Tag Archives: #Geopolitics

International political and diplomatic relations, as influenced by geographical factors. .

Israelis mark Day of Atonement, reflect on 40 years since surprise attack nearly lost the country.

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Courtesy of James Mark Long, www.propheticartists.comAN IMPORTANT, BRIEF RESUME OF HISTORICAL FACTS, which followed the 1967 onslaught from Israel’s neighbours. In the current crisis we see Syria, Russia, Iran and Egypt still featuring 40 years later in the Middle-East as America, Nato and Britain are sidelined. But it’s not so much that none of the latter feature in scripture and where God’s attention is focussed upon, as their leaders chose to ignore, even mock, His will over marriage. Therefore, it’s no wonder that Putin, Prince of Gog, mocked and has brow-beaten a Western president and a prime minister to take the lead over this matter and across the Middle-East!!

joelcrosenberg's avatarJoel C. Rosenberg's Blog

(Dallas, Texas) — Today is Yom Kippur, or the “Day of Atonement.” It is a Biblical holiday, the day when God called the children of Israel to repent of their national and individual sins and sacrifice animals to receive atonement, or forgiveness, of their sins. It is the highest holiday in Judaism.

Yom Kippur also marks the day when the modern state of Israel was nearly “wiped off the map” by her enemies. Forty years ago today, the Russian-trained and equipped air forces and armies of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on the Jewish State, a move that nearly succeeded in destroying Israel.

Today, therefore, many Israelis are fasting and praying and reflecting on their lives and going to synagogue — some because of tradition, and some to follow Old Testament customs (albeit complicated by the lack of a Temple in Jerusalem).

Many Israelis are also taking time to reflect…

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Events indicate the Bible’s relevance for today

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Recent tragic news from Syria and developments in the Middle East can, in fact, give Christians a deeper understanding of the holy scriptures.

I’ll share my opinion on how this may be so but, first, we’re instructed to pray for those in power, including their need for wisdom in handling crises. Jesus’ brother James wrote to those following ‘The Way’,

If anyone lacks wisdom we should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault…(James 1:5)

He cautions that in so doing we need to believe and not doubt because such a person will not receive anything from God.  Political leaders would, therefore, show wisdom if they are able to believe and fully appreciate God’s Word, not only in living morally but also in dealing with international events such as those foreseen over 2,500 years ago  about a specific Middle Eastern coalition. We note that, in the end, God’s stated goal for three major people groups is as follows;

24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isaiah 19 NKJV, Biblegateway)

There’s a long way to go before that outcome is achieved, incredible as it seems at present.  But current events do show the Holy Bible is not obsolete, or irrelevant for modern times. But this isn’t new!  Many Old Testament verses were fulfilled in 20th Century with the amazing ‘overnight’ creation of a nation-state and the consequential return of dispersed tribes belonging to the ancient Hebraic people. Nearly 2,000 years ago, after having destroyed their capital Jerusalem and sacred Temple because of an armed revolt against Rome’s authority, Emperor Hadrian kicked them out of their homeland after another revolt (for details see Timeline).

Hundreds of years beforehand, however, prophets heard and recorded what the Living God declared about events in the far, far distant future. The fulfillment of His promises through the establishment of modern Israel is something deserving fuller examination. So, too, is Psalm 83’s warning to those people surrounding Israel who plot to ‘wipe it off the map’. (The ancient tribal names may no longer apply but their rage continues within their descendants, as broadcast ceaselessly abroad.)

However, my focus is upon the Biblical references to other peoples on the fringes of the then-known world, as centred around the ‘cradle of civilisation’. They were in lands now known as Persia, Syria, western Egypt or Libya, Turkey as well as southern Russia and central Asia.

Whatever any migratory, trading or hostile connections may have been between those folk, it is a most remarkable fact that the Lord foresaw an alliance forming between them that would become enemies of the Hebraic people living in territory established by King David. Ezekiel, a major OT prophet, received detailed oracles about this coalition led by ‘Gog’. The only other mention of this entity is in the apocalyptic vision Apostle John had of the revelation that God gave Jesus Christ, as recorded towards the end of the Book of Revelation (Rev 20:7-10).

This prophesied coalition known as ‘The Ezekiel Alliance’ and its attack upon Israel is recorded at chapters 38 and 39 of the Book of Ezekiel.  A concise historical analysis from Koinonia House may be read at The Treacherous Trio of Ezekiel 38 – Part 1 and at Part 2, then Part 3.  My previous coverage of this build-up may be found here and here.

The fact that Russia is now getting deeply involved and taking the lead in a strategic coalition that was identified millennia ago as a major player in the Middle-East, and furthermore which aligns itself against Israel, simply cannot be ignored. All political leaders would, therefore, be well advised to tread very carefully in dealing with this alliance.

For what it’s worth I’d like to add my ‘tuppence worth’ but it must of necessity be all too brief. Readers who like digging deeper than mainline media’s cursory overviews (eg. by visiting links suggested in an early blog Not on the 10 o’clock News), may be aware of the following.:

Israel

I’d ask that fellow believers consider their attitude toward modern Israel because some ministries are mistaken in this regard. For instance, a guest post on Cranmer’s blog has reported one ministry as strongly denouncing Israel at festivals over the Summer. I’m aware this may be a touchy topic, but Fran Waddam’s historical comments are helpful for those unfamiliar with the real, rather than revisionist, 20th Century history of Israel. It’s now followed by a CMEW item on Kairos Chaos in the Church, which I recommend. (NB: ignore any flash pop-up ads on Cranmer’s site.)

Syria & Iran

The outrageous chemical attack upon children could, in my opinion, be one way Iran’s leaders are testing President Obama’s resolve and poor credibility. (Iran’s active control of Syria was reported here.)  There are increasing concerns over the reliability of claims that it was done by Assad’s forces, and which doesn’t exactly stack up with signals intel and is voiced by, among others, Jerome Corsi and Walid Shoebat (here).

Iran would seize upon any attack by America as a pretext to attack Israel in a greater measure than done in recent minor occasions (Farsnews). They see such a war as facilitating the appearance of the Shiites’ Mahdi (as here). Thus, it isn’t far-fetched to suppose Iran may attempt the final, threatened blow to eradicate Israel.

Saudi Arabia

Obama’s credibility is non-existent as a result of his polices and actions on Egypt and in Libya, not to mention ‘Benghazi-gate’. Following his 2009 Cairo speech, a deep rift opened between him and the Saudis over his deep humiliation of president Mubarak. Fully aware of the dangers Obama was blind to, they endorsed the Egyptian army’s removal of Morsi and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. Also, as members of The Arab League who have denounced Syria, the Saudis met with Russian leaders to sway their support of Syria’s Assad by tempting them with favourable oil/gas deals, as herein.

Egypt

The above quotation from prophet Isaiah is an oracle from the Lord about Egypt. Those closing verses allude to His end-time redemptive plan for three peoples, but its second verse is once again apposite: not as for the Ethiopian takeover 2,800 years ago but for these times too:

“I will set Egyptians against Egyptians;
Everyone will fight against his brother,
And everyone against his neighbour,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom…”

Islam & TerrorismHow to be succinct with what’s on my mind about Egypt? In Cameron: A war against Al-Qaeda… I  referred to Mark Gabriel’s experiences with the Muslim Brotherhood as an Egyptian professor of Islamic history. His exposure of Islam and Terrorism gave me grave reservations over Obama’s insistence upon the outlawed MB’s attendance at his 2009 Cairo speech. My initial points are as herein.

President Obama probably gambled upon the MB having become a peaceful democratic political party but his Muslim roots should have taught him to know better – much better. William Koenig in his Eye View from The White House, puts it this way:

The Egyptian apparent decapitation of the Muslim Brotherhood’s leadership could have enormous impact on the future of many countries and derail White House/ State Department Muslim Brotherhood plan in the Middle East.

