* ‘Al Qaida behind Benazir Bhutto killing’ The CIA has concluded that members of Al-Qaida and allies of Pakistani tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud were responsible for last month’s assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

* Israel closes crossings with Gaza Israel has temporarily shut its crossings with Gaza, after a series of rocket attacks on nearby Israeli towns from the Hamas-run territory.

* Ahmadinejad: Israel wouldn’t dare attack Iran Israel would not dare attack Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday.

* Frattini admits threat of EU ‘home-grown terrorists’ EU security commissioner Franco Frattini has said he shares concerns recently expressed in Washington that Europe could become a platform for terrorist threats against the United States.

* Abbas threatens to quit if ‘escalation’ continues Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is considering resigning from his post if Israel continues its military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

* IMF says Iraq economy to boom Iraq’s economy is expected to boom in the coming year, despite political and security problems.

* Ahmadinejad scorns US and Israel Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused US President George W Bush of “sowing the seeds of division” during his recent Middle East visit.

* Frontier Insurgency Spills Into a Pakistani City For centuries, fighting and lawlessness have been part of the fabric of this frontier city.

* Balkan boost for Russia gas plan Bulgaria has agreed to a gas pipeline deal with Russia that is expected to strengthen Moscow’s grip over energy supplies to Europe.

* Iran receives nuke fuel Iran received a third shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia on Friday for a power plant being constructed in the southern port of Bushehr.

* Olmert: Israel will not take continued Kassam rocket fire Israel will not continue to take the unending Kassam rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

* FM: Russian fuel deliveries could help Iran develop nuclear arms Foreign Minister Tzipi said on Thursday that Israel is concerned Russian deliveries of nuclear fuel to Iran might help Tehran develop nuclear weapons.

* Winograd Commission member: Report could topple government “The final report of the Winograd Commission is expected to be dramatic and decisive,” a member on the commission told Ynet Thursday, ahead of the report’s publication in two weeks’ time.

* First Temple seal found in Jerusalem A stone seal bearing the name of one of the families who acted as servants in the First Temple and then returned to Jerusalem after being exiled to Babylonia has been uncovered in an archeological excavation in Jerusalem’s City of David.

* Former military chiefs call for joint EU-NATO ‘directorate’ Five former Western military leaders have called for the formation of a joint EU-NATO ‘directorate’.

* Israel tests rocket propulsion system A missile was test-launched Thursday morning from the Palmahim air force base in the center of the country.

* Agencies see good year for Iraq Iraq faces a period of economic growth and political progress, according to assessments by the International Monetary Fund and the UN.

* Slovenia criticises French Mediterranean Union proposal EU presidency Slovenia has criticized French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s proposal to set up a Mediterranean Union connecting countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

* Putin urges consensus on Kosovo Russian President Vladimir Putin has said any decision on Kosovo’s fate must be agreed by Belgrade and Pristina.

* Archaeologist hid ‘Jesus tomb’ for fear of anti-Semitism, widow says In an emotional voice, Ruth Gat said that Yosef Gat, a Holocaust survivor, was afraid a wave of anti-Semitism would ensue.

* Bush vists Mubarak in last stop of ME trip Answering Arab skepticism, US President George W. Bush promised Wednesday to stay engaged in pulling Israelis and Palestinians toward a peace pact by the end of his term.

* Audit doubts Iran sanction efficacy The economic impact of US sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program is unclear and Iran has signed about $20bn in energy contracts with foreign firms since 2003.

* PA: Gaza ‘massacre’ threatens talks The Palestinian Authority threatened on Tuesday to suspend negotiations with Israel in response to an IDF operation in the Gaza Strip that left 19 Palestinians – most of them Hamas gunmen – dead.

* Some question al-Maliki’s will for reconciliation When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Nouri al-Maliki’s government during a surprise visit to Baghdad Tuesday, she was addressing an Iraqi prime minister who has strengthened his grip on power.

* US agency chief: Iran speeding up development of missiles Iran has sped up efforts to develop long-range missiles, demonstrating the need for a proposed missile defense system in Europe.

