From her website:

“We Value

LIFE-Every child is God’s gift to this earth.

FAMILY-The most vital part of our community. We treasure the opportunity to offer you a place to create family moments and memories while using our proceeds to help a family far away.

GOD-Giver of breathe and we endeavor to honor Him in all of our affairs.”

Be With Me, The Children’s Playseum is an indoor space that mixes creative play and education.

Geina Seebachan, owner of the children’s activity center, was told however that if she edited her website, schools would send children to the playseum.

Sean Bulson, an acting community superintendent for the county system, said he was “not aware” of any countywide decision about the playseum.  He did say that many parents expressed discomfort with their children going to the facility, The Washington Post reported.

The issue came to Seebachan’s attention when Westbrook Elementary School canceled a scheduled trip to the center.

All four of Seebachan’s children had attended Westbrook Elementary School.

However, according to Seebachan, Jeff Ewald, principle, told her that parents expressed concern that the Playseum was overtly or covertly religious, The Washington Post said.

Seebachan, an evangelical Christian, has among her teaching staff one from Peru, one from Sri Lanka, one vegan, one kosher Jew, a fellow from Trinidad and a woman from Congo, according to The Washington Post.

According to the play calendar on their website, there will be activities to celebrate Jerusalem Day, Waisak Day in Indonesia, Corpus Christi in Chile, and Memorial Day in the United States.

Seebachan, who studied international relations in college, also has activities at Pthe activity center that celebrate Thai and Shinto holidays, the prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Chinese New Year and Jewish holidays.

But on her Web site, she also advertises a Christian youth group she runs, according to the Washington Post.

Seebachan had experience in leading after school clubs and daycamps, has taught in China, and lived and visited over 22 nations.  The playseum’s on-hands activities are diverse, sensitive in spirit and reflect what she has gained from her travels, according to their website.

However now the Be With Me Playseum is being sabotaged through a whisper campaign and Seebachan has been receiving threats.

Anonymous Web postings saying Seebachan handed out antiabortion literature at the Playseum, accepts support from right-wing Christian groups and plays Christian rock music at the play space, according to The Washington Post.

One anonymous post from someone who claimed to be Jewish said that Seebachan told her that unless she accepted Jesus as her personal savior, the client and her children would go to hell, The Washington Post reported.

Seebachan said she has no literature about abortion, her sponsors are all secular, including Safeway and Strosniders hardware store, and if she knew anyone of her staff who told a client that she and her family might go to hell, she would fire them on the spot, according to The Washington Post.

“I’m not marketing to Christians,” Seebachan says.  “I imagined this place like a big, refreshing swimming pool for anybody to come to and be together with their children in a different way, without computers, TVs or cellphones,”  Seebachan told The Washington Post.

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According to Reuters, Netanyahu said “Jerusalem” and its Hebrew name “Zion” appear 850 times in the Old Testament, Judaism’s core canon.

In the Christian New Testament, Jerusalem is mentioned 142 times, Netanyahu said. He noted that none of the 16 Arabic names for Jerusalem is mentioned in the Koran.

However, in an expanded interpretation of the Koran from the 12th century, one passage is said to refer to Jerusalem, Reuters reported.

Netanyahu’s comments came on Jerusalem Day, an Israeli national holiday marked by tens of thousands of Israelis marching through the city singing, dancing and waving Israeli flags.

Jerusalem Day commemorates Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in June 1967, marking the unification of their ancient capital.

However the Palestinians consider the annexation of East Jerusalem illegal. They anticipate East Jerusalem to be the capital city of a future Palestinian state. Israel has pledged that Jerusalem will remain united as their capital city.

Jerusalem lies within Israel’s boundaries.  Mayor Nir Barkat added that the city’s boundaries are “nonnegotiable” according to Aol.News.

Holy sites

Jerusalem is holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  For the Jews, the Western Wall, which is part of Solomon’s Temple that was destroyed in 70 AD, is the holiest site in Jerusalem.

For Christians the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the traditional burial place of Jesus and a regular pilgrimage place.
For Muslims, the gold-topped dome of the Rock, is believed by them to be where Muhammad ascended to heaven, Aol News reported.

Also, the Al-Aqsa mosque makes Jerusalem the third holiest site after Mecca and Medina.

However, the Al-Aqsa mosque stands on a plaza that Jews revere as the vestige of two biblical Jewish temples, according to Reuters.

In the international community a united Jerusalem under Israel is not recognized.

Many countries agree that East Jerusalem should be the future capital of a future Palestinian state.

Indirect peace negotiations with the Palestinians resumed this month after one to one and a half years of U.S. trouble-shooting.

However, the Israel and Palestine remain at odds over the issue of Israel which Palestine refuses to formally recognize as a Jewish state, Reuters reported.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said of Netanyahu’s recent comments, “I find it very distasteful, this use of religion.

East Jerusalem is an occupied Palestinian town, and East Jerusalem cannot continue to be occupied if there is to be peace,” according to Reuters.

