Favor of Zion

Have you visited Israel lately?

So you say you love Israel, huh?  Let me ask you a question: Have you considered paying her a visit lately? 

One of the most memorable moments from my most recent trip to Israel (in April) came on the day that the group I was with visited Jerusalem.  A few of us had just gone to the Western Wall area, and on our way back one of them commented on how the Jewish people so desperately needed healing.

Peace, peace...

The announcement this past Friday of President Obama winning this year's Nobel peace prize is just another example of the feverish pitch to which the world's cries for "peace, peace" have reached in recent years.  With all due respect to the President, the prize comes to him, not for actually accomplishing anything to bring about lasting peace in the world, but rather for enunciating a "vision of a world free from nuclear arms" and for preferring "dialogue and negotiations...as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts."  (Click here to read the actual press release.

In case you missed it...

In case you missed it, the report of the United Nations' so-called "fact-finding 
mission" into the Israeli war in Gaza last winter "found" that Israel was supposedly guilty of "war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity."  The report was released on September 18, the eve of Rosh Hashanah--by a Jewish judge no less (Richard Goldstone)!  How's that for holiday wishes?

Among the outrageous claims in this report is that:
*Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian civilians;
*there was no evidence of Hamas using human shields to protect its terrorists from Israel assaults.

These claims are baseless and ridiculous in and of themselves.  (For a detailed analysis, click here.)  But even worse is a statement he made in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria.  In the interview, he claims to not question Israel's right to defend itself...but only the methods used.  He then goes on to state the bizarre: "We did not check whether Hamas had the right to use military power to obtain independence for the Palestinian people."