PropheZine # 41 
May 15,1997

Kim Koster...............Welcome to PropheZine #41
Reminder..................PropheZine Adopts Intermind Technology
Scott Pearson...........666  and the Mark of the Beast 
Dr. James Dobson.....Letter on Christian Persecution 
Lori Fiechter.............Yearning or Yawning.....Poem 
The Idaho Observer....Truth Surfaces in Hansen Ordeal 
SNS-News Service.....Dates in History
Rev. Lee Simmon......Spiritual Food for The Last Days: Part 1: MIRROR 
MIRROR 

PropheZine Newsbytes

	Haartz....little Wailing Wall Planned 
	Len Horowitz...New Ebola-like Virus in Dominican Republic
	Lee Underwood...FYI Israel in the News

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Welcome to PropheZine #41

Hello Everyone, 

As I write this the flowers and grass are just starting to grow here in my part 
of the country and it reminds me of Godâs awesome renewing power. Just as 
the plants went into slumber for the winter so does our faith at times. We 
become so busy with lifeâs challenges and trials that we start to procrastinate. 
We start missing a church service here and there, our daily devotional 
becomes a weekly devotional or we donât do it at all. Then God reminds us of  
others who have died just to be one of His, and of those being tortured, 
murdered, raped and imprisoned just because they want to learn Godâs word 
and worship him. Letâs remember those who are being persecuted as we 
celebrate Memorial Day and pray that God will let each of us know what we 
can do to help those who are giving their lives for their faith·and to help us 
keep from letting our faith become like slumbering winter plants but instead 
growing like the flowers in spring and always putting our Lord God first in 
everything we do. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ãTherefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the 
new has come 
II Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scott Pearson has given us a very informative article on The Mark of the 
Beast and understanding what 666 means. Lori Fiechter has written an 
excellent poem that will have you thinking about were you at with God. Dr. 
Dobsonâs letter is not an easy subject to read but it addresses the pressing 
issue of Christian persecution and the lack of response and compassion from  
Christians. If we ignore our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted in 
other parts of the world and pretend it isnât happening, then it is going to be 
that much easier for the Antichrist to persecute those who choose Christ 
during the Tribulation. I donât believe God wants us to just sit back and have 
the attitude of ãWell, the Bible says this is going to happen, so we canât do 
anything about it. We might as well sit back and wait for the Rapture.ä It is up 
to all of us to make it as hard on the Enemy as possible!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ãBut watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you 
will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings 
for my sake, for a testimony to them. And the Gospel must first be preached 
in all nations. But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry 
beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in 
that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit. Now 
brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will 
rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be 
hated by all for My nameâs sake. But he who endures to the end shall be 
saved. Mark 13:9-13  (KJV)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blessing to you,

	Kim Koster 
	Asst. Editor
	PropheZine

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666 AND THE MARK OF THE BEAST

By Scott Pearson

Recently I was speaking with a few friends at the Albany Airport when the 
subject of my ministry came up and various questions were raised. As I 
began to answer them, the topic of the mark of the beast was raised. One 
friend looked a bit puzzled-- rather a bit spooked. I asked him if he knew what 
the mark of the beast was. He answered, ãNo.ä I then asked him if he ever 
heard of 666? This time he responded, ãYes.ä The reason I asked that 
question is because the two are inseparable. Whether in Christian or non-
Christian circles, one of the very most widely asked questions today as we 
race towards the year 2000 and beyond is this: ãWhat is 666 and the mark of 
the beast we hear so much about?ä We've heard rock bands, such as Black 
Sabbath and Iron Maiden, refer to it, We've also seen it in movies, such as 
ãThe Omen,ä ãRosemary's Babyä and other horror films as well. Furthermore, 
many curious people are asking the following questions about 666 and the 
mark of the beast ... ãIs there any real validity to it?ä ãIs it fact or fiction?ä ãIs it 
truly possible to understand what all this really means?ä ãDoes this possibly 
effect my own future, and the future of my loved ones, including my own 
children?ä To be sure, speculation is becoming rampant. Sadly, it is often also 
devoid of genuine understanding and the truth often remains elusive. If you 
would rather not know what all this means, then please ... S T 0 P now, 
proceed no further ....

Apparently, curiosity has gotten the best of you, so let's proceed together, 
because the following information could possibly save your own life or the 
lives of loved ones. 

The mark of the beast is referred to in scripture on eight different occasions. 
The place that draws the most attention is Revelations 13:16-18, 

16 "And he causeth all, both small and great. rich and poor, free and bond, to 
receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.

17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name 
of the beast, of the number of his name. 

18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the 
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred 
threescore and six, 666". (KJV)

For many centuries the meaning of these passages was veiled in obscurity. 
It's interesting that after almost 2000 years these verses, like never before in 
all of human history, have started to really come into focus. Fascinating, in 
light of Daniel 12:4: " But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the 
book, even to the time of end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall 
be increased." 

Could we be the generation that with the knowledge to understand what 
these prophetic verses really mean? Well, let's consider some of the 
evidence, and each person may decide for himself.

Today most people believe the mark of the beast will be a clearly visible 
tattoo, perhaps the number 666 on the right hand or forehead to identify the 
individual as a child of the devil. However, to fully understand the meaning, 
you must remember that the New Testament was written in Greek. The 
etymology of the word ãmarkä will shed great light on the actual, intended 
meaning.

The word "mark", as used in Revelation 13:16-17, is the Greek word 
"charagma." The root word of charagma is charasso, which means ãto 
engrave.ä Now, charagma is a Greek noun in the accusative neuter singular 
and is preceded by the Greek preposition ãepee,ä which means ãupon.ä By 
this we understand the mark is actually an incision made in the upper layer of 
the skin. This clears up the common misconception that the mark of the 
beast is a visible tattoo.

To put all this into perspective, letâs investigate some of the latest 
developments in technologies and weâll see if there are any similarities in the 
Bible. Dr. Daniel Man has been awarded a patent for developing a microchip 
to be placed under the skin. For whom and why? In a fascinating interview 
with outstanding prophecy teacher Peter LaLonde, Dr. Man, a Jew, stated 
that it is his desire to see every Israeli Jew have the microchip transponder 
that he developed implanted under their skin. The stated purpose: the end of 
kidnapping and terrorism, as each individual could be precisely located 
instantly. No one questions Dr. Manâs intentions for the good of his fellow 
Israelis. It also must be emphasized that technology-- in and of itself --is not 
evil. However, imagine Adolph Hitler with similar surveillance ID microchip 
capability at his disposal. The very thought is horrifying

How does this microchip identification technology work? Here is a basic 
illustration. Suppose you have a pet. Info-Pet and other similar animal ID 
companies are marketing pet identification systems. Each chip, about the 
size of a grain of rice, has a unique number that can be read with a hand-held 
scanner. A hypodermic needle is used to insert the microchip painlessly into 
the animal. Information is stored in the chip such as the identity of the owner, 
address, veterinarian and the petâs medical records. For approximately $25 
you can have your animal implanted. So, if your cat is lost in Albany, NY and 
turns up in Kansas City, Missouri without an ID tag but has been implanted, a 
scanner can read the invisible chip and all the information comes up for 
review. As a result, your pet will be properly identified and returned to you. A 
great system? Yes, in a lot of ways, especially if you love pets! However, 
there are many who suggest people should be next. The two groups being 
targeted are prisoners and children. Overcrowded jails have caused some 
people to suggest microchip transponder ID s for them, because by using a 
remote scanning device it is possible to know their exact location at all times. 
Any attempts to escape or hide will be futile. Any prisoner could be located 
instantly. With children, what better way to stop kidnapping?

We need to understand that the microchip's main purpose is simple: 
IDENTIFICATION AND INFORMATION. Incidentally, some people still think 
the UPC bar code will ultimately be used to operate the world wide 
information system, leading to the mark of the beast. But the UPC bar code 
system is very limited. It does not have the capacity to update data on the 
individual. However, the microchip because it has an eprom embedded in it, 
can have its data updated effortlessly.

Are biochip/microchips in their various forms really the wave of the future? In 
May 1996 the Chicago Tribune featured a headline "In Future Tiny Chip May 
Get Under Your Skin." The following article gave all the beneficial reasons for 
microchip implants. You would never have to worry about lost or stolen credit 
cards, you would also have safety, protection, security, etc . Think it will never 
happen in humans?

Consider this, from this same Chicago Tribune article. Edward Cornish, 
President of the World Future Society, which is a globalist new age group, 
stated, "The locator ID chip may be inevitable." He also made this chillingly 
candid statement about the microchip's use: "Things that are voluntary today, 
have a way of becoming compulsory tomorrow.ä

Could the microchip implant lead to the future mark of the beast, spoken of in 
the Bible?

According to Strong's Concordance, the Greek word charagma means ãa 
scratch or etching, stamp a badge of servitude, graven mark.ä Derivatives of 
the word are: ãcharakterä- a graver, the figure stamped ,i.e. an exact copy or 
representation, express image; ãcharaxä- to sharpen to a point through the 
idea of scratching. Evangelist Dr. Carl Sanders, an engineer who previously 
helped develop the microchip, shared the following information in his book, 
Are You Ready For the New World Order? 

The pattern for the microchip transponder data when read under a scanner, 
will be as follows:

1. Name and picture 
2. Social security number  
3. Fingerprint data 
4. Physical description 
5. Address
6. Family history
7. Occupation and income
8. Tax information
9. Criminal record

Only naivete would cause one to believe that privacy of any kind really exists 
today. 

The Grand Finale - The Missing Piece 666 

In Revelation 13 we see three components of the future new world order 
working in tandem under this future 666 Antichrist and his world system. Jeff 
Baker, political analyst, researcher, and journalist, in his excellent classic 
book, Cheque Mate, (p. 203) comments on the meaning and significance of 
666. "I believe that the 666 is actually a combination of three sets of sixes. 
The first 6 represents manâs political system, The second 6 represents the 
economic system of man, and the third represents the religious system of 
man." A very astute observation, and that is exactly the three headed 
structure we find in Rev. 13. The 666 referred to in verse 18 is very 
significant, because in ancient times a personâs name had a fixed numerical 
value. The reason for that: the letters of the alphabet were used for numbers. 
In scripture, 6 is the number representing man. The number 6 is also 
considered sacred by many new age and secret society groups, A triad, or 3, 
is God's number. So, the triple 6 (666) is the symbol of man making himself 
God. See Daniel 11:36 and 2 Thess. 2:4. The number 666 is also the Greek 
word chi xi stigma. (Rev. 13:18) Strong's Concordance:äThe 22nd, 14th, and 
an obsolete letter of the Greek alphabet, used as numbers; denoting 
respectively 600, 60, and 6; 666 as a numeral-six hundred threescore and 
six.ä 

Now, the word ãstigmaä  --ãfrom a prim. stizw stizo ( to stick; i.e. to prick- a 
mark incised or punched ) for recognition of ownership i.e. (fig.) scar of 
service- mark.ä

By now, it should be clear that presently, the technology of the microchip is 
not the mark of the beast. However, it is also plain to see, though the 
technology is still continuing to be fine tuned, some of its benevolent uses. 
Someday, in the wrong hands, it will become a malignant curse. Dr. Carl 
Sanders, in a recent conversation at Boston Medical Center, posed the 
following question to a physician: "What if the concentration of lithium in the 
microchip breaks down, or what if there is a *blowstruck? (term for a 
microchip malfunction.)? The doctor, an atheist, replied, "it will cause a 
grievous sore." Incredible, because Rev. 16:2 states, ãand there fell a 
noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, 
and upon them which worshipped his image.ä 

The mark of the beast is not going to be implemented today or tomorrow. It 
will happen midway through the Tribulation period. However, at the very least, 
for the first time in history, from a technological stand point Rev 13 could 
soon become reality. Apparently, someone else thinks so too. Ralph Nader, 
the consumer advocate who recently also ran for president and who does not 
claim to be a Christian, made this startling statement: "Is there a number or 
mark planned for the hand or forehead in a new cashless society? Yes, and I 
have seen the machines that are now ready to put it into operation.ä

We have only scratched the surface. For further documentation on this 
subject, I highly recommend Terry Cook's book, The Mark of the New World 
Order, an exhaustive documentary showing that biochip/microchip technology 
is here to stay. If you are somewhat upset or startled by what you read, 
perhaps consider taking Terry Cook's advice, "don't let it get under your skin!" 
Rev. 14:9-11.

My earnest hope is that many of you that took the time to read this 
information, won't just let all this fall by the wayside. Right now you have two 
options. You have an opportunity to freely receive Jesus Christ as your Savior 
and Lord, or someday face a global tyrannical dictator who will demand all the 
world to worship him and show allegiance to him by receiving his mark. This 
mark will reveal that you are owned by him; failure to comply will result in 
execution by beheading-Rev 20;4. I believe the first option is far more 
workable, don't you? 

ãBut as many as received Him (Christ) to them He gave power to become 
sons of God, even to them that believe in His name.ä Jn. 1:12

I would encourage you to not delay in receiving Christ as you Savior today if 
you have not already done so. He died for your sins, and rose from the dead. 
He offers you eternal life, but that's your choice to make. I hope you will 
consider doing that today, If I can be of any further help in answering any 
questions for any of you, I am available to communicate with you through 
PropheZine.

Sincerely, Scott Pearson

Editorâs Note: Scott Pearson will be one of the speakers at the First Annual 
PropheZine Bible Prophecy Conference that will be held in the Los Angeles, 
CA area on Sept 19, 20, 21. This will be all-day events, will be very 
informative and FREE. The other speakers scheduled so far are: 
	Gary Kah
	Berit Kjos
	Steven Wright
	Ron Graff
	John Kinsella (still finalizing)
	Scott Pearson

If you have any questions about the conference or would like to help out, 
please drop me a line at ray@prophezine.com.

Ray Gano
PZ

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CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION
Focus on the Family Newsletter 
from Dr. James Dobson 


Dear Friends, 

I want to share a concern this month that has received very little national 
publicity, despite its tragic and disgraceful implications. It focuses on the 
unprecedented persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters in countries  
around the world. More than an estimated 160,000 believers were martyred in 
1996, and countless others were subjected to unimaginable horrors. 1 And 
the persecution appears to be escalating exponentially. 
 
It was longtime friend Micheal Horowitz who brought these atrocities to my 
attention a few months ago. Micheal, who is Jewish, was among the first to 
recognize what was happening to Christians and began a frantic campaign to 
notify the world. He has lobbied lawmakers on Capitol Hill, written editorials 
and appeared on numerous television and radio talk shows. He also made an 
impassioned plea on the Focus on the Family broadcast. Here is the way he 
described the plight of believers in Muslim, Communist and other totalitarian 
countries today: 

Christians have become the targets of opportunity for the thug regimes 
around the world, and they are many. Whatâs going on now is monumental, 
and itâs affecting millions, tens of millions, of people. Weâre talking not about 
discrimination, but persecution of the worst sort: slavery, starvation, murder, 
looting, burning, torture. 2

I asked Micheal why he is working so hard to help Christians in far-flung 
corners of the world, and he said:

ãThere is a man who lives with us who is the embodiment of Christian faith, 
and Iâm in awe of it. He is from an Ethiopian Evangelical Church where he is 
the senior pastor. He is trying to get asylum in the United States and is 
meeting every possible roadblock you can imagine. Here is a man who has 
been jailed over 25 times for his faith. Heâs been tortured. On one occasion, 
he was hanged upside down with hot oil poured on his feet. This is a man of 
abiding faith who will be tortured again and murdered if he is sent back to 
Ethiopia. 