Netanyahu promised that while Israel would retain control over all of Jerusalem, they would ensure freedom of worship at its holy sites.

However, Palestinians over the last decade have had limited access to al-Aqsa.  Christians in the West Bank also note similar problems in Jerusalem churches, Reuters reported.

There are 750,000 people in Jerusalem, two in three of them Jews with the remainder mostly Muslim Palestinians.

Some Palestinians are aligned with the Islamist Hamas, while those who would like peace blame Israel for sabotaging peace prospects because they insist East Jerusalem is a Jewish birthright, Reuters reported.

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The JTA mentioned an episode of The Simpsons, where Homer Simpson traveled to Israel, and was diagnosed with the Jerusalem syndrome.  Homer, dehydrated, believed he was chosen to bring Jews, Christians and Muslims together in a new religion called Chrisjumas.

JTA quoted Dr. Gregory Katz, a psychiatrist of Jerusalem’s Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center, who said 30-40 patients a year are treated with the Jerusalem syndrome.

Most of them have had a history of mental illness, but a few experience it for the first time, likely triggered by experiencing biblical Jerusalem for the first time.  For many, it is a way to reconcile their biblical impressions of the city with the modern city that Jerusalem is today.

According to JTA, Christians predominantly tend to get the Jerusalem syndrome, specifically Protestant tourists from the United States and Scandinavia.  However, Jews and Israelis have been treated, too.

Commonly, they identify with a character consistent with their faith.  Jews will identify with King David, Christians with Mary Magdalene or John the Baptist.  Jews fantasize about bringing redemption.  Among Israelis, the Jerusalem syndrome is gradual, most commonly afflicting Jews who want to build the Third Temple, JTA said.

Christian Today Australia said the syndrome is believed to affect 100 people annually.  Quoting Mark Tronson, chairman of Well-Being Australia, it is a type of obsession, similar to “overboard enthusiasm” for a sport or hobby.

Which leads to the question:  Is Jerusalem a city that drives people crazy?  Considering that most of those afflicted with the syndrome have a history of mental illness that is not likely.

As for the minority who get the syndrome for the first time, one must note that unlike other tourist sites, which people are drawn to for shopping, or adventure or a love of history, people come to Jerusalem primarily for religious reasons.

In religion you will find passion.  And too much passion can drive a very small minority overboard.  The Jerusalem syndrome therefore could well be a natural outflow of a small population of tourists who are drawn there because of the religious links to the city and whose passion may have gone berserk.

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Mitchell is expected to meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak.  The visit comes after a row broke out between Israel and the U.S. recently over home construction plans by Israel in East Jerusalem.

Both Israel and Palestine are reportedly willing to resume indirect peace negotiations, meaning at present, Mitchell will broker indirect talks by speaking to each leader individually as a middleman, until the two reach the point where they will agree to meet personally.  Mitchell is scheduled to go to Ramallah in the West Bank after his Israel meeting.

Negotiations met a snag early this month when Netanyahu announced plans to construct 1,600 houses in East Jerusalem.  One of the conditions set on the table for the peace talks is to halt all construction in that area.  Netanyahu responded with outright rejection saying, “There will be no construction freeze in Jerusalem.  There should be no preconditions to talks.”

Netanyahu pointed out that he is following a four-decade-old policy of his predecessors.  However State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, “We understand that the Israelis have a longstanding position, but … the status quo is not sustainable.”

East Jerusalem is the most explosive issue that divides Israel and Palestine.  Israel captured the area in the 1967 Mideast war.  However, their annexation of the area has never been internationally recognized.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its eternal capital.  Some 180,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem, mostly in Jewish neighborhoods surrounding the area. But one cause of friction is some 2,000 Israeli nationalists who live deep inside Arab neighborhoods.  Some 250,000 Palestinians live in the Arab neighborhoods.

Benny Begin, a senior Cabinet minister, said in a Thursday meet with media and diplomats that Netanyahu would have a hard time selling even limited concessions to his government, a coalition dominated by hard-line nationalist parties.

“It is just impossible and unacceptable that people try to impress us that we should limit construction in Jerusalem,” Begin said.  Netanyahu so far has curbed West Bank construction in a temporary freeze.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the Netanyahu position on Jerusalem “very unfortunate.”  The Palestinians have said they will not hold face-to-face talks with Netanyahu until he freezes all settlement activity in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Other proposals that were given to Israel include release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, turning over more West Bank territory to Palestinian control, and possibly curbing Jewish construction in the heart of Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.

Last week Obama assessed the situation, saying the U.S. couldn’t force its will on Israelis and Palestinians if they weren’t interested in making needed compromises in order to end their decades-old conflict.

Sources:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100422/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians;_ylt=Ar8iv5t7GCXzAAUzvv43iiOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFibDNqaHVjBHBvcwM1MwRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX3dvcmxkBHNsawNpc3JhZWxyZWplY3Q-

http://www.unnindia.com/english/story.php?Id=6381

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Auschwitz buildings today. From Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

In 2005, the United Nations designated Jan. 27 as an annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Why Jan. 27? It was on this day in 1945 that the largest World War II concentration camp, Auschwitz, was liberated.

