Focus




Articles


WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 29 THROUGH OCTOBER 4



Atheists Want a New Name

Sept. 30….(Crosswalk) Atheists believe that atheism is getting a bad press because of the negative tone of the word atheist. The world is filled with religious believers, he acknowledges, but a growing number of atheists lack the respect they deserve. It's time for a new public relations strategy for the godless, atheist Daniel Dennett argues. The central point of Dennett's strategy is to get rid of the word "atheist." It's too negative. After all, it identifies an individual by what he or she does not believe, in this case the individual does not believe in God. A more positive approach would be helpful to advance the atheist anti-supernatural agenda. Two atheists in California have suggested that the anti-supernatural crowd should take a page from the homosexual rights movement's handbook. Homosexuals renamed themselves "gays" and changed the terms of the debate, they argue. A triumph of consciousness-raising has been the homosexual hijacking of the word 'gay'. Gay is succinct, uplifting, positive: an 'up' word, where homosexual is a down word and queer and faggot are insults. Those of us who subscribe to no religion; those of us who rejoice in the real and scorn the false comfort of the unreal, we need a word of our own, a word like 'gay'." The word chosen to be the atheists' version of 'gay' is bright. That's right, they want unbelievers to call themselves “brights”.
FOJ Note: Brights? You have to be awfully ignorant or stupid to be an atheist. The evidence for the creator/God is overwhelming! (Psalms 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.) I guess the next thing will be that the “brights” will be calling Christians “fools”.

 

Iraq / Al-Qaida Link Revealed

Sept. 30….(Insight Magazine excerpt) Senior investigators and analysts in the U.S. government have concluded that Iraq acted as a state sponsor of terrorism against Americans and logistically supported the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, confirming news reports that until now have emerged only in bits and pieces. A senior government official responsible for investigating terrorism tells Insight that while Saddam Hussein may not have had details of the Sept. 11 attacks in advance, he "gave assistance for whatever al-Qaida came up with." That assistance, confirmed independently, came in a variety of ways, including financial support spun out through a complex web of financial institutions in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and elsewhere. Two Arab bankers, Youssef M. Nada and Ali Himat, principals at Nada Management,(formerly al-Taqwa Management) are being questioned under the suspicion that they acted on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood to engage Saddam Hussein to bring about the downfall of the United States, a goal of the Brotherhood. Al Taqwa is believed to have shifted money around the world from Saddam to Al Qaeda operatives. Critics of the Bush administration have raised questions about the president's case for the war in Iraq, citing concern about an alleged lack of evidence linking Iraq to the Sept. 11 attacks and other terrorism. "There are many things we know about the history of Saddam Hussein's regime and his ties to terrorism, including al-Qaida, and we have outlined all that previously," an irritated White House spokesman Scott McClellan said recently in response to provocative questions from a reporter. President Bush appears to have left the issue open to interpretation by saying that Iraq has links to al-Qaida but has stopped short of connecting Baghdad to the Sept. 11 attacks. Typically, without hammering home the point with details, he again said in his Sept. 23 address at the United Nations, "The regime of Saddam Hussein cultivated ties to terror while it built weapons of mass destruction."

 

Palestinian Children Are Victims of Arafat Too

Sept. 30….(FOJ) There are reports from the Gaza Strip that indicate between 40-50% of Gaza children under the age of five are malnourished. Additionally, pregnant women in Gaza suffer from malnutrition. Poverty is reported to be a significant cause for the growing malnutrition in PA areas of Gaza, with humanitarian officials reporting that there is no solution on the horizon. The western world has funneled billions of dollars into the PA for just these problems, yet there hasn’t been even the slightest hint of improvement in the PA. Yasser Arafat has become one of the wealthiest people on the planet, while his people starve to death. Arafat has diverted billions of dollars in foreign aid meant for the up-building of the Palestinian society. He is known far and wide to have used all of his financial resources to wage terrorism on Israel, and to keep his own family in a castle in France. Yet, who does the world and the Palestinians blame for the squalid conditions of the Palestinian children? Israel---yes, it is all Israel’s fault! Yasser Arafat has been a blight on the Palestinian children, and not only does he left them starve and go without medical attention, he uses them as cannon-fodder to blow themselves to bits in order to kill an Israeli child.



Iran Fomenting Revolution in Iraq

Sept. 29….(World Net) Iran has armed and trained some 40,000 Shiite Iraqi fighters, most of whom are former prisoners of war captured during the Iran-Iraq war, and sent them to Iraq to help foment an Islamic revolution in Iraq against America. This small army represents the vanguard of Iran's effort to subvert the U.S.-led liberation of Iraq and use the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime for its own ends. Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir Khakim is on record pledging more than once to his followers a plan to impose Islamic rule over Iraq with the help of Iran. The US led-coalition that liberated Iraq is perceived by the Iraqi Shiite militants and their Iranian sponsors as a tool for handing Iraq over to them without the need to use a massive force of their own.



America is Divided…Can it Stand?

Sept. 29….(FOJ) Virtually all the Democratic contenders for the presidency, like Senator Edward Kennedy recently, have directly stated or implied that President Bush and his cabinet associates have systematically defrauded the American public with a conspiracy of lies about Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction controversy. America’s political culture has rarely ever denigrated to such a level while our nation was involved in a war. The political situation is close to treasonous. The charges are in fact so serious, that the last time a major political faction participated in this level of diatribe, we actually had a civil war! America has been fractionalized ideologically along a Left vs. Right (conservative vs. liberal) values-divide now for several decades, but that political/cultural and religious war has now placed our nation in jeopardy. President Lincoln once said of civil war, "a house divided against itself, can not stand." The abortion debate and the Ten Commandments issues are just a couple of prime examples that divide our culture. Thinking back on it, the 1860’s South was blinded with the darkness of human slavery. Today, it seems to me that the modern Left is blinded with the darkness of a Secular Humanism or atheistic worldview, which is the antithetical extreme opposite of the traditional Judeo-Christian worldview that America was founded upon. It makes you wonder if America could survive another civil war, especially while it is continuing to coerce a compromise with Satan on the Covenanted land of God. (Israel) Satan is continuing to rally anti-American forces all over the world, and if the USA doesn’t repent on a national level, then God help us.



WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 21 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 29



My (FOJ) Pastor :Bill Hall Dies!

Sept 27….(FOJ) I am sad this weekend. My pastor for 20 years has gone on to Heaven. I miss him. (Danville Advocate messenger excerpt) Rev. James William "Bill" Hall, a well-known Baptist preacher who spoke his mind and encouraged many young men to follow in his footsteps, died Thursday at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center in Danville, Kentucky. Hall, pastor at Gethsemane Baptist Church for 22 years before his retirement in 1993, is remembered by friends for his brilliance and for his loving and giving personality. "He was a brilliant man and very astute in every area of the Bible and history," said the Rev. John Cato. He had preached more than 800 revivals in the United States and overseas. He was evangelist at the "Crusade of America" in Alaska in 1969 and in 1981. He was also an Air Force veteran of World War II.
Bro. Bill Hall was my idol. He was one of my heroes! He stood firm in defending God’s Holy word. He never compromised on anything relative to sound doctrine and God’s word. He preached the word in-season and out-of-season. He rebuked false teaching, and challenged America to repent and return to God. Unfortunately, he symbolizes to me a dying breed of preachers! He was a rock. He loved the whole word of God, and loved prophecy. He gave me an idea for starting Focus on Jerusalem. He said to keep my eye on Israel the last time he preached in my church. He preached about Jesus the last time I saw him. Today, I feel like he is bending Jesus ears!

 

Iran Targeting Israel With Nuke-Missiles

Sept. 26….(Reuters & FOJ) Iran has vowed to increase its military strength at a public display of some of its most advanced weaponry. Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, commemorating the start of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, pledged to acquire nuclear weapons and to use them to destroy Israel. Half a dozen of Iran's Shahab-3 missiles, whose range has caused concern in Israel and the United States, were exhibited for the first time since the missiles were deployed to the armed forces in July. The show of strength came days after the United Nations nuclear watchdog imposed a 31 October deadline on Iran to prove it is not pursuing a nuclear weapons program.
Shihab Missile Built to Destroy Israel (built with Russian technology) (President Bush and Russian leader Putin will discuss Iran and Iraq this weekend)
The Shahab-3 missiles were towed on mobile launchers to rousing military music during the parade, have a range of about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) capable of reaching Israel, Iran's sworn enemy. It is also believe that the missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The missiles were daubed with slogans including "We will crush America under our feet" and "Israel must be wiped off the map". President Khatami said it was Israel, not Iran, which threatened the region. "It is the Zionist regime which possesses a considerable atomic arsenal and uses the worst forms of terrorism in Palestine while we are partisans of peace, stability and a region free of atomic weapons," he said. Still Iran insists its nuclear scientists are not working on a weapons program but trying to meet soaring electricity demand. Why does one of the oil richest nations on earth need nuclear energy? Iran has sunk its teeth into the jaws of Russia and will stop at nothing to destroy Israel.

 

Israel Considers Preemptive Strike on Iran

Sept. 26….(Middle East News Line) For the 1st time in the current Iran crisis, Israel's military has raised the prospect of an operation to destroy Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program. Senior government and military officials, alarmed by the failure of the international community to move against Iran, have issued warnings that Israel would consider unilateral action to stop Teheran's development of nuclear weapons, weapons. Israel knows that Iran's missiles have Israel within target reach, and that Iran is hell-bent on destroying the State of Israel. The clearest warnings yet came on the eve of another effort by the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate suspected Iranian violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The suspected violations include the unauthorized enrichment of uranium.(weapons-grade) "The fact that a country like Iran, an enemy, of Israel and which is particularly irresponsible, has equipped itself with non-conventional weapons is worrisome," Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon said. "The combination in this case of a non-conventional regime with non-conventional weapons is a concern." "At the moment there is continuing international diplomatic activity to deal with this threat, and it would be good if it succeeds," Ya'alon added. "But if that is not the case we would consider our options, and do what we deem necessary."

 

Powell Asks Europe to Shun Arafat

Sept. 26….(FOJ) U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell Powell was to meet today with fellow members of the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers, to ask them to tell Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat that the time has come to step aside. The Secretary planned to ask UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to make clear to Arafat that he should "get out of the way" and cede authority to security officials who intend to dismantle terror groups. Little does Mr. Powell realize that it was Russia that originally financed and trained Arafat in the art of terror. Arafat copied the former Soviet Union’s tactics of airline hijackings in 1960 when Russia utilized Cuba for terrorizing American airlines. Yasser Arafat incorporated that technique into his PLO terror machine in the 70’s, and later added the suicide bomber into his terror-repertoire. Little does Mr. Powell seem to realize that Arafat was also adopted and financed by Europe and coddled by the Vatican to deny Israel possession of Jerusalem and the West Bank territories. Arafat has used his international cohorts of anti-Zionists to accomplish their mutual diabolical mission and bring the whole world to the precipice of Armageddon. If America thinks Europe, Russia, the Vatican or the UN will agree to get rid of Yasser Arafat, then we are sadly in for a surprise. They would sooner get rid of America!



Structural Collapse On Temple Mount!