ãBut do you know what happened when we petitioned for asylum? The State 
Department sent a letter to the immigration Service and said, ÎThereâs no 
persecution of Christian in Ethiopia.â 3 

ãThis has been the attitude of the U.S. government despite overwhelming 
evidence of atrocities. Through the work of Horowitz and others, however, the 
truth is beginning to penetrate. Members of Congress are becoming alarmed 
about reports of brutality and murder on foreign soil. A house resolution 
passed the fourth week of September 1996, and the original language stated 
that more Christians have been martyred in the 20th century than in the past 
19 combined. The draft of the resolution also noted that Chinaâs Communist 
leaders have called underground evangelical and Catholic congregationsä a 
principal threat to political stability.ä 4

ãSen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., said, Î...Christians are being sold into slavery. 
Some are being thrown into prison. Some are tortured. Many are killed. We 
must do everything we can in our dealings with other countries to end these 
practices.â 5

ãI recently went to Washington, D.C., to meet with Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., 
and others who have also been championing this cause. Rep. Wolf serves on 
the Helsinki Committee, which monitors human rights abuses in Eastern 
Europe and the former states of the Soviet Union. He said there is undeniable 
evidence now of widespread torture, killing, raping, and imprisonment of 
believers in dozens of countries. They include China, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, 
Iran, Kuwait, Pakistan, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Cuba and 
several countries in the former Soviet Union. What is happening in the blood-
stained nations, and elsewhere, is unconscionable.
 
ãIn some places it amounts to mass murder. Nina Shea, of the renown 
human rights organization Freedom House, is an international human rights 
lawyer who has investigated the persecution of Christians for ten years and 
has documented the abduction and death of more than 1 million Sudanese, 
mostly Christians and non-Muslims, at the hands of the countryâs Islamic 
fundamentalist government. 6 There has been an effort to address this and 
related tragedies in the churches of North America, including a designated 
day of prayer sponsored last September 29th by the World Evangelical 
Fellowship. But the Christian response hardly matches the scope of the evil. 
Indeed, a Washington staffer for the National Council of Churches, Albert 
Pennybacker, recently denied that a problem even exists. He said,ä I wouldnât 
say persecution is raging around the world.ä 7 In testimony before a House 
Subcommittee meeting, he has also stated, ãWhat may appear as 
persecution and indeed resistance may in fact be the wish to preserve 
authentic religious and cultural traditions.ä 8 Victor Hsu, another National 
Council of Churches staffer, said that religious persecution in China was 
simply the ãoverzealousness of local cadres.ä 9

ãPennybacker and Hsuâs unfortunate comments remind me of the German 
Lutheran Church, which refused to acknowledge Hitlerâs genocide, even 
when it occurred right under their noses. 

ãIt isnât just our spiritual leaders who have denied the tragedy. Who can 
explain the lack of outrage evident among so many Christian churches in 
Western democracies? A.M. Rosenthal, also a Jew, decried this apathy in his 
recent column in The New York Times. He wrote:

ÎA few clergymen and their religious organizations try to arouse 
congregations. But astonishingly few, compared not only with the spread of 
the persecution, but what could be done to fight it, if the political, religious, 
business and press leaders of the world had the will and courage. 

ÎIf I were a Christian, I would complain that Christian leaders, political, 
religious and business, around the world have failed in their obligations to 
fight oppression of their CO-religionists. I am complaining anyway. 10 Îä

Micheal Horowitzâs original column in The Wall Street Journal should have 
generated an outpouring of support from outraged believers around the 
country.11 Inexplicably, it brought little more than a yawn. Shocked and 
disappointed, Micheal said, äI then wrote a letter to the 150 leading mission 
boards in the U.S. I said to them, ãIfI had written a story about anti-Semitism, 
I would have been overwhelmed with support from the Christian community. 
But when Christian persecution was involved, the Christian community 
seemed tongue-tied and embarrassed.âä12 What a disgrace!

I thank God that Rosenthal and Horowitz, among others, are sounding the 
alarm. Nina Shea of Freedom House is also doing her part. In her upcoming 
book. In the Lionâs Den, she wrote: 

ãMillions of American Christians pray in their churches each week, oblivious 
to the fact that Christians in many parts of the world suffer brutal torture, 
arrest, imprisonment and even death--their homes and communities laid 
waste--for no other reason than that they are Christians. The shocking, untold 
story of our time is that more Christians have died this century simply for 
being Christians than in the first nineteen centuries after the birth of Christ. 
They have been persecuted and martyred before an unknowing, indifferent 
world and a largely silent Christian community.ä13

Columnist Jeff Jacoby, who is also Jewish, and is a syndicated columnist for 
the Boston Globe, described the scope of the tragedy. He wrote:  

ã...for millions of Christians in other lands, fear is ever-present. Never before--
never before---have so many believers in Jesus been persecuted for their 
faith....Wherever militant Islam has taken hold and wherever Communist 
dictators still rule, Christians are in desperate danger. The testimony with 
which Shea [writing In the Lionâs Den] and Paul Marshall[in Their Blood Cries 
Out] have filled their books is heart-stopping.

ã[The Nuba mountains in Sudan] ...which have had a Christian population 
since the 6th century, are littered with mass graves...Nuba women are 
systematically raped by Arab soldiers in order to produce non-Nuba offspring. 
There have been reports, including from Catholic bishops, of crucifixions of 
Christians by the army.ä Muslim troops from northern Sudan have sold tens of 
thousands of Christian children and women from the south into slavery. Many 
have been branded or mutilated to prevent 

China, Shaanxi Province: ãThe officers stripped three brethren naked from  
the waist and forced the women to stand with them....The three men were 
beaten until they were totally covered with blood and had gaping wounds and 
injuries all over their bodies. As if such violent beating wasnât enough, the 
officers then hung them up and began to hit them with rods on their backs. 
They did this until the three men were unconscious and barely breathing.ä 
The victims were Protestants. Their crime was communicating with 
foreigners. 

Pakistan: ãThe Muslim population of Khan Jajja was incited in May 1994 by 
the local Muslim cleric to drive the 60 Christian families of the region from the 
Îland of the pureâ and to demolish their church. The Christian men were 
beaten and the women were stripped naked..., while three girls were 
kidnapped and raped. These Christiansâ homes razed and their possessions 
looted or destroyed.ä  Pakistanâs 1986 blasphemy law makes it a capital 
crime to insult the Prophet Mohammed  ãby any imputation, innuendo or 
insinuation.ä The law has been used repeatedly to justify a reign of terror 
against Pakistani Christians.14 

And so it goes, day by day, in nations around the globe. Quoting Jeff Jacoby 
again, he wrote:

ãThis has been a century of unmatched Christian martyrdom. It began with 
mass murder of Christians in Armenia; it is ending with mass murder of 
Christians in Sudan. Then as now, the world looked away, even as it looked 
away during the most unspeakable mass murder of all, the Holocaust.ä15 

Five questions must be answered if we are to understand this worldwide 
phenomenon. 

1. Why is the persecution of Christians proliferating around the world?  The 
answer is that Christianity is spreading significantly in underdeveloped 
countries. As the numbers of believers rise in those places, so does the 
threat they pose to totalitarian regimes. The bullies who rule canât tolerate the 
prospect of free thinkers and liberated minds. Nor are they willing to have 
their subjects worshipping any god but their own. Thus, brutality becomes the 
handmaiden of dictatorship.

2. Why has there been so little publicity about this persecution? Because the 
majority of Christians are too preoccupied with living to notice or complain 
about much of anything, and because our government favors good relations 
with many of the offending nations, and because the news media has failed 
to report the crisis. Religious news remains the lowest priority among 
journalists.  
 
Chuck Colson said, ãWhen I see something like this, my heart aches because 
the believers here donât even know about it, donât care. Weâre not expressing 
moral outrage; weâre not indignant of the indifference of the United States 
government towards this. And we ought to be marching in the streets 
because our brethren are being persecuted, imprisoned, beaten, sold into 
slavery, and butchered and we donât seem to care in this country.ä16 
 
3. Why havenât the Clinton Administration and the Congress done 
something? That is an excellent question with a two-pronged answer. It is 
greed and politics. Corporations desperately want to trade with China and 
other nations, and they canât let a little matter like murder and mayhem 
interfere with those business pursuits. If the president criticizes governments 
for persecuting people, they might retaliate by closing their markets and 
hurting our economy. The captains of industry would object and punish the 
politicians by contributing less money to electoral campaigns. As cynical as 
this sounds, that is what Iâm told is occurring. Tragically, our leaders are 
willing to play hardball with China on pirated CDâs and video tapes, but not on 
the issue of religious persecution. They are putting money ahead of human 
life in their international policies, even though they know it is wrong. Thus, our 
countryâs profile as a nation has shifted from the historic stand for freedom 
and human rights to pursuit of profits as the ultimate value.  
  
In the 1992 presidential campaign Bill Clinton was questioned about his 
probable policy toward China. The interviewer, Tom Brokaw, asked 
specifically,ä Would you cut [China] off by next year [if youâre elected]?ä 
Clinton responded, ã Absolutely. Most Favored Nation status, I would. Look, 
[Bush] let his friendship with the leaders in China obscure our devotion to 
freedom and democracy when those kids set up in Tiananmen Square, and I 
think it was wrong.ä17 
 
Despite this unequivocal response, Mr. Clinton reneged when he got into 
office. Like his predecessor, he also supported the special trade and tariff 
provisions of Most Favored Nation status to China. We could have used our 
economic power to ease the pressure on believers and dissidents in China., 
as we did South Africa, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. But our 
leaders lacked the resolve to do so. They pretended not to notice the 
persecution, the forced abortions, the killing of little girls and deformed 
babies, the persecution of the Îhouse churchâ, and the Naziesque practice of 
killing prisoners in order to harvest their organs for sale.(Iâve seen video 
documentation of that grotesque procedure.) An official Chinese document 
issued by the Ministries of Justice, Health and Public Security, obtained by 
U.S. based human rights group ãAsiawatch,ä said, ãThe use of executed 
criminalsâ corpses for organs must be kept strictly secret,ä18 We can all 
understand why. 
 
But who cares anyway? It is all so far away and out of sight. Besides, weâve 
been taught, ãWhatâs good for business is good for America.ä Turn a deaf ear 
and keep the economy strong.  
 
It is an attitude that confused and disillusioned those who were suffering 
under Chinaâs totalitarian regime, especially after the slaughter in Tiananmen 
Square. Two recent visitors to that land said this on our broadcast, ã  
dissident after dissident came into our offices saying, ã please, the United 
States has got to hold tough; theyâve got to call Beijingâs bluff.ä19   

Nevertheless, the U.S. Congress has ratified the presidentâs yearly decision 
to grant Most Favored Nation status to the butchers of Beijing. Now, perhaps, 
we are learning another reason why. As of this writing, news stories are 
breaking almost every day that reveal vast amounts of Chinese money 
flowing into recent presidential (and perhaps congressional) campaigns. Who 
knows how long that has been going on. Three shady characters, each 
possessing long records of questionable donations and influence peddling, 
(one brought a gun runner with him) were invited to the White House 150 
times in the past 5 years. 20 21 What did they get in return for the 4 million 
they contributed in ãsoft moneyä? 22 What did they do with the incredible 
access granted by the most powerful man on earth? Iâm afraid to ask. 
  
But here we go again. As we speak, Congress is considering Most Favored 
Nation status to China once more. Unless there is a public outcry, it will be 
ratified again and the persecution will continue, But who is there to care? 
 
In another disturbing editorial by A.M.Rosenthal, he wrote: 
 
ãChristian theology is not my specialization. I only know all prisoners for 
freedom are intertwined in their chains. Who can believe that their sufferings 
will not ease if the chairmen of Boeing, General Motors, Morgan Guaranty 
and Microsoft, and U.S. presidents and secretaries of state past and present, 
rise to say that the altar must stand higher than the cash register, and pledge 
to make it so ? And if they fail in their duty to do so this, where is it written that 
the rest of us are absolved from doing ours? 23  
 
4. Why is there so much apathy among deeply committed believers on an 
issue of such significance? Why, indeed? This and a hundred related 
questions have plagued me for years. Why is there so little concern about the 
many moral issues that should be keeping us awake at night? Why was there 
such a pitiful response when President Clinton vetoed the bill to ban partial 
birth abortion? Liberal Democratic Senator Daniel Moynihan called the 
procedure ãinfanticideä24 and that is precisely what it is. Nevertheless, most 
Christians were too busy---too unconcerned--- to protest when our chief 
executive used his veto to secure the right to murder near full term, viable 
babies by the most horrible means imaginable. The silence from the majority 
of Godâs people was deafening! 
 
Ecclesiastes 4:1 says, ãAgain I looked and saw all the oppression that was 
taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they have 
no comforter. Power was on the side of their oppressorsä (NIV).
 
What has really changed in 2900 years?  
 
Again we ask, why have so many good people done nothing to stop the 
persecution of the weak and vulnerable? Iâll give you the best answer of 
which I am capable. It is because some spiritual leaders have told their flocks 
not to be concerned about that which is ãpoliticalä---as though pouring hot oil 
on a victimâs feet or killing babies are political matters. Another reason is 
because we have become engrossed in that which is temporal and material--
-and because there is so much stress in our lives that we canât invest our 
energies in that which doesnât touch us directly.  
 
I called this third factor ãthe principle of limited tears.ä We do not have the 
capacity to ãcryä about all the tragedies of the world. To do so would be 
deeply disturbing to us. And since we canât prevent human misery around the 
globe, we narrow the concerns about which we will worry. Thus, we will weep 
about that which touches us personally--hitting near our families, our friends 
and our work. Everything else will be kept outside our defenses--ignored--
denied--rationalized. 

Unfortunately, the plight of Christians around the world remains beyond the 
circle of tears for most believers. 
 
I believe there is one more reason why Christians may be unconcerned about 
the persecution of their brothers and sisters overseas. It is the expectation of 
some believers that harsh suffering, and even death, are inevitable for those 
who live and worship God in dangerous places. Therefore, their discomfort is 
not an issue about which we should concern ourselves. After all, many first 
century Christians died for their faith, including most of the apostles and 
disciples. Perhaps persecution just goes with the territory, so to speak.  

That attitude, if it exists, is terribly callused and selfish. Remember that the 
government in the United States emanates from the people. Collectively, we 
are the government. If it implements evil policies, therefore, each of us is 
partially responsible for them. We have given freedom of speech and the 
right to lobby for that which is moral and righteous. Consequently, we are 
obligated to raise our voices when injustice is being condoned and 
encouraged. And there is no greater injustice than when elected officials 
reward and support brutal regimes which kill and torture innocent people. We 
must come to their defense! 
 
The Apostle Paul was a citizen of Rome, and twice he exercised the 
privileges of citizenship over the matter of unjust persecution. First, he 
protested the illegal floggings of Silas and himself in Phillipi (Acts 16) and 
second, he appealed his case to Caesar rather than to allow another illegal 
flogging in Jerusalem (Acts 25 .)

Let me say it again. Here in the United States, we live in the worldâs most 
dominant country, one which could, if it desired, exercise tremendous 
pressure on other nations to bring an end to injustice. Unfortunately, our 
government has made it clear it has no intention of doing that. It will not act 
unless we force it to address the needs of the downtrodden. 

