“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you.”
Psalm 122: 6
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Khaled Abu Toameh—Has Kerry Heard of the Palestinians’ “Hitler”?:
Abbas, it seems, has lost control not only over the Gaza Strip, but also his Fatah faction. The widespread support for “Hitler” [Jamal Abu al Rub] reflects the state of dissatisfaction with Abbas and his top aides. Some Palestinians see the recent events as the beginning of a mutiny against Abbas. The mounting tensions are an indicator of what awaits Abbas if and when he signs a deal with Israel.
What the U.S. seems not to understand is that a weak, divided and discredited Fatah will never be able to sign any agreement with Israel.
Even worse, Fatah’s internal problems are good news for Hamas and the enemies of peace.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry may soon have to come up with a new plan to help Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas solve internal problems in ruling his Fatah faction.
The only plan that Kerry has thus far proposed is one that talks about future security arrangements between a Palestinian state and Israel.
What Kerry and the State Department are probably unaware of is that Fatah, Israel’s “peace partner,” is in urgent need of a plan to rid it of its internal disputes.
What the U.S. seems not to understand is that a weak, divided and discredited Fatah will never be able to sign any agreement with Israel.
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IDF Sees Rise in Number of Christian Recruits
Foreign Affairs: The year authority broke down
Foreign Affairs: Obama’s retreat from empire
Obama says US needs checks on intelligence collection but can’t disarm
Report: Kerry to mull freeing Pollard as condition for Palestinian prisoners release
Five Palestinians, two IDF soldiers injured in West Bank clashes
France may ban black comedian for anti-Semitic jibes
Turkish protesters clash with police as supporters cheer Erdogan
Analysis: In Turkey, Erdogan is fighting for his political life
Erekat: New Israeli settlement building would ‘destroy peace process’
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Report: Kerry Offers Pollard’s Release to Israel
Hezbollah Denies it Killed Former Lebanese Minister
Prosor: PA Incitement is to Blame for Terror
Pictures: 38 Members of ‘Lost Tribe’ Make Aliyah From India
Terror Release Shows Israel ‘Not Sovereign’
Powerless Gaza Blames Israel – Again
African Leaders Try to Negotiate South Sudan Peace
US Pushing Israel To Sell Jordan Valley Withdrawal
‘We All Have to be Raoul Wallenberg’
Iraq Changes Prayer Direction: Karbala, Not Mecca
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Lebanese ex-PM hints Hezbollah behind Beirut assassination
Will victims of the greatest theft in history finally get a fair hearing?
Iran develops new generation of uranium centrifuges
Israel prepares plan to attract more French immigrants
New elections called in religiously torn Beit Shemesh
Abbas appeals to US to block new settlements
Non-settlement Israeli fruit exporter faces boycott pressure in Europe
Likud MK’s bill would annex the Jordan Valley
Migrants’ ID numbers, not names, presented to court
Three-pronged effort breathes life into ‘Digital Israel’
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Russia: Arafat died of natural causes
Report: Charities use Christmas in political war on Israel
Netanyahu’s Office Disappointed That Abbas Has Not Condemned Recent Terror Attacks
Report: Pentagon Asked Israel to Pressure Obama, Congress to Continue Providing Aid to Egypt
With united voice, Knesset calls for Pollard’s release
American abducted by al-Qaeda makes video plea
Report: Egypt Army Foils Hamas Sinai Attack
Erdogan denounces corruption probe as foreign, domestic plot
Turkish Leader Lashes Out At Corruption Probe
SnyderTalk Comment: If Erdogan isn’t insane, he’s sinister. He could be both.
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Phyllis Chesler: Honor Killings in the West and the God of Poetic Justice— On December 18, the FBI offered a new reward of $20,000 dollars for information leading to the capture of alleged honor/horror killing Egyptian-born father, Yaser Said. Two filmmakers, Xoel Pamus and Nenna Nejad, who are working on a documentary about the 2008 honor killing of Sarah and Amina Said in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, uncovered compelling evidence which they turned over to the authorities. The West has been forced to take honor killings seriously. Earlier this month, the seventh honor killer involved in British-Kurdish Banaz Mahmud’s 2006 murder was finally caught and jailed in Great Britain. (Honor killings are not like domestic violence in that an entire family of origin conspires to kill a young daughter for real or imagined disobedience.) Also in December, Sarbit Kaur Athwal, who testified against her British-Sikh honor killing family, won a prize for her bravery – “The Ultimate Woman Warrior award.”
