| “Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Col 4:2
FRANCE HITS ISIS ‘CAPITAL’ IN SYRIA: French warplanes on Sunday evening, 15 Nov 2015, pounded the city of Raqa, the ISIS group’s self-proclaimed “capital” in Syria, destroying a command post and a training camp, the defense ministry said. In its first air strike against ISIS since the string of deadly Paris attacks claimed by the jihadist group, 12 warplanes, including 10 fighter bombers, dropped 20 bombs on the targets. The planes left from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and was conducted in coordination with American forces. French President Francois Hollande blamed the ISIS group for the gun and suicide attacks that left at least 129 dead in Paris on Friday, 13 November 2015, calling them an “act of war.” And later, French PM Manuel Valls said that his country needed to scale up military operations in Syria in order to “annihilate” ISIS. “The enemy is ISIS,” said Valls. (Arutz-7)
RUBIO: ISRAEL’S FIGHT AGAINST TERROR IS THE SAME AS OURS: Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio on Sunday, 15 Nov. 2015, said that Israel’s fight against terrorism is the same one being fought by the United States and Europe. The Florida senator was quoted by media sources as he spoke in Miami Beach during a rally in support of Israel and against antisemitism. The threat to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is the same as the threat to Paris, London and USA cities, said Rubio. He also warned against “casting out one of our own,” meaning Israel, in hopes of appeasing jihadists. Rubio, who announced his presidential candidacy in April 2015 is a supporter of Israel. He has been a fierce critic of the policies of President Barack Obama, having accused Obama of not supporting Israel enough and saying the president’s foreign policy “treats the ayatollah of Iran with more respect than the prime minister of Israel.” (INN)
ISIS THREATENS TO ATTACK WASHINGTON, WARNS ‘SAME FATE AS PARIS’ FOR COUNTRIES STRIKING SYRIA: ISIS warned in a new video on Monday, 16 Nov. 2015, that countries taking part in air strikes against Syria would suffer the same fate as France, and threatened to attack in Washington. The video, which appeared on a site used by ISIS to post its messages, begins with news footage of the aftermath of Friday’s, 13 October 2015, Paris shootings in which at least 132 people were killed. (Algemeiner)
THINGS THE FRENCH CAN DO THAT ISRAELIS CANNOT: On Friday night, 13 October 2015, French President Francois Hollande said in reference to the Paris terrorist shootings: “To all those who have seen these awful things, I want to say we are going to lead a war which will be pitiless.” An Israeli leader could never say that against Islamic terrorists. Such language would be used as evidence that Israel desires genocide. “Pitiless,” implies that some innocent people will be killed along with the terrorists. Isn’t that collective punishment, which we are told by human rights groups is a huge crime? Or are those are only crimes when Israel does it? Even though a major campaign to destroy ISIS’ control of land will kill many innocent civilians, the death of a single child to an Israeli bullet seems to betoken some failure in on the part of the Jewish state. France and the USA and NATO must not fret over the certainty that they sadly will kill children in their righteous war against Islamic terror, but Israel cannot allow a single child to die in their fight against the same Muslim Brotherhood-inspired Islamic extremism or else its entire claim to legitimacy is shattered. (Algemeiner) The death of any child is a tragedy! Pray for the protection of all children caught in war-time conflicts across the Middle East. Israel has been proven to go out of it’s way to avoid the death of innocent civilians in self-defensive measures.
80% OF FRENCH JEWS CONSIDERING ALIYAH: Dr. Michael Bensaadon, director of the “Klita” umbrella organization for NGOs working to help French Jews immigrate to Israel, is calling on the government of Israel to prepare for a massive wave of aliyah from France following the Paris attacks on Friday, 14 Nov 2015. Bensaadon spoke about a report his group is preparing regarding the unique needs of French Jews immigrating to Israel, and the anticipated increase in their numbers. The upcoming escalation in aliyah is being predicted from the rise in immigration seen until now and the deteriorating situation in France, as well as from telling opinion polls among French Jewry. No less than 7,000 French immigrants arrived in 2014, and “this wave will yet strengthen” he says, noting the number of requests to make aliyah being received. (Janglo) Continue to pray against the alarming growth of antisemitism in Europe, and for the protection of those who are potential victims of violent attacks. Intercede that French Jews will be firm in their resolve to make their homes in Israel, and that the Jewish state will be able to accommodate all who come.
