Is confederation a solution to end the Israeli occupation?

CONFIMore than two years have elapsed since the last direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.

When the Israelis refused to release Palestinian prisoners from a previously agreed to list, the talks, in the words of US Secretary of State John Kerry, went up in the air. The continuation of the stalemate, coupled with the latest right-wing addition to an Israeli government already controlled by settlers, is pushing some Palestinians and Jordanians to rethink the confederation concept. MORE

No more terrorists to be buried in eastern Jerusalem

img698413Police have announced that they will not allow terrorists’ funerals to take place in eastern Jerusalem. Instead, the terrorists will be buried in other Muslim cemeteries, as chosen by the police.

Ynet reports that the decision came after a number of recent cases of incitement at terrorists’ funerals. In particular, about 200 attendees at the Ala’a Abu Jamal’s funeral expressed praise for his attack and incited against Israel, in violation of the family’s prior pledges. When videos of the event arose, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) ordered the return of terrorists’ bodies to be suspended until new arrangements could be arranged. MORE

Julian Assange: Google Is Hillary Clinton’s ‘Secret Weapon’

Julian AssangeMEXICO CITY — When Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told an open government conference Thursday that “Google was now Hillary’s secret weapon,” he provided ample fertilizer for a year’s worth of conspiracy theories in this overheated election season.

Assange was referring to The Groundwork, a stealthy startup funded by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt that’s providing consulting services to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign. According to Quartz, The Groundwork is building digital infrastructure like the Obama campaign did in 2012, laying “the groundwork’ for personalized, data-driven electioneering in 2016. MORE

VIDEO: Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte: Public ‘can kill’ criminals

Rodrigo DutertePhilippines president-elect Rodrigo Duterte effectively said he supports vigilantism in a nationally-televised speech.

Faced with criminals who resist arrest or threaten citizens, the controversial politician suggested that it was fine for citizens to take the law into their own hands.
“If he fights, and he fights to the death, you can kill him,” said the former mayor of Davao City, who was elected to the presidency in a decisive victory last month. VIDEO

Turkish FM: Israel, Turkey ‘one or two meetings’ from normalizing ties

turkTurkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday said that Israel and Turkey are one or two meetings away from normalizing ties, Reuters reports.

Speaking during an interview with the Turkish television station TRT Haber, Cavusoglu said that Israel lifting the blockade on Gaza and allowing for increased aid to be delivered to Palestinians is still a topic of great importance.

Israel however, remains reluctant to ease the blockade on the coastal enclave. MORE

 

Pope Francis Says That There Is No Hell Fire; Adam & Eve Not Real!

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????In his latest revelations, Pope Francis said:

“Through humility, soul searching, and prayerful contemplation we have gained a new understanding of certain dogmas. The church no longer believes in a literal hell where people suffer. This doctrine is incompatible with the infinite love of God. God is not a judge but a friend and a lover of humanity. God seeks not to condemn but only to embrace. Like the fable of Adam and Eve, we see hell as a literary device. Hell is merely a metaphor for the isolated soul, which like all souls ultimately will be united in love with God.” MORE

Is Russia readying for the kill in Syria?

russRussia may be preparing to back a renewed assault by Syrian government forces to retake Aleppo, and perhaps even Raqqa, from Jabhat al-Nusra and allied groups in the coming weeks.

Mohammad Ballout wrote, in Al-Monitor’s partner publication As-Safir, “The Russians will put their Sukhoi fighter jets to the test and bet on direct ground offensives to weaken rather than defeat Syrian armed factions. It should be noted that isolating Jabhat al-Nusra from other armed factions, which is a difficult and complicated objective, would strike a painful blow to those factions since Jabhat al-Nusra’s military and ideological might form the backbone around which those factions unite.” MORE

Vatican Council II, Pope John XXIII a saint by acclamation?

thumbRNS-GOOD-POPE100312bIt was the final session of Vatican Council II, and some bishops began to say that the council, before closing, should make Pope John XXIII a saint by acclamation.13  ‘Don’t do that,’ several of the Protestant observers at the council said.  ‘The Good Pope John is a saint for all of us, Catholics and Protestants alike.  If you box him into your canonical structures, he will no longer be our saint.  And we don’t want to lose him.’14 They didn’t—John XXIII is listed on June 3rd in the Lutheran Book of Worship15 under Lesser Festivals and Commemorations along with the heretics Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Huss.

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In sign of unity, Christians renovate Christ’s tomb together

A team of expeChristians renovate Christ's tomb togetherrts has begun a historic renovation at the spot where Christians believe Jesus was buried, overcoming longstanding religious rivalries to carry out the first repairs at the site in over 200 years.

The project, which began Monday, will focus on repairing, reinforcing and preserving the Edicule — the ancient chamber housing Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is the first such work at the tomb since 1810, when the shrine was restored and given its current shape following a fire. MORE