This first story is interesting - in that it makes some very strong points which are hard to dispute. In fact, I really can't argue with any of these points, many that haven't really been discussed thus far:
I know this column will offend some Catholics.
But Pope Francis, once again, has proven he is not politically infallible. He’s on the wrong side of history and truth, at least when it comes to the well-being of Israel.
Standing in Bethlehem with Mahmoud Abbas, the man who signed the check for the Munich Olympics terrorist murders, he said: “Our recent meeting in the Vatican and my presence today in Palestine attest to the good relations existing between the Holy See and the state of Palestine.”
“State of Palestine?” There is no state of Palestine. And, if the Middle East is to know peace before Jesus comes back, there won’t be one.
The Palestinian Authority, as it is known, is a thoroughly corrupt, morally repugnant terrorist organization with no political legitimacy. Why the pope is trying to lend it credibility suggests one of two things: He is clueless about Middle East politics or has an anti-Israel, anti-Jewish agenda.
Why do I say that?
There are many reasons, but let me focus on just one, for the sake of argument.
The Palestinian Authority not only takes a position that Palestinian statehood is inevitable in a place that has never in the history of the world seen a Palestinian state, but it insists that no Jews can live there.
Now I want you to imagine any other statehood movement in the world in which the unanimous declaration singles out an ethnic or religious group as unwelcome. Would the pope get behind such a cause? What moral justification would he have for doing so?
Even more to the point, in the case of the pope, who claims the title “vicar of Christ,” what would Jesus, a Jew, have to say about carving up the state of Israel for a nation-state that strictly prohibits Jewish residents?
It’s unthinkable. I’m embarrassed for Pope Francis, who leads a church that has a tragic history of anti-Semitism it is still living down.
My words will no doubt be taken by some as “anti-Catholic.” Let me assure you they are not. While I am not a Catholic, I grew up in the church. Most of my extended family members are Catholic. I have a Catholic living in my home. I employ Catholics. I love Catholics. Indeed, as the old saying goes, some of my best friends are Catholics.
But Catholics who, wittingly or unwittingly, support murderers, terrorists and anti-Semites are not my friends.
Anyone who supports the kind of ethnic cleansing promoted by the Palestinian Authority is just plain wrong.
The last thing this world needs is another terrorist, officially anti-Semitic state in the Middle East. Pope Francis would be better served coming to the defense of Christians who are being persecuted and butchered throughout the existing terrorist and officially anti-Semitic states in the Middle East. How does his position advance liberty, the gospel and peace?
Please tell me. I really want to understand this thinking.
The Palestinian Authority has had plenty of time to consider its anti-Semitic position. It has had plenty of time to consider its promotion of terrorism. It has had plenty of time to consider the reality of the Israeli state. Yet its official positions remain the same.
The Palestinian Authority continues to indoctrinate its children into hatred of Jews in its schools.
It continues to promote terrorism against Israelis.
It continues to treat Christians as, at best, second-class citizens and dhimmis.
It continues, as its official position on statehood, to insist no Jews are allowed.
This should be all morally unacceptable to anyone who calls himself a Christian – let alone a pope.
There’s nothing Christian about appeasing evil. And that’s what support of the Palestinian state pledged to ethnic cleansing, violence and bigotry is and always will be.
Also see:
Chinese fighter jets flew within a few dozen meters of Japanese military planes over the East China Sea, officials in Tokyo said Sunday, prompting Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera to accuse Beijing of going “over the top” in its approach to disputed territory.
The Chinese SU-27 fighters came as close as 50 meters to a Japanese P-3C surveillance plane near the uninhabited Senkaku Islands on Saturday, and within 30 meters of YS-11EB electronic intelligence aircraft, the ministry said.
A ministry official said it was the closest Chinese warplanes had come to Self-Defense Forces aircraft.
“Closing in while flying normally over the high seas is impossible,” Onodera told reporters in comments broadcast on TV Asahi. “This is a close encounter that is outright over the top.”
Onodera said the government had conveyed its concerns to Beijing via diplomatic channels. He added that the Chinese planes were carrying missiles.