McCarthy’s ‘Reds under the beds’ witch hunts of communists was a false alarm by comparison with the MB infiltration of US politics and government. Where the totalitarian system of communism failed, another succeeded beyond its wildest dreams – and even Barack Hussein Obama isn’t entirely to blame! The infiltration started 60 years ago in response to the CIA seeking help against communists. George Bush and many in USA and Western democracies were bamboozled into mistaking Islamist intentions.

The MB’s objectives are known to many well-informed analysts and journalists but largely ignored by politicians and public. I cannot, therefore, recommend highly enough  that every reader take time to visit the following links, of which extracts are shown.

For further political developments see

Recommended Reading:

  1. Resetting US Foreign Policy by ‘ne plus ultra’ Caroline Glick; cogent as ever > ‘Obama’s decision to outsource the US’s Syria policy owed to his twin goals of demonstrating that the US would no longer try to dictate international outcomes, and of allying the US with Islamic fundamentalists…from his earliest days in office Obama insisted that, since radical Islam is the most popular movement in the Islamic world, radical Islam is good’.
  2. The Muslim Brotherhood: Origins, Efficacy and Reach by Raymond Ibrahim; a masterly paper from the well-connected author of The Al-Qaeda Reader covering the MB historically and throughout the Middle-East.
  3. History of the Muslim Brotherhood Penetration of US Government by Clare Lopez, formerly CIA operations officer and senior fellow at the Centre for Security Policy presents an exceptionally well-researched and informative paper > It is important to recognize the sophistication of the Brotherhood’s international strategy and how the takedown of U.S. national security defenses from within was critical to the current Middle East-North Africa (MENA) campaign to re-establish the Caliphate and enforce Islamic Law (shariah)….The careful insinuation of Muslim Brothers into positions from which they can exercise influence on U.S. policy began long before the attacks of 9/11, although their success has accelerated dramatically under the administration of President Barack Obama. The massive Muslim Brotherhood organizational network in the U.S., so patiently built up over the decades since that first Oval Office meeting in 1953, eventually gave it a prominence and (false) reputation of credibility that was unmatched by any other Islamic groups, moderate or otherwise. Using a combination of taqiyya (deceit, dissimulation) and intimidation, the Muslim Brotherhood succeeded not only in making itself the “go-to” authority on all things related to Islam, but in suppressing those who would speak truth about Islam—again, often by persuading the U.S.’s own senior officials to do the job for them: “by their hands”.
  4. The US State Department’s Islamist Plan by Dr Mordechai Kebar, Israeli scholar of Arabic and Islam covers MB’s plans for Sinai and Egypt and reveals the grave concerns of Jordan’s king > King Abdullah openly calls them “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and “the Freemasons cult” (there is no worse expression in Arabic that the king could have used towards his citizens, MK.) because they do not want to reform the regime of the Hashemite monarchy; rather, they want to replace it and  turn it into a puppet after taking over the parliament and changing the  state into a “constitutional monarchy” with an Islamic constitution  written by the Brotherhood, of course. The king describes his battle with the Brotherhood with the expression “the most important battle confronting us in the entire region”, even more than Iran. He also does not hide his contempt for the American diplomats and officials who promote the Muslim Brotherhood out of naivety, as if the regime of the  Brotherhood is a type of Islamic democracy.
  5. Muslim Brotherhood: We’ve Got ‘Goods on Obama’ by Dr Jerome Corsi > In an interview with the News Agency Anatolia in Turkey, Saad Al-Shater, the son of imprisoned Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat Al-Shater, said his father “had in his hand” evidence that will put Obama in prison. In a thinly veiled threat, Saad Al-Shater said a US delegation was sent to Cairo by Obama to press for the release of the imprisoned Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including his father to prevent the release of explosive information. Arabic-speaking former PLO member Walid  Shoebat has translated the report by the Turkish News Agency Anatolia as follows…
  6. BREAKING NEWS – Corsi, “Egyptian government…intends to implicate Obama directly in series of financial transactions with the MB in Egypt” (video interview).

Is the use of chemical weapons in Syria of more importance than the eradication of Christianity?

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Gillan Scott provides an excellent in-depth follow up to my brief note on Barnabas Fund’s call to prayer for the persecuted church. At least our people are not joking in poor taste on this issue as did the Obama Administration over the persecution in Egypt! (See Christian Post and Raymond Ibrahim) Please note readers’ comments too..

Hassan Rouhani is no “moderate.” He was endorsed by the only Iranian leader ever to publicly call for Israel to be destroyed by nuclear weapons.

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Joel RosenbergIn view of recently concluded elections in Iran am re-posting another of Joel Rosenberg’s well-informed pieces. Readers will want to read his follow-up which includes insights from one of his contacts, an Iranian Christian leader. This may be accessed at the foot of Joel’s post or via this link.  PLUS THIS from BBC Watch > ‘Over the past few days my Twitter timeline has been dominated by Iranian ex-pats tearing out their virtual hair at the portrayal of the new Iranian president-elect  by much of the Western media (including the BBC) as a “moderate” and a “reformer”.  This might be a good time to remember that not too long ago various talking heads were using the same terms to describe Bashar al Assad.’

joelcrosenberg's avatarJoel C. Rosenberg's Blog

You’ve really got to hand it to Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The man is one of the most evil tyrants on the face of the earth. He is pursuing nuclear weapons to wipe Israel and the U.S. off the map. He wants to usher in the caliphate of the Twelfth Imam and bring about the apocalyptic End of Days. Yet he is desperately trying to prevent Israel — or any other country — from launching preemptive military strikes and neutralizing Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Thus, Khamenei is trying to use the rigged current presidential elections to recast Iran as suddenly moving in a more “moderate” direction, and thus persuading the West to ease up on economic sanctions and pressure Israel to back off.

And the Western media is totally buying it.

Consider the headlines this morning, all of which are declaring Hassan Rouhani (also spelled “Rowhani”) as the frontrunner and a “moderate” who could be the best answer…

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Is Obama’s impeachment now on the cards?

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Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. 8 For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. [Galatians 6:7-8 Amplified Bible]

Lots of national news and personal thoughts fill my mind in getting back into the swing of blogging. And where did May go? There was lots happening and I want to write on the ‘new season’, especially on the Lion of Judah, as well as the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty’s Coronation on 2nd June 1953.

shoebatAfter dealing with email, however, maybe I ‘sense’ someone’s got something significant and open my ‘Favourites – Blog’ and click at the foot of its long list. This opens to Walid Shoebat’s  site (ex-member of PLO and Muslim Brotherhood, now born-again Christian). I found his Barack Obama’s Blue Dress? is a good summary of posts about the ‘Uber-Scandal’ gathering around the US President.

I beg indulgence of my American readers familiar with their administration’s failures, and of readers elsewhere for not recounting the full background. A couple of pre-blog emails (The Gravity of Current Events and Revelation on Israel) of 2011 refer to the possibility of Obama’s impeachment.  Other issues, especially many unanswered questions about Benghazi, gave rise to my reservations over the 2012 election, as outlined in If I were an American citizen…

In commenting upon my short post on its results, Tony asked for my ‘take’ on Obama’s re-election. I replied, “Maybe it’s (God’s) intention a 2nd term will either enable Obama to repent or make corrections?”  (The latter seems to have happened regarding Israel, but I kept a tight rein on my thoughts that re-election may allow time for Gal 6:7-8 to be applied with its consequential outcome – it’s better to bless and be gracious, for the Lord will work out the detail.)

New York Times’ Jonathan Weisman summarises what’s facing Capitol Hill this week after a week’s recess and Congress’ ability to balance its twin responsibilities of legislating and of investigating.  How that works out may make the difference between landmark legislation for Obama, or his being consumed by charges relating to several scandals:

…House leaders and committee chairmen appear to be giving themselves over to an expanding and aggressive oversight effort — on the I.R.S., the Justice Department’s targeting of reporters, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s statements to Congress on that targeting and the Sept. 11 attack on the United States Mission in Benghazi, Libya.