Auschwitz, a network of three camps, was operated in Poland under German occupation from 1940-1945. It probably accounted for the death of over one million Jews. Among other well-known “death camps” were Dachau, Treblinka and Bergen-Belsen.

Claims that the Holocaust Didn’t Happen
Currently, there are claims being made that the Holocaust never happened. These claims are frightening and outrageous to Jewish people, and could not be farther from the truth.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. houses more than 85,000 Holocaust photographs, twenty percent of which can be viewed online. There are traveling exhibits and several stationary USHMM branches around the U.S.

The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem has archived 62 million pages of documents, photos, testimonies of survivors and other articles as proof of the Holocaust.

How/Why did the Holocaust happen?
Adolph Hitler intended to create the perfect Aryan race, eliminating those people who didn’t fit his description of “perfect.”

Beside the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, it is estimated that two million other people lost their lives for either assisting the Jewish people or being imperfect themselves.

Extending beyond his takeover of Germany, Hitler wanted to rule at least all of Europe, and perhaps the world. See a history with more details here at USHMM.

Do Christians hate the Jewish People?
Because some churches and Christian organizations either looked the other way or went along with Hitler’s bidding due to their own fear, some Jewish people are convinced to  this day that Christians hate them.

However, Yad Vashem has a special memorial called “Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations” dedicated to Christians and others who lovingly and bravely assisted the Jewish people at the risk of their own lives (watch for Part 2 of this article for portraits of several Christian “Holocaust Heroes”).

There are many organizations of Christians and Jewish people working alongside each other today to make the way for better relationships between Christians and Jews, to erase rumors that the Holocaust never happened, and to stand against anti-Semitism and anti-Christianity.

Want to get involved in this effort? Here are a few such organizations:*
American Alliance of Jews & Christians
Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc.
Christians United for Israel
Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation (JAACD)

*(The Underground is not connected to these organizations, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of these organizations.)

Underground staff writer Sheryl Young is the author of What Every Christian Should Know about the Jewish People: Improving the Church’s Relationship with God’s Original Chosen Nation.

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How are we to account for stark differences in Obama's approval ratings between Jewish-Americans & those living in Israel?

Washington, D.C.–The latest data research and analysis polls from world renowned, Washington, D.C.-based Gallup Organization reveal the Jewish-American demographic to retain the highest approval ratings of President Barack Hussein Obama’s current administration, in comparison to other religious groups.

According to Gallup’s official Daily Tracking polls from the month of September, 64 percent of Jewish Americans said they agree with the president’s decisions and policies.

Surprisingly, these numbers stand in stark contrast to approval ratings stemming from other religious sects and denominations throughout the U.S., including Protestants, Catholics and Mormons. The survey found that only 47 percent of Protestant Christians approve of Obama, with Mormons ringing in at a low 32 percent.

Interestingly, The Jerusalem Post, which claims to be “Israel’s Best-Selling Daily” newspaper, sponsored a recent poll of Jewish people within the nation of Israel to aid in furthering Gallup’s research. The results were not surprising to most. According to the survey, only a mere 4 percent of Jewish Israeli citizens truly believe President Obama’s policies and strategies are “Pro-Israel.”

During former President George W. Bush’s tenure in office, a much higher 88 percent of Jewish Israeli citizens believed Bush was “Pro-Israel.”

The question for the majority of political analysts, journalists and researchers has become “What does the Jewish culture living in Israel know that their American Jewish counterparts do not, concerning Obama’s policies towards the nation of Israel?” What is the reason for such stark differences in approval rating percentages?

Gallup accounts for the higher approval of Obama by citing that two-thirds of Jewish Americans identify themselves as Democratic, a surprising figure considering the larger proportions within other religious groups lean more toward the Republican Party.

Overall, President Obama’s approval ratings from Americans in general continue to steadily decline, falling by 14 percent between the months of January and September, according to several national news media outlets. This is coupled with a 19 percent approval rating decline among the Jewish American sect between the same months.

However, an astonishing 83 percent of Jewish Americans approved of Obama in January of this year, a number that has now fallen to the aforementioned 64 percent.

Although many of these numbers may be taken as trivial or meaningless to many Americans, there is overwhelming Biblical truth at work. There are prophesized events already unfolding before our very eyes in the Middle East. Circumstances that surprise many should not surprise the aware and alert Christian man or woman.

And as the Psalmist David reminds us, we must always remember to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure.” (Psalm 122:6, New International Version).

References:

All Gallup research, polls, statistics and percentages citied within this article are ©2009 of the worldwide Gallup Organization and can be found by visiting Gallup’s official website at: www.gallup.com.

You can visit the official website of The Jerusalem Post daily Israeli newspaper at: www.jpost.com.

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