Sept. 25….(World Net) An interior wall has collapsed at a hotly contested Jerusalem holy site, setting off fears of religious violence between Muslims and Jews. The Islamic Waqf, which administers the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock shrines atop the Temple Mount, accused Israeli authorities of instigating the failure of the wall by preventing engineers from maintaining it. The collapsed wall is situated near the Islamic Museum. Adnan al-Husseini of the Waqf said the failure was the result of "the Israeli intervention in our work and preventing us from maintaining it after we stated it was in urgent need for a rapid action to prevent its collapse," according to multiple news reports from Israel. "It looks terrible," said Eliat Mazar, an Israeli archaeologist and Temple Mount expert and a leader of the committee for preventing the destruction of antiquities at the site. "This collapse might cause a terrific series of collapses." She charged the Waqf with directing "unsupervised" work in and around the Temple Mount resulting in the loss of archaeological treasures. Last December, World Net Daily reported a huge bulge had developed in an outer southern wall on the 37-acre Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. Israel waited for Jordanian engineers to repair it. The Temple Mount is the foundation of the Jewish Temple that was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. Because it is the only remnant of the foundation, it is considered the holiest site for observant Jews. Muslims claim it is the third holiest in their faith because two mosques were constructed on the site hundreds of years later. Despite the fact the Temple Mount is the only real estate in the world revered by Jews, Israel has turned over day-to-day administration of the area to the Waqf, an Islamic trust with close ties to Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. A year-long dispute between Israel and the Waqf over who will fix the bulge was solved in October with a decision to involve the Jordanian engineers, who inspected and took a sampling of the protruding wall. A report the engineers subsequently issued recommended replacing some of the eroding stones in the 2,000-year-old wall to prevent it from future collapse. Israeli archeologists believe the bulge and the new wall collapse are due to unauthorized Waqf construction at an underground area known as Solomon's Stables, located on the other side of the wall. Reports say Muslim authorities are constructing yet another mosque at the Jewish holy site. Faulty drainage was cited by the Antiquities Authority as the probable cause for the bulge in its report, issued last year. Prior to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, Jordan was in charge of maintenance at the Temple Mount. In the years since, the PA, seeking to gain a foothold in Jerusalem, ousted both the Jordanian-appointed Waqf director and the Jerusalem mufti, replacing them with Arafat appointees. Fearing renewed Palestinian violence, police barred non-Muslims from entering the Temple Mount for nearly two years after Ariel Sharon's controversial visit in September 2000, leaving the area without any archeological supervision. Newsweek has called the southern wall "The Armageddon wall," because the old rocks help support an enormous stone platform that holds the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, among Islam's most sacred shrines. Should it collapse, some archeologists fear a doomsday effect, with Islamic riots throughout the Middle East, and charges that Israel is responsible.

 

Bush And The EU/UN Debate on Iraq

Sept. 25….(FOJ) Today I noticed that President Bush’s approval rating has slipped to 49%. It seems like everywhere you turn these days somebody is bashing the President. I can’t help but feel that there are powerful forces manipulating American politics, just like in the 2000 election. I believe that God played a hand in Mr. Bush’s rise to power IN 2000, and I think he will play a hand in the next election also. (That does not mean that I think he will be reelected.) I have noticed this week alone that the President was able to win minor concessions from the EU to help America sustain the course in Iraq. I have to wonder what the President conceded in order to get France and Germany to be more cooperative. Also, I have noticed that OPEC has suddenly cut oil production. This fact coupled together with the inability to get Iraq’s oil production going (because of terror strikes) is alarming for President Bush. Remember, it’s the economy stupid!
    I have followed for several months now the building momentum in Europe to utilize a European-led NATO as a monitoring military mechanism to jumpstart the peace roadmap in Israel. I am very curious and concerned about if an economy-burdened President Bush could be tempted to trade allowances for European forces in Israel for UN-European involvement in Iraq, especially as Iraq proves to be too much of a burden on the American political will. The EU wants very much to get involved in Israel because it wants to placate the Arab-oil interests. Yasser Arafat has longed lobbied for an international monitoring force in the West Bank as he needs a protectorate force to allow him to regroup from the IDF retaliations on terror bases, and prepare for his next phase in his scheme to destroy Israel. The EU-UN always gives Arafat every benefit at just the right time. Israel does not need help to defend herself, but Arafat surely does! Lets keep watching the American and UN political scene to see if there is a developing trend to send EU sponsored NATO troops into the Israeli-Palestinian arena.



A Syria-ous Problem

Sept. 24….(New York Post) Ignoring complaints and warnings from most of the rest of the world, Syria continues to sponsor terrorism, pursue weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and allow foreign fighters and terrorists to seep into Iraq. This behavior must meet serious consequences, and soon. Damascus provides safe haven to such international killers as Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad, which it considers legitimate resistance groups. The Bush Administration says that despite promises to close the spigot, militants and Syrian-based terrorists continue to flow unimpeded across the porous Syrian border into Iraq, resulting in the deaths of American and coalition soldiers, Iraqis and international civil servants in recent weeks. (The CIA has identified Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia as the leading supporters of the insurgency.) Estimates of the numbers of foreign jihadists in Iraq stretch into the thousands. Indeed, Syrians are so common among captured militants that the coalition military commanders collectively call the foreign radicals: "The Syrians." Damascus opposed the war in Iraq and its foreign minister, Farouk al-Sharaa, has made it quite clear: "Syria's interest is to see the invaders defeated in Iraq." On the mass-destruction front, Syria is most notably developing biological weapons and chemical weapons. It has one of the most advanced chemical-weapons capabilities in the Arab world and is developing an offensive bio-war program as well. North Korea and Iran have been helping Syria develop its ballistic missiles, too; they can already reach Israel, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq with chemical munitions. The latest concern is Syria's nuclear R&D program. Though this is supposedly for peaceful purposes, Syria's recent cooperative agreement with Russia on civil nuclear power could help Damascus obtain nukes. The U.S. government is also troubled by persistent (though unconfirmed) reports that Saddam may have spirited his WMD program into Syria before the war. The Iraqi material could boost Syria's own programs, or be passed along (with the middleman's "fingerprints" carefully wiped off) to its terrorist acolytes for use in Iraq, Israel or elsewhere. If all that weren't enough, Syria also continues to support Palestinian terrorist groups responsible for recent suicide bombings in Israel. Though Syria's not yet in the same disrepute as Iran, its leaders seems to be racing the mullahs to succeed Saddam as the Middle East's most vile regime. Damascus has to pay a price for this behavior: Until Syria cleans up its international deportment, it should be shut out of the Israeli-Palestinian Road Map negotiations and denied any opening on an Israel-Syria track. This is a real lever: Damascus (which remembers when Syria included what is now Lebanon, Jordan and Israel) is obsessed with the return of the strategic Golan Heights. Israel has had the heights since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War; Syria can't get them back without a peace treaty with the Jewish State. Syria is already heavily sanctioned by the United States. Germany, Italy and France are still major trading partners. Syria is already experiencing 20 percent unemployment among its young people. To ensure our national security, the United States must succeed in Iraq, win the War on Terror and prevent the proliferation of WMD. Syria is now a roadblock on all three fronts.
FOJ Note: I am becoming more and more convinced that the destruction of Damascus, prophesied by Isaiah and Jeremiah, will likely involve the US, and will either 1.) climax the war on terror, and or; 2.) propel the world toward Armageddon.