The previous week, Bill Koenig had opened his Inside The White House briefing with, Obama’s slow-coming judgment is picking up steam:

The judgment against Barack Obama and our nation — which elected him — has been exceedingly slow in unfolding, but does have deep foundational consequences. Many of us were surprised that there weren’t more major judgment-type events in his first year in office and through his first four-year term. In many ways, events and activities seemed to go smoothly with no apparent bumps in the road, even his re-election efforts went very smoothly, but the damage to infrastructure being done daily was considerable.

williamkoenig-web[1]Koenig briefly recaps upon Obama’s immediate implementation of an LGBT agenda whilst taking his oath of office on January 19 2009 and his appointment of numerous activists to key positions. He briefly covers financial and diplomatic issues and what the Lord put on his heart about national accountability for having elected this leader. Then he closes with a brief summary, Acceleration of events:

The recent acceleration of pressure on Israel — both overt and covert; Obama’s defiant support of Planned Parenthood; his public support of the Morning-After Pill for young women 15 years old and up; his continued and active public endorsement of LGBT; have been followed by the Benghazi debacle which has ensnared the White House, the National Security Council, the State Department, the Pentagon and the CIA; the public disclosure that the US Justice Department was wire-tapping media figures; and the discriminatory actions of the IRS against certain Christian and conservative groups and the revealing of the extreme bias of those responsible… (emphases added)

I understand there may be a connection between the two emphasised matters. The IRS took inordinately longer than normal to grant tax-exemption approval to many Biblically based opponents to Obama’s policies. Eg. Billy Graham’s evangelical association and its humanitarian aid associate Samaritan’s Purse (see Politico). His son Franklin sent a strong letter direct to the President and concluded,

‘I believe someone in the Administration was targeting and attempting to intimidate us. This is morally wrong and unethical – indeed some would call it ‘un-American’.

That’s extremely irregular in any leading democracy but it suggests deep corruption lies at the heart of US federal government!

Yet more

Today, Walid Shoebat adds yet another indictment to the pile in what could be the straw to break the camel’s back.:

The signature of senior IRS official Lois Lerner sits at the bottom of a letter addressed to the Barack H. Obama Foundation (BHOF) in general, Malik Obama in particular. The letter – dated June 26, 2011 – not only granted the BHOF tax-exempt status in record time but did so retroactively to April 30, 2008.

In back-dating the tax-exempt status of Malik’s organization more than 27 months, Lerner committed a crime – a serious one.

However, she didn’t just commit a bureaucratic snafu. Lois didn’t just cross a line of legality by back-dating Malik’s tax-exempt status to a point in time that violated the law. You see, the issue for Lois involves the matter of whom she granted that status to. (Click to read full article)

Just who is this Malik Obama – none other than Barack Hussein Obama’s brother. AND what does he do? In drawing to a close, Shoebat claims.:

We now know that Malik is in bed with a government – Sudan – that has been identified by the U.S. State Department as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and that President Omar al-Bashir is a genocidal maniac; Malik works with him. (Click for detailed account)

With Nixon, it was the tapes. With Clinton, it was his own DNA. With Obama, will it be a letter that implicates his own flesh and blood?

A recent radio show discussed all these very serious issues and stressed that Sudan is, globally, one of the four worst terrorist states. As Shoebat comments about the show.:

If we had one critique, …it’s just so difficult to wrap your head around just how big this Uber-Scandal is (even if you don’t factor the president into the equation).

Conclusion

My coverage of these disreputable matters may seem a tad gross but it is important for my readers to appreciate what’s happening and it’s relevance to Biblical understanding. I’m aware of details known to White House press circle about Obama’s proclamation in his first term of officially designating every June as ‘LGBT Pride Month’. To say the very least, those details are unsettling.

As the Word of God is alive and active and does not return to Him void of accomplishing His purpose, perhaps He’s designated June 2013 as God Is Not Mocked Month ??

Footnote: Galatians 6:8 uses ‘phthoron’ meaning ‘corruption’ for ‘decay’ – how apposite! (Scripture4All Greek Interlinear Bible)

The implications of Obama’s foreign policy team for the Middle East

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Further to my recent post on the shift in US Israeli-Palestine policy, interested readers may wish to read a summary from the Middle East Forum’s Associate Fellow, Marilyn Stern.

In her concise account Ms Stern summarises a briefing given by phone to the Forum during President Obama’s official visit to Israel. This came from Jonathan S. Tobin, senior online editor of Commentary magazine and writer for its “Contentions” blog.

Many commentators in the US have great difficulties with and thus remarked adversely upon Obama’s new leadership of his foreign policy team.  This issue is summarised by Mr Tobin and he then speculates whether such a team can carry out their chief’s shift in policy.

To read the summary of Mr Tobin’s briefing click here.

US Israeli-Palestine policy makes dramatic shift

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Obama to Palestinians: Accept the Jewish State

Policy shift challenges the core of Arab resistance

Obama in Israel - Courtesy D Pipes

Under the above headline and lead-in published as Tuesday’s ‘Editor’s Pick’ in the Washington Times, leading Middle-East analyst Daniel Pipes opens with.:

One key shift in U.S. policy was overlooked in the barrage of news about Barack Obama’s eventful fifty-hour visit to Israel last week. That would be the demand that Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, called by Hamas leader Salah Bardawil “the most dangerous statement by an American president regarding the Palestinian issue…

in his Jerusalem speech last week, Obama suddenly and unexpectedly adopted in full the Israeli demand: “Palestinians must recognize that Israel will be a Jewish state.””

Pipes is of the opinion.:

Daniel PipesThat sentence breaks important new ground and cannot readily be undone. It also makes for excellent policy, for without such recognition, Palestinian acceptance of Israel is hollow, indicating only a willingness to call the future state they dominate “Israel” rather than “Palestine.”

The one-page article is very instructive, albeit concise, in its overview of the history of modern Israel and minimal on reference to America. If any reader is unfamiliar with these important facts then I recommend their reading the article (here). It is updated to include reference to hostility to Obama’s speech from a London-based Arab editor.

Obama’s fledgling mentor

Last weekend’s Inside the White House from Bill Koenig reports.:

A naïve, idealistic and inexperienced 35-year-old is molding Obama’s Middle East foreign policy, which is leading the region to Armageddon –

How could that be? President Obama, who had very little real-world experience before he took the office, apparently doesn’t fully understand the great importance of surrounding himself with experienced Middle East staff.

williamkoenig-web[1]Bill refers to Mark Landler of The New York Times’ article, Worldly at 35 and Shaping Obama’s Voice; ‘Benjamin J. Rhodes, a 35-year-old deputy national security adviser with a soft voice, strong opinions and a reputation around the White House as the man who channels Mr. Obama on foreign policy, has had a very significant hand in some of the great failures in the Middle East in the last three years and nine months.’

Landler reveals that Rhodes first came to prominence after he wrote Mr. Obama’s landmark address to the Muslim world in Cairo in June 2009. The speech was notable for President Obama’s assertion that governments should “reflect the will of the people,” prefiguring his policy in dealing with President Hosni Mubarak and Colonel Qaddafi.’

Koenig adds, ‘The speech Obama gave to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt in 2009, was filled with inaccuracies, falsehoods and total distortions, and was obviously written by someone unfamiliar with the region, the long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the depth of conflict between the Shiites and the Sunnis.

‘Just think’, writes Koenig, ‘Obama spoke to the Muslim world with a speech written by a young ideologue with very little real world experience, a speech that he gained much credit for, which further led to his responsibility for preparing and writing Obama’s major address to the Israelis this week.

‘Rhodes wasn’t even born at the time of the Six-Day War of 1967 or the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Furthermore, he’s had a major influence on some very serious decisions that have had horrible results…’

[Koenig’s in-depth critique of Obama’s Cairo speech is here, my briefer points here.]

Postscript: As ever, Carolyn Glick’s insights and reservations made in advance of the visit make for an interesting read; see Obama’s mysterious visit. Also, my recent post on Raymond Stock covers the issues in some depth.]