If believers do not make that demand, no one will do it for them. Neither the 
news media nor the entertainment industry will take on this cause. They are 
busy defending sexual perversion and offbeat religion. How interesting, for 
example, that while 160,000 Christians were being murdered in 1996, 34 
Hollywood personalities signed an open letter of protest--not to the guilty 
governments--but to the leaders of Germany for supposedly criticizing the 
Church of Scientology.25

5. Finally, what can those of us who are concerned do to help our persecuted 
brothers and sisters in oppressive countries? Iâll let Micheal Horowitz answer 
this last question, as spoken on the National Public Radio program ãAll 
Things Considered.ä He said: 

ãOur model... is the campaign against Soviet anti-Semitism. Itâs got four 
principle points. One, it asks the president to speak out publicly on the issue 
and name whatâs going on, and to use a bully pulpit to tell those thugs that the 
United States disapproves of that conduct. The second is to appoint a special 
advisor for religious persecution who will conduct a top to bottom survey of 
our policies in the Immigration Service and in the State Department, to see 
whether and to what extent itâs lacking and failing. The next would be to 
ensure that the State Department human rights reports focus on victims of 
religious persecution...And the fourth: no foreign aid, no special trade 
treatment, for those countries that foster or appease persecution of religious 
minorities, and in particular, persecution of Christian communities...For the 
United States to be utterly silent in the face of budding Holocausts, and actual 
Holocausts, is obscene and unthinkable.26 

I would add the importance of praying for persecuted believers wherever they 
are being imprisoned, beaten, raped, and murdered for their faith. Wouldnât it 
be encouraging to those precious people in China, the Sudan and all the 
other bloody countries if they knew believers in North America were holding 
them before the throne in prayer? How can we not plead their case to the 
Father?ã

On November 16, 1997, churches all across America will be asked to do just 
that. That Sunday has been designated as the International Day of Prayer for 
the Persecuted Church. Its theme is ãShatter the Silence.ä Micheal Horowitz, 
one of the organizers of the event, hopes that at least 50,000 churches will 
participate. I hope yours and mine will be among them. ãWith the mighty army 
of 50,000 thunder pulpits,ä Horowitz says, ãthe world becomes a different 
place.ä27  
  
You might also want to write one of the three organizations trying to defend 
believers around the world. They are Christian Solidarity, Voice of the Martyrs 
and Freedom House. (Note: Freedom House is a secular organization.) Write 
Focus on the Family for details regarding these groups. We also have an 
information sheet available with more details regarding these groups. We 
also have an information sheet available with more detail on the worldwide 
persecution of Christians. If you would like a copy, please see the address 
available at the end of the article. 

Finally, you should know that bipartisan legislation will soon be introduced by 
Rep. Frank Wolf and Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, that will deal with the issue of 
Christian persecution. Entitled ãThe Freedom of Religion Act of 1997,ä it is 
expected to be submitted to congress in the very near future. 
 
Thanks for letting me share what is on my heart in this letter. I know my 
words have been difficult to read. Forgive my frustration at what appears to 
me to be continued complacency and disinterest while the world slides into a 
moral abyss. It isnât too late to help those who are still alive. If only ten 
percent of the two million people on our mailing list would speak passionately 
for our downtrodden and abused brothers and sisters around the world, many 
could be saved. Micheal Horowitz says we are ãso close to victoryä because 
of the powerful influence of the United States and Canada---and yet, 400 
believers will die today because there is no one to care. Their fate is in our 
hands.
 
I would appreciate hearing your reactions if you have a few minutes to write 
or call. With that, so long till next month.

Sincerely in Christ, 
James C. Dobson, Ph.D 
President 
 
P.S. We have  late information that the ãfixä is on to gloss over the 
persecution of Christians in China. It is our understanding that eight Chinese 
political dissidents are about to be freed which will give China ãcoverä on the 
human rights issues. The Clinton administration will hail this as a great victory 
for human rights and justification to continue with Most Favored Nation 
status. 28 It will, of course, do nothing to help the Christians who are being 
persecuted and killed in that country. Watch for this sham just prior to the 
Congressional vote in June, if it hasnât happened by the time you read this. 

EndNotes 
1. David C. Barrett, ãAnnual Statistical Table on Global Mission: 1997ä 
International Bulletin of Missionary Research.ä January 1997, p.25 
2. ‘Global Christian Persecution,ä Guests: Micheal Horowitz, Gary Bauer, 
Chuck Colson, Rep. Frank Wolf, Focus on the Family, September 16, 1996. 
3. Ibid. 
4. Terry Mattingly, ãAllegations of Christian Persecution Spur Congress to 
Act,ä Scripps-Howard News Service, September 28, 1996. 
5. Daniel Kurtzman, ãEvangelicals Launch Campaign Against Religious 
Persecution,ä Ethnic NewsWatch, October 1, 1996. 
6. Nina Shea, In the Lionâs Den, (Nashville TN: Broadman & Holman, 
1997),pp.31-39.  
7. Ray Waddle, ãChristian to Pray for Persecuted Church: Violence Against 
Devout on the Rise,ä The Tennessean, September 28, 1996.  
8. Mattingly, op. cit.  
9. Tracy Early, ãPresbyterian Congressman Wants Clinton to Protect 
Persecuted Christians,ä Ecumenical News Service, , Sept 13, 1996. 
10. A.M. Rosenthal, ãOn My Mind: Persecuting Christians,ä New York Times, 
February 11, 1997, p. a21  
11.  Micheal Horowitz, ãNew Intolerance Between Cresent and Cross, ãWall 
Street Journal, July 5, 1995, p. A8 
12. Focus on the Family, September 16, 1996, op. cit. 
13. Nina Shea, In the Lionâs Den, (Nashville, TN: Broadman 7 Holman 
Publishers, 1997),p.1 
14. Jeff Jacoby, ãChristian Suffering is on the Rise,ä Boston Globe, December 
4, 1996, p.A15  
15. Ibid. 
16. Focus on the Family, September 16, 1996, op.cit. 
17. Associated Press, excerpts from a December 15, 1991, debate between 
six Democratic presidential candidates telecast by NBC, December 16, 1991.   
18. Jan Wong, ãChinaâs Prisons Used as Organ Donor Factories,ä Rocky 
Mountain News, May 23,1994, p.30A  
19. ãAtrocities in China,ä Guests: Karen Feaver, Father Stan DeBoe, Focus 
on the Family, June 24, 1994.  
20. ãBusinessman Trie Has Visited the White House 23 Times,ä Washington 
Post, December 19,  996, p. A8.  
21.äThe Fund-Raising Fiasco: the Democrats Problem...ä Washington Post, 
March 2, 1997,  p.C6 
22. Stephen Labaton, ãCourting Donors: The Accounting,ä The New York 
Times, March 1,1997, sec1,p8 
23. A.M.Rosenthal, ãOn My Mind: Questions Unmasked,ä The New York 
Times, February 14, 1997, p. A37 
24. ãMeet the Press,ä NBC News, March 2, 1997 
25. ãAn Open Letter to Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of the German Federal 
Republic, ã December 1996 
26. All Things Considered, National Public Radio, December 1, 1996  
27. Phone conversation between Craig Osten, Research Asst. to the 
President and Micheal Horowitz, March 11, 1997  
28. Ibid. 
This letter maybe reproduced without charge and its entirety for non-
commercial purposes without prior permission from Focus on the Family  

You can reach Focus on the Family and Dr. Dobson at 
Focus on the Family
Colorado Springs, CO 80995
 
 *************************************


Yearning  or  Yawning? 
by Lori Fiechter

Would we welcome the Lord if He came today  
Or would there be shame and regret? 
Are we ready to meet Him right now--in the air-- 
Or are we saying, "Don't come back just yet?ä 
 
"Wait a little longer, Lord 
Don't return so soon !
Heaven sounds fine--some other time.... 
There is too much I still want to do.   

"Life is so good with family and friends;  
I really enjoy it here!   
Heaven's OK--but just not today;    
Maybe...some other year.ä

It seems our priorities are a bit skewed;  
Yes, life should be lived to the full,  
But in all of our "busyness," let's not forget--  
Heaven should still be our goal!  
 
Lori Fiechter  
4-12-97  

(Editorâs note: If you would like to get in touch with Lori, she can be reached 
at fiechter@parlorcity.com ) 

*****************************

(EDITORâS NOTE: The next article contains graphic descriptions of torture 
that may offend some)

Truth Surfaces in Hansen Ordeal 
Dept. of Finance/Judge Lodge Linked to Hansen Nightmare  
by Don Harkins and Edward Snook  
 
Diesel Therapy:  
A prison term which describes the most inhumane, degrading and painful of  
punishment; normally reserved for the most violent and uncontrollable of 
prisoners.  
  
A prisoner is shackled at the feet and handcuffed at the wrists, reinforced  
with a box-like structure which stiffens the chains and locks the wrists at a 90-
degree angle. The handcuffs are connected to a waist chain that is connected 
to another chain which connects the shackles. Once this shackling is 
complete, a prisoner can barely move. The tightened manacles pinch the 
nerves and restrict the flow of blood causing severe pain and swelling. Legs 
swelling with blood are particularly damaging to the feet, as toenails under 
pressure from blood-blisters press up against shoes for long periods of time 
and soon become infected and deformed, causing such excruciating pain that 
they require surgery or the pulling of the nails out by the roots.

Diesel therapy gets its name, not from the "cruel and unusual" bondage, but  
from being forced into bus after bus and onto plane after plane, shackled as 
described, and being shuttled from one prison to another, for weeks on end, 
20 hours per day in chains, for no other reason than to cause pain and 
suffering and give the prisoner a "message." 

Welcome to diesel therapy and the world of seven-term Congressman 
George Hansen who was found guilty in the court-room of the infamous 
Federal Judge Edward Lodge on bogus charges of bank fraud which were 
manipulated into an issue by the Idaho Department of Finance which illegally 
used the same agents previously employed by the IRS in their failed attempt 
to "get Hansen."

People who have been reading past editions of The Idaho Observer and The 
Oregon Observer will recall that the Judge Lodge/Idaho Department of 
Finance connection has already been uncovered in the bogus securities laws 
violations charges levied against Boise businessman and winemaker Petro                                                                       
(Pete) Eliopulos. 
 
"After Ed Snook of The Oregon Observer and I met with Hansen and he told 
me in a six-hour meeting what had happened to him, I was more shaken than 
I have ever been in my life. If (West One) bank officers Knox and Neaville 
had not subsequently been convicted of crimes which came to light in the 
bogus investigations of me and my businesses, they could have done to me 
what they did to Hansen," said Eliopulos, who was shocked that a U.S. 
Representative, or anybody for that matter, could be treated this way in 
America. 
 
What could an esteemed member of the U.S. Congress have done to 
deserve such treatment?  Judge Lodge prescribed torture for Hansen 
  
Congressman Hansen found innocent of crimes manufactured to thwart 
congressional accountability 
 
After four years of imprisonment, after ten years of persecution, after being 
ruined professionally and financially and after being permanently damaged 
physically, in December, 1995, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated 
Hansen's sentence for bank fraud because the U.S. Supreme Court had  
ruled on May 15, 1995, that Hansen's previous conviction as a member of 
Congress had been overturned. 

A series of events were triggered to allow crimes to be manufactured which  
led to the imprisonment and torture of Congressman George Hansen. Idaho 
District Federal Judge Edward Lodge, who has been used by bankers and 
government officials for a decade to "legalize" their unethical and criminal 
activities, was given the job of putting Hansen away and seeing to it that he 
learned a lesson.  
 
Judge Lodge saw to it that Hansen received "diesel therapy" coming and 
going to prison from the judge's court at great cost to the government, even 
though Hansen should have been allowed to make such trips at his own 
expense.

On the way from his hometown of Pocatello to federal prison in Petersberg, 
VA , Hansen was bussed and flown, nearly immovably shackled, at taxpayer 
expense, to jails all over the country.  Not Hansen's lawyer, his wife, nor his 
allies in Congress were able to locate him. Hansen had simply disappeared 
for a month into the custody of the Federal Marshal's Service. 

Hansen's wife didn't know whether he was dead or alive. And even when the 
Supreme Court overturned Hansen's original case and the Appeals Court 
vacated his current sentence, Hansen still got the Judge Lodge treatment of 
another dose of diesel therapy from Virginia back to Idaho. 

What had Hansen, who was a model prisoner, done to deserve the most 
brutal, torturous and barbaric type of treatment this country's penal system is 
capable of inflicting on a prisoner? 

Congressional Accountability Project

Retired Congressman Tom Kindness (R-Ohio) stated , "I believe that 
George's recent trial and conviction on charges of "bank fraud" was the direct  
result of a campaign by various members of the bureaucracy to stop the 
CAP." 
 
CAP, the Congressional Accountability Project, was being launched by 
Hansen and a group of investors interested in good government.  CAP was 
going to utilize nation-wide television and a national 900 number to make 
congresspersons instantaneously accountable to the American people for 
their votes on the House and Senate floors.

"This was a project which would, in my opinion, have had a major impact on 
the votes of congressmen since it would have made them instantaneously  
responsible to the people by making their votes known immediately after 
being cast," commented journalist John Voss. 
 
Hansen and his associates were on the verge of making CAP fully 
operational and accessible to the American public when the government, 
through the Idaho Department of Finance with the illegal help of former IRS 
agents, a revenge-minded Justice Department and the corrupt Judge Lodge, 
manufactured bank fraud charges against him. 
 
Judge Lodge's provably compromised court ultimately found Hansen guilty 
and prescribed diesel therapy to teach him a lesson.

Why did the "Honorable" Judge Lodge treat Hansen like Public Enemy #1?

George Hansen was the only member of Congress able to pull the strings 
necessary to visit the hostages in Iran in 1979 and expose the big-bank scam 
behind the crises. George Hansen was the author of the book To Harass Our 
People, an indictment of the IRS, where he demanded its dismantling. 
George Hansen was the congressman who was so outraged by what he 
discovered about the IRS while researching his book that he wrote and 
helped to pass the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights. George Hansen was the first 
man to propose the flat tax as a damage control alternative to protect the 
people from IRS abuses. George Hansen was the man who took on OSHA, 
WPPSS, and the INS, and George Hansen was the man who fearlessly and 
repeatedly made public his findings when investigations turned up 
government corruption and citizen abuse.  

The "system" decided it had to teach Congressman Hansen a lesson 
because, had he been allowed to continue serving on Capitol Hill, he would 
soon likely be the chairman of the powerful House Banking Committee. 

So, why did Judge Lodge, whose personal reasons for needing to keep the 
well-documented criminal nature of the banking industry below public 
scrutiny, with the help of the Idaho Department of Finance, trump up a bank 
fraud conviction by denying the admission of exonerating evidence in court in 
order to throw Hansen in prison and make sure that he was punished 
severely with diesel therapy? 

Was it because Congressman Hansen was getting close to the truth and 
accumulating the political power it would take to finally and totally expose the 
banking industry and government for its criminal abuses of the American 
people? 

Judge Lodge's Court of Kangaroos 

CAP was apparently the final straw and abusive criminal government had to  
put Hansen down. On the eve of CAP becoming fully operational, powerful 
special interests and political enemies derailed the project and forced a 
domino effect of financial repercussions upon Hansen and his associates. 
The government then took the situation it had created and indicted, 
prosecuted and convicted Hansen of bank fraud. Though the treachous 
Judge Lodge and the government disdained the patriotic financial sacrifices 
made by Hansen's supporters for good government and callously prevented 
his efforts to re-pay them, it did not prevent Hansen from publicly pledging 
that these law breaking government bullies could never seal his lips, nor stop 
him from somehow paying back the people he owed and thereby keeping his 
word. 
 
Every attorney who has read the court transcripts is concerned and  
confounded as to how George could have been convicted on bank fraud 
charges when the supervising bank officers were not only acutely aware of 
his financial operation and transactions, but were actively assisting him in his 
efforts for over ten years! "George defrauded no one and we can prove it," 
stated Congressman Kindness. 

Hansen was not really imprisoned and tortured by "our" government for bank 
fraud, though that was the government's excuse to lock him up and shut him 
down. Hansen was actually a political prisoner who was guilty of attempting to 
provide the American people with the ammunition of knowledge so they could 
successfully fight back against the senseless encroachment of government 
oppression which more and more is ruining the lives of all of us. 
 
Hansen dedicated his civil service to facilitating a return to a "our" 
government that felt threatened enough by his noble activities to see to it that 
he was imprisoned and tortured for daring to tell citizen/taxpayers the truth.
 
Hansen was the only U.S. statesman who cared enough to risk his own 
safety and political career to visit the hostages in Iran in 1979. While in Iran, 
Hansen saw first hand what happens to political prisoners, who were beaten 
mercilessly, who had finger and toe nails ripped out by the roots and who had 
been shackled until they were permanently disabled physically.

Hansen has also experienced first hand the same inhumane torture and it  
happened to him in the most "civilized" nation on earth, the only difference 
being that Hansen was denied treatment and pain-killers and had to rip his 
own deformed and infected toenails out. 

If there has ever been a time when your country needed you to stand up for 
everything  it means to be an American, that time is right now.

