News for July 12, 2006

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This edition is big, but action and information-packed! The Middle East is coming unglued very quickly. The Muslims around Israel are kidnapping more now that they’ve seen it work once to rile Israel up. They desire this confrontation because it fits in with their eschatology. (End-times beliefs) They claim to be a religion of peace, but here’s the evidence.

The Bible talks about an invasion by Gog/Magog which is stopped by God in the mountains of Israel as he rains hail, fire, and brimstone on them, wiping them out. From this, the world will know God is real. I believe this may be getting ready to happen. I may be wrong as the timing of this Gog/Magog invasion is often debated. However, my belief in the current timing is based on the news. Visit the Bible study on Ezekiel 38, 39 and that will lead you through what the Bible says so you can see it laid out before you read about it in the news. Think I’m crazy? Read the news for just today below and I think you may agree. The alliances laid out in scripture are all setup or in the final stages of being set up RIGHT NOW! In fact, the potential “hooks in the jaws” could be the defense agreement with Iran and Syria, who Israel is currently threatening to attack. The last couple years of my life has been devoted to understanding the future laid out in the Bible for us. If the news does bring us to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy in the near future, then we are truly living in the last days. This is not a bad thing, but an exciting time for those putting their faith in Christ.

I say all this because I feel time is short and some are too busy to notice. That’s why I’m watching. Stay tuned...

Austria Adopts AMO Barcode Design as Symbol of it’s EU Presidency (July 11, 2006) - The Austrian Government announced that it would adopt a design created by think-tank, AMO, as a symbol of its European Union (EU) Presidency. AMO, the think-tank established by Rem Koolhaas, linked to the work of his Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), is the designer of the official logo for the Austrian EU Presidency which begins January 2006. The logo merges the flags of current EU member states into a single symbol, resulting in a series of vertical stripes resembling a coloured barcode. According to its creators the barcode “aims to portray Europe as the common effort of different nations, with each retaining its own unique cultural identity.” Whereas the number of stars on the current EU flag is fixed, the barcode can be expanded when new members join the EU. The barcode is part of a larger visual identity package that AMO is developing with the Austrian Government for its coming EU Presidency. In the pipeline is an exhibition about the History of Europe and the European Union, a conference on European identity and the production of a book that explains the European Union to school aged children. more...
| EU/UN |

Down With EU Stars, Run Up Stripes - BBC Article

Hamas supreme leader Khaled Meshaal: Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit will not be returned until all Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails (July 10, 2006) - At a news conference in Damascus Monday, July 10, Meshaal complained the whole world is concerned with the fate of a single Israeli soldier and not with the fate of millions of Palestinians. Noam Shalit, whose son was snatched from an army post on Israeli territory June 25 appeals to the Israeli government to make every effort to rescue Gilead before “any change of rules in the regional game.”
| Israel | Islam |

Olmert: No negotiations with governing Hamas, no Palestinian prisoners will be released to Hamas in trade for Corporal Shalit (July 10, 2006) - Khaled Meshaal is a terrorist with blood on his hands, said the Israeli prime minister at a news conference with foreign correspondents. He lashed out against European critics of Israel’s Gaza offensive, asking: When was the last time the European Union condemned the daily Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza against Israel? Israel’s operation will go on indefinitely until the soldier is freed and missile fire ends, said Olmert.
| Israel | Islam |

Seems that neither side are interested in negotiations. I can’t imagine this getting any better with time except if some great diplomat steps in and unexpectedly changes the situation.