Prophetic Perspective

From my perspective this is a most interesting development and yet another to thank the Lord for in answer to the prayer request and prophetic words published late last year. (See original post, with developments here and here.)

UPDATE 25 April: see Viscount Samuel, Meet Secretary Hagel by Daniel Pipes for news of Secretary of Defense Hagel turning over a new leaf regarding Israel.

Butties and coffee with Raymond Stock

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Stock_Raymond[1]Having closed the previous post by recommending Raymond Stock, I thought to take him (rather, his paper) to lunch in the garden-room downstairs. His article had come to me from the Middle-East Forum at the end of January and had remained flagged in my in-tray – until today.

Somehow I got one of those inexplicable ‘nudges’ and saw it buried in the mass of email and checked it out. It was eminently fitting for the matters in-hand – no surprise!  Having run off a pdf-copy I read it whilst yet again munching (ham ‘butties’ on fresh bread I’d baked – and yet another coffee). Continue reading →

Iranian forces are “running” Syria says former Syrian Prime Minister.

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This latest update on Syria may be part of the scenario to one of the many prophecies by Ezekiel, as in chapter 38 against ‘Gog and Magog’ and which this blog refers to as ‘the Ezekiel Alliance’. For earlier reports click on tags shown below…

joelcrosenberg's avatarJoel C. Rosenberg's Blog

With the implosion of the Assad regime in full swing, the countdown to the fall of Damascus is on, and Iran is moving quickly to fill the vacuum. Now Riad Hijab — the former Prime Minister of Syria who defected from his senior position in Damascus last August — says that Iran’s military and intelligence forces are “actively running” the nation of Syria.

“Syria is occupied by the Iranian regime,” Hijab told an Arabic media outlet. “Who runs the country isn’t Bashar Assad but Kassem Suleimani, the head of Iran’s al-Quds Brigades [within the Revolutionary Guards].”

Evidence is mounting that Iran and Hezbollah, its Radical Shia terrorist organization, are moving military forces into the country so that if and when the Assad regime finally falls, Iran can fully and quickly seize and consolidate full control. Back in August, when I reported on this blog that Hijab had defected, I also quoted a press repors

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Israeli warplanes reportedly strike targets on Syria-Lebanon border; Israel on high alert over Syrian WMD

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On watch... Joel reports developments after a week of escalating tensions on the Israeli-Syrian border, especially the weekend’s explosion in an Iranian-Hezbollah convoy in the Golan Heights. Debka reported this put Israeli, Jordanian and US special forces in the kingdom on high alert. Breaking news Wednesday afternoon:  the airforce attack prevented handover of sophisticated missiles to Hezbollah. Syria’s Assad has since responded in a detailed statement – visit Debka homepage for latest ‘pre-media’ news.  On Monday President Obama was reluctant to prevent Syrian (and ex-Iraqi) chemical weapons falling into the hands of terrorists – hardly surprising in view of the withdrawal of the US naval fleet. So he left matters entirely in the hands of Middle-East regional powers. The next day all Israel’s armed forces went into a higher state of readiness for conflict as a top Air Force commander described Syria as ‘falling apart’. In addition, Egypt’s Defense Minister said about Egypt, “The political strife is pushing the state to the brink of collapse”.  On top of all that, Joel covers reports on a mysterious explosion in Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility. Perhaps a number of things are moving into place as regards the Psalm 83 confederacy and the Ezekiel alliance (as here)?

joelcrosenberg's avatarJoel C. Rosenberg's Blog

israel-lineoffighterjets“Israeli warplanes attacked a target on the Lebanese-Syrian border overnight Tuesday, foreign media reported on Wednesday,” according to a report in the Times of Israel. “While some reports said the purported strike was carried out on the Syrian side of the border, according to one source the target was a weapons convoy that had crossed from Syria into Lebanon. The reports come amid rising concern in Israel and the West regarding the sizable chemical weapons stockpile in the hands of an increasingly embattled Syrian regime. Lebanese officials said a dozen Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace on Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday, flying close to the ground in several sorties over southern Lebanon. The Israeli military and the Prime Minister’s Office had no comment. A Lebanese army statement said the last of the sorties was at 2 a.m. Wednesday. It said four warplanes, which flew in over the southernmost coastal…

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Weekend catch-up: Israel and UK, and Iran

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DSC_8314 credit-The CommentatorReaders and visitors will have noted  I often quote the Daily Telegraph. I like a number of its columnists but please don’t assume this reflects my politico-religious view. For example , I’ve noticed lately some reports on Israel don’t reflect what I’m learning from those who have their ear close to the ground, or those who are well informed. The paper’s chief political editor, Peter Oborne, usually writes well but has his critics, one of whom took him to task for his recent criticism of David Cameron’s ‘cowardice’ over Israel.

I came across that criticism on one of my dips into The Commentator and spotted an article entitled Conservative cowardice on Israel?  Historian Carly Beckerman-Boys  raises this question because,

Peter Oborne’s recent comments on the Conservative Party and Israel are overshadowed by his fundamental misunderstanding of British politics and the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

In view of my interest this looked a promising read but I dug first into the original article, The cowardice at the heart of our relationship with Israel. I was thus in a better place to follow the historian’s argument.  So, if this topic stirs you why not take a few minutes to read Peter Oborne and then click here for an interesting counter-thrust.

Had I come across Peter’s article in my occasional copy of the paper I would have had some reservations, so I’m pleased to have discovered Carly’s well-balanced answer to his perception of the issue.  Another critic and contributor to CIFWatch, Richard Millet, is not so gentle in his solid response! (For Richard’s background click here.)

Iran – the game is over

Forget POTUS Obama’s intentions to discuss nuclear energy and weapons with Iranian leaders – talks are dead in the water! That game is now over according to DEBKAfile because Iran now has enough plutonium for 24 Nagasaki-type bombs!  This Special Report opens.:

The secret, one-on-one nuclear negotiations President Barack Obama launched with Iran have run into a blank wall. A senior Iranian team member, Mostafa Dolatyar,  said Friday, Dec. 14 in New Delhi that the diplomatic process for solving the nuclear issue with Iran was in effect going nowhere, because the demand that Tehran halt its 20-percent enrichment of uranium “doesn’t make sense.”

Debka reports that Dolatyar’s remarks would have been authorised by ‘Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who, through him, posted a message to Washington: If the enrichment suspension demand stands, the game’s over’. The report continues.:

‘After more than 15 years of on-and-off, largely aimless, nuclear diplomacy with world powers and evasive tactics with the UN nuclear agency, Tehran is for the first time showing signs of impatience and not just its usual disdain. This is because two things have changed:

‘1. For all those years, Tehran availed itself of every diplomatic opening for protracted bargaining about its nuclear program for the sake of buying time, free of pressure, to push that program forward. Now, the Iranians are telling the US and Europe that they have arrived at their destination. For them, time is no longer of essence, as it may be for the West.

‘2.  The second development was revealed on Dec. 5 by The Wall Street Journal in a short leader captioned “From Bushehr to the Bomb”. This revelation was not picked up by any other Western – or even Israeli – publication despite its sensational nature…’  (Click to read before report is filed to premium content archive. More background here.)

So, as mentioned throughout this year the Middle-East pot continues on the boil. But at least it’s not boiling over – yet!

Furthermore, the Iranians stated that installing an American Patriot missile defence on the Turkish-Syrian border is “meant to cause a world war”.  With a massive US, British, French and Russian naval presence in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Mediterranean,  Obama has tried to defuse the situation and ‘quietly recalled’ two naval strike groups home from Syrian waters. (Debka Exclusive Report.) And this is without considering the several stockpiles of chemical weapons of mass destruction, or lunacy that continues to break out in the Middle-East.

PROPHETICALLY, NONE OF THESE TROUBLES ARE A SURPRISE. I’m intrigued to muse whether Barack Obama has yet started to take his accredited White Ho journalist Bill Koenig’s wisdom seriously. (First-time visitors click for information about Bill and here for previous posts referring to his work.)