Subscribe to Truth in Journalism; subscribe to The Idaho Observer
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Post Falls ID 83854  

***************************


SNS News Service    "Dates in History"
May 12, 1997..   5 Iyar  5757
Special Report - 066sr

SNS Special Reports are supplements published to provide what we feel is 
valuable information for our readers. Many news items, geographical 
locations and other Israel-related items appear in the daily media, but to the 
outside world, much of what is reported is foreign. In our Special Reports, we 
try to take a particular item, expound on it, in the hope that we will provide 
adequate background and current information to facilitate the reader's ability 
to follow the story in our regular Updates.

In honor of Israel's 49th Independence Day, we present the following list of 
dates in Israel's history, beginning with the establishment of the state in 1948.

				1948
				*****

14 May -- Provisional Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declares the 
independence of the State of Israel.  United States recognizes Israel de facto.

15 May -- End of the British Mandate.  Arab armies invade Israel.

17 May -- USSR recognizes Israel de jure.

19 May -- Jerusalem is cut off by Arab forces.

28 May -- Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem falls to the Jordanian 
Arab Legion.

31 May -- Order-of-the-day issued establishing the unified IDF; Yaakov Dori 
appointed first IDF Chief-of-General-Staff.

1 June -- First convoy reaches Jerusalem along "Burma Road."

11 June -- First cease-fire proclaimed.

22 June -- "Altalena" fired upon and sunk off the coast of Tel-Aviv.

9 July -- First cease-fire ends.

21 July -- Second cease-fire proclaimed.

14 August -- Arab countries reject Israeli peace proposals.

17 August -- First Israeli coin minted.

17 September -- UN mediator Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte murdered in 
Jerusalem by "Lehi" fighters.

15 October -- Second cease-fire ends.

8 November -- First census indicates 712,000 Jewish residents, and 69,000 
Arab residents, in the State of Israel.

17 December -- Beginning of "Operation Magic Carpet" to bring Yemenite 
Jews to Israel.

31 December -- 100,000 immigrants arrive since May 14.

				1949
				****

13 January -- Armistice negotiations begin on Rhodes.

21 January -- Elections held for the First Knesset.

30 January -- Britain, New Zealand and the Netherlands recognize Israel de 
facto.  Australia and Chile recognize Israel de jure.

31 January -- US recognizes Israel de jure.

14 February -- First meeting of the First Knesset.  Chaim Weizmann elected 
President.

23 February -- Armistice agreement signed with Egypt.

9 March -- David Ben-Gurion presents first government to Knesset.

23 March -- Armistice signed with Lebanon.

3 April -- Armistice signed with Jordan.

11 May -- Israel admitted to the United Nations.

20 July -- Armistice signed with Syria.  Railway service restored between Tel-
Aviv and Jerusalem.

17 August -- Theodor Herzl's remains are brought to Israel and interred on 
Mt. Herzl.

9 November -- Prof. Yigal Yadin appointed second IDF Chief-of-General 
Staff.

13 December -- Government declares Jerusalem to be Israel's capital.

				1950
				****

16 January -- Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg recognize Israel de
jure.

23 January -- Knesset, by 60-2 vote, establishes Jerusalem as Israel's 
capital.

28 April -- Britain recognizes Israel de jure.

19 May -- Beginning of "Operation Ezra and Nehemiah" to bring Iraqi Jews to 
Israel.

5 July -- Knesset passes Law of Return.

14 November -- First nationwide municipal elections after independence.

				1951
				****

 4 April -- Syrian forces kill seven Israeli policemen at El-Hamma, in southern 
DMZ along the border.

12 April -- 27th of the Hebrew month of Nissan declared to be Holocaust 
Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day.

30 July -- Elections held for the Second Knesset.

7 October -- David Ben-Gurion presents his government to the Knesset.

				1952
				****

7 January -- Knesset summoned to approve broader negotiations with West 
Germany; Menachem Begin leads stormy demonstration against 
negotiations.

9 January -- Knesset supports negotiations by 61-50.

9 November -- President Chaim Weizman dies.

3 December -- Mordechai Maklef appointed third IDF Chief-of-General Staff.

8 December -- Yitzchak Ben-Tzvi elected President.

 				1953
				****

 12 February -- USSR breaks diplomatic relations with Israel.

13 May -- US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles visits Israel.

20 July -- Relations restored with USSR.

1 December -- Moshe Dayan appointed fourth IDF Chief-of-General Staff.

7 December -- David Ben-Gurion resigns as Prime Minister and Defense 
Minister, is succeeded by Moshe Sharett as PM and Pinchas Lavon as DM.

			1954
				****

1 January -- "Kastner trial" opens in Jerusalem District Court.  (Malkiel 
Greenwald was accused of libelling Dr. Rudolf Kastner regarding his alleged 
collaboration with Adolf Eichmann in Hungary, in 1944.)

17 March -- Egged bus attacked by terrorists at Ma'aleh Akravim in the 
northern Negev; 11 passengers murdered, two wounded.

 				1955
				****

 17 February -- Lavon resigns as Defense Minister amidst controversy over 
espionage scandal involving Israeli agents who were executed in Egypt.

21 February -- David Ben-Gurion appointed Defense Minister.

22 June -- Jerusalem District Court Judge Benjamin Halevi rendered his 
verdict in the Kastner trial, exonerating Malkiel Greenwald and sharply 
criticizing Dr. Kastner (see entry for 1/1/54 above).

26 July -- Elections held for the Third Knesset.

27 July -- El Al plane shot down over Bulgaria.

 				1956
				****

 29 October -- IDF launches "Operation Kadesh" (Sinai Campaign) in concert 
with Great Britain and France.  Kafr Kassem massacre (43 local residents -- 
who were violating a curfew which had been imposed on Arab villages along 
the "Green Line" -- were shot by members of the security forces.  Two 
officers and six men were tried in a military court.  The officers were given 
long prison sentences, which were later reduced.)

4-5 November -- End of Operation Kadesh; Gaza Strip and Sinai occupied.

 				1957
				****

 6 March -- IDF completes withdrawal from Sinai and Gaza Strip; UN forces 
(UNEF) along border.

29 October -- A mentally deranged man threw a hand grenade in the 
Knesset; five ministers were injured.

31 October -- Huleh swamp drainage project completed.

				1958
				****

  15 January -- Supreme Court verdict in Kastner trial.

29 January -- Chaim Laskov appointed fifth IDF Chief of General Staff.

4 August -- First Bible Quiz held.

				1959
				****

 9-10 July -- Wadi Salib ethnic disturbances in Haifa.

3 November -- Elections held for the Fourth Knesset.

				1960
				****

 14 March -- Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion meets with West German 
Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in New York.

23 May -- Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion informs the Knesset that Adolf 
Eichmann has been brought to Israel and will stand trial for crimes against 
the Jewish people, war crimes against humanity and membership in criminal 
organizations.

27 November -- Tzvi Tzur appointed sixth IDF Chief-of-Staff.

				1961
				****
 
11 January -- The "Egoz" -- a ship bringing Moroccan Jews to Israel -- sinks.

11 April -- Eichmann trial begins at Beit Ha'am in Jerusalem.

30 May -- Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion meets with US President 
Kennedy in New York.

6 June -- Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion meets with French President De 
Gaulle in Paris.

15 August -- Elections held for the Fifth Knesset.

11 December -- Eichmann found guilty.

15 December -- Eichmann is sentenced to death by hanging.

				1962
				****
 
31 May -- Eichmann is executed by hanging.

				1963
				****
 
23 April -- President Yitzhcak Ben-Tzvi dies.

21 May -- Zalman Shazar is elected President.

16 June -- David Ben-Gurion resigns as Prime Minister.

24 June -- Prime Minister Levi Eshkol presents his government to the 
Knesset.

31 December -- Yitzhcak Rabin appointed seventh IDF Chief-of-General-
Staff.

				1964
				****
 
5 January -- Pope Paul VI visits Christian holy places in Israel (for less than 
24 hours).

9 July -- Ze'ev Jabotinsky's remains are interred on Mt. Herzl.

				1965
				****

14 May -- Israel and West Germany open diplomatic relations.

18 May -- Israeli agent Eli Cohen executed in Damascus.

19 August -- First West German Ambassador to Israel presents his 
credentials to President Shazar.

2 November -- Elections held for the Sixth Knesset.

				1966
				****

2 May -- Konrad Adenauer visits Israel.

10 December -- Shai Agnon receives the Nobel Prize for Literature.

				1967
				****

16 May -- Egyptian forces, after having begun to mobilize on 14 May, begin 
crossing the Suez Canal into Sinai.

17 May -- Egyptian President Nasser orders UN forces to evacuate the Gaza 
Strip and Sinai.

20 May -- Partial mobilization of forces declared in Israel.

22 May -- Egypt declares the Straits of Tiran closed to Israeli shipping.

25 May -- Syria, Jordanian, Iraqi, and Saudi Arabian forces begin to mass on 
Israel's borders.

1 June -- National Unity Government formed; Moshe Dayan appointed 
Defense Minister.

5 June -- Israeli air force attacks Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air 
force bases, in pre-emptive strike; Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian air forces 
neutralized.  IDF ground forces attack Egyptian forces in Sinai and the Gaza 
Strip.  Following Jordanian artillery and small arms attacks and a Jordanian 
incursion into the DMZ in Jerusalem, IDF forces commence operations 
against Jordanian military positions in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem.

7 June -- IDF completes deployment in Judea and Samaria.  Old City of 
Jerusalem liberated; city is unified.

8 June -- IDF completes deployment in Sinai (including the Gaza Strip). 
Cease-fires declared with Egypt and Jordan.

9 June -- IDF forces move against Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.

10 June -- IDF completes deployment in the Golan Heights; cease-fire 
declared with Syria.  USSR severs diplomatic ties with Israel.

27 June -- Knesset passes the Protection of Holy Places Law.

21 October -- Israeli destroyer Eilat is sunk by an Egyptian missile off the 
Sinai coast.

22 November -- UN Security Council passes Resolution #242.

				1968
				****
 1 January -- Chaim Bar-Lev appointed eighth IDF Chief-of-General Staff.

27 January -- Israeli submarine Dakar is lost at sea without a trace.

26 May -- First Jerusalem Day celebrated.

22 June -- Prime Minister Levi Eshkol declares that the Jordan River is 
Israel's security border.

22 November -- Car-bomb in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market kills 12.

				1969
				****

26 February -- Prime Minister Levi Eshkol dies.  Golda Meir appointed Prime 
Minister.

28 October -- Elections held for the Seventh Knesset.

				1970
				****

22 May -- 12 are killed (including eight children aged 6 to 9) when terrorist 
shell strikes a bus at Moshav Avivim on the northern border.

8 August -- American-brokered cease-fire ends War of Attrition with Egypt.

				1971
				****

8 July -- A Yassur chopper crashes in northern Sinai. Ten are killed.

31 December -- David Elazar appointed ninth IDF Chief-of-General Staff.

				1972
				****

9 May -- Terrorists murder 27 people (including 21 Christian pilgrims from 
Puerto Rico) at Lod Airport.

5 September -- 11 Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists in 
Munich Olympic Village.

				1973
				****

24 May -- Prof. Ephraim Katzir succeeds Zalman Shazar as President.

13 September -- 13 Syrian MIG-21 planes downed in aerial battle off Syrian 
coast.

6 October -- Egyptian and Syrian forces attack across 1967 cease-fire lines 
and start Yom Kippur War.

6-7 October -- First naval battle in history entirely fought with missiles, 
between Israeli and Syrian frigates off Syrian coast; all Syrian ships are sunk 
(no Israeli losses).

15 October -- First IDF forces cross the Suez Canal.

22 October -- First cease-fire declared on southern front.  UN Security 
Council passes Resolution #338.

24 October -- Second cease-fire declared on southern front; cease-fire 
declared on northern front.

11 November -- Truce agreement signed with Egypt at "Kilometer 101."

15 November -- Exchange of POWs with Egypt.

18 November -- Government decides to set up state commission of inquiry 
(Agranat Commission) into beginning of the war.

1 December -- David Ben-Gurion dies.

21 December -- Geneva Peace conference opens.

31 December -- Elections held for the Eighth Knesset.

				1974
				****

18 January -- Disengagement agreement signed with Egypt.

2 April -- Agranat Commission interim report issued.  IDF Chief-of-General 
Staff Elazar resigns.

3 April -- Mordechai Gur appointed IDF Chief-of-General Staff.

10 April -- Prime Minister Golda Meir resigns thereby causing the government 
to fall.  Terrorists murder 16 civilians and two soldiers in Kiryat Shmona.

21 April—An IAF helicopter crashed on a mission near Syria. 8 crew and 
soldiers killed.

27 April—An IAF chopper crashes while attempting rescue of injured from 
Syrian attack on Hermon. Six soldiers killed.

15 May -- Terrorists murder 26 people (including 20 children) at a school in 
Maalot.

31 May -- Disengagement agreement signed with Syria.

3 June -- Yitzchak Rabin presents his government to the Knesset.

16 June -- US President Nixon visits Israel (first visit by a US president). 18 
November – A IAF helicopter crashes in Haifa Bay. The crew is saved.


				1975
				****

6 March -- Terrorists murder 18 civilians and three IDF soldiers in an attack 
on a Tel-Aviv hotel.

4 July -- Terrorist bomb kills 15 people (including two children) at Zion Square 
in Jerusalem.

1 September -- Second Sinai agreement signed with Egypt.

10 November -- UN General Assembly passes a resolution declaring Zionism 
to be a form of racism.

13 November -- Terrorist bomb in Jerusalem kills seven.

				1976
				****

30 March -- First "Land Day" marked by Israel's Arab community to protest a 
government program for developing the Galilee which included land 
expropriations; six killed.

27 June -- Air France flight #139 out of Athens (en route from Tel-Aviv to 
Paris) is hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists to Uganda (via Libya).

July 3/4 -- Israeli forces land at Entebbe airport in Uganda and free the 
hostages.  (Of the 104 hostages, three were killed during the operation, as 
was one Israeli officer, Jonathan Netanyahu.  The operation was later named 
after him.  An Israeli hostage in a Ugandan hospital was later murdered. 
Several Israeli soldiers were wounded.)

21 December -- Prime Minister Rabin submits his government's resignation.

				1977
				****

7 April -- Yitzchak Rabin announces his resignation as Labor Party leader 
following allegations of foreign currency violations.

7 April -- Maccabi Tel-Aviv basketball team wins European Champions' Cup.

10 May--  A Yassur helicopter  crashes during exercise near Jericho- 54 
paratroops are killed.

17 May -- Elections held for the Ninth Knesset.

19 November -- Egyptian President Anwar Sadat arrives in Israel.

20 November -- Egyptian President Sadat addresses the Knesset.

25 December -- Prime Minister Menachem Begin confers with Egyptian 
President Sadat in Ismailiya, Egypt.

				1978
				****

11 March -- Terrorists murder 39 Israelis after hijacking a bus on the main 
coastal road.

16 March -- IDF launches "Operation Litani" in southern Lebanon.

16 April -- Rafael Eitan succeeds Mordechai Gur as the eleventh IDF Chief- 
of-General Staff.

19 April -- Yitzhcak Navon succeeds Prof. Ephraim Katzir as President.

September -- Prime Minister Begin joins Egyptian President Sadat and US 
President Jimmy Carter at Camp David in Maryland.

