Fifth Quake Rattles Israel Over Six Day Period

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Fifth Quake In Six Days In Israel

The quake, measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale, caused no reported damage or injuries.

On Sunday, two minor earthquakes, both measuring 3.6 in intensity, were reported in the north, which followed similar quakes on Saturday and Thursday. No injuries have been reported, although some buildings in Tiberias were lightly damaged by the tremors.

Last Sunday, a 6.4-magnitude quake, centered in the Mediterranean Sea near Crete, was felt in Athens, Egypt and Israel.

And in September, an early-morning 3.5-magnitude quake was felt in the northern Dead Sea area, including in Jerusalem.

In response to the string of temblors, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a special cabinet meeting Monday to discuss the state’s earthquake preparedness, and, on Sunday, the Home Front Command and emergency services representatives held a meeting to discuss emergency procedures in the case of a more major earthquake.

West Bank Seeing 'Infectious Wave' Of Terror Attacks

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Tuesday warned that an "infectious wave of terror attacks" was being seen in the West Bank over the past month, but said he did not see signs of a third intifada.

Speaking during a tour of Hebron, Ya'alon said that six terror attacks had taken place in the West Bank over the past month, but added that they were carried out by individuals and did not have an organization such as Fatah or Hamas behind them.

The defense minister said that the current wave of terror was not likely to lead to a delay or cancelation of the release of Palestinian security prisoners as part of ongoing peace talks with the Palestinians.

"As long as the process is ongoing we are obligated to free the pre-Oslo prisoners. I expect that we will go forward with the next prisoner release," Ya'alon stated.

In September, two IDF soldiers were killed in the West Bankand a nine-year-old girl was injured two weeks later in front of her home in the West Bank settlement of Psagot.

IDF reserve colonel Sraya Ofer was killed on October 10 and his girlfriend wounded in an attack in the northern Jordan Valley region.

Last week, a Palestinian terrorist was shot dead after trying to enter an IDF base in the West Bank by breaching the base's fence with a tractor.

On Sunday, a Palestinian man attempted to stab a bus passenger on board Egged's 128 bus traveling near the Beitar checkpoint which is north west of Bethlehem.

Gov't In Massive Crush Of Religious Freedom

Liberty Institute says the report documents more than 1,200 cases of attacks by the government on the right to free expression of religion through rules, regulations, laws and precedents.

The report,“Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America,” recently was updated for 2013, following its initial release in 2012.

“The Founders called ‘free exercise’ of religion, guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution, our ‘First Freedom,’” the report says. “They regarded the right of everyday people to express open allegiance to the Creator as a safeguard against government attacks on any rights given by that Creator.”

But what would happen if “open and widespread expression of religious freedom – in government, schools, work¬places, the military, public places, and more – is eliminated, driven into the shadows of society?”

“What if religion becomes an opinion only to be expressed privately in your home or quietly in your church, if at all? What if religious liberty becomes a poor, subservient tenant of an arbitrary and imperious government landlord?” the report asks.

“If that occurs, then government can erase any of your rights as it sees fit, since government, not the ‘Creator’ cited by the Founders, will be regarded as the ultimate definer, giver or taker of all rights,” the report says.

The report is a joint effort of the Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council, which a year ago was the target of a now-convicted domestic terrorist who declared he wanted to kill as many people as he could.

The report divides the hundreds of pages of documentation about attacks on religious freedom in America into three categories: attacks in the public arena, in schools and against churches and other religious groups.

Additional egregious actions, according to the report, included park rangers ordering a woman to stop handing out Bibles at a farmer’s market “on federal property.”

The governor of Kentucky vetoed a bill to protect sincere religious believers against government overreach and coercion.

The report says: “Opponents vilified religious believers by spreading offensive and invidious message. A gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy group labeled religious protections an ‘endorsement of discrimination,’ placing ‘women, children, people of color and all Kentuckians’ at risk. Similarly, the governor publicly expressed worry that protecting religious believers from governmental coercion may ‘threaten public safety, health care and individuals’ civil rights.’”

In Tempe, Ariz., a Romanian immigrant was arrested for peacefully distributing Christian tracts to passsersby on the sidewalk.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered a shelter in Evansville, Ill., to prohibit people from participating in voluntary prayer before meals.

“The prayers were open to all and were not mandatory. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, however, demanded that UCS stop the prayers or stop accepting federal assistance to feed the homeless. The UCS now permits only a moment of silence before meals.”

Among the other cases in the report:

• A pastor in New York won the right to hold a Bible study in  community center that had banned “religious” events.
• A church in Dallas was ejected from an empty high school where it had been holding Sunday services, even they the church had a valid lease.
• The city of Plano, Texas, tried to prevent WillowCreek Fellowship Church from opening because of the angle of the roof of its church building.
• An Ohio library ordered a Christian group not to meet there to talk about traditional marriage, unless advocates for homosexuality also were present.
• An African-American church in Texas was billed for property taxes after its building burned down. The assessor’s argument was that members no longer could meet on the property, so it no longer was tax-exempt.
• The NFL threatened churches showing the Super Bowl on their big screen televisions.
• A church in Brookville, Pa., was fined for opening its parsonage to three homeless men to live there.
• A minister’s invitation to the National Prayer Luncheon was revoked because he was critical of open homosexuality in the military.
• The city of Cheyenne, Wy., denied permission for a non-profit organization to run a daycare center.
• An Alabama student was ordered not to wear a cross necklace, and a valedictorian in Iowa was ordered to give a secular speech.

Also see:

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