ALSO, we know of an anointed man of God blessed with an evangelistic and healing miracles ministry who heard God say He’s setting the stage for fulfillment of Biblical prophecy > AND we have confirmation from economic cyclical theory > ALL in addition to the fullness of what the Lord Himself said whilst here, and through His holy prophets.

What awesome and exciting days we live in…..

By the way, a bit on the Swiss…

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Taking a brief break from redecorating our bathroom to catch up yesterday with online news a couple of items got connected – serendipity again?  [Definition in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: ‘the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for’.]

I didn’t intend writing yesterday, just to scan dozens of emails but one covered Ambrose Evans-Pritchard’s pitch. I’ve often read his articles and realised the importance of this so hastily copied it (as previous post). But this time I had to avoid reading around to get a fuller picture. So I didn’t check out William Hague’s speech or follow the link to Daniel Hannan. (He’s one of the few politicians I have time for. As a Member of the European Parliament he’s well informed and frequently stands up against the EU’s nonsense.)  I merely noted the reference to his on Swiss economic arrangements with the EU.

Now, where had I spotted another reference to Switzerland yesterday? It was within the plethora of news items posted on Sunday in John McTernan’s Insights, as follows:

“Muslims enraged by cross on Swiss flag: “Many Muslims feel this Christian slogan is a provocation and an assault against Islam” 10/16/12 The Muslims cannot stand the cross, and this shows how they want to dominate any society that they are in.”

John read in The Local, Switzerland’s News in English, about Muslims objecting to a Swiss International Air Lines advertising campaign simply because of a play on words upon their fleet’s ensign!  Journalist Malcolm Curtis explains:

Alluding to its logo, taken from Switzerland’s national flag, the slogan says in German, “Kreuz ist Trumpf”, literally, the “cross is trumps”, or the “cross is a plus”.  The words are used in a billboard campaign, launched within the country last month, that highlights the white cross on the back of one of its planes.

Muslims in Switzerland have responded negatively to the advertising, which they believe promotes Christianity over other religions.  In Swiss internet forums, Islamists complain that Swiss makes reference to the “cross” and not the “Swiss cross”, Der Sonntag newspaper reported….

Swiss maintains that its ad campaign does not carry any religious or political message.  The slogan is, in fact, a play on words, referring to “trumps” in Jass, the popular card game that is strongly rooted in Switzerland, airline spokeswoman Myriam Ziesack told Sonntag.

She said it was unfortunate that the billboard advertising appeared at the same time as the anti-Muhammad American film surfaced on the Internet. “We didn’t intend to make any religious or political statement with this advertising message,” Ziesack said. (See full article and links.)

The time is soon coming when most of these folk will be embarrased about extremists’ viewpoints and want to bring their religion into the 21st century. But as that’s according to the Christian calendar, should that be ‘the modern world’?  Objections to a nation’s  culture and heritage are not the way to bring peace between people.

Incidentally, about that offensive video, there’s more to it than meets the eye if there’s any credence in investigators claims, writes Palestinian Walid Shoebat (read his latest).

Britain has left the EU in all but name…

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Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor for The Telegraph, writes today under that headline as follows:

To all intents and purposes, the UK is already out. We stayed still. Europe galloped away without us.

No doubt we can find some elegant formula to paper over the split. As my friend Daniel Hannan puts it, we could devise a Swiss arrangement while pretending that we are still EU members. No point frightening the horses.

For those readers who missed it, the UK is preparing to pull out of almost all areas of “Justice and Home Affairs”, the so-called Pillar III of EU jurisdiction. (Pillar I is the single market, and Pillar II is foreign affairs)

This is revolutionary. We are withdrawing from 130 directives, covering everything from the European Arrest Warrant, the European Public Prosecutor, to the European justice department… <emphasis mine>

As ever, this solid journalist logically yet succinctly makes his case; read here to gain its full impact. It brings some foreboding:

Meanwhile, the EU’s onward march to a banking union, a fiscal compact, and variants of fiscal union have simply left us behind. To whom – by the way – will the new banking union be accountable? To national parlia-ments and courts? Obviously not. It will “answer” to MEPs and the ECJ.

A whole superstate structure is coming into being. It cannot be democratic because there is no European political nation or shared political language, and all attempts to mimic the vibrant democracies of the ancient states have failed. The European Parliament has its charms but it is not a body that can hold a powerful executive to account.

Eurosceptics warned from the outset that EMU was unworkable as constructed. Monetary union would engender crises that forced ever more extreme solutions to keep the show on the road, acting as a powerful catalyst for full political union. They have been entirely vindicated. This is exactly what has happened.

Yet there is welcome relief to come for us in the UK because, in Ambrose’s opinion:

It is now clear that Britain’s decision to stay out of the euro at Maastricht was a de facto decision to leave the EU as well, as Britain’s political leaders feared even then. It has a taken two decades but we can almost all see now that a free and self-governing Britain can no longer be part of the Project.

This is the backdrop to William Hague’s speech this morning, his ‘cri de coeur’, his warning that anger over EU encroachment has reached boiling point. “A great machine that sucks up decision-making from national parliaments to the European level until everything is decided by the EU. [Click for report on Foreign Secretary’s speech in Berlin.] That needs to change. If we cannot show that decision-making can flow back to national parliaments then the system will become democratically unsustainable.”

Obviously, nothing is about to flow back. The EU is going headlong in the opposite direction. What Mr Hague is really doing is preparing the ground for withdrawal.

In concluding, he forecasts the next few years will probably be stormy, yet:

once the boil is lanced, we may find that our relations with Europe improve dramatically. The moment that the EU no longer threatens our laws, our parliament, our democracy, and our way of life – that is to say, the moment we take the stone out of our shoe – almost all hostility will drain away. We can all become lovers of Europe again. Good fences. Good neighbours.

YET, even so, I surmise that the trend towards global monetary union will not leave this nation to one side – unless the Living Lord God has other plans…

Israel v. Iran – possibility of breakthrough?

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Someone has observed that when a nation is attacked then internal divisions disappear and its people act in unity against the aggressor. (If you know the reference source for this remark, please refresh my memory.)  By this principle unscrupulous leaders, eg. of  totalitarian regimes, have been known to provoke conflict with another nation in order to distract their public from severe internal issues that bring a great risk of internal unrest and rebellion.  Perhaps that’s now the case with Iran?

Last weekend brought Israel close to the brink of war as over 55 missiles and mortars were fired into Israel from Gaza and an Iranian unmanned surveillance helicopter flew over highly sensitive installations. The Israelis conducted cyber-warfare against it and it was shot down. Debka reported the barrage was the outcome of a new Hamas-Iran accord (see Is the Mid-East coming to the boil?) and in several reports that Israel has been highly embarrassed by the deliberate act of Iranian belligerence.  On top of that, Hezbollah was so confident of success that it published plans to attack Israel from the Golan and Lebanon. Then came speculation of an American and Israeli ‘surprise’ this month!

Amidst all this will be lots of disinformation, but Iranian leaders have promised to be taking action soon. But could all the above-related events be a distraction to provoke Israel into attacking Iran as a knee-jerk reaction and thereby uniting the Iranian public?

There have been reports of public protests and demonstrations in Tehran because of the severe economic downturn the country is suffering. It is on the verge of collapse, and nothing could definitely divert the people’s attention like a ‘jolly’, ‘holy’ war!  The people have experienced tough suppression a couple of years ago and if they riot this time would be determined not to lose again – maybe the mad–mullahs will be over-thrown?