* Romney’s Michigan win shakes up GOP race Mitt Romney claimed a much-needed victory in Tuesday’s Michigan Republican primary.

* Lieberman Quits Government Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Is Our Home) party head Avigdor Lieberman announced at a Wednesday morning press conference that his party is quitting the government.

* Recession fears hit stock markets Global shares have fallen amid fears of a US recession and slowing corporate profit growth.

* Chertoff says Europe poses terrorism threat Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Wednesday that one of the biggest threats to U.S. security may now come from within Europe.

* Islamic Militants Capture Military Base in NW Pakistan Islamic militants have captured a remote military outpost in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border.

By: Elwood McQuaid- The Jerusalem Post

An interesting contest seems to be heating up as the world paves a road to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The American religious Left has felt compelled to issue a series of documents slanted toward the Arab and Palestinian points of view, urging the powers that be to muscle Israel to accede to demands that will place Israelis in a virtually untenable position regarding their future security.

Signatories to these documents propose that they speak for the majority of evangelical Christians and, therefore, are in a position to pontificate on the direction the United States and other Western powers should take in (1) determining the future shape of the new Middle East and (2) correcting what they claim are the egregious malefactions of the Israeli government and its friends in the Zionist evangelical camp.

Their criticisms are based on the concept that Israel’s day is over, both biblically and historically. Consequently, Israelis have no more right to the land than their Muslim/Arab antagonists. Theologically, this position is popularly known as Replacement Theology, which claims that God’s promises to the heirs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were conditional and therefore abrogated by Israel’s disobedience. So the church stepped in as the true “Israel of God” and possesses the spiritualized, redefined covenants of promise.

From this lofty, self-ascribed position, modern Israel is seen as a squatter on property it seized from militarily inferior Palestinians who should receive it back, so much so that Israel has been called an apartheid state equal to South Africa, which practiced legal racial segregation and suppressed human rights from 1948 to 1994.

ZIONIST Christians (those of us who believe the land promises to the Jewish people are irrevocable-biblically, historically, morally, and legally) are written off as an illegitimate theological mutation, unworthy of serious consideration. Furthermore, we are accused of being anti-Palestinian political meddlers who say, “Israel right or wrong.” This point of view elicits a number of responses that are perfectly in order considering the seriousness of the accusations.

First and foremost, on the matter of believing God’s biblical promises regarding Jewish rights to a homeland in Eretz Yisrael, we are guilty as charged. The birth of the church as God’s grace gift to the Gentiles did not contain a deed to property in the Middle East. Nor does it give Christian leaders, as some have wrongly concluded, a mandate to dictate what land is actually His land.

Second, the accusation that we are anti-Palestinian is totally without foundation. The Palestinians are caught in the middle of a conflict created and maintained by the manipulative mismanagement of their leaders who act in their own behalf, disregarding the needs of their people. The most unfortunate are Palestinian Christians. Witness the exodus of Christian Arabs to the West and Europe in recent years. Some have gone so far as to blame this evacuation on Israel and economic oppression and despair caused by the continual “occupation.”

Hardly mentioned is the fact that the Christian exodus from the Middle East is a response to the Islamic drive to exterminate Christians and Jews from the region.

Criticism of Israel’s 8,000 settlers in Gaza was a popular theme for many years. If the Jewish infiltrators were eliminated from the Gaza, the mantra went, Palestinians could elevate their social and economic status, which would change their lives and lifestyles. So the Jews left, at great cost. The result? Gaza became a staging area for terrorists; Hamas rules the street; and Christian Arabs are hunted, assassinated, and forced to find safe haven somewhere other than Gaza.

With regard to the charge of meddling in politics, let it be said that Christian Zionism is not primarily a political action movement. It is not the legitimate province of outsiders, however benevolently motivated, to dictate the political policy of a foreign government. The Israeli people are perfectly capable of determining the course their nation should pursue. That said, there is a point where politics and biblical, prophetic realities converge. This is not a matter of dictation but observation; and there is no doubt that current events, when compared with scriptural predictions, help us discern where we are and where history is heading.

For Israelis and the Jewish state, the issue is survival within secure, recognized borders. And for Palestinians, Christians, and others, it is the right to pursue productive and tranquil lives without fear of radical Islamist discrimination.

