Common Grounds

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• Jerusalem must be ‘remade an icon of peace’ — Safadi

  
  February 28, 2018 13:41

  Source: The Jordan Times

  http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/jerusalem-must-be-remade-icon-peace%E2%80%99-%E2%80%94-safadi

   

  By JT staff

  Published Feb 26,2018 

   

  Safadi heads pan-Arab team meeting with EU foreign policy officials

   

  AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Monday chaired the Arab six-party meeting with the EU Foreign Affairs Council configuration (FAC), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

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• Why a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians is closer than you think

  
  February 28, 2018 13:48

  Source: The Washington Post

  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/02/28/why-a-two-state-solution-for-israel-and-palestine-is-closer-than-you-think/?utm_term=.d25cf960016d

   

  By Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher and Orni Petruschka

   

  As President Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House next week, opinions have never been more dour about the possibility of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The Trump administration says it is working on a plan, but its intended transfer of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and its open criticism of Palestinians’ quest for statehood have driven the Arabs from the bargaining table. Meanwhile, support for a two-state solution has slipped to 46 percent among Israelis and Palestinians, and each population votes for politicians who oppose a deal. Likud, the party leading Israel, says it is uninterested in negotiating. (Indeed, many of its members and their coalition partners say they prefer various schemes to annex substantial parts of the West Bank.) Netanyahu is facing corruption allegations that could remove him from office, but a successor would probably commit to the same positions.

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• Jeroboam, Abishalom, Trump and Their Advisors

  
  February 28, 2018 13:57

  Source: The Christian Post

  https://www.christianpost.com/voice/jeroboam-abishalom-trump-and-their-advisors.html

   

  By Rev. Dr. Jack Y. Sara

  Published 27 Feb 2018

   

  Donald Trump has limited his advisors to those who've been indoctrinated only to hear one side of the story regarding Israel. I feel that he's become something like the ancient Israelite king, Jeroboam.

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• Money, not the protection of Palestinian Christians, was at the root of Holy Sepulchre protest

  
  March 01, 2018 14:49

  Source: Middle East Eye

  http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/money-not-protection-palestinian-christians-was-root-holy-sepulchre-protest-1616428657

   

  By Jonathan Cook
  Published 28 February 2018

   

  There were plenty of opportunities – more honorable ones – over the past decade to shut the Holy Land's major Christian pilgrimage sites in protest

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• Oh Magog! Apocalyptic Christianity Returns to U.S. Foreign Policy

  
  March 02, 2018 15:12

  Source: Foreign Policy in Focus

  http://fpif.org/oh-magog-apocalyptic-christianity-returns-u-s-foreign-policy/

   

  By John Feffer

  Published March 1, 2018

   

  Trump is no churchgoer. But for evangelicals, his hard right line on Israel and machinations against Iran make him an instrument of the endtimes.

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• How Netanyahu Will Use Trump to Save His Hide

  
  March 02, 2018 15:20

  Source: Politico Magazine

  https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/01/benjamin-netanyahu-washington-trip-217216

   

  By AARON DAVID MILLER 

  Published March 01, 2018

   

  Israel’s prime minister is in great political and legal peril. He’s hoping his visit to Washington will prove to the folks back home that there’s nobody else who can keep his country safe.

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• What’s It Like Being a Left-winger at AIPAC? Not as Rare as It Used to Be

  
  March 06, 2018 13:32

  Source: Haaretz

  https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-what-s-it-like-being-a-lefty-at-aipac-not-as-rare-as-it-used-to-be-1.5870833

   

  By Allison Kaplan Sommer (Washington)
  Published Mar 05, 2018

   

  At an opening night reception, progressive U.S. Jews say they are determined to make their voices heard within the conservative lobby group, even if it means being surrounded by people cheering VP Mike Pence

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• The Two-State Solution Is Far From Dead

  
  March 06, 2018 13:42

  Source: The Forward

  https://forward.com/scribe/395842/the-two-state-solution-is-far-from-dead/

   

  By Ed Robin and Stu Katz

  Published March 5, 2018

   

  It seems that every passing day brings another obituary for the two-state solution. The past three months’ developments — President Trump’s December 6th Jerusalem declaration, the vitriolic Palestinian backlash, key elements of Israel’s governing Likud Party endorsing West Bank annexation and last Friday’s US embassy announcement — can be viewed as nails in the coffin of Israeli-Palestinian compromise.

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• Europe starts preparing Mideast peace initiative

  
  March 06, 2018 13:50

  Source: Al-Monitor

  https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/03/israel-palestinians-us-european-union-federica-mogherini.html

   

  By Uri Savir 

  Published March 4, 2018

   

  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas underwent some medical checks in Baltimore on Feb. 22, and therefore he had to cancel his visit to Venezuela. But while the test results were satisfactory, Abbas’ political health is in much poorer shape, to say the least.

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• Replacement theology 'infecting' evangelicals

  
  March 07, 2018 14:35

  Source: One News Now

  https://onenewsnow.com/church/2018/03/06/replacement-theology-infecting-evangelicals

   

  By Bill Bumpas

  By March 6, 2018

   

  The leader of a pro-Israel ministry is heartbroken that replacement theology has crept into the evangelical church.

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