Mike Evans has reported this week that these developments are being given serious consideration.  Dare we hope for a non-violent solution to this situation – one in which the hand of the Lord is seen?  Here’s food for thought from Mike’s valued insights (also see my postscript comment):

The Power of Prayer is Working
Dear Richard,
During my recent trip to Israel, I met with over 41 leaders in the nation. Afterwards, I flew to New York to defend Israel at the UN and confronted the Iranian leaders that were raging against the State of Israel.
Israel’s leaders were fully prepared to courageously attack Iran’s nuclear reactors. Some of the top leaders in the Jewish state told me that the attack was already scheduled between September 15th and October 15th . In the midst of this, the amazing has occurred: Iranian people are rising up, and the economy of Iran is on the verge of collapse due to international sanctions. Because of these events, Israel will not attack before the end of the year.
From my perspective, this has been a direct result of the power of prayer. An attack before the US elections would have resulted in Israel being blamed, and would have placed the nation squarely in the crosshairs of every legislator in the party that loses the election. It would also have created a global economic crisis because of oil flowing through the Persian Gulf. Liability would have fallen on Israel.
The key to understanding Israel’s actions can be found in II Samuel 11:1: “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel.”
If Iran experiences a “Persian Spring” much like the Arab Spring, and Admadinejad’s regime is overthrown, Israel will not attack. When Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke courageously at the UN concerning the “red line,” his team was negotiating with Great Britain, France, Germany, and the US, asking for new sanctions against Iran. The top European leaders agreed and will make proposals in the areas of finance, trade, energy, and transportation in Brussels on October 15th. I’ve been told by the highest level of officials in the Israeli government that Iran’s loss of income is between $40 and $50 billion.
The last time this occurred, the Shah of Iran was overthrown. That was confirmed when I interviewed all the top leaders of the country, including Empress Farah Pahlavi and Ambassador to the US, Ardeshir Zahedi. The Iranian rial has lost 80 percent of its value in twelve months. The bazaars in the nation are going on strike, and the people are demonstrating. I can tell you firsthand that not all the top Iranian leaders were given visas to enter the US in September. I am referring particularly to the mullahs who run the country. In addition, Iranian spies who have been meeting in the hotels for the past four years were not in attendance this year. I believe many have been arrested.
Perhaps one of the most telling examples are the Iranian women. In past years, they have gone to the top stores in New York City to shop. That did not happen this year. Instead, the men would return from pharmacies and hardware stores with purchases including boxes of over-the-counter drugs.

Is the Middle-East coming to the boil?

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Copy of email circulated yesterday and today about Israel, Iran and Jordan:

YESTERDAY (Monday)

Friends, to keep you in the frame, this update focuses [first] upon Israel and Iran.:

I was amazed this morning to learn that my merely passing thoughts at the foot of this thread, just after my quoting Mike Evans, could have been accurate! [See blog version of Thursday’s email for that reference.]  Btw, he’s said to be the only Christian to have confronted Iranian pres. Amadmanjihad last year in New York, where the Lord helped him get through high-security guards. He intends to do so again this week whilst the Iranian’s attending the UN General Assembly. [US House of Representatives passed motion requesting UN not allow him to speak on holy day of Yom Kippur!]

Breaking news today from New York quotes the Iranian president’s lying threat,

 “Iran has been around for the last seven, 10 thousand years. (Israelis) have been occupying those territories for the last 60 to 70 years, with the support and force of the Westerners. They have no roots there in history.

“We don’t even count them as any part of any equation for Iran…During a historical phase, (the Israelis) represent minimal disturbances that come into the picture and are then eliminated.”  (Reuters’ 1st report; my emphases)

The weekend before last I’d been mulling over media quietness during Rosh Hashanah holy days as perhaps the ‘still before the storm’, and praying there would be no surprise attacks upon Israel.

Thus, my remarks at the close of previous email were merely meant as an observation about Israel ’obviously taking precautions against being caught napping’. Yet little did I know it was the very same afternoon when newly released papers revealed a massive intelligence failure at the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War of 1973, as Joel Rosenberg reports:

Thirty-nine years ago this month, Israel was surrounded by enemies threatening to annihilate her. But Israeli leaders did not take the threats seriously enough, and did not order a pre-emptive strike to neutralize the enemy’s military capabilities. [Read The Times of Israel article on this severe lesson.]

Last weekend’s news:

Yesterday [Sunday], Reuters reported a Brigadier-General in the Republican Guards as stating on Iranian TV that:

Iran could launch a pre-emptive strike on Israel if it was sure the Jewish state was preparing to attack it…we can not imagine the Zionist regime starting a war without America’s support. Therefore, in case of a war, we will get into a war with both of them and we will certainly get into a conflict with American bases.

Also, the station paraphrased him as saying:

“Iran will not start any war but it could launch a pre-emptive attack if it was sure that the enemies are putting the final touches to attack it.”

Furthermore, Rosenberg advises that, for the first time, Iran’s highest-ranking military official (minister of defence) has tied the forthcoming confrontation into ‘the era of The Coming’ of the Hidden 12th Imam, or Mahdi. Thus, Iran’s leaders are expecting a highly significant war to facilitate that event and thereby introduce a global Islamic caliphate.  (See Joel’s post here and my previous overview.)

BUT JUST AS OMINOUSLY, the general alluded to various means of response which would implicitly include last week’s ‘binding commitment’ by Hamas leaders in Gaza to join Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon in military action against Israel.

Debka’s exclusive military sources (here) disclose the agreement’s detailed and precise directives would make Palestinian Hamas defer to Tehran and not to Cairo’s Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an offshoot, and instructs them to stop obstructing Iran’s proxy in the Gaza strip.

Thus, we can see Iran’s influence is extending westward like a demonic talon through Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza around Israel, whose only trouble-free border is with Jordan. This development will doubtless affect the Egypt-Israel relationship and their counter-terror operations in Sinai, the border of which was breached during Friday’s shootout. Egypt’s new rulers are unable to control or contain Islamist terrorism in Sinai. Therefore, Israel’s latest massive exercise should be regarded in this light, and which left two battalions on the Syrian border!

America’s lack of influence/interest continues to be demonstrated by president Obama’s latest, and as some infer, unhelpful remarks towards Israel, as Debka reports here.

Thank the Lord what’s going in the world doesn’t hinder us from keeping our eyes on Him, and looking to His return – maranatha!

TODAY (Tuesday)


Further to yesterday’s update, this morning’s on-line headline corrects my reference to Israel’s only ‘trouble-free border’, viz :

Jordan on the brink: Muslim brothers mobilize for King Abdullah’s overthrow

Another ‘exclusive’ from Debka reports:

For Israel, an upheaval in Jordan bodes the tightening of the Islamist noose around its borders – Egypt and Libya to the south and Syria to the north, with unpredictable consequences with regard to Jordan’s Pales-tinian population.

Saudi Arabia, already threatened by Iranian aggression, fears the oil kingdom may be next in line if its northern neighbor is crushed under the marching feet of the “Arab Spring.”

The Debka report goes on to analyse the monarch’s plight and his three options, refers to the knock-on effect upon Saudi Arabia and succinctly surmises Obama’s quandary – will he stab yet another staunch ally in the back for the sake of the lynchpin to his outreach to the Muslim world, their Cairo-based brotherhood?

You may recall my reference in Jan 2011 (‘Talks leaks’ aka ‘Palestinian papers’) to:

calls for the overthrow of Jordan’s government (Egypt next?) …Perhaps, therefore, we may soon see whether or not Christian commentators upon the prophesied Psalm 83 Middle-Eastern war and fulfilment of Obadiah 15 are proved correct??’

Psalm 83 (click to read psalm)

In Bible Prophecy Blog of April 1st 2012, Bill Salus refers to the increasing interest in Psalm 83, which he describes as “a prophecy in progress”. His article notes and lists the six primary requirements stated in the psalm that need to be in place before all the nations surrounding Israel ‘wipe out its people…that the name of Israel be remembered no more’ (vv2-4). Six months ago he observed that ‘all six of these prerequisites are in place’ and foresaw with precise perspicuity that:

Apart from fragile peace treaties between Israel and Egypt, and Israel and Jordan, the Psalm prophecy essentially appears to be on the verge of fulfilment.