Zvika Fogel: Defeat the enemy— The Arab world, especially its radical Islamic component, is taking advantage of Western political weakness. Almost every Western leader is currently choosing to avoid making the tough decisions necessary to combat radical Islam, which is threatening the free world. Fears of short-term political losses at home are preventing Western leaders from exhibiting the courage to ensure normal life in their countries in the long run. Israel finds itself in the eye of the Islamic storm, surrounded by Arab countries going through revolutions and internal strife. Neighboring countries have become fertile ground for terrorist groups that seek to conduct attacks against the Jews, the enemies of Islam. Moreover, at the same time, Arab leaders, fearful of Islamization at home, are pressuring Israel to refrain from exerting the full military and diplomatic force required to defend its citizens and borders.
Dr. Reuven Berko: Islam: Who’s persecuting whom?— While the Christian world was celebrating Christmas, a massive onslaught by radical Islamists, both Shiite and Sunni, was underway. Of all times, several leading Islamic clerics in the U.K. actually chose Christmas week to launch a month of solidarity with Muslim communities in the West, preaching against a so-called psychological disorder. They called the month “The War Against Islamaphobia.” The campaign is seemingly an attempt by certain sheikhs to launch an offensive against subversive, hidden Muslim cells in the West.
Yaakov Ahimeir: Putin takes center stage— When Time magazine editors deliberated their choice for Person of the Year, they virtually ignored Russian President Vladimir Putin. Neither did they think too much about U.S. President Barack Obama (and rightly so). They ultimately chose Pope Francis. But will the pontiff’s proposed reforms gain currency among Catholic believers? Will they last? Won’t his successor revert to more conservative teachings? Only time will tell. Obama’s conduct over the past year did not move the needle on the course of events. As for Putin, he is most definitely worthy of the title, as he has been the most influential figure on the world stage for the past 12 months. Next week, Russians will welcome the new year with Edward Snowden, who has compromised U.S. security more than anyone else and whose actions shook the U.S. intelligence community to its core.
Petra Marquardt-Bigman: Christmas Propaganda from Palestine—It’s the time of year again when Palestinians and their supporters gear up to use Christianity’s most popular holy day for their own political purposes. The PLO has just released a short animated clip that declares: “Palestine celebrates the birth of one of its own, Jesus Christ.” “Jesus was a Palestinian” fantasies are part of the annual Palestinian Christmas propaganda routine. Yet practicing Christians who acknowledge history remember that at the first Christmas, Mary, Joseph, the innkeeper, the shepherds, and the baby were all Jewish. The fact that the historic Jesus was a Jew is merrily ignored by Palestinians, who don’t seem the least bit embarrassed to press Jesus into the service of Palestinian nationalism – never mind that the declared goal of this nationalism is a state with Islam as the official religion. Can you imagine what would happen nowadays if Joseph tried to buy any property in Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem? Any Palestinian willing to sell to him would risk being sentenced to death for the crime of selling property to a Jew.
Ariel Ben Solomon: Analysis: Does terrorism work?—A new study by Max Abrahms and Matthew Gottfried titled “Does Terrorism Pay? An Empirical Analysis” argues that it does not because government compliance is usually not forthcoming. An interesting finding is that governments are more likely to deal with terrorists in hostage situations when the demands are the release of prisoners or money, as opposed to political demands. When terrorists kill civilians or captives, it “significantly lowers the likelihood of bargaining success,” they state. Abrahms, an expert on insurgency and terrorism at Northeastern University in Boston, told The Jerusalem Post that the study builds on his previous work that shows statistically that militant groups are less likely to achieve their demands when they physically harm civilians. “In the aforementioned study, we show that terrorism doesn’t pay in the context of hostage situations. Specifically, hostage-takers are less likely to successfully pressure government compliance when civilians are harmed in the course of the hostage crisis. Hostage- takers have better success at the bargaining table when they refrain from harming the captives, especially when they are not civilians,” he said.