19 September -- Camp David accords signed in Washington, DC.

8 December -- Former Prime Minister Golda Meir dies.

10 December -- Prime Minister Begin and Egyptian President Sadat are 
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

				1979
				****

26 March -- Peace treaty with Egypt signed in Washington, DC.

1980

18 February -- Israeli embassy opens in Cairo.

24 February -- The pound is replaced by the shekel.

2 May -- Terrorists murder six Jews outside Beit Hadassah in Hevron.

2 June -- Bombs planted by Jewish terrorists wound several Arab Mayors in 
Judea and Samaria.

30 July -- The Knesset passes the Basic Law: Jerusalem, the Capital of 
Israel.

				1981
				****

27 March -- Maccabi Tel-Aviv basketball team wins European Champions' 
Cup.

7 June -- Air force planes destroy Iraq's nuclear reactor.

30 June -- Elections held for the Tenth Knesset.

18 October -- Moshe Dayan dies.

14 December -- The Knesset passes the Golan Heights Law.

				1982
				****


3 June -- Israeli Ambassador to the UK Shlomo Argov is shot and critically 
wounded in London by Palestinian terrorists.

6 June -- IDF forces move into Lebanon against PLO bases; beginning of 
"Operation Peace for Galilee."

10 June -- IDF forces reach Beirut.

15 September -- IDF forces enter western Beirut.

16 September -- Lebanese Phalangist militiamen perpetrate massacre of 
Palestinian refugees at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in western Beirut.

28 September -- IDF withdraws from western Beirut.  Prime Minister Begin 
appoints Supreme Court President Yitzhcak Kahan to lead a commission of 
inquiry into Israel's role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre.

				1983
				****

8 February -- Kahan Commission issues its report.

9 February -- Ariel Sharon resigns as Defense Minister in the wake of the 
publication of the Kahan Commission report.

11 February -- Emil Grunzweig, who was participating in a "Peace Now" 
demonstration in Jerusalem is murdered by a hand grenade which was 
thrown
at demonstrators.

5 May -- Chaim Herzog succeeds Yitzhcak Navon as President.

31 August -- Prime Minister Begin announces his resignation.

2 September -- Yitzhcak Shamir forms a new government.

3 September -- IDF forces in Lebanon complete withdrawal to the Awali 
River.

				1984
				****

23 July -- Elections held for the Eleventh Knesset.

13 September -- Shimon Peres and Yitzhcak Shamir form Labor-Likud 
national unity government.

November-January 1985 -- Operation Moses; 7,800 Ethiopian Jews brought 
to Israel.

				1985
				****

21 May -- "Jibril deal" is concluded, in which Israel released 1,150 detainees 
in exchange for three IDF prisoners held by terrorist Ahmed Jibril.

6 June -- IDF completes its withdrawal from southern Lebanon.  A security 
zone is established in southern Lebanon.

2 October -- Air force planes bomb PLO headquarters in Tunis.

				1986
				****

1 January -- The New Shekel replaces the Shekel as Israel's currency.

11 February -- Soviet dissident Anatoly (Natan) Sharansky arrives in Israel 
after prolonged incarceration in Soviet prisons.

18 February -- IDF soldiers Yossi Fink and Rachamim Alsheikh are abducted 
in Lebanon.

16 October -- Air force navigator Ron Arad is shot down over Lebanon and 
taken prisoner.

29 October -- Yitzchak Shamir presents his government to the Knesset (in 
keeping with the agreement under which leadership of the national unity 
government would rotate between Shimon Peres and Yitzchak Shamir).

26 November -- Indictment handed down against John Demjanjuk, who was 
accused of being the infamous guard "Ivan the Terrible" at the Treblinka 
concentration camp during WWII.

				1987
				****

16 February -- Demjanjuk trial opens.

19 April -- Dan Shomron appointed eleventh IDF Chief-of-General Staff.

4 June -- Landau Commission appointed to investigate the GSS' interrogation 
methods, following the Bus #300 incident, in which it was revealed that GSS 
agents had killed two Palestinian terrorists who were captured following the 
hijacking of an Egged #300 bus on 12 April 1984.)

1 November -- Landau Commission presents its report.

26 November -- "Night of the Hang-Gliders" (Palestinian terrorist flies over the 
border from Lebanon and attacks an IDF base, killing 6 soldiers).

9 December -- Beginning of the Intifada.

				1988
				****

28 March -- Mordechai Vanunu sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for 
treason and espionage.

1 November -- Elections held for the Twelfth Knesset.

30 November -- National unity government presented to the Knesset.

				1989
				****

15 February -- Taba handed over to Egypt following international arbitration.

6 July -- An Arab terrorist seizes the steering wheel of a #405 Egged bus and 
steers it into a steep ravine, murdering 16 people.

				1990
				****

9 February -- Czechoslovakia restores diplomatic relations with Israel.

27 February -- Poland restores diplomatic relations with Israel.

14 March -- Break-up of the national unity government.

20 May -- Ami Popper murders seven Arab workers at Vradim Junction.

10 October -- 21 Arabs killed in severe disturbances on the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem.

				1991
				****

10 January -- First Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries arrive in Israel.

14 January -- Civil defense authorities instruct Israelis to begin
preparing sealed rooms.

15 January -- Beginning of the Gulf War.

18 January -- Eight Iraqi Scuds launched at Israel; 12 people
lightly-to-moderately wounded.

19 January -- Four Iraqi Scuds launched at Israel; 16 people lightly injured.  
(By 25 February 1992, 39 Scuds fell on Israel.  In the wake of the attacks, 
four people were killed and over 100 were injured).

28 February -- State of emergency is ended, following the end of the Gulf 
War.

1 April -- Ehud Barak appointed twelfth IDF Chief-of-General Staff.

24-25 May -- 14,000 Ethiopian Jews are brought to Israel in "Operation
Solomon."

14 July -- The Congo restores diplomatic relations with Israel.

4 September -- Israel recognizes the independence of Latvia, Lithuania and 
Estonia.

18 October -- Soviet Union restores full diplomatic relations with Israel.

24 October -- Israeli embassy in Moscow is rededicated.

30 October -- Madrid Peace Conference opens.

3 November -- Israel ratifies UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

16 December -- UN General Assembly votes 111-25-13 to repeal the 
November 1975 resolution which declared Zionism to be a form of racism.

23 December -- Soviet (now Russian) Ambassador Alexander Bovin presents 
his credentials to President Herzog (he is the last Soviet envoy ever to 
present official credentials).

25 December -- Israel and Zambia restore diplomatic relations.

26 December -- Israel recognizes the independence of Ukraine.

				1992
				****

1-2 January -- Major snowstorms hit much of the northern and central parts of 
the country; tens of thousands of Jerusalem residents are without electricity.

24 January -- Israel and the People's Republic of China establish
diplomatic relations.

29 January -- India establishes full diplomatic relations with Israel.

9 February -- Major snowstorms again hit much of the northern and central 
parts of the country.  Dam at the southern outlet of Lake Kinneret is opened 
for the first time in four years in an effort to prevent flooding.

3 March -- The Negev town of Rahat becomes the first Bedouin community in 
Israel to receive municipal status.

9 March -- Menachem Begin dies.

17 March -- Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires is destroyed by a terrorist bomb.

18 March -- Knesset passes a law providing for the direct election of the 
prime minister, starting with the elections for the Fourteenth Knesset.

12 April -- Kazakhstan establishes diplomatic relations with Israel.

16 April -- Angola establishes diplomatic relations with Israel.  Israel
formally recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia.

23 April -- Armenia establishes diplomatic relations with Israel.

4 May -- Nigeria restores diplomatic relations with Israel.

23 June -- Elections held for the Thirteenth Knesset.  Labor resumes power 
(not in the context of a national unity government) for the first time
since 1977.

13 July -- Yitzhcak Rabin's Labor-led government is approved by the Knesset.

30 July -- Yael Arad wins a silver medal (Israel's first Olympic medal ever) in 
the women's under-61-kg. judo competition at the Barcelona Olympics.

31 July -- Oren Smadja wins a bronze medal in the men's 70-kg. judo 
competition at the Barcelona Olympics.

13 September -- Gambia restores diplomatic relations with Israel.

5 October -- Nicaragua restores diplomatic relations with Israel.

				1993
				****

13 January -- Israel ratifies an international convention banning chemical
weapons.

28 February -- Arrow missile is successfully test-fired.

13 May -- Ezer Weizman is sworn in as President, succeeding Chaim 
Herzog.

29 July -- The Supreme Court overturns the conviction of John Demjanjuk.

12 September -- Israel and the PLO sign a declaration of principles (the
Oslo Agreement) in Washington, DC.

12 September – Yechiel Karmi killed in Ashdod by Hamas terrorist.

19 September -- UEFA (the European Football Union) grants Israel
provisional membership.

21 September -- Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau meets in Rome with
Pope John Paul II.

23 September -- The Knesset ratifies the Oslo Agreement, 61-50.

27 September – Amitai Kapach killed by terrorist.

29 September -- Gabon and Mauritius restore diplomatic relations with Israel.

9 October – Dror Forer and Aran Bachar are killed in Wadi Kelt by Islamic
Jihad terrorists.

30 October - Bet El resident Chaim Mizrachi is stabbed to death by Arab
terrorists.

2 November -- Local elections held throughout the country.  Jerusalem Mayor 
Teddy Kollek (in office since 1965) is defeated by Likud challenger MK Ehud 
Olmert.

9 November -- Suleiman al-Hawashle is run over and killed by terrosits at
Shagai Jct.

11 November – Ephraim Olevi killed by Hamas terrorists in Hevron.

17 November – Sgt. Chaim Drina is stabbed to death by Islamic Jihad 
terrorists in Gaza.

1 December - - Shalva Ozana and Yitzchak Weinstock are shot to death by 
Hamas terrorists in el-Bireh.

5 December -- IDF soldier David Masherti is shot to death by Islamic Jihad 
terrorists at Holon Junction.

6 December -- Mordechai and Sholom Lapid are killed by Arab terrorists in 
Hevron.

22 December -- Eliyahu Levin and Mayer Mendolovitz are shot to death by 
Hamas terrorists in Betunia.

23 December -- Anatoly Kolisnikov is stabbed to death in Ashdod by Fatah 
terrorist.

24 December - - Lt.-Col. Meir Mintz is killed by terrorists in Gaza.

29 December – Yuval Golan is killed by terrorists in Adorayeem.

31 December – Chaim Weizman and David Booblil are killed by Fatah 
terrorists in Ramle.

				1994
				****

12 January -- OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Nechemia Tamari and three 
other officers are killed in a helicopter crash.

12 January -- Moshe Becker is stabbed to death by PFLP terrorists in Rishon 
L'Tzion.

14 January -- Gregory Izanov is stabbed to death by Hamas terrorists at Erez 
, in Gaza.

8 February -- Shai Shuker is killed by PFLP terrorists in Tira.

9 February -- In Cairo, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO Chairman 
Yassir Arafat sign an agreement on security arrangements regarding Jericho 
and the Gaza Strip.

10 February -- Naftali Sohar is axed to death by Islamic Jihad terrorists in 
Naan.

13 February -- IDF soldier Noam Cohen was shot to death by Hamas 
terrorists.

13 February -- Tzipora Sasson was shot to death on Shomron Highway by 
Hamas terrorists.

19 February -- IDF soldier Ilan Sodari was kidnapped and killed by Islamic 
Jihad.

25 February -- Dr. Baruch Goldstein opens fire at Moslem worshipers inside 
the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hevron, murdering 29.

25 February – Morris Eizenstadt was axed to death in Kfar Saba by Fatah 
terrorists.

27 February -- The government decides to appoint a state commission of 
inquiry into the Hevron massacre.

28 February -- The Knesset votes 93-1-7 to condemn the Hevron massacre.

8 March -- State commission of inquiry into the Hevron massacre begins 
holding hearings.

23 March -- Victor Lashtziver was shot to death in Jerusalem by PFLP 
terrorists.

29 March – Yitzchak Rotenberg is axed to death by Fatah terrorists in Petach 
Tikvah.

31 March – Yossi Zandani was stabbed to death by DFLP terrorists.

6 April -- 6 Israelis are killed in suicide bombing attack in Afula.

7 April – Yishai Gadasi was shot to death by Hamas terrorists at the Ashdod 
Junction.

13 April -- Five Israelis are killed in a suicide bombing attack in Hadera.

17 April – Margolit Shochat and Raphael Yaeri are shot to death in a car by 
Hamas terrorist near Bet Chaggai.

20 April – IDF soldiers Cpl. Erez Ben-Baruch and Sgt. Moshe Bukra were 
shot to death by Hamas terrorists at Erez Checkpoint.

21 April – IDF cadet Shachar Simoni was kidnapped and killed in Jerusalem  
by Hamas terrorists.

25 April -- The reflooding of 6,000 dunams of Lake Hula -- which was dried 
up in the 1950's -- is begun.

4 May -- Israel and the PLO sign an agreement giving autonomy to Jericho 
and the Gaza Strip.

8 May -- A 160-member Temporary International Presence in Hevron (TIPH) 
begins its mission.

10 May -- An independent list headed by Labor MK Chaim Ramon wins the 
Histadrut elections.

26 June -- The state commission of inquiry into the Hevron massacre 
releases its report.

26 June – David Mishali was killed by Fatah terrorists in Tel-Aviv.

1 July – Yoram Skori was killed by Hamas terrorist in Netafim.

6 July – IDF soldier Aryeh Frankental was killed in Beersheba  by Hamas 
terrorist.

7 July – Sarit Prigal was killed in Harsina by Hamas terrorists.

17 July – Border Policeman Jacques Atias is killed at Erez Checkpoint by PA 
police.

19 July- Lt. Guy Ovadia was shot to death in Rafiach by Hamas terrorists.

25 July -- In Washington, DC, Israel and Jordan sign the Washington 
Declaration, ending the state of belligerency between them.

3 August -- The Knesset ratifies the Washington Declaration, 91-3-2. 

14 August – Ron Sobel was shot to death in Kissufim by Hamas terrorists.

24 August -- Israeli and Palestinian negotiators sign the "early empowerment" 
agreement.

26 August -- Shlomo Kapach and Gil Revach were shot and killed by Hamas 
terrorists in Ramle.

4 September - Sgt. Victor Schichman was shot and killed by Hamas terrorists 
at Morag Junction.

1 October -- Israel and Tunisia announce that they are opening interest 
offices in each other's countries.

9 October – IDF soldier Maayan Levy and Samir Maaravi were killed by PA 
policemen in the Naclat Shiva terror attack on Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Mall.

14 October -- The Nobel Prize Committee awards the 1994 Nobel Peace 
Prize to Prime Minister Rabin, Foreign Minister Peres and PLO Chairman 
Yassir
Arafat.

14 October – Cpl. Nachshon Wachsman and Captain Nir Poraz are killed by 
terrorists in a kidnapping and foiled rescue attempt respectively,   in Bir 
Naballah.

17 October -- Israeli and Jordanian negotiators initial a peace treaty, which is 
unanimously approved by the government.

19 October -- 21 Israelis and one Dutch citizen are murdered when a suicide-
terrorist sets off a bomb on a #5 bus in Tel-Aviv.

24 October – Sgt. Ehud Roth and Sgt. Ilan Levy are kidnapped and shot to 
death by terrorists in Khan Yunis.

25 October -- The Knesset ratifies the peace treaty with Jordan, 105-3.

26 October -- Israel and Jordan sign the peace treaty between them.

1 November -- Israel opens a liaison office in Morocco.

7 November -- The Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hevron reopens.

10 November -- King Hussein of Jordan makes his first public visit to Israel.

11 November -- Captain Yechezkiel Sapir, Lt.  Yotam Rahat and Captain 
Eldad Dror were killed by Islamic Jihad suicide bomber at Netzarim, Gaza.

19 November -- Sgt. Gil Gadoun was killed by Hamas terrorists at Netzarim, 
Gaza.

27 November -- Rabbi Amiram Olami was killed by Hamas terrorists near Bet 
Chaggai.

30 November -- Cpl. Liat Gabai was axed to death in Afula by a Fatah 
terrorist.

10 December -- Prime Minister Rabin and Foreign Minister Peres receive 
their Nobel Peace Prizes in Oslo.

11 December -- Israel and Jordan open embassies in each other's countries.

26 December -- Prime Minister Rabin visits Oman.

				1995
				****

1 January -- Amnon Lipkin-Shahak appointed thirteenth IDF Chief-of-General 
Staff.

6 January – Ofra Felix is shot to death between Bet El and Shilo by PFLP 
terrorists.

8 January -- The government votes to establish a state commission of inquiry 
into the disappearance of Yemenite immigrant children between 1948-1954.