The two SDF aircraft were monitoring a joint naval drill being conducted by China and Russia near Japanese territorial waters, a government source said.
The Chinese Defense Ministry meanwhile said on its website Sunday that the SDF planes had entered an air defense identification zone Saturday despite “no fly” notices issued by Beijing before the exercises. China declared the new ADIZ last year despite protests by Japan and the United States, which have ignored it.
“Japanese military planes intruded on the exercise’s airspace without permission and carried out dangerous actions, in a serious violation of international laws and standards which could have easily caused a misunderstanding and even led to a midair accident,” the Chinese statement claimed.
Tensions between China and its neighbors have been running high over Beijing’s increasingly assertive stance toward territorial disputes in the region. China lays claim to the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are called Diaoyu by China. It is also pressing its claim to almost all of the South China Sea — brushing aside claims by several Southeast Asian nations.
China’s proclamation last November of the ADIZ covering the disputed isles and areas in the South China Sea raised concerns that a minor incident in one of the contested areas could rapidly escalate into a major conflict.
Just as we had warned in the run-up to the European elections - and England's UKIP victory in local elections had suggested; Anti-European-Union parties are showing strongly in this weekend's elections. Anxiety is spreading among the status quo as Greece's anti-austerity party SYRIZA wins and perhaps even more worryingly in supposed core of the union France's Nationalist party is leading in a "political earthquake" success:
- EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS MUST RESPOND TO CITIZENS' ANGER: VALLS
- FRANCE'S VALLS SAYS 'SITUATION IS GRAVE FOR FRANCE, EUROPE'
- DRAGHI SAYS PEOPLE VOTING ACROSS EUROPE ARE CLEARLY DISENGAGED
Anti-establishment parties were gaining ground in other parts of the EU too (following UKIP's lead in the UK).
In France, exit polls setting the anti-immigrant, far right National Front up for its first success in a national election.
In Greece, exit polls had the far-left SYRIZA party leading with 26-30 per cent of the vote, ahead of the ruling conservative New Democracy Party. SYRIZA, whose leader, Alexis Tsipras, is running for European Commission president, has campaigned vociferously against the austerity that was part of the EU's response to its economic crisis.
In Austria, the right-wing FPOe came in third with 20 per cent, while the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party was set to take the biggest share of the vote in that Nordic country, according to exit polls and initial projections.
In Finland, the anti-immigrant True Finns party was projected to win two of the country's 13 seats in the European Parliament, adding one seat to its previous tally.
In Germany, the far-right National Democratic Party - which has many overtly neo-Nazi supporters - could be on course to win its first seat in the legislature, according to projections. Germany's anti-euro Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) is also set to make its debut in the parliament after capturing 6.5 per cent of the German vote, a public television exit poll showed.
In Belgium: *FLEMISH NATIONALISTS LEAD IN BELGIAN ELECTION, 1ST RESULTS SHOW
France’s far-right National Front stormed European Parliament polls as euroskeptic parties in several countries served up a harsh reality check for the EU on Sunday that sent shock waves across the bloc and beyond.
France was reeling from a political earthquake Monday after the far-right National Front (FN) topped the polls in European elections by winning the backing of just over one in four voters.
With 80 percent of ballots counted following Sunday’s vote, the Interior Ministry announced that the anti-immigration, anti-EU party led by Marine Le Pen had secured 26 percent of the vote, guaranteeing them around a third of France’s 74 seats in the European Parliament
Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the election results were “more than a news alert.”
“It is a shock, an earthquake,” Valls said. “The moment we are living through is serious, very serious, for France and for Europe.”
Riding twin waves of Euroskepticism fuelled by a belief that Brussels is responsible for the country’s current economic woes and furious disillusionment with its political establishment, the FN beat the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) into second place (20.6 percent).
Nigel Farage, leader of the euroskeptic UK Independence Party (UKIP), on Sunday said his party was on course to cause a political “earthquake” by winning the European parliament election in Britain.
“UKIP is going to win this election and yes that will be an earthquake because never before in the history of British politics has a party seen as an insurgent party ever topped the polls in a national election,” Farage told journalists.
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