U.S.-Mexico merger opposition intensifies (July 9, 2006) - Are secret meetings being held between the corporate and political elites of the U.S., Mexico and Canada to push North America into a European Union-style merger? Is President Bush’s reluctance to control the border and enforce laws requiring deportation of foreigners who enter the country illegally part of a master plan to all but eliminate borders between the U.S., Canada and Mexico? Does the agenda of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America include a common currency that would scrap the dollar in favor of what some are calling the “amero”? It may be the biggest story of the 21st century, but few press outlets are telling it. In fact, until very recently, few in the U.S. were aware of the plans and even fewer denouncing what appears to be the implementation of an effort some have characterized as “NAFTA on steroids.” But opposition is mounting. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America |

I think people are starting to realize that they’ve been bamboozled. There is talk coming from both sides of the mouth. One side says, “security, security!” and the other side says, “merge us all into one and open borders.” The two don’t mix. If there are people trying to sneak into our borders to blow us away, then wouldn’t it make sense to at least watch the borders completely and stop the drug traffic, etc? Not if you’re trying to create a group of nations controlled by a higher body dictating policies out of the control of the American voters. That’s what is happening. I don’t believe it can really be stopped. Especially if we’re this close to the end, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try or we’ll lose this nation we’ve grown up in.

PM Olmert declares Hizbullah attack ‘act of war’ by Lebanon (July 12, 2006) - 17 days after IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted in Gaza, a second front opened on Israel’s northern border when, in the cover of barrages of Katyusha rockets and mortar shells, Hizbullah kidnapped two soldiers. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared the attack as an “act of war” and not terror. During a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Wednesday afternoon, he called it an unprovoked assault by a sovereign nation and held Lebanon, where Hizbullah has a minister in the government, fully responsible. “Israel’s response will be restrained but very, very, very painful,” Olmert added. more...
| Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam |

Now Lebanon has brought itself into the war. I don’t see this escalation going down unless a great diplomat can somehow stifle the Muslims who are trying to wipe Israel off the map or God intervenes when they try to attack Israel in force. (Gog/Magog) I believe the Muslims want this war now. I think they’re purposely drawing Israel into a war. I think Iran, Turkey, Russia, and all the other Muslim nations identified will be drawn into it too eventually. Time will tell, but looking at the news just today and also for the past year, time is speaking pretty plainly.

Report: Abbas threatens to resign (July 12, 2006) - Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to resign, dismantle the Authority and leave the Territories, the London-based A Sharq al Awsat reported Wednesday. Abbas made the statements during a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who requested that he use his authority to help free Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Abbas responded that he no longer had any authority. more...
| Islam |

Abbas clearly doesn’t have the power to do anything now that Hamas is in charge. Hamas daily declares their intentions, but the world doesn’t listen. Instead, they cry for the plight of the poor Palestinians who continue to fire rockets into Israeli towns to kill as many Jews as they can. If you want the truth of the Palestinian propaganda, read Joan Peters book From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine She shows the actual documentation blowing away the Palestinian propaganda machine. Their notorious for false stories and fake videos. You can see some of them here.

Hamas Leader Will Bring Destruction On Middle East, Egypt Says (July 12, 2006) - Egypt has warned Syria that it should expel the Damascus-based Hamas leadership or risk the destruction of the Syrian regime. Israel has blamed Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal for giving the order to abduct soldier Gilad Shalit during an attack on an Israeli outpost along the Israeli-Gaza border two weeks ago. And Israel says it is Mashaal who is preventing Corporal Shalit’s release. Israel also warned Damascus, which hosts the headquarters of about a dozen Palestinian terrorist organizations, not to harbor Mashaal. Israeli Air Force jets buzzed the summer palace of Syrian President Bashar Assad two weeks ago as a warning. The Shalit abduction and continued rocket fire on southern Israeli communities prompted the Israeli military to return to the Gaza Strip to root out terrorists operating from there. Mashaal said on Monday that Shalit would be released only in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails. more...
| Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam |

Interestingly, Egypt is missing from the list of Muslim nations who participate in the Gog/Magog invasion. They seem to be recognizing that messing with Israel spells trouble and are staying out for now. Interesting how that fits into Bible prophecy too.

