VFI News June 30, 2020

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” —Matthew 5:38-39

The lower house, the Chamber of Representatives, passed a nonbinding resolution Friday morning calling on the Belgian government to push for the European Union (EU) to draw up a list of countermeasures against Israel if it “annexes occupied” territory.

Though likely a symbolic gesture, it’s the first official public reference to sanctions on Israel by a legislative branch of an EU member state.

There were no votes against the resolution in the chamber, which has 150 members — 101 lawmakers voted for it and 39 abstained.

The European Union has expressed its opposition to Israel’s stated plans to apply Israeli civilian law to parts of Judea and Samaria that Israel now controls under military law. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said the annexation could start as early as July 1. (INN / VFI News)

Activist Shaun King called Monday for the removal of statues, murals and stained-glass windows that depict Jesus as a “white European,” which he claimed, “are a form of white supremacy.”

“Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down,” King wrote on Twitter. “They are a form of white supremacy. Always have been.”

King’s targeting of religious artwork comes as various activist groups have moved beyond tearing down Confederate statues and are now calling for the removal of other historical monuments.

“In the Bible, when the family of Jesus wanted to hide and blend in, guess where they went?” he added. “EGYPT! Not Denmark. Tear them down.” (Daily Caller / VFI News)

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. —Acts 17:29

A group of evangelical pastors gathered at Seattle's CHOP zone earlier this week to pray and declare that they will defend houses of worship and statues of Jesus after activists called for tearing them down amid Black Lives Matter protests.

Brian Gibson, the founder of the Peaceably Gather movement and pastor of His Church, denounced Shaun King's call to remove "white Jesus" statues and other activists trying to remove Christian symbols and monuments in a movement that began with the removal of Confederate statues.

"Christians across America must stand against this violent religious discrimination and stand to protect sacred ground," the megachurch pastor added. "This threat particularly targets the Catholic Church, and every Christian, despite denomination, and every person of the Good Book, should stand together in unity against this evil."

Pastor LaShund Lambert of Resurrection Church in Auburn, Wash., said it's "despicable" to see the attacks when "we should be talking about racial reconciliation, equality, justice, and fair treatment by law enforcement and the law." (Fox News / VFI News)

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. —Romans 2:6-8

“God, we ask that as these calls for radical change continue—that you speak to us in the quiet of our hearts, and help us to respond as you desire us to.”

An Israeli research team has found that ibuprofen does not aggravate symptoms caused by the coronavirus. This comes after the reigning controversy that rose after the French government claimed in March that ibuprofen could aggravate infections.

Following the announcement made in France, researchers from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba did a follow up study that aimed to evaluate whether the use of ibuprofen in coronavirus patients was associated with more severe cases compared with patients who used paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, or no antipyretics, a substance that reduces fever.

The study, called Ibuprofen use and clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients, was published in the Clinical Microbiology and Infection journal.

Results found that there was a similar outcome between patients who took ibuprofen versus patients who took paracetamol. Researchers stated that they "did not observe an increased risk for mortality or the need for respiratory support in patients treated with ibuprofen." (JPost / VFI News)

“God, please help our medical community to continue to discover valuable insights that will save lives, and ultimately bring this pandemic to an end.”

Hadassah Medical Center has treated its first COVID-19 patient with a new “passive vaccine” that the hospital developed in conjunction with Israeli biopharmaceutical firm Kamada. According to Hadassah’s head Zeev Rotstein, “the patient reacted positively.”

He said: “She started to improve hemodynamically… We have our fingers crossed for the successful treatment of this patient.”

Though he could not share details about the patient, he described her as a young woman suffering from several underlying medical conditions. She has been hospitalized for weeks and is intubated. He said other treatments have not shown any results.

The antibody (immunoglobulin or IgG) concentrate was developed using plasma that Hadassah harvested from recovered corona patients: those who had the disease and now test negative for the virus. (JPost / VFI News)

They will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. —Mark 16:18

“God, we ask that you bring complete healing to this patient and that the promise of this and other treatments spells a quick recovery to those most at risk during this pandemic.”

Luiz Fux, the first Jewish justice on Brazil’s highest court, is now its first Jewish president.

Brazil rotates the top post among its 11 justices on the Federal Supreme Court every two years.

“I will always strive for moral values, republican values, the struggle for democracy,” Fux, 67, said Thursday in a speech. “May God protect me.”

The Rio native’s grandparents fled Romania during World War II. His grandmother is a former president of the Israelite Children’s Home in Rio.

“It’s a great pride for the Brazilian Jewish community to have Luiz Fux at the head of the Supreme Court,” Fernando Lottenberg, president of the Brazilian Israelite Confederation, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “He has deep legal knowledge and well-known humanism, in line with the Jewish tradition of valuing knowledge and life.” (INN / VFI News)

Nine Israeli unicorns, which refers to privately held start-up companies valued at over $1 billion, are now based in the state of New York, highlighting the growing influence of Israeli companies in the US, according to a Tuesday press release from the New York – Israel Business Alliance (NYIBA).

Some of the companies listed include prominent names in the tech world, focusing heavily on software and consumer payment services, such as Riskified, Sisense, VAST Data, and Via join Compass, Lemonade, Payoneer, Taboola and The We Company, all of whom are now valued at $1 billion or more.

"It’s remarkable that the number of Israeli-founded unicorns based in New York has nearly doubled over the past year,” said Aaron Kaplowitz, NYIBA president.

“As Israel transforms from the Start-Up Nation to the Scale-Up Nation, New York is becoming more and more indispensable to Israel’s innovation ecosystem,” he added. (JPost / VFI News)

Britain's top anti-terror officer Neil Basu has repeatedly said that right-wing extremism poses the fastest-growing terror threat to the UK. But while MI5's watchlist—a cumulative tally of all cases, both open and closed—has doubled to 43,000 this year, experts say nine-tenths of these are jihadis.

New separate statistics from the Home Office on terrorists in custody, also show that of 238 people held for terrorism in Great Britain, 183 were Islamist extremists while just 44 were far-right. It is an increase of just 11 people from the same period last year.

The numbers came a day after senior military and intelligence expert Colonel Richard Kemp told the MailOnline he believed the focus on far-right terror was a 'false emphasis'.

Both sets of figures emerged in the aftermath of the Reading terror attack, which killed three people and saw another trio seriously hurt. (Daily Mail / VFI News)

No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.” —Isaiah 54:17

“God, we ask that you quell the hatred in this world—in all its forms—and that you cause those who would do harm to turn to you instead.”