Many pundits believe that the new majority Islamic fundamentalist parliament of Egypt will soon abrogate the 33 year old peace agreement with Israel. Should Egypt break peace with Israel, there are few that believe Jordan will covet the lone-wolf position of being the only remaining Arab state that possesses a peace accord with Israel. The legitimate concern is reflected in the adage; “As goes Egypt, so goes the rest of the Middle East.”

What Bill describes has indeed started to happen, as is clearly evident from Egypt’s new, Muslim Brotherhood president Morsi’s attitude towards the peace treaty. With today’s exclusive news, we can now expect radical changes in Jordan this year…

To gain a good insight into the Biblical significance of what’s happening read Bill’s lucid, 4-page exposition Psalm 83 – A Prophecy in Progress. (His blog: prophecydepot.com)

The Lord bless you and keep you.

See also:

> John McTernan’s Daily Digest commentary of Sept 25th and his several news links.

> Nick Gray in The Commentator on the effect of Morsi’s attitude on the peace treaty. (He writes for Christian Middle-East Watch, a voice coming from the Church in Britain, aiming to bring balance and truth to debates and issues concerning the Middle-East.)

Update 14th Oct: Robert Spencer; Egyptian Copts overwhelmed by “anxiety and fear”, see Muslim Brotherhood government as “worst in memory”.

Historically significant week for the Middle East

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This brief update is offered in case you may be unaware of developments in the Middle-East. Those who relish detail will enjoy getting their teeth into Bill Koenig’s chronology of events from a perspective of US-Israel relations, Eye-to-Eye: Week of 9-11-12. It has  a brief overview. (Also see recent post about his Alert anticipating trouble according to cyclic theory.)  Here’s my update:

An unprecedented ‘armada’ of American, British and French naval power is focusing once again upon protecting the Strait of Hormuz (see Telegraph) – this separates the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman, as in map below.

Barnabas Fund reports growing concern for Christians in countries rocked by violent protests against an offensive movie trailer on Mohammed. According to a number of experts, however, it’s a pretext for Islamist action on several fronts – eg. Raymond Ibrahim and Caroline Glick, here and here respectively.  [NB: see update below on investigation into possible terrorist involvement in production of this video in order to commit an outrage.]

Solid grounds for this conclusion as regards the attack in Libya are given in a press release by the London counter-extremism think-tank Quillam Foundation. (Quillam’s founder, ex-hardline Islamist Maajid Nawaz, gives a most informative interview in The Counter Islamist. Their website explains how they are working to change attitudes.)

Also, Mudar Zahran, a Palestinian writer and Jordanian academic resident as political refugee in the UK, reports upon the ‘textbook Islamist’ who ignited the rage by running an Egyptian tv show about the movie. (Thank you Tembisa at World Chaos.) Also, The Telegraph reports that this presenter’s,

inflammatory chat show on satellite television has long prided itself on baiting liberals, Christians and Jews, but last week saw Sheikh Khalid Abdullah stage the broadcasting controversy of a lifetime.

In view of all the hysteria, however, there’s been a news blackout in mainstream media about two places – Sinai and Israel.

Debka reported on Friday and Sunday fierce Al-Qaeda led military attacks in Sinai, one of which was against the 1000+ Multinational Force’s camp established to monitor the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty. There, a Colombian battalion protected Americans. Then on Monday I received an email from Mike Evans stating,

“I have received an email from a friend and supporter of the Jerusalem Prayer Team who lives in Jerusalem with an urgent message about massive troop movements underway in Israel. The scale of the mobiliz-ation is like nothing this family has seen in more than twenty years in the Jewish state.”

There have been a number of such reports, which may be disinformation, or as some well-meaning folk think – a hoax!  It may be that Israel was taking precautions against being caught napping during the Rosh-Hashanah holy days. However, news of a ‘snap military exercise’ in the Golan Heights did at last surface yesterday morning in a Debka ‘exclusive’ and later in The Telegraph.

Today, we learn about enemy troops moving into the territory across Israel’s northern border, ie. Iran is pouring troops into Syria to bolster Assad and thereby threaten Israel (as here). Link both ‘blackout’ news items with the supposed ‘hoax’ and we can tell that good intel’ had alerted and activated the Israeli military – there’s no smoke without fire!

Events are proceeding at breakneck speed!

ALSO SEE copy email update about these closing remarks!!

Update 27/9: Former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Walid Shoebat, claims on his blog that the offensive video trailer was, in all likelihood, produced as a terrorist scam. This renowned peace activist arrives at that conclusion after examining contradictions and falsehoods within the media accounts, plus his own previous investigations into the characters and his connections in and direct knowledge of the Middle-East. There are far too many facts that can’t be married up!

Keep looking to the Lord…

Well fancy that – US Democrats fall out over Jerusalem!

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A couple of intriguing items are currently running on World Watch Daily and which I’m copying below in view of rumours of undue influence from the Muslim Brotherhood’s US affiliates, eg. as on the occasion reported in this post.

Dem. Party Heads Ram Through Pro-Israel and ‘God’ Language, Steam Roll Opposition — (video shows the chaos)!!

“Democratic party heads rammed through the revised platform, which includes
updated pro-Israel language and the mention of God, which required a 2/3’s voice
vote, against the clear wishes of those voting at the convention in Charlotte.”

The night the Democrats lost control of the Israel message

“Proposed changes regarding Jerusalem and the mention of God are met with boos by
convention delegates” – read analysis here.

The video clip is well worth watching – it’s quite amusing – especially when we recall the Living God’s promise to prophet Zecharia (see Zech 12):

And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.

News Alert: The third straight Republican Convention disrupted by a major storm.

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To view this alert on online click here.
William Koenig - Main Banner
August 26, 2012
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Dear Richard,There were two major record-setting, billion-dollar hurricanes at the time of the 2004 (Frances) and 2008 (Gustav) Republican Conventions. They literally became the main news stories up to and during the Republican Convention.

Tropical Storm Isaac, soon to be Hurricane Isaac, has disrupted the 2012 Republican Convention.

On Tuesday, August 21, the Republican platform committee voted to add the “two-state” position pertaining to Israel’s land for formal approval at the convention; this was the same day Isaac formed as a tropical depression.

For detailed information on these events and corresponding activities please CLICK HERE.
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Bill Koenig - White House Correspondent
William Koenig
White House Correspondent Koenig’s Eye View from the White House
A weekly in-depth news report that is delivered on Friday which offers a concise and informative behind-the-scenes perspective.To review a sample
copy click here.
Click here to subscribe.
Koenig International News
Biblically-relevant news with an emphasis on Israel, the Middle East and other key areaswatch.org
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Update 3 of 3 – the Middle-East

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Since the brief reference in the latter half of my earlier post on the BBC a great deal has been rolling on regarding Israel and Iran. So I will summarise below all I know, which means this will be a full posting. But first, this morning’s ‘hot off the press’ news:

Two Hamas spies arrested among PA chairman’s personal guards – Debka exclusive reports American, Israeli and Palestinian security services were deeply shocked with the realisation that they had been passing Mahmoud Abbas’s closest secrets to their Hamas controllers for many years. The fact that they had been planted under cover within the Palestinian leader’s 170-strong personal guard has compromised the security standing of his entire national security force of 6 battalions (4000 members).

That security force, Debka comments, “…may be riddled with Hamas undercover agents and an unknown number of sleeper cells awaiting orders to spring into action (also that) high-ranking officials consider all of Abbas’ most confidential political, intelligence and financial moves and private communications with Arab, Israeli and Western personal-ities must be accounted an open book to Hamas.” (The radical Hamas rules the Gaza Strip as a bitter rival of Abbas’ Fatah-led administration in Ramallah). The selection and screening of the whole Palestinian security force was the responsibility of American and British agencies!

In my opinion this will throw yet another spanner into the ‘peace process’ but is not at all surprising in view of two reasons:

  • my guess as to “a major shaking of the Palestinian leadership” at the start of the Arab Spring. Perhaps Hamas spies were responsible for the ‘talks leaks’?
  • the long-running political incompetence of Western leadership’s failure to grasp and understand Islamist terrorism.