Israelis Kill 6 In Attack On Hamas Meeting (July 12, 2006) - Israeli aircraft blasted a house and killed at least six people in Gaza City early Wednesday during a high-level meeting of Hamas commanders, and Israel said the man who has topped its wanted list for a decade was wounded. The military, which launched the attack as part of a two-week-old military offensive in the Gaza Strip to pressure Palestinians to release a captured Israeli soldier, said it didn’t know how badly top Palestinian fugitive Mohammed Deif was hurt or where he was taken. Abu Obeideh, spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, said Deif was “in good health and in a good place,” but offered no further details. He warned that the attack would “change all standards, opening new options that never have been used.” more...
| Israel | Islam |

This has infuriated the Muslims and I think we can expect this to escalate the battle.

Shalom Sends Warning To Government In Damascus (July 12, 2006) - Likud MK Silvan Shalom responded to events in the north by Saying Wednesday that, “We can’t have a situation in Lebanon where there is peace and quiet on one side and our soldiers are living in bunkers on the other. We have to disarm Hizbullah. All the weapons that are being used come through Damascus. Damascus must know that we cannot tolerate this. We must act immediately,” said Shalom.
| Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam |

Here again, Damascus specifically is the focus of possible destruction by Israel because of their protection of the Muslim attackers and the fact that they are the supply route for the missiles and weapons that kill Israelis.

Israeli Strike Changes Rules Of Battle: Militants (July 12, 2006) - The armed wing of Palestinian governing movement Hamas has vowed a “painful and strong” reaction to Israel’s fatal bombing of a house belonging to one of its leaders. At least six Palestinians were killed, including two children, when an F-16 jet demolished Nabil Abu Salenyeh’s house in Sheikh Redwan, north of Gaza City. Around 30 people were wounded in the attack, with reports saying one or several Hamas political or military leaders were in the house at the time. “Our reaction to this massacre will be painful and strong for the Zionists and we will make the enemy leadership sorry for their crime,” the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement. “This new crime is a changing point in the rules of the battle. “We will choose the rules of the game in the coming period. “Our message to the Zionists is that your leaders are leading you to violence from which no one will be safe and when they target civilians, they decided for you to be the target of our resistance.” more...
| Israel | Islam |

Here’s that escalation I mentioned.

Hezbollah Captures 2 Israeli Soldiers (July 12, 2006) - Israeli warplanes and gunboats struck a Palestinian guerrilla base 10 miles south of Beirut late Wednesday, Lebanese security officials said, in the closest raid to the Lebanese capital since fighting erupted in southern Lebanon after guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers. Warplanes flew over the Naameh base in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Beirut. Gunboats sailed facing the position, and explosions rang out across the area. The base is run by the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and was a frequent target of Israeli attacks in the past. The latest attack comes after Israeli warplanes pounded more than 30 targets in southern Lebanon and Israeli leaders promised Lebanon a painful response for the capture of the soldiers. more...
| Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam |

Israel went to war over one kidnapped soldier, now the Muslims are kidnapping more. If they really didn’t want the fight, they would not keep kidnapping, but clearly the extremist elements want this conflict to bring in all their Muslim buddies to help out.

U.S. Blames Syria, Iran For Kidnappings (July 12, 2006) - The United States blamed Syria and Iran on Wednesday for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants and an eruption of violence along the southern border of Lebanon. The White House called for the immediate and unconditional release of the two soldiers. “We condemn in the strongest terms Hezbollah’s unprovoked attack on Israel and the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers,” National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said as President Bush flew here for a visit. He said Hezbollah had also launched unprovoked rocket attacks on civilian targets in Israel as part of its offensive.
| Iran | Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam | America |

At least the US isn’t blind to these terrorists. The UN and other nations have been harping on Israel for what they're currently doing to get their soldiers back.

Iran Rejects Deadline At EU Nuclear Talks (July 11, 2006) - Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator rebuffed Western pressure for an immediate answer to an offer of incentives to suspend uranium enrichment ahead of crucial talks with the European Union on Tuesday. The United States, which accuses Tehran of secretly working to build nuclear weapons, has demanded a clear Iranian response before next weekend’s summit of Group of Eight industrialized nations in Russia or face possible U.N. Security Council action. But Ali Larijani told reporters before he met EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana for a second round of talks in five days: “We have expressed our view regarding the deadline. We are not used to acting before thinking.” Iran has said it will reply in late August to a package of technology, economic and political sweeteners, and an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman suggested its full answer would only emerge later during detailed negotiations on the offer. more...
| Iran | EU/UN |

Ever-defiant Iran. I don’t expect that to change. In fact, if the false prophet comes from Iran as I believe, then Iran will be one of the primary backers of the coming antichrist.