 

Saudi Arabia Wants Nuclear Bomb

Sept. 24….(Harpazo) Saudi Arabia, in response to the current upheaval in the Middle East, has embarked on a strategic review that includes acquiring nuclear weapons, the Guardian has learned. This new threat of proliferation in one of the most dangerous regions of the world comes on top of a crisis over Iran's alleged nuclear program. A strategy paper being considered at the highest levels in Riyadh sets out three options:
        - To acquire a nuclear capability as a deterrent;
        - To maintain or enter into an alliance with an existing nuclear power that would offer protection;
        - To try to reach a regional agreement on having a nuclear-free Middle East.
Until now, the assumption in Washington was that Saudi Arabia was content to remain under the US nuclear umbrella. But the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US has steadily worsened since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington: 15 of the 19 attackers were Saudi. There is growing hostility between the US and Saudi Arabia which could lead to the removal of the US nuclear umbrella. There is obviously a growing sense of restlessness in the Middle East, and regional insecurity tends to produce a quest for a nuclear umbrella, which in turn is fueled by a religious hatred of Israel. Saudi Arabia will soon face the prospect of choosing a successor to King Abdullah, and the new generation of Saudi’s prefer an anti-US King. (70% of Saudi’s are under age 40)
FOJ Note: Prophetically speaking, Saudi Arabia will indeed lose its American nuclear umbrella. Ezekiel 38 portrays Saudi anxiety and insecurity when Russia and her allies invade the region, most notably the mountains of Israel. The big question is why and how the American security umbrella is removed! We need to continually “Look Up”; as we are already beginning to see this geo-political scenario unfold.

 

Temple Mount Wall Collapses

Sept. 24….(Arutz) The southern wall of the Temple Mount where the mosque museum is located has collapsed. The collapse is due to heavy construction and concrete pours on top of the mount, being conducted by the Islamic Waqf. The Islamic authority has blamed Israel for the collapse, saying that subterranean digs are responsible for the collapse.



Syria Voices Support for Arafat

Sept. 23….(FOJ) Saeb Erekat, Yasser Arafat’s peace negotiating advisor charged that it would lead to “total chaos and a takeover by radicals” if Israel expels or harms Arafat. (Erekat’s assertion that Arafat is a “moderate” means that Israel is in more trouble in its attempt to negotiate with the PLO than it dares to imagine). Labeling Arafat a moderate is like saying that President Bush and Saddam Hussein might be cousins. If Arafat is truly a moderate, then who on the Palestinian side could possibly be termed as a conservative? Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara called Arafat over the weekend to express Syria’s “wholehearted support” for Arafat’s “struggle against the Zionist plot” to kill or exile him. Although the Syrians proclaimed Arafat “persona non grata” in the mid 1980s, they apparently see him now as a useful tool in their campaign to help keep the Middle East boiling, and keeping democracy out of neighboring Iraq. This implies that they might unleash their puppet Hizbullah militia forces if Arafat goes, despite the possibility that this will spark off full-scale warfare between Israel and Syria.

 

Kentucky 10-Year Old Wants Ten Commandments

Sept. 23….(FOJ) Austin Hinds is ten year old fifth grader in a Kentucky elementary school. While following the recent controversy over the Ten Commandments monument in Alabama, he found out that the Ten Commandments were being taken down from public places all around the country, and became decidedly upset. Austin and sister, McKenzie Hinds, 6, are now collecting signatures on a petition that calls for the Ten Commandments to be returned to public buildings and schools. Austin began a petition for youngsters under 18, to be sent to Congress, urging the United States Government to put the commandments back in public buildings and schools. He has even e-mailed the president, explaining his convictions. Hinds, says he started the petition because of a calling. "It felt like God was calling me to do something. It was God's word and it wasn't right to take it down from our schools," he said. "He came home the day they took the Ten Commandments down in Alabama very upset," said his mother, Jennifer Hinds. So he has started his petition to help reverse the war on the Ten Commandments! Oddly enough, it was a young ten year old elementary schoolboy named William Murray O’Hair that Atheist Madelyn Murray O’Hair manipulated to have prayer and Bible reading thrown out of schools 40 years ago. (1963) William O’Hair, though became a Christian in 1980. Today, William is the chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition working for the rights of Christians in America. Sad to say, but Christians are the most persecuted group of people in today’s secular America. (For info in helping Austin, contact FOJ)

 

Anan and Bush at the UN

UNSept.23….(FOJ) President Bush today appealed to the United Nations to help in the rebuilding of Iraq. But of course the only thing the UN/EU wants is for the US to either pay for everything or get completely out of Iraq. The UN, EU and Russia could care less about establishing democracy in Iraq, or helping the poor Iraqi people enjoy freedom. The president asked the UN to pass a new Security Council resolution, which will expand the U.N.’s role in Iraq. “As in the aftermath of other conflicts, the United Nations should assist in developing a constitution, training civil servants, and conducting free and fair elections, the President said.” Without a predominate U.N. role, France, Germany and Russia are expected to refuse to provide any troops or any money (the US already pays 1/3 of the UN budget) that the United States says it needs for the rebuilding effort for Iraq. Meanwhile UN Secretary General Kofi Anan challenged the Bush Doctrine, saying the U.S. doctrine of pre-emptive military intervention posed a fundamental challenge to the United Nations and could lead to a global free-for-all. Annan declared that the Iraq crisis had brought the United Nations to a “fork in the road” as decisive as 1945, when the world body was founded. Annan questioned U.S. arguments that nations have the “right and obligation to use force pre-emptively” against unconventional weapons systems even while they were still being developed. “My concern is that, if it were to be adopted, it could set precedents that resulted in a proliferation of the unilateral and lawless use of force, with or without credible justification,” Annan said. Anan said the U.N. Charter allowed military action for the purpose of self-defense only, something he hinted was not at the heart of America’s war on terror!



