Six years after she was viciously stabbed and her friend killed in a terror attack near the Jerusalem Forest, Kay Wilson has succeeded in convincing the British government to halt the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority, claiming the Palestinians use the money to finance terrorism. Wilson managed to garner the support of more than 3 million British citizens who signed a petition demanding their government stop sending money to the PA. Last March 2016, outside the UN in Geneva, Wilson called out, "Shame on the UN for failing to hold the Palestinian Authority to account, and shame on the UN that pathologically demonizes Israel!” Wilson accused the UN of "whitewashing an immoral terror.” "The funds of European and American taxpayers are funding the PA, which is rewarding killers in custody by paying them a monthly salary,” she said. After this speech and several lectures in various British circles, Wilson managed to collect the signatures from the British public. Last month, her efforts paid off: The British Parliament decided – for the first time in decades – to suspend its annual transfer of 25 million pounds to the Palestinian Authority. The minister of international development was convinced that some of the money is indeed used to fund terrorists and pay the salaries of high-security prisoners sitting in Israeli prisons.

Wilson, 52, is a Jewish-Israeli tour guide. On a fair winter day in December 2010, Wilson took her friend Kristine Luken, a tourist, on a guided tour near Beit Shemesh. It was there that they encountered the terrorists. "I was gagged, tied up and held hostage for half an hour. Then I was stabbed 13 times with a machete while I watched my American Christian friend, Kristine Luken being hacked to death before my eyes, because her executioners thought she was Jewish too,” Wilson testified before the UN Human Rights Committee in March 2016. Wilson’s Star of David necklace and blue Israeli ID card gave away her identity. She "saw death” before her eyes and in that moment decided to play dead, which saved her. The terrorists returned to confirm the killing and only when they were convinced that the two women were dead, they left. Although Wilson had severe injuries – suffering 30 fractures in her body, as well as six broken ribs; she survived because the knife missed her heart by 4 millimeters. Wilson managed to walk a kilometer before she found people and called for help. Wilson used a small pocketknife to fight the terrorists. This helped the Shin Bet convict them on the basis of DNA samples, and they were sentenced to life imprisonment. In the first years after the attack, Wilson struggled to return to her job as a tour guide due to the mental and physical trauma caused by the attack. General Security Service agents described Wilson as one of the most courageous survivors Israel has known in recent years. Wilson blamed social media and the PA’s educational institutions for their incitement against Jews. (Kehila News)

The Palestinian Authority refuses to budge following criticism of its decision to name a school after the mastermind of the 1972 Munich Massacre, according to a report by Palestinian Media Watch. PA leaders reaped condemnation from Israeli officials, including PM Binyamin Netanyahu, for naming a school after Salah Khalaf, who was the head of the Black September terrorist organization which carried out the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. PA official and District Governor of Tulkarem, Issam Abu Bakr, responded to the Israeli condemnation by saying that celebrating terrorists and murderers is part of Palestinian Arab culture. The Fatah government of PA President Mahmoud Abbas has a long history of praising the Munich Massacre and lionizing the terrorists who carried it out. Last month Fatah called the Munich Massacre a 'heroic operation' on its Facebook page, saying that the murder of unarmed athletes showed the 'courage' of Palestinian Arab terrorists. (Arutz-7) "The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.” Ps 11:5 [Comment]

The United States reclaimed its seat on the UN Human Rights Council on Friday 29 Oct. 2016, and immediately called for a change in its treatment of Israel. "While important challenges remain, including ending the council’s excessive and biased focus on Israel, we look forward to cooperating with other council members to address human rights concerns, advance human rights around the world, and ensure the Council fully realizes its purpose,” USA Secretary of State John Kerry said. The elections are held annually, for three-year terms, and no member state can sit on the council for more than two consecutive terms. The USA ended its six years on the council in 2015. During that time, it was the one consistent vote in support of Israel on the UNHRC, which spends more time condemning the Jewish state than any genuine human rights abusers. Aside from the USA, the following countries will begin serving on the council in 2017: Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Hungary, Iraq, Japan, Rwanda and Tunisia. Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China, South Africa and Great Britain are already on the council and will be serving second terms. "The re-election of China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia – regimes which systematically violate the human rights of their citizens – casts a shadow upon the reputation of the United Nations,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer. (J.Post) [Comment]

