Violence threatens to paralyze city’s streets for fourth consecutive night since Yom Kippur, Mayor Lankry rejects gesture of condemnation from Arab leaders, demands police take action to end ongoing public disturbance

The series of violent riots that erupted on Yom Kippur evening in Akko resumed on Saturday evening for the fourth consecutive day. As night fell the clashes between the city’s Jewish and Arab residents erupted once more, with both sides hurling rocks towards the others’ homes and businesses.

Police already deployed in the city are working to disperse the crowd.

However Akko Mayor Shimon Lankry is less than impressed with their efforts. “If police employ a heavy-handed approach, the riots in

Akko would be over very quickly,” he said following a meeting with police brass earlier in the evening. Police Commissioner Dudu Cohen and Commander Shimon Koren, who heads the force’s northern district, vowed to take a firm stance against the rioters.

But Lankry said the police have it wrong. “They have this erroneous belief that there shouldn’t be too many arrests. Only 30 people have been taken into custody since the riots began, that’s just not enough.

A Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip stated on Tuesday that the banking crisis rocking US and world financial markets was caused by “bad administrative and financial management and a bad banking system put into place and controlled by the Jewish lobby,” AFP reported.
Traders react to the world…

Fawzi Barhum, spokesman for the organization, blasted American leaders, and particularly President George W. Bush, for failing to acknowledge the role of “the Jewish lobby that put the US banking and financial sector into place.”

The lobby “controls the US elections and defines the
foreign policy of any new administration in a manner that allows it to retain control of the American government and economy.”

Associated Press
Published: 08.20.08, 19:55 / Israel News

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is calling Israel a “germ of corruption” that will be “removed soon.”

The comments were posted Wednesday on his presidential website. They appear to be part of an effort to defuse criticism by hard-liners over recent remarks made by a high-level official.
Last week, Iranian media quoted Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashai as saying Iranians were “friends of all people in the world - even Israelis.”
The comments were rare from a government official in Iran, whose president regularly calls for Israel’s destruction.
They sparked domestic criticism of Mashai, with some officials calling for his resignation.
In 2005, Ahmadinejad said he believed Israel should be “wiped off the map.”

Nes Ammim (Hebrew: נס עמים‎, lit. Banner of the Nations) is a Christian community in the northern district of Israel. Close to the towns of Acre and Nahariya, in the western Galilee region, the community is under the jurisdiction of Matte Asher Regional Council. It was founded by European Christians as a sign of solidarity with the Jewish People after the Holocaust. Its theology emphasises the need for dialogue with Jews and also with adherents of other religions.

More information you will find on there website or on the blog of Fam. Bos (dutch)
[caption id="attachment_119" align="left" width="300" caption="Nes Ammim"][/caption]
In the aftermath of the slaughter of six million European Jews in the heart of Christian Europe, in the 1950s a movement sprung up of Christians who were not only profoundly shocked by this event, but also sought to give expression to a desire for a different relationship. This was to encompass the rejection of attempts to convert Jews to Christianity, and the desire for dialogue and mutual respect in place of confrontation and triumphalism.

Among those thinking this way, were some who thought a concrete expression of this new approach could take the form of building a living Christian community in Israel. It would work the land and participate in the hardship of what was still a poor country under threat of war. This idea, after fund-raising and promotion among churches in Germany, Holland, Switzerland and the USA, resulted in the purchase in 1960 of 250 acres (1.0 km²) of land from a Druze sheikh in the Galilee. The first inhabitants moved into the village in 1963. Prominent among them was Dr. Johan Pilon, who was to be its guide and inspiration for over ten years until his death in 1975.

Name and logo

“Nes Ammim” was chosen as the Hebrew name for the new village. It is taken from the Bible, from Isaiah 11: 10, and means “Banner of the Nations”. The pioneers from different nations saw it as their calling to show their friendship and solidarity in the Land of Israel.

The Nes Ammim logo consisted of a fish outline crossing a blade of wheat. The fish is a symbol of the early Christian church that refers to Jesus. The fish is meshed with the wheat, to represent a community growing in the country.

History

Early days (1963-1978)

As for every other village in Israel, the early years were characterised by hard work on the land. Simple accommodation was built, and a communal dining hall and other facilities. It was similar to a kibbutz or more exactly to a moshav shitufi, a collective settlement but where families were living with their children in their own houses. Agriculture was the main activity, and avocado orchards were planted as a long-term venture.

The presence of Dutch inhabitants gave an opportunity to add another element to the project. Apart from solidarity and support for people facing antisemitism and the threat of war, the community could assist by bringing technical experts from the Netherlands to develop the cut-flower industry as an export crop. Glasshouses were built, which would expand over the years and be the mainstay of the community’s income for many years.
Expansion and development (1978-1990)

During the latter part of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s Nes Ammim expanded rapidly and diversified into the booming tourist trade. Numerous groups of Christian pilgrims visited the community during their visit to Galilee. A youth hostel and guesthouse were built. The population rose to 140 adults and 60 children. A lively community life ensued, and hundred of young Christians worked there for short or long periods before returning to their churches in Europe with the knowledge learned there.

Economic difficulties (1990-2005)

The two Palestinian intifadas hit the Christian tourist trade hard. Nes Ammim was seriously affected. To make matters worse, Israel’s high-tech economy pushed up costs and made the cut-flower trade no longer viable. Retrenchment was required as debts mounted.

Nes Ammim today

The community has made the tough decisions in order to survive. The community is smaller than it was, and houses built for the community are now rented out to Israelis. Nevertheless, the spiritual aims of the community are still expressed, because in some ways the need for inter-faith dialogue is still more urgent than in 1960. The community has added another expression of its commitment to reconciliation: it promotes peace-making in the region by providing a neutral location for Arabs and Jews to meet and talk over their differences.

Aims of the movement

The movement still maintains its aims as they have been developed over the years. These are:

* To show practical solidarity to the Jewish People by living a concrete community in Israel .
* To learn about the origins of Christian faith by studying Jewish tradition. A starting point is the shocking realization: that the Nazi Holocaust directed against the Jews was facilitated by a centuries-long negative image of Jews and Judaism, promoted by numerous church leaders.
* To contribute - in a modest way - to peace-making, by organizing seminars of encounter and dialogue between Israeli Jews and Arabs.

Nes Ammim trivia In 1975 the Jerusalem Post included a two-page spread on the community. However, either by bad translation or worse proof-reading, the name was rendered across two pages as : “BANKER OF THE NATIONS”.

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