. I met families who thought they were in “safe” areas during the last assault. One grandfather of a family I met was killed instantly when a white-phosphorous bomb came through the roof of his home. The mother in the same family, sitting near him, was seriously injured. When friends tried to drive her by tractor to a hospital, she was killed by Israeli solders. Her 3-year-old daughter, now motherless, has scars over both legs and a 3-inch white-phosphorous burn around her middle. This same quiet child clings to a teenage relative, afraid to leave him even for a minute. They learned that there are no safe areas in Gaza.

Israeli pressure is shrinking the actual area available to the people of the Gaza Strip further.---more belowBy Joyce Ravitz When I was growing up, my parents instilled in me the knowledge that Jews were hardworking people who would not... more

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22 hours ago

The Looney Awards: The Trifecta of God’s Chosen Few | The Omnipotent Poobah Speaks!

This week's Looney Awards go to Rev. Wiley Drake, who prayed for God to smite Barack Obama; OK State Rep. Sally Kern who... more

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23 hours ago

The Fellowship: Pastoral support for congress, or influential conspiracy?

Secretive organization "The Fellowship" provides Bible study, fellowship, and dormitory housing for Congressmen and... more

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1 day ago

Is God-fearing, gene-hunter Francis Collins fit to run NIH?

Why does faith have to be an issue? Can God and science be compatible? Francis Collins thinks so and he wants to run the NIH.

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1 day ago

Pope Criticizes World Economic System, Calls for Social Responsibility

Pope Benedict XVI criticized the international economic system yesterday and called for a new global structure based on social... more

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1 day ago

China president hurries home from G8 after rioting

China's president cut short a G8 summit trip to rush home Wednesday after ethnic tensions soared in Xinjiang territory, and the government flooded the area with security forces in a bid to quell emotions in the wake of a massive riot that left 156 dead.

Two helicopters dropped leaflets appealing for calm among the Xinjiang capital's 2.3 million residents a day after running battles in the streets involving Han Chinese and minority Muslim Uighurs waving bricks, steel pipes and cleavers.

A Foreign Ministry statement said "given the current situation in Xinjiang," President Hu Jintao cut short a trip to Italy for a Group of Eight meeting later Wednesday to return home. It was not known if he would travel to Urumqi, about four hours by air west of Beijing.

After an overnight curfew, streets were calmer Wednesday, but residents showed cell phone and video camera footage of the earlier chaos, reporting neighbor-on-neighbor violence and pointing out bloodstains.

Uighurs say the riots that started Sunday — put down by volleys of tear gas and a massive show of force — were triggered by the June 25 deaths of Uighur factory workers killed in a brawl in the southern Chinese city of Shaoguan. State-run media have said two workers died, but many Uighurs believe more were killed and said the incident was an example of how little the government cared about them.

Many of the Turkic-speaking group believe the Han Chinese, who have flooded into the rugged, rapidly developing western region in recent years, are trying to crowd them out. The Han Chinese say the Uighurs are backward and ungrateful for all the economic development and modernization.

They also complain that the Uighurs' religion — a moderate form of Sunni Islam — keeps them from blending into Chinese society, which is officially communist and largely secular.

In one of the biggest Uighur neighborhoods Wednesday, residents crowded around reporters to complain about how mobs of Han Chinese men stormed into their neighborhoods and assaulted them.China's president cut short a G8 summit trip to rush home Wednesday after ethnic tensions soared in Xinjiang territory, and... more

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1 day ago

Israels True Face: Israeli settlers using violence to illegally take Palestinian Homes

Israels empty peace promises mirrors the violence Palestinians go thru to save their rightful property and to resist the illegal occupation of Israels illegal settlements. If Israel was serious about peace, these settlers would have been arrested long ago.

Israel continues to turn a blind eye on its atrocities against a defenseless people by destroying homes, burning olive groves and killing many innocent children, women and other innocent people.

When will this madness stop? My guess is only when Israel acquires all the land and natural resources for themselves at the cost of innocent lives.
(PIC courtesy of www.kawther.info and shows young armed jewish settlers)
Here's the story:
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The Minister of Jerusalem Affairs says that repeated attempts by settlers to break into Palestinian homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood are done with the cooperation and encouragement of the Israeli police.

The East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah has resisted attempts to overtake its land and homes for years. This is the neighborhood that hosted the solidarity tent that became the house for Umm Kamal Al Kurd after the Israeli administration forced her out.

Since that time Israeli settlers have regularly attempted to seize homes in the area making the program of the military and government even more difficult for Palestinians to combat.

Ongoing court cases disputing land ownership go hand in hand with attacks by settlers on body and property.

Several weeks ago the Fateh party began to stage its own form of nonviolent resistance by creating a human chain around a Palestinian home that Israeli settlers were attempting to overtake. Settlers ran off each time but the situation is not improving with round the clock guards necessary.