By: – Breitbart.com

A director who shares the ideas of Iran’s hardline president has produced what he says is the first film giving an Islamic view of Jesus Christ, in a bid to show the “common ground” between Muslims and Christians.

Nader Talebzadeh sees his movie, “Jesus, the Spirit of God,” as an Islamic answer to Western productions like Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ,” which he praised as admirable but quite simply “wrong”.

“Gibson’s film is a very good film. I mean that it is a well-crafted movie but the story is wrong — it was not like that,” he said, referring to two key differences: Islam sees Jesus as a prophet, not the son of God, and does not believe he was crucified.

Talebzadeh said he even went to Gibson’s mansion in Malibu, California, to show him his film. “But it was Sunday and the security at the gate received the film and the brochure and promised to deliver it,” though the Iranian never heard back.

Even in Iran, “Jesus, The Spirit of God” had a low-key reception, playing to moderate audiences in five Tehran cinemas during the holy month of Ramadan, in October.

The film, funded by state broadcasting, faded off the billboards but is far from dead, about to be recycled in a major 20 episode spin-off to be broadcast over state-run national television this year.

Talebzadeh insists it aims to bridge differences between Christianity and Islam, despite the stark divergence from Christian doctrine about Christ’s final hours on earth.

“It is fascinating for Christians to know that Islam gives such devotion to and has so much knowledge about Jesus,” Talebzadeh told AFP.

“By making this film I wanted to make a bridge between Christianity and Islam, to open the door for dialogue since there is much common ground between Islam and Christianity,” he said.

The director is also keen to emphasise the links between Jesus and one of the most important figures in Shiite Islam, the Imam Mahdi, said to have disappeared 12 centuries ago but whose “return” to earth has been a key tenet of the Ahmadinejad presidency.

Talebzadeh made his name making documentaries about Iran’s 1980-1988 war against Iraq, an important genre in the country’s post-revolutionary cinema.

But such weighty themes, and his latest film on Jesus, compete with domestic gangster thrillers and sugary boy-meets-girl love stories, the movies that continue to draw the biggest audiences in the Islamic Republic.

The bulk of “Jesus, the Spirit of God”, which won an award at the 2007 Religion Today Film Festival in Italy, faithfully follows the traditional tale of Jesus as recounted in the New Testament Gospels, a narrative reproduced in the Koran and accepted by Muslims.

But in Talebzadeh’s movie, God saves Jesus, depicted as a fair-complexioned man with long hair and a beard, from crucifixion and takes him straight to heaven.

“It is frankly said in the Koran that the person who was crucified was not Jesus” but Judas, one of the 12 Apostles and the one the Bible holds betrayed Jesus to the Romans, he said. In his film, it is Judas who is crucified.

Islam sees Jesus as one of five great prophets — others being Noah, Moses and Abraham — sent to earth to announce the coming of Mohammed, the final prophet who spread the religion of Islam. It respects Jesus’ followers as “people of the book”.

Iran has tens of thousands of its own Christians who are guaranteed religious freedoms under the constitution — mainly Armenians, though their numbers have fallen sharply since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Every Christmas, Ahmadinejad and other officials lose no time in sending greetings to Christian leaders including the pope on what they describe as the “auspicious birthday of Jesus Christ, Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH).”

In this year’s message, Ahmadinejad said that “peace, friendship and justice will be attained wherever the guidelines of Jesus Christ (PBUH) are realised in the world.”

Shiite Muslims, the majority in Iran, believe Jesus will accompany the Imam Mahdi when he reappears in a future apocalypse to save the world.

And Talebzadeh said the TV version of his film will further explore the links between Jesus and the Mahdi — whose return Ahmadinejad has said his government, which came to power in 2005, is working to hasten.

Shiites believe the Mahdi’s reappearance will usher in a new era of peace and harmony.

“We Muslims pray for the ‘Return’ (of Imam Mahdi) and Jesus is part of the return and the end of time,” Talebzadeh said.

“Should we, as artists, stand idle until that time? Don’t we have to make an effort?”

