Is Pope Francis' Peace Meeting An Attempt To Restart Peace Talks Or The Latest Attempt To Paint Israel As The Problem?

Vatican Hosts Historic Prayer Summit for Peace in Israel

Posted by: Lea Speyer June 9, 2014 , 11:58 am

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“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!…” (Psalm 122:6)

The Vatican hosted a historic prayer summit for peace in Israel, attended by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. (Photo: Chaim Tzach/ GPO)

Pope Francis welcomed Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican on Sunday in an attempt to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Hosting an evening of prayers for peace in Israel, Peres and Abbas joined the pope over a sunset invocation of Jewish, Christian and Muslim prayers. Francis told both leaders that he hoped the prayer summit would mark “a new journey” toward peace.

The Vatican also invited the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christian church to present a united Christian front in supporting peace in Israel.

The pope urged Israel and the Palestinians to open up dialogue and usher in a new era of coexistence. He invoked the memory of children killed by war and conflict between the two sides to instill patience and strength to bring about peace.

“Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare,” Francis said. “It calls for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict.”

Vatican officials insisted that the pope had no political agenda in hosting the two leaders. They said that Francis seeks to rekindle the fires of peace and that the meeting holds symbolic significance in restarting failed US-brokered peace talks.

The prayers, which were held in the Vatican gardens alongside St. Peter’s Basilica, incorporated Jewish, Christian and Muslim themes common to each religion. Prayers were delivered in Hebrew, English, Arabic and Italian.

The main themes, as set by the pope, were centered on asking God for peace in Israel, thanking God for creation, and seeking forgiveness to wrongdoings.

At the end of the prayer summit, Francis, Peres and Abbas shook hands and planted an olive tree together as a sign of peace.

The Vatican expects no immediate results from the prayer summit but hopes that the event will help close the divide between Israel and the Palestinians.

“Nobody is fooling themselves that peace will break out in the Holy Land,” stated Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, head of the Franciscan Order in the Middle East who organized the event.

“But this time to stop and breathe has been absent some time. Not everything is decided by politics,” he added.

Peres, speaking in the Vatican gardens, quoted Psalm 122 in asking for peace in Israel. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” he urged, saying those who love the ancient and holy city will prosper.

Peres, Pope Francis and Abbas in the Vatican Gardens. (Photo: Chaim Tzach/ GPO)

The Israeli president thanked Francis for bearing a “renewed inspiration to trust in heaven, to love the people, and to care for the earth.”

“It is in that spirit that I have come here from Jerusalem, the cradle of three monotheistic religions, and the vibrant heart of the Jewish people. In Hebrew, the word Jerusalem and the word for peace, share the same root – Shalom,” Peres explained.

“And it is with that prayer in our heart and that call to action that we stand together. From Jerusalem, I have come to call for Shalom – Peace. Peace between nations. Peace between faiths. Peace between people. Peace for our children,” he said.

Peres pointed to a command in the Bible which “commands us to walk the peace of peace. It demands of us to toil for its realization.” Quoting further from the Bible, Peres said, “Whoever loves life and desires to see good days, let him turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.”

“It is a command to pursue peace. All year long. Every day. We greet each other with this blessing. Shalom. Salam. We must be worthy of the deep and demanding meaning of this blessing…Even when peace seems distant, we must pursue it to bring it closer,” Peres said.

“And if we pursue peace with determination, with faith, we will reach it. And it will endure through all of us, as it is written by Isaiah: ‘They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.’”

Think Your Money Is Safe, See What Has Happened Around The World

8 Real-World Events That Prove Your Money Isn’t Safe In Europe (Or Anywhere)

March 11, 2014 by Jeff Berwick 

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As I write this, the European Union has just announced a possible $15 billion aid package to Ukraine (including 8 billion euros in fresh credit). Everybody has read the headlines about Europe: record unemployment, no end in sight and so on. So you might be wondering just where the European Union, and its constituent nations, scrapped together the money to propose aid for the Ukraine. Well, wonder no more, because the following eight events might give you an idea of where governments go to get a little extra cash:

1. In March 2009, Ireland seized 4 billion euros from its Pension Reserve fund in order to rescue its banks. In November 2010, the remaining savings of 2.5 billion euros was seized to support the bailout of the rest of the country.
2. In December 2010, Hungary told its citizens that they could either remit their private pension money to the state or lose their state pension funds (but still have to pay for it nonetheless).
3. In November 2010, the French parliament decided to earmark 33 billion euros from the national reserve pension fund FRR to reduce the short-term pension scheme deficit.
4. In early January 2011, $60 million in private retirement funds were transferred to the state’s pension scheme in Bulgaria. They wanted to transfer $300 million, but were denied on their first attempt.
5. In the spring of 2013, Cyprus took it a step further and outright confiscated up to 50 percent of the funds from bank account holders in that country.
6. In the fall of 2013, the Polish government announced it would transfer to the state (a.k.a. confiscate) the bulk of assets owned by the country’s private pension funds (many of them owned by such foreign firms as PIMCO parent Allianz, AXA, Generali, ING and Aviva), without offering any compensation.
7. In February, Italian banks were ordered by the Italian government to withhold a 20 percent tax on all inbound wire transfers. Il Sole 24 ORE reported (Google translated): “The deductions will be automatic (unless prior request for exclusion), and then it will be up to the taxpayer to prove that the money is not in the nature of compensation ‘income.’”
8. The savings of all 500 million Europeans can be stolen by the European Union. Why? Because the financial crisis is not over, according to an EU document. The Commission is looking to ask the bloc’s insurance watchdog in the second half of 2014 for advice on how to draft a law “to mobilize more personal pension savings for long-term financing,” the document said.

So you see, European governments and institutions have already begun seizing private pension funds, slapping 20 percent taxes on all incoming wire transfers, confiscating up to 50 percent from private bank accounts and even stating all the savings of Europe are fair game. As Dollar Vigilante has said before, this phenomenon of wealth confiscation won’t stay confined to Europe. The United States has also taken measures to ensure ease of access to the funds of everyday Americans. 

Dollar Vigilante has said for many years now that the U.S. government and almost all Western governments are bankrupt. This means they will try to confiscate as much wealth as possible from people who don’t carefully save before the collapse. Mark our words: U.S. 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts will be nationalized in the next four years as well — maybe as soon as the next one or two years. If you’ve stayed in tune with the Dollar Vigilante blog, you probably already understood this. If you haven’t already, be sure to check into Dollar Vigilante’s subscription services to gain access to the intelligence you need to stay ahead of the pack.