Palestinian Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Hatem Abdel Qader said today, "We see the seriousness of the repeated attempts by settlers to break into Palestinian homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and see that they are with the cooperation and encouragement of the Israeli police."

Fateh spokesperson in Jerusalem, Dimitri Dliani added that the home seizure was prevented this time, but that this was a severe provocation from the settlers. He placed the responsibility for the incident on the Israeli police.

A court case has been in progress for 37 years over the ownership of the land on which this house and others are built. Settlers claim ownership of this land from before 1948, but Palestinian residents have documents of ownership and say that settlers' evidence is forged. The case was proven in favor of the Palestinians with documentation even sent from Turkey however the Israeli prosecutors ignored it. The next hearing is due in September.
---------more at the linkIsraels empty peace promises mirrors the violence Palestinians go thru to save their rightful property and to resist the illegal... more

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2 days ago

ART for U

Paul's story in ART for U shows the gaps in the system between homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction.

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3 days ago

Forbidden Israel: Sex and the Settlers (and their Hypocrisy)

Excellent piece showing the utter hypocrisy in Israel and the settlers taking advantage of a defenseless people. The following are some excerpts and the intro, but you must read the whole article.
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Who is the most famous person in Israel? It's not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or any other politician; not a war hero, nor a singer or a sports star.

No, the winner, hands down, is supermodel Bar Rafaeli. Well actually, Rafaeli has her hands up in her latest video, covering her breasts. She has her legs up, too, and just about every other part of her.
(http://www.youtube.com/v/60edgsfi2D8&color1=0x6699&color2=0x54abd6&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1)
She's wearing far less than she did on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue that made her famous. In fact, Rafaeli is wearing nothing at all. And she's so famous that even Israel's most prestigious, intellectual newspaper, Ha'aretz, posted her video on its Web site.

--No, a substantial majority of the settlers are not there for religious reasons, but because their government is pursuing power in the seemingly normal way -- using whatever method works to extend the reach of its dominance.

The specific method the Israelis hit on back in the 1970s was to use tax dollars to build whole modern towns in the West Bank, call them "settlements" (which sounds benign enough), and rent them out at far-below-market rates to any Israelis who wanted cheap housing. Ever since, lots of Israelis feeling an economic pinch have been tempted to move to the West Bank to ease the strain on the family budget.

--Once they are there, many have children, and even grandchildren. Israel calls it "natural growth." Well, the settlers are doing what Rafaeli seems to encourage us all to do -- what comes naturally. But when Israeli leaders insist they must expand settlements to accommodate this "natural growth," they are obviously using disingenuous arguments to justify political expansionism.

--None of this excuses the horrendous occupation policies that the Israelis have imposed on Palestine for some many years, nor the settlers who have taken advantage of those policies and added some horrendous excesses of their own. But Rafaeli's nude video, a perfect symbol of Israel's aspiration to be a normal nation, can serve to strip bare not only some of the motives behind Israel's support for the settlers, but also some of the hypocrisy of U.S. policy.Excellent piece showing the utter hypocrisy in Israel and the settlers taking advantage of a defenseless people. The following are... more

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3 days ago

Deception in the Animal World: Spider builds life-sized decoys

There is a species of spider that builds models of itself, which it uses as decoys to distract predators.

The spider may be the first example of an animal building a life-size replica of its own body.
So believe the scientists who made the discovery, which is published in the journal Animal Behaviour.

The arachnid's behaviour also offers one explanation for why many spiders like to decorate their webs with strange-looking ornaments.

Many animals try to divert the attentions of predators by becoming masters of disguise.

Some try to avoid being seen altogether by using camouflage to blend in against a background, such as the peppered moth evolving motley wings that blend into tree bark, or stick insects that look like sticks.

Others evolve more conspicuous ornaments designed to distract a predator, such as butterflies that grow large eyespots or lizards that quickly move colourful tails, which they detach from their bodies if grabbed.

This latter strategy has puzzled biologists, because attracting predators in the first place is usually a bad idea.

One hypothesis is that animals which grow conspicuous ornaments benefit overall, because directing a predator to attack an expendable part of the body, such as the lizard's tail, outweighs the costs of attracting the attention of the predator in the first place.
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This reminds me of how you will see a police car on the edge of a town in the USA taking radar, only to discover that its really a billboard or mocked car and mannequin dressed as a police officer!

Or, the country that hints it has nukes and really doesn't-like what Saddam confessed to an FBI agent before being hanged (or is it 'hung'?). (he confessed his weapons of mass destruction was a ruse to make Iran think twice about attacking him)

So, survival in its fittest means you have to make yourself look bigger (blow fish, etc), or that you are not even there (lizards, etc). Maybe we can start a country that is invisible and not worry about someone coming in and taking our natural resources, or hating us because our lifestyle is different. or, our skin color is not the same. Or that their religion says that our land was really meant for someone else. We can remain anonymous and invisible and no one will bother us.There is a species of spider that builds models of itself, which it uses as decoys to distract predators. The spider may be the... more