Thousands March In Damascus In Solidarity With Palestinians (July 11, 2006) - Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in the Syrian capital Monday in a government-sanctioned protest to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip under attack following last month’s capture of an Israeli soldier. The crowds jammed Yousef al-Azma Square in central Damascus and several streets leading into it, waving Syrian flags and holding pictures of weeping Palestinian children. The protest came a few hours before top Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, whom Israel and the U.S. have accused of masterminding the soldier’s June 25 capture, was expected to speak about the latest developments in his first news conference since the incident. Protester Azzam Sulaiman, a 20-year-old Syrian student, said the Palestinians should step up action against Israel. “I urge Hamas and the Palestinian factions to capture more soldiers and not to release the captive until our prisoners are out,” he said. Some protesters pledged their lives for the Palestinian cause. “The students of Syria are ready to sacrifice themselves for you Palestine,” read one banner. more...
| Israel | Islam |

I guess we know who the Syrian population backs. Clearly the brainwashing has worked very well and false history and lies have polluted the minds of the young. These are the workings of Satan, the master of liars and deceivers. Do not fall for them.

Israeli Research Paves the Way to Grow Crops in Saline Land (July 10, 2006) - Israeli researchers from Haifa University’s Institute of Evolution have isolated a gene that withstands salinity - meaning a great increase in the amount of worldwide land available for agriculture. Prof. Evyatar Nevo, director of the Institute, told David Brinn of Israel 21c.org that the new research “will contribute to a significant increase in the amount of arable land available for agriculture.” Of the earth’s 57 million square miles of land, only about 12 million (21%) can be used for growing crops - and that amount is diminishing by 1% every three years. The new research will make it possible to grow plants and crops in saline earth - land that has been affected by too much salt in soil or in irrigation water. Brinn reports that modern methods of irrigation and fertilization of crops have caused much of the arable lands around the world to become saline. Prof. Nevo’s team studied fungi in the Dead Sea, which is ten times more salty than the oceans. “We became interested in the fungi’s genetic resources,” Nevo said, “[asking] what made them thrive in the salty Dead Sea.” more...
| Technology | Israel |

I’m constantly amazed with some of the technical innovations coming out of Israel. See the Israel 21c.org link in the article for more.

North Korea Threatens ‘All-Out War’ (July 10, 2006) - North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il said his country would not budge in negotiations with the United States, adding the reclusive state was ready to meet any attack with a strong blow of its own, Yonhap reported on Sunday. “Kim declared that even a small concession wouldn’t be made to the sworn-enemy U.S. imperialistic aggressors,” the North’s Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) said in an editorial monitored in Seoul, the South Korean news agency said. After Pyongyang defied world opinion and test-fired seven missiles last week, Japan formally introduced a U.N. resolution, co-sponsored by the United States, Britain and France, to impose sanctions against its missile program. “Kim announced a heroic DPRK (North Korean) position, in which it promised to answer to an enemy’s retaliation with retaliation and to an all-out war with an all-out war. That is not empty words,” the broadcast said. more...

As if there wasn’t enough to watch out for! Could this be the wars and rumors of wars? I think that’s been going on since Israel became a nation in 1948. Check out the other interesting developments that year.

