Exposed: The truth about Israel's land grab in the West Bank

As President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet, a report reveals 42 per cent of territory is controlled by settlers

Jewish settlers, who claim a divine right to the whole of Israel, now control more than 42 per cent of the occupied West Bank, representing a powerful obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state, a new report has revealed.

Settlers from God! Religion Poisons Everything!

The jurisdiction of some 200 settlements, illegal under international law, cover much more of the occupied Palestinian territory than previously thought. And a large section of the land has been seized from private Palestinian landowners in defiance even of an Israeli supreme court ruling, the report said, a finding which sits uncomfortably with Israeli claims that it builds only on state land.

Drawing on official Israeli military maps and population statistics, the leading Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, compiled the new findings, which were released just as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, arrived in Washington to try to heal a gaping rift with US President Barack Obama over the issue of settlements.

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Pope launches mission to re-evangelise the West

Pope Benedict XVI has created a new office to "re-evangelise" the Western world in an attempt to roll back secularist advances in what the Vatican sees as the traditional heartland of Christendom.

The Pope has made no secret of his dislike for secularism and has been determined to persuade Western countries to rediscover their Catholic roots. He has frequently railed against some of the key pillars of secular liberalism such as the acceptance of homosexuality and abortion rights and the use of contraception.

At one of the last vespers' service before the Vatican shuts down for the summer break, the Pope announced the creation of a Pontifical Council for the promotion of New Evangelisation which would be dedicated to what he described as "a grave crisis in the sense of the Christian faith".

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Vatican reaches out to atheists – but not you, Richard Dawkins

An article by Jerome Taylor of the Independent newspaper:

The Vatican is planning a new initiative to reach out to atheists and agnostics in an attempt to improve the church's relationship with non-believers. Pope Benedict XVI has ordered officials to create a new foundation where atheists will be encouraged to meet and debate with some of the Catholic Church's top theologians.

The Vatican hopes to stage a series of debates in Paris next year. But militant non-believers hoping for a chance to set senior church figures straight about the existence of God are set to be disappointed: the church has warned that atheists with high public profiles such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens will not be invited.

So the church is willing to debate these topics with people who aren't the best people to debate against them. They are up for the fight, so long as they don't have to fight the strongest or best fighter. Why am I not surprised? This is a shallow and empty gesture.

However I'm sure even any amateur theologian could win a debate on modern morals against these bronze aged cult leaders.

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