22 January -- 20 IDF soldiers and one civilian are murdered in a double 
suicide-bombing at Beit Lid Junction, east of Netanya.

6 February – Yevgeny Grimov is shot to death at Shaagia Junction by DFLP 
terrorists.

24 February -- Tanzania restores diplomatic relations with Israel.

13 March – Rafi Cohen is shot to death in Jerusalem by Hamas terrorists.

19 March – Nachum Haas and Yehuda Partush are shot to death at 
Zechuchit Junction by Hamas terrorists.

29 March – IDF soldiers Nitzan Cohen and Jimal Suidat are run over by 
terrorists at Karnei Junction.

9 April -- 6 IDF soldiers are murdered in a suicide-bombing near Kfar Darom 
in Gush Katif.  An American student and an additional IDF soldier die the next 
day from wounds they sustained in the attack.

24 May – Avraham Chadad is killed by terrorists.

2 July -- The worst fire in Israeli history hits the Jerusalem corridor, near 
Shoresh and Neve Ilan.

16 July -- Deputy Defense Minister, and former IDF Chief-of-General Staff 
Mordechai Gur, commits suicide, following a long illness.

18 July – Ehud Bachrach and Ori Shachor are murdered by PFLP terrorists in 
Wadi Kelt.  24 July -- Five Israelis are murdered when a suicide-bomber 
blows up a #20 bus in Ramat Gan.

21 August -- Three Israelis and one American tourist are murdered when a 
suicide-terrorist blows up a #26 bus in Jerusalem.

4 September -- Jerusalem 3000 celebrations begin.

5 September – Danny Frei is stabbed to death in his Maale Michmas home 
by PFLP terrorists.

24 September -- Israeli and Palestinian negotiators initial the "Oslo II" 
agreement in Taba, Egypt.

27 September -- The government approves the Oslo II agreement, (18-0-2).

28 September -- Oslo II agreement signed in Washington.

6 October -- The Knesset approves the Oslo II agreement, 61-59.

17 October – IDF soldier Muhamed Chuvari is shot to death by terrorists in
Kalkilya.

4 November -- Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin is murdered by a 25-year-old 
Jewish assassin, Yigal Amir.

8 November -- The High Court of Justice rules that the air force cannot bar 
Alice Miller from its combat pilots' course merely because she is a woman.

19 November -- The state commission of inquiry into the assassination of 
Prime Minister Rabin begins its deliberations.

22 November -- The Knesset votes confidence in Shimon Peres' new 
government.

5 December -- Yigal Amir is indicted for murdering Prime Minister Yitzchak 
Rabin.

9 December – A Jewish vehicle is fired upon by terrorists in Gush Etzion. One 
girl is shot in the back.

19 December -- Trial of Yigal Amir begins.

				1996
				****

6 January-- - Yecchi Ayyash, The Engineer-killed by cellular phone explosion 
in Gaza.

16 January—Sgt. Yaniv Shimol and Major Oz Tivon killed in terrorist attack.

30 January – Sgt. Ehud Tal is stabbed to death in Jenin by Hamas terrorists.

4 February – Amram Rebibo is killed in Haifa by terrorists.

25 February -- 25 killed and about 90 wounded in two suicide attacks. Two 
suicide terrorists carried out two attacks in less than one hour -- one in a 
crowded #18 bus in Jerusalem and one at  itch-hiking post at Ashkelon 
Junction. Hamas assumed responsibility for both attacks.

26 February One Israeli woman is killed when an Arab terrorist intentionally 
runs a car into hitching post in Jerusalem's French Hill neighborhood.

3 March -- 18 killed and 7 wounded in another suicide bus attack in 
Jerusalem.

4 March -- 13 killed in suicide attack in heart of Tel Aviv.

27 March -- Yigal Amir convicted of murder of Yitzchak Rabin: sentenced to 
life and an additional six years imprisonment.

11 April -- IDF begins Operation Grapes of Wrath against Hizbullah terrorists 
in southern Lebanon.

13 May --Yeshiva student David Reuvein Boim is shot and killed by terrorists 
near Bet El.

30 May -- Elections held for the Fourteenth Knesset.  Binyamin Netanyahu 
elected Prime Minister of Israel in the first direct election for the post.

9 June -- Efrat and  Yaron Unger shot to death by Arab terrorists near Bet 
Shemesh.

26 June 1996 Terrorist fire on Kibbutz Na'aran, near PA-controlled Jericho. 
No injuries reported.

26 July  Uri, Rachel, and Zeev Munk are shot to death by Arab terrorists near 
Bet Shemesh.

9 September  Sgt. Sharon Edri is kidnapped and shot to death by Hamas  
terrorists.

25 September -- Severe PA-instigated disturbances erupt in Judea, Samaria 
and Gaza following government's decision to open the Hasmonean Tunnel  
adjacent to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.

27, 28 & 29 September – Fourteen IDF soldiers are killed by PA police in 
rioting throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

11 December  Eta and Ephraim Tzur are shot to death by Arab terrorists near 
Dolev.

16 December  IDF soldier Assaf Banor dies from injuries sustained in Bet Lid 
attack two years earlier.

				1997
				****

1 January-- IDF soldier opens fire on Arabs in Casbah of Hevron wounding 
seven Arabs.

9 January-- Two pipe bombs on Neve Sha'anan Street, Tel-Aviv. No one is 
injured.

14 January  Yaakov Yamini is killed by terrorists in Jerusalem.

11 February--31 Arab murderesses including the  killers  of Tzvi Klein and 
IDF soldier David Manos released by Israeli authorities.

15 January -- Agreement on Hevron redeployment signed between Israel and 
the PA.

4 February -- 73 soldiers killed in collision of two Sikorsky helicopters over the 
Shar Yashuv (Galilee panhandle).

13 March -- Seven Israeli schoolchildren shot to death by a Jordanian soldier 
in Naharayim.

21 March -- 3 killed and 42 wounded in an Arab terrorist bomb attack at the 
Apropos Restaurant  in Tel-Aviv.

10 April -- IDF soldier Sgt. Sharon Edri found dead in the Arab village of 
Sourif.

				****

This list, although not comprehensive, gives an overview of many events over 
the last 49 years, including terror attacks in which lives were lost.

				****

Sources: GPO, SNS News Service/ Terror Victim list, Israel Yearbook and  
Almanac, 1991-92, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 (Naftali Greenwood, Editor-in-
Chief); The Dent Atlas of The Arab-Israeli Conflict (by Martin Gilbert); A 
History of Israel; From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time (by Prof. Howard M. 
Sachar); A History of Israel, Vol. II: From the Aftermath of the Yom Kippur 
War (by Prof. Howard M. Sachar); Political Dictionary of the State of Israel 
(Susan Hattis Rolef, Editor); Biographical Dictionary of the Middle East (by 
Yaacov Shimoni); The Jerusalem Post; material was also supplied by the 
Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archives.

				****

SNS News Service - is owned and operated by IINS Ltd. (Israel Internet 
News Service )  - copyright 1997
To subscribe, send an email message to: subscribe@snsnews.co.il with the 
word subscribe in the body of the message. http://www.snsnews.co.il Text 
Only Site: http://www.snsnews.co.il/textonly

*************************

Spiritual Food for the Last-Days
Foundations of Faith - Part 1
By Rev. Lee Simmon

MIRROR MIRROR

James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive 
yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word, but does not do 
what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror; and after looking 
at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."   

Most of us are so familiar with that story, "Snow White." There is the mean, 
angry step-mother looking in the mirror; and as she looks, she says those 
famous words-- certainly expecting the mirror to tell her what she wants to 
hear. So she says, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" 
Now there's something about a mirror that's brutally honest. She did not 
expect to hear what she heard; and when you and I look in a mirror, we find 
that it's brutally honest. It shows us exactly what we are.

Do you ever wonder why the first thing in the morning when you get up you 
look in the mirror? Do you do that? I mean, you get up, you kind of stumble 
into the bathroom, you look, and you say, "Oh my!" Your hair's all over the 
place and, if you're a guy, you know you need a shave. Maybe you didn't get 
enough sleep and there are bags under your eyes and you don't look as 
young as you used to. You look in the mirror and say, "Man, I've got a lot of 
work to do today!". I mean, the mirror is brutally honest! 

Do you ever go to your mirror and say, "How do you adjust this thing?! 
Something's not right here. I'm going to trade this thing in for a better one 
because I don't like what I see?" No. A mirror is the exact reflection of us, and 
it's brutally honest because it shows us as we really are; and that's why we 
spend so much time before we ever go anywhere to do the best we can with 
what we have. The very last thing we do before we leave the house is that we 
take one last look. Sometimes, if we're out with a group of people, and they're 
looking at us strange, we run to take a look to make sure that everything's 
O.K. 
 
Now here in the book of James, chapter 1, there's an illustration of a mirror. It 
tells us that the Bible is to be our mirror--that when we look in the Word of 
God, we should see ourselves as we really are and for God to show us what 
needs to be changed in our lives. You see, the mirror is our standard and the 
Bible is the standard that God has given to us. How do we know what's right 
and wrong, what's good and bad, what we should do and what we shouldn't 
do? What changes need to be made in us? We're not going to find it in the 
latest magazine. We're not going to find it in the educational systems. We're 
not going to find it on television and the media. The only way that we really 
know what the standard is, the way to really examine ourselves and see 
ourselves as God sees us is in the Word of God. So God gives us a mirror to 
look at.

Now take your Bible, please, and go back to James chapter 1 and notice 
what he says in verse 22 about this mirror: "Do not merely listen to the Word, 
and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word, 
but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror; 
and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks 
like."

Now notice again verse 22. "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive 
yourselves. Do what it says." This word, "listen" is a very interesting word in 
the Bible. It literally means to listen to a lecture, but not become a disciple. 
You ask, "what does that mean?" Well, in the Greek culture, in the Greek 
world of which the Bible was written, there were many philosophers all over 
the place; and they were always looking for disciples. So they would go from 
place to place, from town to town and they would give a lecture. Students 
would come, or people would come, to hear the lectures. So there were those 
who would go to listen to all the lectures, but only a handful who would really 
become followers or disciples of the philosopher. So James says that's what 
you need to be. Just don't go there and listen, listen, listen. You have to be a 
doer of the Word. It says, "don't be deceived".

You say, "how can I be deceived if I'm listening to the Word of God?". Well, 
there are many people today who will go to all the services in the church. 
They'll listen to Christian radio. They'll have the Bible on cassette. They'll 
listen, listen, listen, listen and yet, they deceive themselves thinking they're 
really spiritual. "Oh, I'm always listening to Christian radio. I'm always listening 
to preaching. Oh, I'm always memorizing verses of Scripture," but no real 
change inside is taking place.

When I was in Bible school many years ago, there was one young man who 
was particularly arrogant and cocky and know-it-all. I thought, "boy, that guy 
really has some work to be done in his life." Later, I heard that when he was 
in high school, he'd memorized whole books of the Bible for Bible quizzing; 
and yet, although he had memorized more Scripture than I ever dreamed 
about memorizing, as I looked at his life, there were some major character 
flaws. Although he knew the Word, the Word didn't know him.

So the Bible says just don't be a listener. Don't be self deceived thinking that 
you're so spiritual because you've heard all these things and you know all 
these things. It's got to change your life. The Word needs to be the mirror we 
look into to see ourselves as we really are. 
 
Now, in verse 25 of this chapter, we notice how the Word is to work in our life. 
If you're in the habit of marking your Bible and would care to do so, I want you 
to notice four key words in this one verse of Scripture, because it tells us how 
the Word of God needs to work in our life.  
 
We're starting a new series of messages called the Fundamentals of the 
Faith. No, no. It's not about being a fundamentalist. That's something 
different--but about the very basics, the very foundations of our faith. What 
should be the bottom line and at the very bottom line is the foundation of the 
Word of God. It's the standard. It's how we see ourselves as we are.  

"But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and 
continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be 
blessed in what he does." (James 1:25) 
 
In this particular verse of Scripture, James 1:25, there are four different words 
that speak about the relationship that the Word of God needs to have in our 
life. First, we have to look at it intently. Second of all, we've got to continue in 
the Word of God. Continue to do this. Third, not forgetting, remembering 
what we've heard. And fourth, doing it. Just do it. When we do those things, 
we will be blessed by the Lord.  
 
Now the first thing it says is to look intently into it. This is another phenomenal 
word in the Bible. It's only found on one other occasion. That's in John 20:5-
11. It's the passage about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you remember 
the story, early that resurrection morning Peter and John are racing to the 
tomb. John stops because he's cautious. Peter runs right in and the Bible 
says that John stopped and he looked in and he gazed intently at the grave 
clothes. What was John doing? He was examining them very closely. I mean, 
there was the head piece. It was right in place and there were the linens right 
in place and he's looking intently. You know, what is all this? Of course, it was 
the resurrection. It took a little while for the disciples to realize that.  
 
Then Mary comes and she stoops at the tomb and she just spends that time 
gazing inside contemplating and looking. That's what this phrase means, that 
you just look and you look, and you look and you look. It's a great, intense 
look. And God has given us His Word as we are to look into a mirror we don't 
just glance at ourselves and go on and we miss some certain things about 
ourselves that we need to take care of. When we look intently, we make sure 
that every hair is in place and that my dress is O.K. and now I'm ready to go 
in the same way. We are to look intently and very closely at the teachings of 
the Word of God.  
 
Now do you know that you can read or study the Bible the wrong way? Did 
you ever read the Bible out of duty? Because you had to do it? I knew a 
young man a number of years ago who went off to Bible and they wanted 
everybody in this Bible school to have daily devotions and read the Bible 
every day. So they gave you a little booklet of Scripture readings with a little 
place where you were supposed to write in the answers to some questions. 
The dorm supervisor had to read them over every week, so you had to do it. 
And everybody had to get up at 6:00 in the morning to have their daily 
devotions.
 
Well this fellow said that guys would get up in the dorm and they'd be so tired, 
they didn't want to do it. They were up late the night before. They would go to 
their desks and they would just read a few verses and write something down. 
Then they'd put their head on their Bible and sleep until breakfast time. You 
see, you can do it out of duty.  
 
Many years ago, I was in a church service and the pastor challenged 
everybody to read the Bible from cover to cover every year. Being a goal 
oriented person, I just jumped on that and said, "Yes! That's a great thing to 
do!" and it is good to read the Bible from cover to cover, and yes, we should 
be doing that; but I thought, "Yes. I'm going to do that." So I began every year 
to read the Bible through and every year I did it, the better I felt every year 
because I could tell people I'd read it through six times and seven times and 
eight times and nine times. But it was a source of pride, spiritual pride. And 
you know, in reality, there were many times in the morning I'd get up and read 
the scriptures and think, "Well, today's three chapters. Today's four chapters" 
and I'd read those three or four chapters, but I didn't get anything out of it. 
You see, I read it out of duty. So I could just do it. Just check it off. I wasn't 
looking intently into it. Just get it done and I could say I'd done it. Many people 
approach personal devotions that way. "Well, did that for the day! Time to go 
on..." That's the wrong way. 
 
You can read the Scripture just for doctrine or teaching. Maybe you're into the 
Rapture or certain other things and you think, "Oh, boy! I found a verse here 
and I found a verse there!" and there's nothing wrong with teaching and 
doctrine; but if we're only approaching the Bible in an intellectual way, just to 
find and gain more knowledge, we're reading for the wrong reason. So you 
can read the Word out of duty. You can read the Word out of doctrine. You 
can also read out of debate. Maybe you're having a discussion with someone 
at work or someone in your Bible study group and they're wrong and you're 
right and you're sure of it. Boy, you're reading through the Word and you're 
finding some more ammunition. You go, "Whoa! I can't wait to get this verse 
and show them that! I'm gonna' prove them wrong!" So we look at the Word 
as ammunition to fight somebody else. And we're not getting anything out of 
it.  
 