ISRAEL CONDEMNS ‘HOSTILE’ SWEDISH COMMENTS LINKING PARIS ATTACKS TO ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT: Israel on Monday, 16 Nov 2015, condemned as “shockingly hostile” comments by Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, which seemed to link the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the ISIS-backed terror attacks in Paris. After the Paris attacks, Wallstrom was asked the following question on Swedish television. “How worried are you about the radicalization of young people in Sweden who are fighting for ISIS?” Wallstrom answered, “Obviously, we have reason to be worried, not just in Sweden but across the world – because there are so many that are being radicalized. Here, once again, we are brought back to situations like the one in the Middle East, where the Palestinians see that there is not a future and must either accept a desperate situation or resort to violence.” The Swedish Foreign Ministry issued a clarification about the interview, denying that the foreign minister had linked the Paris attacks to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. But Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Monday said it felt her comments did indeed make that link and that Wallstrom’s words that connected the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the Paris attacks were “brazen” and “shocking.” “The Swedish Minister is systematically biased against Israel,” the Foreign Ministry said, as it explained that this latest statement was outrightly “hostile.” (J. Post)
HAMAS: FIRST JUDEA & SAMARIA, THEN THE REST OF ‘PALESTINE’: Hamas plans to “liberate” Judea and Samaria first, and then the rest of “Palestine,” the group’s deputy leader Ismail Haniyeh declared on Sunday, 15 Nov. 2015. Speaking to the Palestine news sources, Haniyeh outlined his desired strategy for the destruction of Israel through the “Al-Quds Intifada,” which is what Hamas is calling the current terror wave against Israel. First and foremost, he called for a conference in Gaza of the interim leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization in order develop the intifada (uprising). The inifada is the best way to achieve statehood, claimed Haniyeh, and in order to achieve that, leadership that is coordinated on the field must be established, and an agreement on the goals of the intifada must be reached. Those goals, according to Haniyeh, are: The “liberation” of Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Jerusalem and the terrorist prisoners being held in Israel, and then a plan on how to liberate the rest of “Palestine.” Haniyeh reiterated that Hamas will not recognize Israel and will not agree to an alternative homeland. (Israel National News) “When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.” Ps 27:2
BENNETT: ‘IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA, IT’S EITHER ISRAEL OR ISIS’: Education Minister and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett delivered a strong speech at Ariel University in Samaria Monday, 16 Nov. 2015. Bennett derided Western states for appeasing terrorism, while warning that the presence of Jewish communities in Judea & Samaria are Israel’s first line of defense against ISIS as it gobbles up territory to the east. “Either you will be here, or ISIS will be,” Bennett told students. “A world war has begun between radical Islam and the free world.”
Bennett noted that the same Western countries calling on Israel to make massive territorial and other concessions in response to attacks by Muslim terrorists against Israeli citizens would never react similarly to attacks on their own soil. “If France were to offer half of Paris to the Muslims, would that lessen terrorism or encourage it?” he asked. “If France would free terrorists, would that lessen or encourage terrorism?” The ongoing wave of Arab terror in Israel “is not because the Palestinians lost hope or because they have hope. A Palestinian state is a central part of their plan” to destroy Israel “in stages,” he insisted. Only by dispelling any hope of them achieving the destruction of the Jewish state – in stages or otherwise – could Palestinian terrorism ever truly be defeated, he said. (INN)
NETANYAHU PRAISES HUNGARIAN FM FOR ANTI- LABELING STANCE: PM Netanyahu praised the Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó for his support for Israel against the decision of the European Union to label products from Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights during a meeting in the prime minister’s office on Mondayafternoon, 16 Nov. 2015. “Thank you for your statement which strongly opposes the labeling,” said PM Netanyahu. “It is the right and moral position and we appreciate that.” The minister characterized the EU’s decision to affix special labels on such products as “irrational,” saying that it will not contribute to a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and it could cause more problems and damage. (J. Post) Pray for your government’s support of Israel, and reap benefits for your nation. Measures being taken against the Jewish State throughout European communities – according to scripture – are going to backfire in a very unpleasant way: “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you.” Gen 12:3
The suggestions, opinions and scripture references made by JNN writers and editors are based on the best information received.
Barry Segal with the Editorial Staff |
