Dispatch from Jerusalem

Unique Glass Panel Restored

{image_1}The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) recently unveiled a large 103 x 103 centimeter (40.5 x 40.5 inch) glass panel first discovered in 2005. The panel was found in Caesarea in the ruins of a large Byzantine Period (AD 324–638) structure, possibly a palace. It was found face down underneath the collapsed second floor of the structure. Specialists have spent the last several years restoring and studying the panel.

Connecting the People with the Land for 60 years

“Archaeology in Israel has provided a valuable link between the country’s past and present, with thousands of years of history unearthed at some 3,500 sites. Many finds attest to the long connection of the Jewish people with the Land of Israel,” states Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. While Muslims are busy destroying thousands of years of Jewish history below the Temple Mount, archaeological finds in the past 60 years throughout Israel have only reaffirmed Israel’s claim to the Land. We have room to highlight only three.

Remembering Miracles

{image_1}“In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.”

David Ben Gurion

Maccabi Tel Aviv Enters Hall of Fame

{image_1}Israel’s championship winning basketball team Maccabi Tel Aviv is to be honored at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the US, as part of celebrations for Israel’s 60th anniversary in May, according to Ynet News. The team, which won championships in Israel and Europe (including the Champions Cup on five occasions), will be the first Israeli team to be presented in an exhibition at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Second Temple Housing Found

{image_1}One of the biggest problems in Jerusalem is finding a place to park. Each year the city attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors, and one of the most popular destinations is the Western Wall below the Temple Mount. The city of Jerusalem decided to build a new parking lot for visitors to the Western Wall near the entrance to the City of David, but before work could begin, archaeologists undertook a salvage dig to see if there were any antiquities there.

Is Israel Feeling End-Time Tremors?

{image_1}In 1948, a political earthquake fulfilled biblical prophecy with the creation of the State of Israel. Recent ground shakings have people wondering if the world is about to witness another earth-shattering prophecy come to pass. At 9:38 on December 2, 2007, Israel’s mid-morning coffee and tea was disturbed by an earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale. For Israelis, who live in an earthquake-prone region, feeling a quake is not that unusual. What made the morning’s tremor atypical was that it was the fourth in two weeks.

Israel Wins Big in Special Olympics

{image_1}Thirty-nine Israeli Special Olympic athletes brought home 36 medals (10 gold, 16 silver, and 10 bronze) from the International Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China, in October, 2007. Israel was one of 165 participating countries, and out of 25 possible sports, the team took part in eight events: bowling, cycling, judo, soccer, swimming, tennis, table tennis, and track and field. Jewish pride and support for the team was exemplified by the Chinese Jews of Shanghai, who raised US $20,000 for them and supplied each athlete with a uniform and sneakers.

Enemy at the Gates

Palestinians Will Never Recognize Israel as a Jewish State

Just weeks before the Bush administration convened its Annapolis conference on the creation of Palestine, one of the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization]/PA’s [Palestinian Authority’s] most senior spokesman, Saeb Erekat, declared that the “Palestinians” will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The words shone light on a central component of the deceptive, and usually hidden, PLO strategy whose end goal has always been the eradication of a sovereign Jewish state from the Muslim Middle East.

The Fallout of a “Palestinian” Jerusalem

{image_1}Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has stated on numerous occasions that Israel is prepared to make “painful sacrifices” to achieve peace with the Palestinians. He has also said that Israel would be willing to cede control over certain Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem to the new Palestinian state, drawing fire from all sides of the political spectrum. Many in the Israeli security services are also afraid that the second Israel withdraws from any of these areas, Palestinian terrorists will take advantage of the new ground to launch rockets and small arms fire against Jerusalem.

Unique Mosaic Unearthed

{image_1}The remains of a synagogue believed to be from the Late Roman Period (AD 135–324) were recently discovered in excavations at Khirbet Wadi Hamam. Located about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) north of Tiberias in the Galilee, the site is being excavated under the direction of Dr. Uzi Leibner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.