Walter Russell Mead: The ASA: Where Foolishness and Ignorance Collide—Even by the strictest measures, Israel is by no means the worst human rights violator on this planet, and the Palestinians, despite their entirely legitimate complaints, are not the worst treated people alive. Muslims in Burma, many Tibetans, just about everyone in North Korea, and the hundreds of millions of enslaved bonded workers in the Indian subcontinent all endure greater injustices and deprivation in their daily lives than the mass of the Palestinian people. Yet Israel clearly gets a disproportionate weight of global disapproval for what it does. I’ve frequently noted that even when it comes to the suffering of the Palestinians, there’s a tendency to focus one-sidedly on Israeli actions and to minimize the injustices Palestinians experience at the hands of Arabs from the Gulf to Egypt (which keeps its borders with Gaza firmly closed), not to mention the systemic and ugly discrimination against Palestinians in Lebanon.
Ricki Hollander: Eastern Jerusalem: Where Jews Have Lived for Millennia—While Palestinians reject Israeli sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem, they claim eastern Jerusalem – with holy sites to three religions – as the capital of their future state. Israel considers Jerusalem – both western and eastern – the country’s eternal, undivided capital based on its historical, religious and political claims to the holy city. In 1980, the Israeli Knesset passed a Basic Law declaring reunified Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel, while providing for freedom of access to each religion’s holy sites. For over three millennia, since King David established Jerusalem as the capital of his kingdom in 1004 BCE, there has been an almost continuous Jewish presence in Jerusalem, the holiest city in Judaism. And for most of that time it was concentrated in east Jerusalem, where Judaism’s holy sites lie. Jews have constituted the largest single group of residents in the city since the mid-1800s.
Huff Watcher: Huffington Post Serves as Promoter for Iranian Front Group— On December 19, the Huffington Post published an article that smeared Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) as a “saboteur,” and alleged that he and AIPAC are leading the U.S. into a war with Iran. The reason for this shocking, inflammatory headline and “news” story? Because Menendez and AIPAC dare to oppose the Obama Administration’s “deal” with the Iranian regime over its nuclear weapons program. As many have noted, a broad swath of Congressional representatives from both parties also oppose this “deal,” as do Elie Wiesel and other (credible) human rights activists.
Isi Stein: Obama’s Dangerous Double Standard on Spying, Pollard— I live in a world where countries blame Israel for all their ills, equate Israel’s right to defend herself with the terrorist acts perpetrated by her enemies, and promote boycotts of the only consistent and lasting democracy in the Middle East. It is no secret that since the establishment of the Jewish State in 1948, a dangerous double standard has provided fuel for biased UN resolutions and astonishing EU sanctions against Israel. In the U.S., the tone was significantly different for many years. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush fought against any effort to delegitimize the State of Israel, and made a point of highlighting, and strengthening, the natural and necessary bond that the two countries share. Therefore, it pains me that a different reality is slowly setting in.
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Email Distribution List:
I have created an email distribution list that I use to notify people when I post a new SnyderTalk. If you would like to be on that list, send your email address to nhsny@yahoo.com, and put “add me to your distribution list” in the subject line. If you know others who are interested in SnyderTalk content, tell them to send me their email address, and I’ll put them on the list.
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The scripture below is from the New American Standard Bible, and the hyperlinks associated with each word are from Strong’s Concordance for the New American Standard Bible.
Nahum 3: 11-15
“You too will become drunk, you will be hidden. You too will search for a refuge from the enemy. All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit– when shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth. Behold, your people are women in your midst! The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies; fire consumes your gate bars. Draw for yourself water for the siege! Strengthen your fortifications! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Take hold of the brick mold! There fire will consume you, the sword will cut you down; it will consume you as the locust [does]. Multiply yourself like the creeping locust, multiply yourself like the swarming locust.”
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
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Is it legalistic to pay too much attention to God’s Name?
Click here to download the entire audio presentation for free and with no strings attached. Share it as often as you want.
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Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