UN Rescues Arafat Again

Sept. 22….(FOJ) The U.N. General Assembly yesterday demanded Israel drop its vow to "remove or assassinate" Yasser Arafat, while Arafat's new prime minister made clear he has no intention of challenging him. The General Assembly voted 133-4, with only Israel, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands joining U.S. opposition, for a resolution telling Israel to back off its threat to expel or harm Arafat. The assembly voted after the United States used its veto in the Security Council this week to block a virtually identical resolution. The controversy was prompted by an Israeli government decision last week, following a pair of homicide bombings, to "remove" Arafat because he's an "obstacle to peace." Arafat got a vote of confidence yesterday when Ahmed Qureia, his nominee for Palestinian Prime Minister, said, "Arafat is the elected leader of the Palestinian people and represents the will of these people." He called President Bush's criticism of Arafat "regrettable." The Bush Administration had pressed for the creation of the Prime Minister post in hopes it would encourage an Arafat rival to carry out democratic reforms in the Palestinian Authority and crack down on terrorism in the region. Under amendments offered by the European Union, the assembly voted to condemn "the suicide bombings and their recent intensification." It also reminded the Palestinian Authority that under the U.S.-backed "road map" for peace, it is obligated to "take all necessary measures to end violence and terror." Resolution wording also deplored Israel's "extra-judicial killings and their recent escalation" and says those killings are also violations of international law and an impediment to relaunching the peace process. General Assembly resolutions, unlike those of the powerful U.N. Security Council, aren't legally binding. But they do carry political weight. As a result, the strong support for the resolution, including backing from influential European Union states, was important to the Palestinians and to Yasser Arafat. The EU-UN measures basically rescued Arafat once again, like so many times before from a certain death. Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian Authority's U.N. representative, told the General Assembly that Palestinians faced "the most oppressive military campaign committed by an “occupying power." The UN obviously agrees! The UN has 188 members, all of which can rotate onto any UN council or commission except Israel. Syria currently holds the presidency of the Security Council and Libya holds the chair of the Human Rights Commission. Israel is even forbidden to be a member of the International Red Cross. What is the world’s problem with Israel? Could it be that it simply opposes God almighty, and his designs for his people?

 

Israel Rejects U.N. Vote

Sept. 22….(FOJ) Israel has flatly rejected the UN General Assembly's resolution which condemns a besieged Israel and demands that it not deport nor harm Yasser Arafat. Prime Minister Sharon has indicated that he would not conduct policy based on votes in the United Nations. The UN resolution is not relevant, and grants UN mandated legitimacy to a known terrorist, Yasser Arafat." The UN vote passed by a 133-4 margin. Instead of condemning Palestinian mass-murderers and Israeli targeted killings equally, the new resolution "condemns" suicide bombings and "deplores" the Israeli targeted killings of terrorist leaders. Russia, a member of the Quartet that is to oversee the Road Map peace plan, voted against Israel on every issue. The United States vetoed the Security Council text because it said it failed to explicitly condemn "Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigade as organizations responsible for acts of terrorism." The Security Council resolution did not even call for the dis-mantlement of PLO terrorist infrastructures.

 

Bush II Making Same Mistake as Bush I

Sept. 22….(FOJ) The Bush Administration warned last week that the United States would reduce $9 billion in loan guarantees to Israel for every dollar it spends on settlements. In addition, President Bush is stepping up the pressure to halt Israel's construction of a 400-mile security fence around several settlements for fear it will be used as a permanent extension of Israel's eastern border in land that rightfully constitutes a Palestinian state. President Bush's father made the same mistake after the Persian Gulf War, when he witheld 10 billion dollars in loan guarantees to Israel in order to prevent Israel from building settlements in the West Bank. The land belongs to Israel, and the President is aligning himself against God on this matter, and will find his presidency at stake over this issue. Last week, President Bush even submitted that he had seen no clear evidence that Saddam Hussein and Iraq were complicit in the September 11th attacks on America, or had any association with Al Qaeda. That admission will come back to haunt our President during election 2004.

 

Arafat is Essential to World’s Hatred of Israel

Sept. 22….(FOJ) If "failure is not an option" in the war on terror, and if we are determined to win this war "as Vice President Dick Cheney has stated on many occasions, then why doesn’t the U.S. support Israel in her quest to remove, or kill Arafat. The US desperately seeks to kill Saddam in order to consider its military mission into Iraq a success and can’t find him. Yet Arafat has been a stumbling block to any semblance of peace in the Mid-east for over 40 years, but he is considered untouchable. Afterall President Bush has clearly declared that "Arafat has failed as a leader," leaving him in place is dangerous and counterproductive to U.S. national-security interests, the war on terror, and the effort to stabilize the Middle East. More than a year ago, the Bush administration called on the Palestinians to change their leadership. But now the U.S. has joined the U.N.'s warning to Israel not to remove Yasser Arafat. How does this correspond with President Bush's statement that "You can't negotiate with terrorists, you can't try to talk sense to these people. The only way to deal with them is to find them and bring them to justice"? Yasser Arafat has been the terrorist prototype since the inception of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1964. The U.N. embraced Yasser Arafat with his “peace or olive branch terror-tactics!” The UN adopted Arafat’s PLO terrorist organization in 1974 by granting it observer status, and passing numerous resolutions in its favor against Israel. This UN legitimization was accompanied by financial backing and allowed the PLO not only to continue its terrorist and criminal activities with impunity, but also to fund a worldwide propaganda campaign, and win great world-wide popularity. Why is Arafat so important? Because the powers of this world are using him to deny Israel a right to exist, and a right to Jerusalem! Why is it okay to kill Saddam Hussein and not Arafat? Arafat is essential to the goal of destroying Israel, and therefore the world (UN-EU-Vatican) demands that he be untouched!