* ‘Syria, Iran trying to overthrow Abbas’ Syria and Iran have stepped up their efforts to overthrow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his ruling Fatah party.

* Britain’s fastest supercomputer unveiled A supercomputer that could help answer some of science’s biggest questions will be unveiled on Monday.

* Livni, Qurei start ‘core issue talks’ Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei formally began discussions Monday in Jerusalem on the “core issues” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

* Minister Sees Need for U.S. Help in Iraq Until 2018 The Iraqi defense minister said Monday that his nation would not be able to take full responsibility for its internal security until 2012.

* PA Chairman With PLO Flag That Erases Israel Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was filmed this week at a PLO Central Committee meeting with an emblem that negates the existence of Israel as a backdrop.

* Rice praises ‘progress’ in Iraq US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has praised an Iraqi law to reintegrate former Baath party members, saying more reconciliation measures need to follow.

* France steals Slovenia’s EU presidency limelight The small Alpine Republic of Slovenia took over the onerous task of running the EU for six months on 1 January.

* Bush pushes Saudis for help with rising oil prices President Bush used his visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to push for increased oil production to help the U.S. economy by forcing fuel costs down.

* Tehran says Bush’s accusations ‘words without value’ Iran denounced on Monday as “words without value” US President George W. Bush’s remarks that the Islamic state was threatening security around the world by backing terror.

* India offers nuclear energy cooperation with China Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered on Tuesday to cooperate with China on nuclear energy during a trip to Beijing.

* Olmert: All options to counter Iranian threat on the table “Regarding the threat of a nuclear Iran, all options are on the table,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told MKs at the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting on Monday.

* PLO to form separate W. Bank parliament The Palestinians may soon have two separate parliaments – one in the West Bank controlled by Fatah and the second belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

* Confront Iran danger early – Bush US President George W Bush has warned of the dangers he says are posed by Iran, in a speech in its Gulf neighbour, the United Arab Emirates.

* Mid-East talks on ‘core issues’ Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have begun talks in Jerusalem on what are seen as the most intractable issues in the peace process.

* Nasrallah ‘honored’ to be enemy of US The leader of Hizbullah criticized US President George W. Bush Sunday for accusing Iran of supporting armed groups in the region and calling them “terrorist,” saying he is honored to be an enemy “of the Great Satan.”

* Iraqi Shiites and Sunnis criticize Kurds Iraqi Arab lawmakers from rival sects joined forces Sunday to criticize what they claim is overreaching by the Kurds, alleging the powerful U.S.-backed minority’s go-it-alone style in oil and other major issues threatens national unity.

* Iran Plans on Destroying Tomb of King Cyrus, Friend of the Jews Iran is planning on submerging the tomb of King Cyrus (Coresh), the Persian King known for authorizing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Holy Temple.

* India’s Prime Minister Arrives In China For High-Level Talks India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a three-day visit aiming to boost bilateral relations between the two Asian giants.

* ‘Islamic Jesus’ hits Iranian movie screens A director who shares the ideas of Iran’s hardline president has produced what he says is the first film giving an Islamic view of Jesus Christ, in a bid to show the “common ground” between Muslims and Christians.

* Netanyahu urges Shas, Yisrael Beiteinu to quit government Opposition chairman Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday urged Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu to leave the government in wake of the first meeting between Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia over the core issues.

* Syria Rebuilds on Site Destroyed by Israeli Bombs The puzzling site in Syria that Israeli jets bombed in September grew more curious on Friday with the release of a satellite photograph showing new construction there that resembles the site’s former main building.

* Bush blasts Iran for fomenting violence Traveling for the next few days among Sunni Arab-ruled states jittery about the rising influence and ambitions of Shiite-majority Iran, US President George W. Bush used part of remarks here that were focused on Iraq to put Teheran on notice – again.

* ElBaradei to Iran: Increase cooperation The UN nuclear watchdog chief pressed Iran on Friday to “accelerate” its cooperation with his agency.

* Ban eased on Saddam-era officials The Iraqi parliament has passed legislation allowing former officials from Saddam Hussein’s Baath party to return to public life.