Shia Massacre Revives Fears Of Civil War (July 10, 2006) - At least 40 people, apparently all Sunnis, were killed yesterday by Shia militants in a rampage in a Baghdad suburb - one of the capital’s most deadly sectarian pogroms - that revived fears of civil war. Witnesses said gunmen, some masked, set up roadblocks and stopped motorists in the mainly Sunni suburb of Jihad, near Baghdad airport, demanding to see identity cards. Those with Sunni names were shot dead; Shias were released. The slaughter lasted several hours, according to Alaa Makki, a spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic party, one of the main Sunni parties, who blamed the Mahdi army, the Shia militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr. “There is a lot of evidence it was done by the Mahdi army,” he told the Guardian by phone from Baghdad. Mr Sadr, whose aides denied Mahdi army involvement, responded last night by calling for calm and reconciliation between Shias and Sunnis “for the sake of Iraq's independence and stability”. more...
| Islam |

Now picture this all over the world, only if you don’t have the mark of the beast and refuse to get it, they behead you on the spot. If the 12th Mahdi is the false prophet of Revelation 13:11-18, then his army would be the ones carrying out the enforcement of beast worship.

‘Remove’ Israel, Iran calls (July 9, 2006) - IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Islamic countries Saturday to mobilize against Israel and “remove” the “Zionist regime”. “The basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of the Zionist regime, and the Islamic world and the region must mobilize to remove this problem,” the president said at the opening of a two-day regional conference on security in Iraq. “Today there is a strong will... to remove the Zionist regime and implement a legal Palestinian regime all over Palestine. The continued survival of this regime (Israel) means nothing but suffering for the region,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said. “The biggest threat today for the region is the existence of the fake Zionist regime,” he added, before going on to attack Israel’s supporters. more...
| Iran | Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam |

It’s pretty clear that Ahmadinejad meant what he said about wiping Israel off the map. While they won’t ever be wiped off the map, the Bible says that 2/3 of Israel will be killed Zechariah 13:8,9 and talks about what happens to the rest as they are protected for 3 1/2 years. Revelation 12:14

Iran: IDF Strikes Will Bring Islamic 'Explosion' (July 8, 2006) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned on Friday that continued Israeli strikes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip could lead to an “explosion” in the Islamic world that would target Israel and its supporters in the West. Again, Ahmadinejad questioned Israel's right to exist. “This is a fake regime ... it won’t be able to survive. I think the only way (forward) is that those who created it (the West) take it away themselves,” the president told a rally in Teheran in support of Palestinians.
| Iran | Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam |

No big surprise Iran would say this. They will be one of the main explosions soon! See Ezekiel 38, 39.

6 Explosions Hit Train Stations in India (July 11, 2006) - An explosion struck a packed commuter train in a Bombay suburb during the Tuesday evening rush hour, and police said there were casualties. Indian media reported that two more explosions struck Bombay train stations. A senior police official said the first blast hit the train at a station in the northwestern suburb of Khar, and that authorities were still trying to determine how many people had been injured and if anyone had died.
| Islam |

Gee, I wonder if it’s a group of Muslim terrorists or if they’re all Christians? The ridiculousness of that thought should also bring some realization that the actions and results of Islam are not what the face is saying in the light of day. Yet in the night, they conspire the destruction and speak publicly of it. Any Muslim who truly believes their holy book and goes to these mosques where hatred of the Jew is preached is part of the same groups that take action on those words. I heard a story of someone who went to an American mosque where there was an English translation of what was being said in Arabic. The two messages were 180 degree polar opposites of each other. The English version spoke of the religion of peace while the Arabic said to kill Jews where you find them. I'm paraphrasing, but if you click the link above or visit memritv.org yourself and watch some Palestinian television. What are they saying? Now you know.