 

Arafat Cites U.N. Vote to Rally Support

Sept. 22….(AP) Yasser Arafat told hundreds of Palestinian supporters today that the United Nations vote condemning an Israeli decision to remove him is of the "utmost importance" as a sign of international support for the Palestinians. At Arafat's West Bank compound, hundreds of Palestinians chanted "Bush, Bush, you're the failure," after President Bush said earlier this week that Arafat had failed as a leader. Addressing the crowd, Arafat praised the 133 nations that endorsed the resolution in the U.N. General Assembly demanding that Israel retract its threats to "remove" Arafat. "This decision is of the utmost importance, we thank all the countries of the world that voted in favor," Arafat said. The resolution "shows the international community stands by the Palestinian people, who have lived under this occupation that does not respect any laws." About 2,000 people also marched in the West Bank town of Hebron on Saturday, carrying Palestinian flags and banners that read "Arafat is our hero" and "Arafat is our leader." The U.N. vote came as new Palestinian Prime Minister Qureia defended Arafat, saying he is the key to peace and the United States should treat him as a real partner.

 

UN is Blantantly Anti-Freedom

Sept. 22….(FOJ)President Bush will address the UN General Assembly tomorrow. His speech will mark the opening of the 58th session's General Debate. Last year President Bush challenged the UN to live up to its original purpose and confront terrorism and evil despots like Saddam Hussein. But at this pivotal moment in the war against terrorism, who is the real enemy? President Bush told the UN, and the whole world, “you are either with us or you are with the terrorists”. Guess what? The UN is with the terrorists! Recent UN actions indicate that the role of the UN is to encourage terrorism rather than to fight it. It begins with the UN refusal to define terrorism. Two weeks ago the UN sponsored a conference called "End the Occupation!". UN Secretary General Kofi Anan condemned Israel as an illegal occupier of someone else’s land and as a stumbling block to peace by trying to assassinate Yasser Arafat and other terrorist leaders. UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, said he "deplores Israel's bombing of Sheik Yassins house. Anan said, "Israel does not have the right to resort to extrajudicial measures against Hamas or against Arafat. While the UN condemns Israel for seeking out terrorist leaders for liquidation, the UN says absolutely nothing about the Palestinian Authority's cold-blooded complicity in the use of Palestinian civilians as human shield, as human bombs against other human beings, and goes out of its way to encourage terrorism against Israel, and will do likewise against the United States in the future. President Bush needs to tell it to the General Assembly straight. In the war against terrorism the UN is now part of the problem, not the solution. By granting a free hand to Yasser Aafat and rescuing him from Israeli threats, the UN has condemned the poor suffering Palestinian people to more of a ruthless terrorist-Yasser Arafat, and helped to destroy the prospects for democracy in the projected State of Palestine. But then, the UN isn’t worried about Palestinian Statehood, it is more concerned about the existence of Israel, and empowering Arafat to wage terrorism against it.



WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 14 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 20



US Warns PA About Arafat Government

Arafat Sept. 20….(FOJ) The United States has made it clear to the Palestinian Authority that Washington will not support any government controlled by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. The U.S. called for the new Palestinian prime minister to take direct control of the PA security forces, most of which are currently under Arafat's control. The message was passed to Palestinian officials in recent days by John Wolf, the head of the American delegation to oversee the implementation of the road map. Wolf also informed the Palestinians that the new prime minister will not receive American support unless he takes on the terrorist organizations, and is not satisfied with a truce. Arafat has also been exposed as having diverted millions of American dollars in foreign aid into a private personal account. Recently, Forbes Magazine listed Arafat as one of the wealthiest leaders in the world.



UN Will Vote on Barring Arafat Deportation

Sept. 19….(FOJ) It seems that the whole world is coming together to defend Yasser Arafat. Even the Bush Administration, which has publicly acknowledged that Arafat is a failed leader and compromised with terror has sternly upbraided Israel for threatening to remove him from his Ramallah terrorist headquarters. The Bush Administration is obviously very concerned about inflaming the Arab and Muslim world against it in its war on terror.Facing a U.S. veto threat, the UN Security Council set a vote for Tuesday on a resolution, backed by Arab nations, demanding that Israel not harm or deport Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. Washington, Israel's closest ally, IS "not prepared to support the resolution in its present form" because it did not explicitly condemn terrorism by Palestinian militant groups and as worded is "very lopsided" against Israel, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte told reporters. The UN draft resolution "demands that Israel, the occupying power, desist from any act of deportation and to cease any threat to the safety of the elected president of the Palestinian Authority. Israel would incite rage not only among Arabs but also Muslims everywhere by exiling or executing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday in Baghdad during a visit to Iraq. It is obvious that the whole world is against Israel and that it will do anything to support Arafat in their Hellish quest to destroy the state of Israel. Even hurricane Isabel seemed to be sending a strong warning from God to President Bush as he met with Jordan'’ King Abdullah in Washington to discuss the current flap about Yasser Arafat and his overthrow of the Bush Doctrine which sought to establish a democracy in the West Bank. That dream is now destroyed and Arafat has prevailed, while President Bush has been left to fend of a wide range of critics over Iraq and Israel. God is not amused with the gathering (hurricane) storm against his people and against his designs for Israel. I truly believe that we are approaching a showdown over Israel and Arafat.



Arafat Surrounds Himself by Human Shield of Women and Children

Sept. 19….(Ha Aretz) Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's men are surrounding his office with women and children as human shields against any Israeli attempt to assassinate or deport him. The sources said Arafat's men have asked senior Fatah activists and members of the Palestinian security mechanisms to "volunteer" their families for a permanent vigil of women and children, which will obstruct any attempt to harm Arafat. Since the Israeli cabinet decision last week to deport Arafat, many Palestinians and other delegations are arriving at the Muqata compound in Ramallah daily to support Arafat. Two Israeli delegations of Knesset members and peace activists have also visited. But according to security forces, the PA wants to ensure a permanent presence of civilians around Arafat and will see to it that women and children also stay in the Muqata at night.
FOJ Note: What a hero! Mr. Arafat, why don’t you do the whole world a favor and become one of your suicide bombers?