In Psalm 1:2 we read of the man who really has a hunger for God and his 
delight is the law of the Lord. In his law he meditates day and night. So when 
we look at the Word, we need to approach it as if we were looking into a 
mirror. "God, what's wrong? What needs to be done in my life? I'm looking at 
your Word. Now what do You have to say to me?" That's why I like to write in 
my Bible when I have my time with the Lord-- because when God zaps me 
with something I say, "Oh, God, I'm going to ask You to help me with that. 
Lord, I need some help there." And I'll write it and I'll even date it. I'll claim this 
verse and I'll claim this date for God to work in my life this way. 
 
You see, if we're going to use the Word as God says, as a mirror, then we 
need to look at it intently. We need to be constantly looking at it. The Bible 
says, "sincerely desire the milk of the Word that you may grow thereby." You 
and I will not grow spiritually, the Bible says, if we're not feeding on spiritual 
food. So we have to feed on the things of the Word of God. So first of all we 
have to look intently at it.  
 
Second of all it says to continue to do this. Many of us are like my friend Tim. 
Many years ago Tim came to know the Lord as his Savior and I just watched 
him explode in growth. I mean, he had such a hunger for the things of God. 
When he got up in the morning during his breakfast, he'd be reading the 
scripture. At lunch time, he'd take the Bible, put it in his lunch bucket and 
when it was lunch, he'd be reading the Bible. He'd get home from work that 
evening. No TV. He'd read the Bible. He had just such a hunger for the things 
of the Lord, but as time went on, it got a little colder.  
 
One day my wife and I were over at his house. He looked at me and said, "I 
don't know what happened. I used to have such a hunger for the Bible. I used 
to spend so much time in the Bible and now I can't even pick it up." He said, 
"I haven't read it in weeks and it's just one of the hardest things for me to do 
is to pick up the Bible again." Isn't it easy to get started in things and quit? It's 
easy to start, but it's hard to finish. You say, "How do you know that?" Well, 
how many people have started diets and have quit? How about, "I'm going to 
finally begin to exercise!"? You go around to yard sales and at every house 
there's a treadmill or there's an exercise bike or a set of weights where 
people had great intentions, but after a week or two they quit. You see, it's 
easy to get started in doing something right but   

Now, why'is it so hard? At one time, when we're on fire for God and we really 
devour the Word, why is it so hard to continue to do it? I believe the answer is 
because the enemy doesn't want it to happen. I believe he's got his hand right 
on the book. You say, "Why do you say that?" Well, what weapon did Jesus 
use to fight the enemy? Of all the spiritual weapons that Jesus Christ had 
available, when the enemy came at Him three times, every time he said this: 
"Devil, it is written..." and then He quoted the Word of God.  
 
Now, if the Word of God is that important for us as a weapon, then he wants 
to keep it out of our hands. The Bible says that of all the armor we have, we 
have one offensive weapon and that's the sword of the Spirit--the Word of 
God. I believe that every time we open the Word up and we begin to get into 
it and we begin to get fed on it, then we are defeating the enemy. So say, 
"Devil, I'm not going to let you have me in this. I'm not going to let you put me 
down in this. I am going to continue with what God has asked me to do."  
 
I Peter 2:2 "Sincerely desire the milk of the Word, that you may grow 
thereby." I need to grow spiritually. God, I need Your Word. I need to look in 
the mirror so I want to hunger and thirst after righteousness that I might be 
filled. You see, so many times in life we start, we start, we start. But we stop. 
The Bible says continue, continue. 
  
It's very interesting that the tense of these words are participles and they 
mean continuous action. So, you look and you look and you look and you 
continue and you continue and you continue. You don't forget, you don't 
forget, you don't forget. You just do it and you do it and you do it and you do 
it. Because God says through James that we need a mirror. We've got to 
keep looking.  
 
"Well I looked at myself a month ago! I looked pretty good then!" What would 
you and I look like if we never looked in a mirror for a month? Not so good, 
huh? So the Bible says continue in doing it. For some of us, it's been a long 
time. The Lord's saying, start again. Be faithful again.   
 
Then it goes on to say, "not forgetting what he has heard". I find it very 
interesting that in the Scripture we're told so many times to forget. "There's 
one thing I do," the Apostle Paul said in Phillipians 3:13 "forgetting the things 
that are behind and pressing forward to the things that are ahead." Did you 
ever notice how the enemy flip-flops things around? See, the Bible says to 
forget the past. We forget the glory of our past as well as the gloom of our 
past. We're just to put it behind us and to press ahead. The Bible says forget 
the past. Press on to the future. But here the Bible says something not to 
forget. Don't forget all of what you've read, all of what you've heard, all of 
what you've studied. And what happens is, we forget what we've learned, but 
we remember the past. See, everything God tells us to do the right way, the 
enemy flips around and many of us spend our time not forgetting the past, but 
forgetting what God tells us in the mirror of His Word.  

Oftentimes, when it comes to the Scriptures, we have selective hearing. We 
only hear certain parts. We only hear the parts we want to hear. We ignore 
the parts we don't want to hear. It's kind of like the typical husband. You 
know, guys, it's like we're sitting there reading the paper and our wife says, 
"Honey, would you take out the trash?". "Honey, would you come help me 
with this?" and we don't hear a thing; but then we hear "dinner's ready!". 
Boom, we're at the table just like that! Right? We're selective about what we 
want to hear. Oftentimes, we approach the Scriptures the same way. You 
see, for many of us, when the Bible speaks about serving the Lord we say, 
"oh that's wonderful. Yes, I want to serve God." You say, "I want to be 
involved in service to Him" and it's very important. The Bible tells about 
serving the Lord; but you see, the Bible says that not only is it important to do 
what God wants us to do. What we are is also important. You see, our being 
is as important as our doing. God working inside in our heart and our 
character is as important at serving the Lord.  
 
In fact, if we have a flaw in our character, our service will come tumbling 
down. Over and over we've watched people who've been known not only 
nationally but around the world. I mean, they were doers. They were serving. 
But because there was a flaw inside the whole thing came crumbling down. 
So, it's easy to do the things that we get the strokes for--the things we get the 
affirmation for. "Oh, well you're doing this;" and "you're gifted in this" and 
"you're doing that" and we can focus on those parts of the Word of God, but 
miss the character in the fruit that God wants to develop in our life.  
 
When God begins speaking about character, things that people don't see on 
the surface, and when we look in the mirror and He says, " I want to deal with 
this and this and this," we have to look at all of it. Not forgetting any of it. Not 
just being selective and taking the things that we like to hear.  
 
You see, some people approach the scripture like a cafeteria. "Oh boy, this is 
good. Man, what a nice meal here! Whew, prophecy! Yes, I'll take all that! 
Oh, I'm loved! Yes, I'll take all that! God's going to forgive me my sins! I'll take 
all that!" 
   
"I don't think I'll take that, that deals with my temper. You know, that's my 
nationality anyway. So I can't help that." No, we take it all. Right? Whatever 
God says. 
 
So, we're to look intently. We're not to quit. We're to continue in the standard, 
God's Word. We're not to forget it but to continue to go looking in it. Why 
does the Bible repeat itself so many times? To help us to remember. Isn't that 
a good way to learn? Repetition, repetition. Why does the Bible say 26 times 
"love one another"? --for us to get the point and not to forget that we need to 
love one another!   
 
 The last thing it says is "but doing it." Just not hearing, just not looking, just 
not knowing, "but doing it." The King James version says to be a doer. It 
reminds me of the Nike commercial. You know, all those athletes are out 
there and they're playing basketball, or they're doing track, or doing this sport 
or that sport. You can see all that happening and then it says, "just do it." 
That's what God's saying here. (Way before the commercial.) "Just do it!" 
We're to be doers whether you like it or not. Whether you want to or not. 
Whether you say it's hard or not. God just says be a doer of the Word of God. 
Whatever he says, do. 
 
We look in the mirror and we see things and say, "Oh Lord, this is hard!" But 
He says, "just do it!" 
"Well, I don't know about this!" And He says, "JUST DO IT!" 
  
Of course, we don't do it on our own because we can't; but the Holy Spirit is 
there to help us and to give us power to have victory in our lives. He says, 
"just do it." 
 
Now we can stop the text right here and say, "Whew! Lord, that's a tough 
one. I've not really been in your Word like I should be. I'm really not looking 
like I should be and I'm not where I should be." We could be convicted right 
now, but the text goes on.  
  
It says, just to make sure, if you haven't gotten the point, here's what this all 
means: in verse 26 "if anyone considers himself to be religious, to be 
spiritual, and yet does not keep a rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and 
his religion is worthless." You look at yourself and you say, "Oh I'm not going 
to worry about what I say. You know, that's a different thing." The Bible says 
it's empty. It's worthless. 
 
Here's a basic issue. Look in Proverbs and what does it talk about? 
Controlling the tongue. Jesus spoke about it in the New Testament and 
James says, in case you haven't gotten it yet, here's one particular thing! 
Here's one particular area to really demonstrate whether you're looking in the 
mirror of the Word. Are you letting God change you in this area? He says this: 
religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this--be a great 
preacher, great evangelist, great teacher, great soul-winner, great singer. 
Hah! It doesn't say that! Anything wrong with those things? Absolutely not. 
But he brings it very practically and says this, pure religious spirituality: to look 
after orphans and widows in their distress, to look after those who are hurting, 
those who need love, those who need help and to keep oneself from being 
polluted by the world--that's character. Ouch! 
 
James says, you really want to know what I'm saying here about looking at 
the word of God and looking in the mirror and looking intently and being a 
doer of the Word? Here are just a couple examples of what I'm talking about. 
You see, the problem is that so often we get affirmation and we get our 
strokes by the things that people see about us. Is there anything wrong with 
serving? We need to serve. But it's about all of us, about our total being as 
we look at ourselves as God wants us to through the mirror of His Word. 
 
Now I want you to turn to one more passage in Matthew 7 to see what the 
Lord says about this. Matthew 7: the most important thing is doing the will of 
God. And even though we might do spectacular things, awesome things, 
apart from God's will, they're meaningless. Matthew 7:21--"not everyone who 
says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But only he who 
does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Verse 22--"Many will say to me 
on that day Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name 
drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I 
never knew you. Away from me you evildoers." The most important thing is 
doing the will of God whether it's visiting a widow, whether it's keeping 
ourselves from being polluted, whether it's bridling our tongue, God says do 
it. It's the only standard we have. It's really the only truth that we will ever 
have about who we really are and what God is asking us to do to conform us 
into the image of His Son. 
 
So we have to ask ourselves, if we look in the mirror of James 1:25, "Am I 
looking intently in God's Word?" "Am I in it on a daily basis looking for what 
God needs to say to me?" "Am I continuing?" Some of us got great starts, but 
we got cold. We need to restart and say, "God I need to begin again to be in 
Your Word." "Am I remembering what God is asking me to do? Lord, this is a 
character flaw, this is a weakness, this is an area. God, I need You, by Your 
Holy Spirit, to help me with this, to work on this, to work on that." 
 
We're saying, God whatever it is, you say to do it. No matter how hard, no 
matter what the consequence, God, You're saying do it. So as we look at the 
Word of God we have to say, "Mirror, mirror on the wall. What are you really 
saying to me after all?  
 
Let's pray: Lord, your Word is a light and a lamp. Lord, you have given us 
your standard. You say it's the perfect law of liberty, that we are liberated 
through it and that it is perfect. There are no errors. Father, maybe to others 
we look like we're the superstars and yet, Lord, as we look at the mirror of 
your Word, we see Lord that there are areas that we have not let you work on 
or cared to work on. So we pray, Father, that you would help us to see 
ourselves as you see us as we look in your Word and that we will be 
conformed to the image of your Son. Lord, here we are wholly available. We'll 
be at your altar, Father, for you to do your work in our hearts. We ask in the 
name of Jesus. Amen.   
 
You know, the very first thing that the Scripture tells us is that you must be 
born again. That's not some decision of some church or some group of 
people somewhere. Jesus said it: unless a man is born again he cannot see 
the kingdom of heaven. Just as we have a physical birth, we need a spiritual 
rebirth. If you're reading this, that's what God's Word has to say. If you've not 
received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior to come into your life, to 
change your life, you can become a different person with your sins forgiven 
and with the Lord in your life. If that's you, I invite you to accept Christ today 
 
The Bible tells us, that as many as received Him (Jesus), He gave them the 
right to become children of God, even those who believe on His name.  
 
So I am going to pray a prayer of invitation to receive Jesus into your life. It is 
not like saying an "our Father" or like reading a prayer card, it is not the words 
that are significant but what it means. You are going to ask Jesus to save you 
from your sins, to come into your heart, to be the master of your life and to 
take you to heaven when you die. So if you are not sure of your salvation 
today, and the desire of your heart is for Jesus Christ to come into your life to 
be your Lord and Savior, make this your prayer.  
 
Dear Lord, I am a sinner. I confess my sins to you and right now ask you to 
forgive my every sin. I invite you right now into my life, to be my Lord and my 
Savior. Thank you for coming into my life. May never be the same again. 
Make me a new person in Jesus Christ for I thank you in Jesus name. Amen.   
 
Father we thank you. We thank you for the body and blood of Jesus and as 
we come around your table, help us to come with a heart cleansed by the 
blood of Christ, with an attitude of gratefulness and a desire to walk in the 
holiness you have called us to. We thank you and praise you in Jesus name  

****************

PropheZine NEWSBYTES 

"LITTLE WAILING WALL" PLANNED FOR JEWISH PRAYER 

The Religion Ministry plans to discuss setting up a new prayer area, 
nicknamed the "Little Wailing Wall" in the Moslem quarter of the Old City of 
Jerusalem, despite police warnings that prayer at the site will create "a high 
security risk." 

The Little Wailing Wall is part of a small alleyway located near the Atirat 
Kohanim Yeshiva. Like the Wailing Wall, it is part of the western retaining 
wall built in 20BC by Herod around the Second Temple, but is located in an 
area that is now dirty and dilapidated. 

In the past, the Little Wailing Wall has been suggested as a prayer site for 
women or for Reform Jews. The Women of the Kotel (Wall) organization 
which has fought for equal prayer rights for women at the Wailing Wall has 
always rejected the idea, saying it is too dangerous given its  location in the 
heart of a hostile neighborhood. 

When the suggestion first arose, the police gave its opinion that "prayer at the 
site would constitute a high security risk due to its location in the midst of a 
hostile population and across from the entrance to the Temple Mount."

The Religion Ministry plans to hold discussions today with officials from the 
ministries of Housing, Interior Security, Transportation, Tourism and 
Education and Culture on a general plan, costing about 15 million shekels, to 
improve facilities for prayer and tourism in the old city.

Under the plan, more than 2.5 million shekels would be allocated for the Little 
Western Wall, half of it to widen the alleyway and the rest to clean and fortify 
the structure.

Religion Ministry Director General says the plan, mentioned in the ministry's 
internal newsletter, is not politically motivated. {HAARETZ 5/6 P|C}

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

EBOLA-LIKE VIRUS IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

 BLOW THE TRUMPET. This report is unconfirmed by the mainline media, 
but has been reported by a reliable source, Dr. Len Horowitz. If the story 
turns out to be true, then the biological war against mankind may have 
started. The plagues spoken of by Jesus in Matthew, Chapter 24 will be a 
reality, and this may just be the beginning of that reality. 

Subject: New Ebola-like Virus Outbreak in the Dominican Republic 

The following report was submitted by telephone to Tetrahedron, Inc. from 
local citizens of the Dominican Republic: 

On the Northeast side of the Island, poor villagers and wealthy farmers alike 
are dying, apparent victims of a biological weapons attack. Trucks bearing 
the letters "CDC" were reported spraying a white smoky substance into the 
air surrounding the areas in question. To date, the international news 
community have failed to report anything on this outbreak. 