Central Banking, the Depreciation of Self-Worth, and Decivilization (July 11, 2006) - As J.G. Hulsmann stated in his seminal essay The Cultural and Spiritual Legacy of Fiat Inflation: “The government’s fiat makes inflation perennial, and as a result we observe the formation of inflation-specific institutions and habits. Thus fiat inflation leaves a characteristic cultural and spiritual stain on human society.” It is, therefore, crucial for people to awaken to the fact that the manipulation of money and credit, on the part of central bankers, is tantamount to manipulating the minds and hearts of human beings—a matter also covered in a jointly-written essay. Right behind owning one’s own body, the second most personal asset an individual owns is the fruit of one’s own labor—with such fruit typically taking the form of money; which is exchanged for food, clothing, transportation, shelter, etc. Accordingly, with the common yardstick here being money, a person’s self-worth, in part, can be measured by earnings power, accumulated savings, and personal net worth. With central banks, however, continuously perpetrating the immoral and fraudulent act of fiat inflation, money perniciously loses value over time. When such an important and profoundly intimate self-measuring tool (money) loses its stability, people tend to lose their moral bearings and social decay ensues. And, correspondingly, state power increases—for awhile at least—as the populace becomes evermore dependent on state bureaucrats for guidance. To be sure, this seems quite abstract. Hence, it is my objective to bring you tangible examples as to how fiat inflation, as wrought by central bankers, has had a deeply personal impact on people and is a key factor behind the gradual decivilization process engulfing humanity. more...
| NewWorldOrder |

Axis of Evil Survivors Play By the Same Book (July 9, 2006) - Hours after North Korea defiantly shot seven missiles into the sea last week, Iran said it was postponing talks in Brussels on its nuclear program for fear of hit squads. Rewind to January. Tehran announced it would resume uranium enrichment, ripping up a previous deal, just two months after Pyongyang suspended negotiations on its own nuclear program. North Korea and Iran, the two survivors of the “axis of evil” denounced by US President George W. Bush in 2002, have turned cycles of delays and provocations into a diplomatic art form. Whether the far-flung countries have coordinated their approach is a matter of dispute, but both are determined to avoid the fate of the other nation in Bush’s “axis of evil” -- Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. “As fellow members of the ‘axis of evil,’ the lesson they have learned from the Iraqi experience is to look as lethal as possible to avoid invasion by the US,” said Peter Beck, Northeast Asia project director at the International Crisis Group. “At a minimum they are inspired by and learning from each other,” he said. “They are coming from the same playbook.” more...
| Iran |

Ahmadinejad: Conditions for Removal of Israel Are at Hand (July 9, 2006) - Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, clearing up any ambiguity in previous calls to “wipe Israel off the map,” now used an Arabic word for the removal of body hair to describe his plans for Israel. “All the conditions for the removal of the Zionist regime are at hand,” Ahmadinejad told an Arab Conference of Iraqi Neighbors meeting Saturday. For the first time, he employed the Arabic word ezaleh, which is used to describe the irreversible removal of body hairs or a woman’s virginity. “Nations in the region will be more furious every day. It won’t take long before the wrath of the people turns into a terrible explosion that will wipe the Zionist entity off the map,” Ahmadinejad told the foreign ministers of Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, Bahrain and Egypt. The heads of the Arab League and the Islamic Conference were also present, in addition to a special United Nations representative. None of the foreign ministers present, including Jordan, Egypt or Turkey – commonly regarded as Israel’s friends in the Arab/Muslim world - objected to the call for annihilation. Instead, the following statement was issued: “The Arab foreign ministers participating in today’s Tehran meeting expressed their strong condemnation of this continuing and increasing aggression against the Palestinian people.” more...
| Iran | Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam |

I don’t see the talk decreasing, instead it seems that all the Gog/Magog players are mentioned here headed by the President of Persia, Iran. The alliances are all present and the talk is there too. All that’s missing is the action fulfilling Ezekiel 38,39.

It’s WWIII, and U.S. is Out of Ideas (July 9, 2006) - Last week's headlines prove the point: North Korea fires missiles, Iran talks of nukes again, Iraq carnage continues, Israel invades Gaza, England observes one-year anniversary of subway bombing. And, oh, yes, the feds stop a plot to blow up tunnels under the Hudson River. World War III has begun. It’s not perfectly clear when it started. Perhaps it was after the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War ended. Perhaps it was the first bombing of the World Trade Center, in 1993. What is clear is that this war has a long fuse and, while we are not in the full-scale combat phase that marked World Wars I and II, we seem to be heading there. The expanding hostilities mean it’s time to give this conflict a name, one that focuses the mind and clarifies the big picture. The war on terror, or the war of terror, has tentacles that reach much of the globe. It is a world war. more...