* Haniyeh: Bush’s views ‘unacceptable’ US President George W. Bush’s visit to the region proved his bias toward Israel and hurt Palestinian aspirations for a state of their own.

* Iran Encounter Grimly Echoes ’02 War Game There is a reason American military officers express grim concern over the tactics used by Iranian sailors last weekend.

* Musharraf rejects UN Bhutto probe Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has ruled out a United Nations inquiry into the assassination of the opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto.

* Bush Seeks Arab Support For Mideast Peace Plan President Bush sought Arab support Friday for a U.S.-backed Mideast peace deal, but the Bush administration said not to expect a “blinding flash” of Arab cooperation.

* Huge gas cloud will hit Milky Way A giant cloud of hydrogen gas is racing towards a collision with the Milky Way, astronomers have announced.

* ‘Victory shall be ours by blood and will,’ says Hizbullah chief Hizbullah Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that “President Bush will force the Palestinians to give up on the right of return and accept refugees settling in other Arab nations.”

* Bush at Yad Vashem: US should have bombed Auschwitz President George W. Bush arrived at Israel’s official Holocaust memorial on Friday.

* Bush wraps up peace mission to Holy Land President Bush ended the first leg of the most extensive Mideast trip of his presidency on Friday after visiting Israel’s Holocaust memorial and several Biblical sites.

* Rightists: Bush and Olmert bringing Holocaust upon us Some 200 right-wing activists gathered in central Jerusalem on Thursday evening to protest the ongoing visit of US President George W. Bush.

* Turkey shells northern Iraq Turkish artillery has shelled targets in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.

* Blair optimism on Mid-East peace Middle East Quartet envoy and former UK PM Tony Blair says he believes it is possible for a peace deal to be reached between the Israelis and Palestinians.

* CIA: We said back in 1974 that Israel had nuclear weapons The Central Intelligence Agency, backed by bodies including the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Defense Intelligence Agency, determined in August 1974 that Israel had nuclear “weapons in being.”

* Kenya election protests to resume Kenya’s main opposition party is resuming its calls for mass protests after last month’s disputed elections.

* Turkey set for EU talks with Merkel and Sarkozy Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss Ankara’s bid to join the 27-strong bloc.

* Nasrallah: Bush visit a black day for Arab world US President George W. Bush’s visit to the Jewish state is “a black day for Arabs and Muslims,” Hizbullah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday overnight.

* Abbas Says Bush Visit Gives ‘Great Hope’ Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday called on Israel to fulfill its commitments to a Mideast peace plan, and said he hopes “this will be the year for the creation of peace.”

* Mid-East deal in sight, says Bush US President George Bush has said it is “absolutely possible and necessary” for Israel and the Palestinians to agree a peace deal during his term in office.

* UK minister calls for ‘mature debate’ over new EU treaty UK Europe minister Jim Murphy has urged domestic politicians to hold a “mature debate” on Europe without “bestowing it with apparently satanical powers”.

* US launches massive Iraq air raid US bombers and fighter jets have dropped 40,000lb (18,144kg) of bombs on suspected al-Qaeda targets on the edge of Baghdad in a 10-minute air strike.

* Israeli envoy to U.S.: All options are on the table regarding Iran Israel’s ambassador to the United States said Thursday that Jerusalem was not willing to rule out any course of action when it comes to dealing with the Tehran regime and its nuclear aspirations.

* Palestinians indifferent to Bush visit The weather was not the only gloomy thing in Ramallah on Thursday morning.

* Tony Blair starts $1M bank job Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who left office last June, has taken up a part-time job with a Wall Street bank on an estimated $1 million salary.

* Poland toughens stance on US missile shield US ambitions to place a missile defence shield in Central Europe are running into trouble.

* ‘Construction to continue in major settlement blocs, J’lem’ Israel will continue building in Jerusalem as well as in major settlement blocs in the West Bank, even as a construction freeze continues elsewhere in the territories.

* Kenya crisis talks end in failure Talks conducted by Ghanaian President John Kufuor to end Kenya’s political crisis have broken down, opposition and government sources have said.

* Netanyahu pushes US president on Iran “Iran is a threat to world peace,” opposition Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly told US President George W. Bush.