>From Boya to San Piedro and San Cristobal, as close as 75km from Santo 
Domingo, the nation's capital, largely dissolved corpses are being carted off 
in body bags by gloved masked men in white infection control outfits,

Beginning on Thursday, May 1, all traffic was stopped going in and out of this 
"hot zone." All live stock and farm animals in these regions were observed 
lying dead. CDC officials on the scene informed locals that the spraying 
trucks were being used to reduce the spread of lethal viruses. A search of the 
Internet failed to reveal any mention of this outbreak. U.S. citizens and people 
throughout the world should be informed and warned that they too may be at 
risk for biological weapons attack possibly from US government vehicles and  
terrorists. 

Reported by Dr. Len Horowitz, May 6, 1997, author of "Emerging Viruses: 

++++++++++++++++++++++++ 


************

URGENT PRAYER NEEDED: China orders the execution of Christians
By: John Loeffler


Reliable sources in China have informed International Christian Concern that 
the Chinese government has ordered the execution of China's most 
prominent Christian house church leaders.  Xu Yong Ze could be executed 
any time soon, according to the source.

Pastor Xu was arrested in Zhengzhou, Henan province on March 16 along 
with 16 other popular house church leaders.  The eight were arrested after 
having met together to discuss uniting their house churches. Pastor Xu's 
church network Cong Sheng (Born Again) is estimated to be over eight 
million in number.  The merger would have created the largest organized 
body of Christians is China.

The names of the other seven arrested in March are: Liu Zhenying, Wang 
Xincai, Wang Baoquan, Fang Xian, Mui Sheng Ging Jing and Elder Qiao.  
The fate of these seven is unknown.

The Born Again House Church is considered a "heresy" by the Chinese 
government.  In the government's "strike hard" campaign against crime, the 
illegal house churches are being targeted because of their rapid growth and 
evangelistic fervor.

Pastor Xu Yong Ze had been imprisoned three times.  He has been in hiding 
since 1991 following his release from his last prison sentence.  His last arrest 
occurred in 1991 following an attempt to meet with evangelist Billy Graham.

President Bill Clinton is expected to decide this month whether or not China 
should continue to receive Most Favored Nation trading privileges.  ICC is 
urging Americans to express their outrage by phoning the White House and 
their representatives in Congress.

White House: (202) 456-1111
Capitol:     (202) 224-3121
Chinese Embassy: (202) 328-2582

From:
John Loeffler
Steel on Steel Radio Program
P.O. 3358
Hayden, ID 83835-3358


****************************************


F.Y.I. - Israel In The News
Week Ending: May 17, 1997/10 Iyar, 5757

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be 
born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion 
travailed, she also brought forth her sons." Isaiah 66.8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ISRAEL INDEPENDENCE DAY: Israel celebrated its 49th year of 
independence on Monday with the traditional lighting of the torches on Mount 
Herzl. The theme of this year's celebrations was the 100th anniversary of the 
First Zionist Congress in Basel. Major public ceremonies included a reception 
for commanders in the War of Independence in the President's House, a 
reception for outstanding soldiers and the diplomatic corps, the International 
Bible Contest, and the prestigious Israel Prize award ceremony. The Shas 
Party declared Independence Day a "Day of Torah." A satellite link broadcast 
Torah lectures and prayer from Jerusalem's Bucharin neighborhood to 
synagogues nationwide. In his address to the Palestinian Authority (PA)- 
elected council in Ram'Allah, PLO Chairman Arafat stated the day the State 
of Israel achieved its independence was a "sad day" for his people and the 
"Palestinian people were subjected to the worst holocaust in history." The PA 
announced that it would commemorate Israel's Independence Day as a 
"national day of mourning." Thousands from Kiryat Arba and Hevron filled the 
park in front of Ma'arat HaMachpela to hear speeches and listen to children's 
choirs from the various educational institutions in Kiryat Arba. Of course, 
fireworks were also a main attraction.

Following the events holiday prayer services took place both inside and 
outside the Ma'arat. (Arutz Sheva, SNS, Hevron Press Office, Kol Yisrael, 
MED)

ON THE NORTHERN FRONT: Three Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers 
from the elite parachutists' commando unit were killed Thursday night in a 
bitter battle with Hizb'Allah terrorists north of the Security Zone in Lebanon. 
Seven others were wounded in the battle. Two of the terrorists were killed. 
The Israel Air Force bombed terrorist bases Friday morning in Lebanon. The 
fighting follows a marked escalation in clashes and attacks by Hizb'Allah on 
IDF and South Lebanese Army (SLA) targets. In a clash Wednesday morning 
in the eastern sector of the Zone, the IDF Spokesman said at least one 
Hizb'Allah gunman was killed, while there were no casualties among the IDF 
soldiers. In a separate incident late Wednesday night, Hizb'Allah gunmen 
fired Sagger missiles at two IDF tanks in the Barasheet area in the western 
sector of the Security Zone. There were no casualties from the missile attack, 
although one of the tanks was damaged. IDF gunners returned fire. There 
were no reports of any casualties from the shelling. Meanwhile, on Monday, a 
force of 60 Hizb'Allah terrorists attempted to conquer the SLA stronghold of 
Sujud in the eastern sector of the Security Zone in southern Lebanon. Four of 
them were killed, as were four SLA soldiers; 4 soldiers of the SLA and one of 
the IDF were lightly injured.

Meanwhile, the IDF has issued warnings to soldiers serving in south Lebanon 
after receiving information about possible attempted kidnappings in the 
Security Zone. According to an Arab journal, members of Ahmed Jibril's 
Palestinian rejectionist group are planning, together with Hizb'Allah, to abduct 
soldiers and transfer them to the Beka Valley. In the magazine, it is reported 
that the plan was prompted by a rivalry between various organizations 
operating in south Lebanon.

Iran delivered 37 jumbo flights of weapons to Syria, destined for Hizb'Allah 
guerrillas in Lebanon, in the first four months of the year. The statement was 
made Thursday by Uri Lubrani, an Israeli government official who coordinates 
Israel's activities in Lebanon. He said Hizb'Allah takes it orders from Iran, but 
could be controlled by Syria if terms of an agreement with Israel were worked 
out. At the same time, Lubrani said, Russia and China continue to provide 
Iran with nuclear weapons technology. "We will do our utmost to prevent Iran 
from getting an unconventional weapon," the Israeli official said. (Arutz 
Sheva, Jerusalem Post, SNS, Kol Yisrael, MED, AP)

LEGISLATORS IN ISRAEL, US OUTRAGED AT PA THREATS AGAINST 
LAND DEALERS: Arabs in the PA who deal in the sale of lands to Jews 
continue to be in danger. The body of the Arab real estate agent Farid 
Bashiti, who was murdered last week, was examined Sunday in the (Israeli) 
Pathological Institute in Abu Kabir. His family was refused permission to hold 
a funeral ceremony in a Jerusalem mosque, and the imam [the prayer leader] 
told them that he should be buried next to the murdered Arab who sold his 
Jerusalem apartment to Ariel Sharon some years ago. Member of Knesset 
(MK) Chanan Porat (NRP) has joined his colleague MK Shaul Yahalom in 
asking the Attorney-General to open an investigation against top Arafat-
advisor Dr. Ahmed Tibi. They claim that Tibi's remarks against Palestinians 
who sell land to Jews constitute incitement to murder. Bashiti was murdered 
the same day that Tibi's remarks were broadcast. Congressman Jim Saxton 
(R-NJ) commented on the intention of the PA to institute the death penalty for 
land sales to Jews: "This piece of legislation is one of the most anti-Semitic 
laws ... To make matters worse, the United States is implicitly acquiescing in 
this policy by providing funds for the Palestinian Authority, which produced 
this abominable piece of legislation. [This law] is in direct violation of the 
Middle East Peace Facilitation Act, which requires that the PA 'respect civil 
liberties, human rights and democratic norms.'" The US House international 
relations committee chairman Benjamin Gilman called the PA's death penalty 
edict "racist" and urged Arafat to repudiate it.

Israel has accused Arafat's personal security unit of the murder. A senior 
Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated: "There is no doubt 
at all that [Arafat's personal guard] Force 17 killed him." Bashiti was seen at 
the Force 17 headquarters in Ram'Allah on Thursday night, the official said. 
Five hours later, "the hospital in Ram'Allah phoned his wife and told her she 
could come and pick up his body." The Israeli official said Bashiti was lured to 
a meeting at an east Jerusalem hotel by a woman who told him she had 
buyers for two houses in Ram'Allah he was trying to sell. From there it 
appears he was abducted. Members of his family have reportedly 
corroborated this report.

Meanwhile, Israeli police have arrested a female Arab resident of Jerusalem 
for suspicion of having taken part in the murder of Bashiti. Last Thursday, 
several hours before his murder, the suspect was seen escorting Bashiti from 
the East Jerusalem Ambassador Hotel. The police believe that, from there, a 
Jerusalem lawyer who is an officer in the PA police assigned to the Ram'Allah 
District, took Bashiti to Ram'Allah, where he was blindfolded, tied and 
bludgeoned to death in an alley near the police station. the PA officer was 
arrested Friday. (Arutz Sheva, ICEJ, SNS)

'MEGA' IS CIA ISRAEL DESK CHIEF: Israel has told the US that "Mega" - 
the mystery subject of an FBI probe into alleged Israeli spying in Washington 
- was merely the codename for the head of the Israel desk at the CIA, Yediot 
Ahronot reported Tuesday. The US administration has made it clear to the 
Israeli embassy in Washington that no US official body was behind the 
reports last week that Israel has been spying in the US. When the 
Washington Post broke the shattering news that an Israeli mole codenamed 
'Mega' had been asked to procure the secret letter of assurances sent by 
former secretary of state Warren Christopher to Arafat following the Hevron 
withdrawal, Israeli intelligence chiefs could hardly believe their ears. The 
contents of Christopher's letter had, after all, appeared in Ha'Aretz not long 
after it was sent. However, what appears to have been revealed, contrary to 
the "scoop" by the Washington Post, is that Israel's much-vaunted electronic 
code system, called Silon (geyser in Hebrew) had been broken by National 
Security Administration specialists. [According to a military intelligence 
specialist] there was only one way they [the US] could have broken Silon. And 
that is through a NSA mole operating inside Israeli intelligence. "I am certain 
that the Israelis are working full blast right now, weighing the consequences 
of the NSA interception." The very same fears are jolting European 
intelligence services - particularly in Paris, where there has been a strong 
suspicion of NSA spending huge sums in bribing local security operatives 
worldwide to hand over top-secret electronic codes. Eliyahu Ben-Elissar, 
Israel's ambassador in Washington, urged his government to take harsh 
action against the US for tapping its phones. (ICEJ, Kol Yisrael, MED, 
Jerusalem Post, AP)

ROSS MISSION A FAILURE? PA negotiator Saeb Erekat has said that Israel 
is no longer a peace partner and that the mission of US envoy Dennis Ross 
has failed. Prime Minister Netanyahu seemed more optimistic. He said there 
is a basis for holding more talks. Ross held two unexpected, last-minute 
meetings Friday evening with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, but no 
breakthrough was achieved and Ross said he would go home. Meanwhile, 
resisting calls that the US should apply pressure and that she engage in 
shuttle diplomacy, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Friday it was up 
to Israel and the Palestinians -- not the US -- to get negotiations back on 
track. (Kol Yisrael, MED, AP)

A RETURN TO HEBRAIC ROOTS: An in-depth study of the Israeli populace, 
published Friday in Yediot Acharonot, shows an impressive percentage of 
return to Jewish roots. 17% of Israeli citizens reported that they have come 
"significantly closer" to religious faith in the last six years. Over 200,000 have 
become fully observant, and some 130,000 say that they have changed from 
"secular" to "traditional." (Arutz Sheva)

PA THREATENS TO RESUME VIOLENCE: The Palestinian Cabinet warned 
Saturday that violence would resume in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza 
Strip unless the US forced Israel to stop building new Jewish settlements. In 
Shechem, thousands of Islamic militants cheered and whistled as a dozen 
would-be suicide bombers covered in fake blood marched behind white 
coffins, chanting "We are the death-seekers." Leaders of the terrorist group 
Hamas told the crowd that only violent resistance, not negotiations, would halt 
Jewish settlement construction. Meanwhile, O.C. Southern Command Maj.-
Gen. Shlomo Yannai warns the PA against renewing an armed struggle 
against the IDF. He said that if violence erupts, "the IDF's policy of restraint 
will disappear, and any uniformed Palestinian who fights us will be killed ... At 
Netzarim Junction [in Gaza], 30 Palestinian police will not lie injured, but 
dead."

In another story, requests by PA security officials have been rejected by 
Israeli senior military officials. The PA requested bringing in two Bell 212 
helicopters, over 300 additional Kalashnikov assault rifles, additional 
policemen from outside of Israel and the speeding up of arrangements 
permitting the take-off and landing of Yassir Arafat's plane from the Dahaniya 
[Gaza] air strip. (AP, Arutz Sheva, SNS)

ELEVEN WANTED TERRORISTS SERVING IN PA SECURITY: The 
government announced Tuesday that it submitted six weeks ago 31 requests 
to the PA to transfer terrorists who have found refuge within its borders. Of 
the terrorists whose transfer to Israel is being sought, eleven are either 
serving in the Palestinian police or are in the process of joining its ranks. A 
spokesman in the Prime Minister's Office said that the lack of response by 
the PA to the requests is a blatant violation of the Oslo accords. (Arutz 
Sheva)

AID TO ISRAEL AND EGYPT TO BE CUT: The US is considering cutting aid 
to Israel in order to increase its financial support to Jordan. The 
Administration wants to give Jordan an additional $100 million in each of the 
next five years. Congress, however, is demanding that the overall foreign aid 
budget remain at the same level. One option being considered by the 
Administration is to cut the $100 million each year from the allocations to 
Israel and Egypt. "Several [Israeli] officials said they had been informed of a 
plan by the Clinton administration to significantly reduce civilian aid in the next 
fiscal year. However, Washington's $1.8 billion dollars in annual military aid to 
Israel would be untouched," stated a report in Ma'ariv quoting Israeli 
government officials. (Kol Yisrael, MED) 

YITZHAR UNDER US SURVEILLANCE? 200 people responded to the 
invitation advanced by the community of Yitzhar to spend this past Shabbat 
on its most controversial hilltop. Yitzhar spokesman Yehuda Livman stated 
that the experience of "hosting Jews from all over the country, including from 
secular Kibbutzim, for the sake of a common goal, has given all of us 
strength and inspiration to last us for a long while to come." The motivation to 
demolish the homes in Yitzhar last week apparently was a result of American 
pressure. American intelligence agents have approached the Israelis with 
detailed aerial photographs of Judea and Samaria, demanding explanations 
about buildings that have been recently built. The American Consulate in 
Jerusalem has long activated a Tracking Committee for the Settlements, 
whose members travel the area and check up on new developments. (Arutz 
Sheva)

MISSIONARY ACTIVITY TO BE BANNED: Recently proposed legislation 
takes the form of a far-reaching extension of statutes against missionary 
activity. The proposal has recently passed its first Knesset reading and is now 
before the Law Committee of the 120-seat parliament. An English translation 
of the proposed law states: "Whoever possesses contrary to the law, or prints 
or copies or distributes or shares or imports tracts, or advertises things in 
which there is an inducement for religious conversion is liable for one-year 
imprisonment." An amendment adds: "Any tract or advertisement in which 
there is inducement to religious conversion will be confiscated." The new law 
is much tougher than the existing anti- missionary legislation which is 
opposed to "any missionary seduction to convert religion", especially that 
involving minors and offering financial inducements to Jewish adults to 
convert. The Bill's sponsors, Moshe Gafni, of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah 
Judaism Party, and Nissim Zvili, of the main opposition Labor Party, claim 
that they are responding to a Christian missionary campaign last year, when 
hundreds of thousands of Jews received proselytizing material in the post. In 
response to Christian objections, Zvili pledged that "No one will be barred 
from possessing the New Testament. If the law violates the Basic Law: 
Human Dignity and Freedom, I will not support it." (MED)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FYI - Israel In The News
"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet"  Isaiah 62:1

'F.Y.I.' may be reproduced & distributed in any form. Please give proper
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