I think it’s getting hard to deny that things are changing drastically in the world. Choices will have to be made on many issues in the near future. The most important one is who you put your trust in, the world or God. You’re in control of your own destiny as God will not take away your free will. How well do you trust the powerful men and women of the world to carry your best interest? Have you made a choice yet? Time will not last forever and life is uncertain. Where will you spend your eternity? It’s in your hands.

The Messiah (July 11, 2006) - The Messianic Age is the focus of the entire Creation. The arrival of the Messiah is a fundamental belief in Judaism. This yearning gives Jews all over the world hope concerning the ultimate future of mankind. They look with a seasoned eye at the irrational oppressions and insults by so many nations around them, noting in their heart that these nations will eventually be confounded and confronted. Awaiting the Messiah gives Jews great optimism knowing that, in the end, they will be vindicated. Through His prophets, God promised better days for the Jewish People. He will surely keep His Word, regardless of the rise of new ideologies or social upheavals.

One of the most important signs heralding the Messianic age is the in-gathering of the Diaspora Jews and the resettlement of the Land of Israel. There is also a tradition that the land will be cultivated at that time, based on Ezekiel’s prophecy: “But you mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people of Israel for they are at hand to come.” (Ezekiel 36:8) The Talmud teaches that there is no better sign of the coming of the Messiah than when the Land of Israel will once again give its fruit (Sanhedrin 93a). Today, the fruit grown in Israel is sold in many European countries, while the same land refused to yield its fruit to foreign occupiers as long as the Jews were not back to settle it. The ongoing international talks and declarations favoring the establishment of a Palestinian state in Israel will only result in wasted political energies and fruitless focus. Although the Land of Israel has been the subject of invasions and occupations by numerous armies, there has never been any independent sovereign nation in the land except for the nation of Israel. The reason behind this incredible and irrefutable fact is simple: this land belongs to God, as does the entire world, and He gave it to the Jews. “They will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, within which your fathers dwelled; they and their children and their children’s children will dwell upon it forever; and My servant David will be a leader for them forever.” (Ezekiel 37:25) This divine commitment can not be foiled by a US president or by the leaders of a United Europe.(3)

If a group of Arabs had settled in France for one or two hundred years, does this fact make France theirs? When the Babylonians conquered the Land of Israel, they did not create an independent Babylonian state in Israel. Their king, Nebuchadnezzar continued to rule his empire from Babylonia. Later in history, the same development took place with the Persian invaders, then with the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Ottomans and finally, with the British. None of these powers were successful in establishing an independent state in the Land of Israel. God has promised that as long as the Jews are away from their land no other nation will be able to settle it: “I will make the land desolate; and your foes who dwell upon it will be desolate.” (Leviticus 26:32)

The disdain of secular Israeli leaders toward our holy Torah and the harm they caused the Jewish people are unforgivable. Not only are they ashamed of their religion, but they have acted shamefully. For the first time in history, and through the power of international telecommunication, they had the opportunity to show the world that we are indeed a “light unto the nations.” They would have earned the respect and admiration of the world had they conveyed to mankind God’s message. Instead, they deliberately avoided any reference to God in their discourses, which were delivered to so many viewers. In this area, too, they failed miserably. Additionally, for the past sixty years, these secular leaders have devised educational curriculums intentionally devoid of Torah and of God’s veneration, the historical identity and essence of the Jew. The disastrous outcome is a new Israeli generation on the verge of a spiritual holocaust. Sixty years of Israeli secular leadership is causing more spiritual damage to the Jewish people than the lengthy years of European persecutions. This force-fed culture of atheism upon the Jewish youth is dutifully overseen by a tyrannical Supreme Court - a bastion of atheism that disdains religious tolerance. The court constantly issues “legal” rulings thwarting Torah education.(4) more...
| Israel |