Now, back to my post about ‘Bibi’s Secret War Plan’, or ‘Shock and Awe’ Israeli-style.  William Koenig also reported upon:

He also cited various voices in opposition to Israel acting against Iran, viz:

My Footnote referred to Iranian declarations of Nazi policy. Google reported 18 Aug:

Ahmadinejad’s diatribe against Israel in his Quds (Jerusalem) Day address was the latest in a long line to have drawn criticism from Western governments. “The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumour,” he said.

“The nations of the region will soon finish off the usurper Zionists in the Palestinian land…. A new Middle East will definitely be formed. With the grace of God and help of the nations, in the new Middle East there will be no trace of the Americans and Zionists,” he said. His declarations were followed within a couple of days by supreme leader Khameini’s unequivocal support.

Debka reported on 16 Aug that the White House had urgently contacted PM Netanyahu to arrange a meeting with President Obama at September’s UN General Assembly. See this exclusive report on strength of activity for and against proposed Israeli action, as well as calls for expulsion of Iran from UN and IMF.

18 Aug – US National Security Council, UN Secretary General and the EU’s foreign affairs High Representative Ashton all strongly condemned Iranian vitriol and hatred. Reuters reports ‘Catherine Ashton’s language was unusually forthright for the West’s chief negotiator over Iran’s nuclear program’. The agency quotes the statement issued by her spokesman that Ashton:

Strongly condemns the outrageous and hateful remarks threatening Israel’s existence by the Supreme Leader and the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Israel’s right to exist must not be called into question.  (my emphasis)

18 Aug – “White House this week scrambles to reconnect with Jerusalem after Obama administration was persuaded that Israel is serious about conducting a Fall military operation against Iran’s nuclear program before the Nov 6 US presidential election”, ie. notwithstanding heavy opposition at home and in States. Proposed UN meeting now overtaken by events and Israel presents 4-point plan for delaying attack, all of which require formal action by Obama (see Exclusive Report). Debka’s sources report that Obama has not objected or rejected this plan. [Note: this is a major breakthrough for PM Netanyahu in view of the continual personal opposition he has been confronted with from Obama.]

19 Aug – Silverstein writes Israel Official refuses to deny authenticity of …document.

20 Aug  – US General Dempsey tells reporters, while on a flight to Afghanistan, that he understands Israel’s urgency in calling for action against Iran’s nuclear program. “They are living with an existential concern that we are not living with,” he said according to AFP.  Israel and the US see the Iranian threat differently, admitting that Washington and Jerusalem are on “different clocks” regarding Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. [Note: Israel has always been far ahead of USA, which lacked on-the-ground intelligence.] In fact, USA had recognised Israel’s claim that Iran could produce its first nuclear device by October – this year!! (see Exclusive Report.)

LATEST 21 Aug – Western intelligence sources recognise that the likely way to avoid destruction of Israel (whether they attack Iran now, later or not) would be “to disable Iran’s nuclear program by going after its leaders”!!  Perhaps it’s a better option than full-scale war, and much less costly.  Iran’s goal is to eliminate Israel no matter what, so attack is the best form of defence – unless the Lord sovereignly steps in.

To understand the perilous nature of events we need to have a full appreciation of what is actually happening. You may, therefore wish to consider the latest news, in the form of a Debka special video presentation with textual copy – from those who can often have access to news prior to its breaking into mainstream media (if the BBC can handle it).

Further connected developments are reported in this Postscript.

About the status of Jerusalem

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If anyone isn’t sure why potential contender for the Oval Office Mitt Romney caused a stir by his remarks about Jerusalem made during his recent visit there, let’s consider the situation in more detail. Please refer to the brief previous post and watch its very short video-clip from Times of Israel. A short US news transcript on this may be read here.

First, let’s never forget the prophetic Word of God:

“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling…On that day when all nations of the earth are gathered against her. I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to remove it will injure themselves…” (Zecharia 12:2-3, also referred to in earlier post here.)

Jerusalem is renowned for its place in religious history and since Israel liberated it from Jordan in the 1967 war it has changed from semi-dereliction to a thriving city.  Inter-nationally, however, it is regarded as a disputed territory with Israelis and Palestinians vying for eventual oversight through the supposed ‘peace process’.  It’s complicated, so let’s check what others more qualified than me say about Romney’s speech:

Experts’ Commentaries

1. Drew Zahn, a Christian columnist, explains:

The controversy over the nation’s capital exists because many Jews, as well as many of Israel’s supporters around the world, have long understood that Jerusalem is more than just the capital of the country, but the heart and soul of the Jewish people’s understanding of returning to the land of their forefathers.

And even though the presidential residence, government offices, supreme court and Knesset are located in Jerusalem – designated as the capital city by Jewish law – the United Nations doesn’t recognize Jerusalem’s place, and most nations’ embassies, therefore, are located in Israel’s northern city of Tel Aviv. In fact, not a single nation on earth diplomatically recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Even the U.S., long considered one of Israel’s most faithful allies, has fudged its position on the capital controversy as incoherently as Carney answered the press corps. For example, in 1995 Congress adopted the Jerusalem Embassy Act, a resolution supporting recognition of a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and declaring “the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999.” But the act has yet to be carried out, as President Clinton’s administration believed the act was an unconstitutional invasion of presidential authority. No president has yet to act on the 1995 resolution.(Read full article Suddenly, All Eyes Are On Jerusalem.)

2. Deputy managing editor of the Jerusalem Post and senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC, Carolyn Glick has served on the Israeli team during peace negotiations and is highly regarded for her incisive analysis. Thus, on this matter she provides the following insight before proceeding to deal with Palestinian complaints:

…The law granted the president a right to postpone the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on national security grounds. But the law’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was unconditional (my emphasis).

In noting Romney’s very mild criticism of Palestinian society, Carolyn refers to their nonsensical attitude on several issues and cites how they bite the hand that feeds them:

The EU is the largest financial backer of the PA. Its policies towards Israel are in complete alignment with what the purportedly moderate Palestinians claim they want in a peace deal with Israel, including the partition of Jerusalem [….]  And yet…for simply upgrading EU trade ties with Israel, Palestinian for Dignity announced its members “will organize to protest the latest manifestation of EU complicity and to challenge its presence and operations in Palestine”.

For how the Republican contender’s policy statements compare with those of Barack Obama’s Administration, especially as applied to the re-election campaign, read her full article Israel – Obama’s ‘Wedge’ Issue.

Carolyn’s opinion on Romney’s speech is ever so brief and may been read here just before the speech’s video on her blog.

3. Founder of The Middle-East Forum who warned of the likelihood of the  911 attack, Daniel Pipes referred to Romney’s rousing political speech as follows:

(He) delivered a ‘stem-winder’ of a speech to the Jerusalem Foundation yesterday, packing emotional support with frank policy statements. The contrast with Obama could hardly be more dramatic. Indeed, one could go through the speech and note the many refutations of Obama….

Also, in contrast to the nonsensical Obama administration stance on Jerusalem being Israel’s capital — sneaking into change captions that mistakenly identified it as that and going through verbal gymnastics to avoid calling it that — Romney came out and plainly called Jerusalem “the capital of Israel”.

For Daniel’s concise summation of the speech see his article in National Review Online, The Corner.

4. Mike Evans, close personal friend of PM Netanyahu for many years, tells about the Israeli’s 35 year-long friendship with the Republican Romney in A Tale of Two Kings.

The two politicians are exceptional among today’s officials. It would be challenging to find two men of such prominence with a similar history. It would also be difficult to envision a world leader who would be more in tune with Israel’s welfare. Romney has already signified that he would be hesitant to make noteworthy determinations about the Jewish state without first conferring with Mr. Netanyahu. This would be an utter about-face from the lackadaisical policies displayed by current US President Barack Obama.

Has your mainstream news fully reported on this? See Not on the 10 o’clock News.