“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,” Ps. 30:11

HAPPY 69TH BIRTHDAY, ISRAEL! Minutes after honoring and remembering those who gave their lives in defense of the Jewish state, Israelis on Monday evening 1 May 2017, will burst into celebration for the 69th anniversary of their ancient nation's modern rebirth. Fireworks will be on display across the country and young and old will gather to mark Israel's Independence Day. According to Jewish tradition, days start at sunset, so Independence Day will come into full swing Tuesday 2 May, when nearly every Israeli across the country will set out for the nation's numerous parks to enjoy BBQs and fellowship. Independence Day has been said to be “the day on which the nation of Israel's power is revealed.” (JNN) " This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Ps. 118:24.

TRUMP: 'WE MUST NOT FORGET THE HOLOCAUST': USA President Donald Trump on Monday 24 April 2017, issued a special proclamation about Holocaust Remembrance Day. “On Yom Hashoah - the day of Holocaust Remembrance - and during this Week of Remembrance, we honor the victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution. The Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and attempted annihilation of European Jewry by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. By the end of World War II, six million Jews had been brutally slaughtered. The United States stands shoulder to shoulder with the survivors of the Holocaust, their families, and the descendants of those who were murdered. We support the Jewish diaspora and the State of Israel as we fulfill our duty to remember the victims, honor their memory and their lives, and celebrate humanity's victory over tyranny and evil. Holocaust survivors, despite scars from history's darkest days, continue to inspire us to remember the past and learn from its lessons. By sharing their experiences and wisdom, they continue to fuel our resolve to advance human rights and to combat anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred. “During this week in 1945, American and Allied forces liberated the concentration camp at Dachau and other Nazi death camps, laying bare to the world the unconscionable horror of the Holocaust. We must remain vigilant against hateful ideologies and indifference. Every generation must learn and apply the lessons of the Holocaust so that such horror, atrocity, and genocide never again occur,” said Trump. (Arutz-7)

‘THE NEW YORK TIMES MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE’: Attorney Yifa Segal, director of the International Legal Forum (ILF), spoke with Israeli media sources about the NY Times’ recent publication of an op-ed piece by arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, sitting in Israeli jail for numerous acts of murder. Segal blasted the paper for its terrible lapse in moral judgment by allowing the publication of the piece. I read Barghouti’s op-ed in the New York Times this week and I have to tell you that I was completely appalled by what he says there, but it was not surprising, because every stage you give him he will use to spread his propaganda, lies and hatred. I think the New York Times made a terrible mistake in permitting him to do so. It’s a choice by the editors to allow this person, who is sitting in jail for numerous murders and is possibly the worst terrorist that we know of, to spread his propaganda and lies in their newspaper, and they are giving him legitimacy by giving him an op-ed.” (INN)

WHY DOES ISRAEL NEED TO PREPARE FOR ANOTHER WAR WITH HAMAS THIS SUMMER? Israel Construction and Housing Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday morning 16 April 2017, said there will be no choice other than to enter another war with Hamas. He warned Israelis to prepare for such a conflict during the coming summer. Why does the Hamas terrorist organization, which rules the Gaza Strip, keep engaging Israel in hopeless wars every few years? Part of the answer perhaps lies in the word “hudna.” It is an Arabic expression often translated as “cease-fire", which has little to do with establishing peace with one’s neighbor. Historically it was a strategy which allowed the party declaring the hudna to regroup and rearm, while the enemy was off-guard. The term comes from the story of the Muslim conquest of Mecca. Unable to carry off an immediate victory, Muhammad made a ten-year treaty with the Kuraysh tribe. In 628 AD, after only two years of the “ten-year treaty”, Muhammad and his forces reasoned the Kuraysh were too weak to resist. The Muslims broke the truce and took over all of Mecca without opposition. According to Umdat as-Salik, a medieval summary of Shafi'i jurisprudence: “If Muslims are weak, a truce may be made for ten years if necessary, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce with the Kuraysh for that long, as is related by Abu Dawud.” ('Umdat as-Salik, o9.16). The condition for Muslims making a truce with its enemy is weakness. Hamas is weak and always looking for ways to regroup and once again become strong to the detriment of Israel. Terrorist leaders reigning in Gaza admittedly are not looking for peace with the Jewish state - rather to destroy it. Even an extended “cease-fire,” means only time enough to dig new terrorist tunnels and build up the arsenals against Israel – all in preparation to again “shoot oneself in the foot” and stumble around for the next half decade. (JNN)

Please pray for our brothers in Christ around the world who suffer in His Name...

AL-SISI DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Sunday 9 April 2017, declared a three-month state of emergency following the two deadly bombings on Coptic churches. "A series of steps will be taken, most importantly, a state of emergency for three months," Sisi said in a speech aired on state television. Sisi also announced establishing a new council for combating terrorism and extremism. At least 44 people were killed in the two explosions on Sunday. The first explosion occurred in a church in Tanta, Egypt, when a terrorist blew himself up during a Palm Sunday ceremony. Less than 12 hours later, a second explosion occurred in an Alexandria, Egypt church. The ISIS jihadist group claimed responsibility for the two explosions. In late February 2017 ISIS issued a video message vowing to target Christians, particularly in Egypt, saying Christians were their “favorite prey”, while showing footage of a previous church bombing. (Arutz-7)

ISRAELI HOSPITALS TREAT THOUSANDS OF ARABS - WHERE’S THE MEDIA COVERAGE? 

No further evidence is necessary of the mainstream media’s anti-Israel bias than its total lack of coverage of the fact that Israeli hospitals routinely treat Arab patients from all over the Middle East. Instead, the media paints Israel as a bigoted society that only wishes ill on its Arab foes. A recent Israeli media report disclosed what’s going on at just one Israeli hospital. In cooperation with the Israeli NGO “Save a Child’s Heart,” Wolfson Medical Center in the central Israel town of Holon has treated thousands of Arabs in recent years. Most of the patients have been Palestinian Arab children in need of life-saving surgery, which is fully covered by “Save a Child’s Heart” and the Israeli taxpayers. Many other patients have come from war-torn Iraq. Others have from as far away as Afghanistan. In one instance, a princess from the emirate of Bahrain insisted on having critical surgery in Israel, insisting that only in the Jewish state would she receive the treatment needed to save her life. Isn’t that curious? After all, Israel’s antagonists suggest that an Arab who falls into the Jewish state’s hands is more likely than not to lose his life. They say Israel is a nation of “child-killers.” But here these Israelis are, not killing, but saving the lives of thousands of Arab children. And the media is silent. (Israel Today)

LIBERMAN: ‘THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACK WAS CARRIED OUT AT ASSAD’S BIDDING’: Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman addressed this week’s chemical weapons massacre in Syria’s Idlib province. Liberman said that “the murderous chemical weapons attacks on civilians in the Idlib region in Syria and on the local hospital were carried out by direct and premeditated order of Syrian President Bashar Assad, with Syrian planes. I say this with 100 percent certainty. The cruelest thing,” he added, “is that those who were evacuated from the area of the bombing to the hospital were struck a second time with chemical weapons as Syrian army planes attacked the hospital. Assad tried in the past to obtain nuclear weapons through North Korea, and the other ‘masters’ in the area like Hezbollah and Nasrallah are no different than he is.” Liberman added: “What we have here is people who are cannibals. When they ask me why there isn’t peace in the Middle East it’s like asking if a cannibal can be a vegetarian. The word ‘peace’ is not relevant to the Middle East. We can come to regional arrangements, but not to peace." (Arutz-7)