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More than 17,000 asylum seekers in Germany have filed lawsuits against the government aimed at getting their families to join them leaving courts struggling to cope. And now it is feared the legal action will open the floodgates to a new wave of mass immigration into the country. It comes as many in Germany say the social fabric is already at breaking point in many places and the fear of violence with natives is a real danger. The migrants are seeking a change to their subsidiary protection status in Germany which can delay family reunification by two years. This wave of litigation is rolling through the country's administrative courts. In the first eight months of this year over 17,000 cases were filed, 6,000 of them in August alone, with 15,000 of the claims by Syrians. It is believed that judges are likely to uphold their complaints in 90% of cases, affording them 'superior protection' in accordance with the Geneva Convention on refugees. Combined with the thousands of rejected migrants fighting deportation orders, observers say the German justice system could be mired in costly refugee-related litigation for a decade to come. (UK Daily Mail) [Comment]

Eyal Assad, the chairman of the Druze forum of the Jewish Home Party expressed harsh criticism of the recent international attacks on the State of Israel. "In less than three generations the UN has forgotten about the terrible genocide which was committed against the people of Israel, and is working diligently to undermine the State of Israel, the only Jewish state in the world. Ask any child in any of the churches which are scattered around the world, from America to China, ask any Muslim who is knowledgeable in the Koran, and he will tell you that the land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel." Assad stated. Regarding the recent UNESCO resolution to deny the Jewish connection with the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, Assad said that "These are not academic decisions. They are purely political. They are designed to promote the cynical agenda to destroy Israel as a Jewish and Zionist entity and to destroy the Jewish people as a nation.” Assad praised Israel's tolerance for other religions. "In June 1967, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan gave the keys to the Temple Mount back to the Jordanian Waqf after the Old City and Temple Mount had been captured, showing sensitivity to the religious feelings of the Islamic world." Assad wondered why Islam has not been able to show similar sensitivity towards Judaism. (Arutz-7) [Comment]

Donald Trump told voters that the Supreme Court is "what it’s all about” in this election as he and Hillary Clinton squared off for their final debate ahead of the election, vowing to appoint justices who would be conservative and would overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion decision. "That will happen automatically,” Mr. Trump said at the top of the debate. Mrs. Clinton countered that she wanted to see a Supreme Court that is representative of all Americans, and ticked off a list of rights she said the justices need to preserve, including abortion rights. Even some Democrats were cringing when Hillary gave her ‘late term abortion’ answers. During the final presidential debate on Wed. 19 Oct, moderator Chris Wallace asked both candidates whether they would overturn Roe vs. Wade. Donald Trump's response steered the conversation to late-term abortions, and Clinton was forced to defend the practice: Many were horrified that she would do so after Trump gave a graphic description of the abortion process. But then she launched a passionate defense, claiming that Trump was describing the process inaccurately - but not everyone bought it. Hillary Clinton didn't directly answer Wallace's question on late-term abortion but clear she supports abortion through 9 months. Even most Democrats don’t support late-term abortion. Hillary came out for open borders, higher taxes, Obamacare, late term abortion; all unpopular with majority of voters. (Washington Post/ijr) [Comment]

Wednesday night 19 Oct. 2016, many watched the third – and final – USA presidential debate. Americans are more divided than ever before. And at the center of this controversy are the candidates themselves - the Republican nominee Donald Trump and the Democratic contender Hillary Clinton. Allegations of sexual misconduct; 33,000 deleted emails; claims of "election rigging,” and the material just keeps coming. Inundated with electoral politics, many Bible-believers are expressing confusion, frustration, and uncertainty about what to do on 8 Nov. Sadly, the nominees of both major parties present significant challenges for anyone committed to voting according to biblical values. We must pray that God will act in and through this election cycle. Only He can redirect the badness of our situation toward good ends. Only He could make something beautiful from the ugliness of this moment in our national history.

Adding to that difficulty is the fact that the stakes in this election are incredibly high. There’s legitimate concern over the composition of the Supreme Court as well as the rapidly increasing social and cultural rot of our nation. As we battle back and forth over the political situation, it’s easy to forget the importance of prayer. When we turn to God in prayer, we are asking Him to give us wisdom - a rare commodity in the current election cycle. As the people of God grapple with whom to vote for next month we stand in desperate need of such a gift. James 1:5 tells us: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." You never know: God might act in a surprising way in response to our prayers. He may bestow unexpected blessings or bring forth unanticipated outcomes during this contentious season. If we have any real concern for our nation, the one thing we must do is pray. The dire nature of the situation - two deeply flawed presidential candidates, social unrest, rampant injustice, disintegrating political parties, and divided Christian communities - should be more than enough to bring us to our knees, exactly where we’ll be if we possess any true concern for the future of America. (Fox) "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” 1 Tim: 1-2

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