 

Pope Renews Support for the UN

Sept. 19….(EWTN) Pope John Paul II has reiterated his strong support for the United Nations. In a telegraphed message, read at an ecumenical service marking the opening of the 58th General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, the Pope said that the need for international cooperation "regarding the complex questions of global security, international justice, and human development has never been more apparent." The papal message was read by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican's permanent observer at the UN. New York's Cardinal Edward Egan also participated in the ecumenical ceremony.
FOJ Note: I can’t think of anybody who has done more to promote the agenda of the Antichrist than this Pope. Ecumenicalism is a movement that has caught universal popularity under this Pope. Even Church music has been radically affected by the Pope’s ecumenical subtlety.

 

Arafat Has Defeated Bush’s Democracy Push

Sept. 19….(FOJ) The new Palestinian prime minister-designate, Ahmed Qurei, has given Palestinian Chairman Arafat and his Fatah faction considerable say over the composition of his government. Qurei says he wants to avoid confrontations with Arafat. Qurei will also include a representative of Hamas in his new government. Arafat's central role in forging the new governing team flew in the face of criticism from Israel and the United States, who charge that he is tainted by terrorism. Arafat's standing among his people improved considerably following Israel's threat to "remove" him, leaving open the possibility of expulsion or assassination. Yesterday president Bush urged Palestinians to cast off Arafat, blaming him for "stalled" Middle East peace efforts and charging he had thwarted efforts to end violence, and costing the Palestinians a State. "Mr Arafat has failed as a leader," the President said sternly during a joint press conference with Jordanian King Abdullah II at the Camp David retreat outside Washington. "The people of the Palestinian territory must understand that, if they want peace, they must have leadership that is absolutely 100 percent committed to fighting off terror," he said. "Prime Minister Abbas was undermined at all times by the old order. That meant Mr. Arafat," said Bush. "His efforts were undermined, and that's why we are now stalled." It was the second time in less than a week that the United States has moved to stigmatize Arafat: it had vetoed a Syrian-sponsored resolution in the United Nations Security Council condemning Israel's decision to "remove" the Palestinian leader Tuesday.

 

Atlantic Coast Prophecy Conference

Sept 19….(FOJ) Well, I am back from the ACPC where I heard 18 great prophecy sermons and lectures.About 800 people attended the “Midnight Call” sponsored event. If you have never attended a prophecy conference before, I would highly recommend the Midnight Call event that is held each year in Myrtle Beach.



Atlantic Coast Prophecy Conference

Sept. 15-17….(FOJ) I would like to take this space in the Newsroom section of Focus on Jerusalem Prophecy Ministry to inform the regular readers of FOJ that I will be attending the Atlantic Coast Prophecy Conference for 3 days this week, and therefore the prophecy news room will be idle until Thursday of this week. Let me thank all of you for visiting FOJ, and urge you to Keep Focusing on Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is the apple of God’s eye, and it is the city to which God shall soon send his beloved son. Satan is fully aware of God’s design for Jerusalem, and is presently using the powers of this world to oppose God’s undertaking to prepare Israel for the return of their Messiah, upon which occasion they shall mourn for him, and receive him as the King of Kings, at long last. FOJ will continue to highlight this urgent message of prophecy. Next week, the new FOJ article, “Perilous Times Shall Come” will be posted in the articles section of FOJ. We’ll see you again soon! God Bless.

 

In An Hour Ye Think Not

Sept. 15….(FOJ) Recently, while talking to a person about Jesus Christ and about current news in the Middle East, I met another man (74 years old) that informed me that he was a Sunday School teacher and deacon at a local Southern Baptist Church in my hometown. He asked me why I placed so much emphasis on prophecy. I remarked back to him that it was simply a labor of love for me and that it was also an urgent calling on my life placed there by God. I expressed to him that Bible Prophecy was my calling, or purpose in God’s will for my life. He then asked me what I thought all the stuff in the Middle East was about. To make along story short, I simply responded that the time Jesus return to this world was at hand. He took a step back from me, and pointed his finger into my face, and stammered, “I don’t think so”! I calmly asked him why he didn’t think so. Again he took another step back, raised his finger and said, “in an hour ye think not”. He went on to explain that he had heard this old stuff about Jesus return all of his life, and that he thought that nobody could understand prophecy, nor determine the nation-players in end-time events. He thought that just because the Bible said that Jesus would come in an hour you don’t think that he will, automatically disqualified any expectation of his return today. His quotation came from Matthew and Luke and properly reads as follows:

(Matthew 24:42-50 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,)

Jesus has instructed his followers to watch for his coming always. Jesus compared the time of his 2nd coming to being a perilous era of time much like the era of Noah’s day. He admonished his disciples to watch lest they fall into ignorance and complacency, and be caught unaware in the day of his impending return. Jesus likened his parasouia (appearing) return to the coming of “a thief in the night”, who slips into a house in secret and steals his booty. Jesus intentionally uses the word “hour” in this context instead of “day or season”, because he has given us plenty of signs that should alert his followers to the urgent nearness of his 2nd coming. That is the relevance of Bible Prophecy for our specific time in history today, as we are seeing these things come to pass right before our eyes! The only way any Christian today could be caught unaware at Christ second coming is to willingly choose to be ignorant of those signs. My friend didn’t realize it, but his own thinking (willingly ignorant-II Peter 3:5) is a sign of the Last Days. He thinks Jesus will not come today, and thus personifies the very verse that he quoted to me. It is really sad to see so many Christians that are blind to the prophetic truth of the “signs of the times”, and to Jesus soon and sudden appearance.



WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 8 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 14


America’s Rewritten History in School

Sept.12….(AP) Today, and for a long time now America’s public schools have been sadly telling an unbalanced story of our own country, offering students plenty about America's failings, but not enough about its long-held values and freedoms, says a report drawing support across the ideological spectrum. Without a change of approach, schools will continue to turn out large numbers of students who are disengaged in society and unappreciative of democracy, the report contends. Produced by the nonpartisan Albert Shanker Institute, "Education for Democracy" is the latest effort to try to strengthen the nation's under-whelming grasp of civics and history. Too many classroom lessons and text-books today now contribute to a sense of historical indifference by focusing on America's darker moments, the report says. "Vietnam, Watergate, impeachment hearings, the rottenness of campaign finance, rising cynicism about politicians in general, we've gone excessively in our society toward cynicism," said Larry Diamond, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. "It's a call for balance; it's not a call for purging from the history books honest criticism of our failings." We definitely have had terrible problems as a nation, but we also have a society that is totally different than that of a totalitarian society. Students need to understand and value what was been built here in America." The report takes aim at a lack of teaching about non-democratic societies, saying that comparison could show the "genius" of America's system. Sanitized accounts of real-life horrors elsewhere around the world lead to the "half-education" of children, the report says. The report calls for a stronger history and social studies curriculum, starting in elementary school and continuing through all years of schooling. It also suggests a bigger push for morality in education lessons. "The basic ideas of liberty, equality, and justice, of civil, political and economic rights and obligations, are all assertions of right and wrong, of moral values," the report says. "The authors of the American testament had no trouble distinguishing moral education from religious instruction, and neither should we."



America is Now an Atheist Nation!

Sept. 11….(American Family Association) The issue wasn't simply a granite stone with the Ten Commandments inscribed on it down in Alabama. Never has been. The issue is much more diverse and important than a piece of stone. The issue was best stated by none other than Federal Judge Myron Thompson, who said that the display of the stone containing the Ten Commandments (which also contains a host of other historical documents) is illegal. Thompson said the central, most important issue was this: "Can the state acknowledge God?" After asking the question, he went on to answer it. "No." And that is the issue. Lest we fail to understand what has occurred here, lets explain. A single, lower-court federal judge has bluntly told every American that America is now officially an atheist nation. In one swift stroke of the pen, Judge Thompson tossed out over 225 years of American history and law. America’s founding fathers in the 1st amendment stated, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." So, now we have instituted as the law of the land the religion of atheism, which says there is no God. Not only did Judge Thompson usurp the power of Congress, he also took away the rights of every individual and state. The second half of the establishment clause of the First Amendment reads: "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Today, it is becoming increasingly impossible to worship God freely in America. Americans who disagree with the official state religion of atheism are being stripped of their founding rights. From this day forward, our entire judicial system must be based on the religion of atheism. Oh, you will not notice any drastic changes immediately. There is still a remnant left in the hearts and minds of the current citizenry. But when that remnant dies out, those who come after us will see a big difference, and that difference may well be the religion of the Antichrist.



India, Israel and the US Forming Alliance

Sept. 10….(World Watch) Ariel Sharon's visit to India, the 1st ever by an Israeli Prime Minister, marks a growing friendship between the 2 countries. The visit comes amid growing calls from American groups and commentators in the US for the US, Israel and India to do more together to counter Islamic militants. India and Israel's bilateral relationship has blossomed since the 2 countries opened diplomatic ties in 1992. But more recently the idea of a strategic axis between the US, Israel and India has been gaining ground. The Bush administration sees India as a rising regional power in Asia with an expanding economy and shared democratic values. And as Richard Foster, Asian security fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, suggests, supporters of Israel within the administration can be assumed to view growing Indo-Israeli ties positively. The 3 countries share a high, enduring interest in determining the roots and causes of terrorism." They also share a common interest in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and of dangerous missiles in the wrong hands, he says. The green light given by the Bush administration for Israel to sell its Phalcon early warning radar system to India is one signal of the encouragement which Washington is giving to the developing strategic relationship. On the flip side, the depth of the growing ties between the three countries is viewed with particular concern by Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism within its borders, and has lobbied hard to press this point with Washington. But as long as the US remains dependent on Pakistan land or air space for its fight against al-Qaeda and the Taleban in Afghanistan, it is likely to continue an awkward balancing act in its policy towards South Asia. The Bush administration has recently pledged $3bn in aid to Pakistan and Pakistani defence officials will be travelling to Washington in mid-September for talks at the Pentagon. And this could explain some of the public reticence in Washington to talk of a US-Israeli-India strategic axis - something that worries, among others, many officials in Pakistan.



Twin Suicide Bombings Rock Israel

Sept. 10…. (Ha Aretz) Twin Palestinian suicide bombings’ one at a bus stop crowded with soldiers near a Tel Aviv army base, and the second five hours later at a popular Jerusalem nightspot, killed at least 14 Israelis and wounded and maimed dozens as Israel is undergoing another wave of savage bloodletting by Palestinian terrorists. In Jerusalem, the second attacker struck at 11:20 P.M. at the popular Cafe Hillel on Emek Refaim Street in the German Colony, where many restaurants, small shops and boutiques cater to the residential neighborhood. It is quite likely that the Hamas terrorist organization was responsible for the bombings in light of the fact that Israel has declared war on Hamas and struck hard at a Hamas meeting place over the weekend. Israel's military has relentlessly targeted Hamas militants since the group claimed a suicide bombing last month that killed 22 people on a Jerusalem bus. Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin vowed revenge after Israel tried to assassinate him and other leaders of the radical Islamic movement on Saturday in the Gaza Strip.



U.S. Links Chinese, N. Korean Aid To Iran

Sept. 10….(Middle East News Line) President Bush's well-known "Axis of Evil" characterization of Iran, Iraq and North Korea needs another axis, according to United States officials. The intelligence community has determined China teamed up with North Korea to produce and deliver components for Iran's missile and weapons-of-mass-destruction programs, reports Middle East Newsline. Officials said China produced the components and exported them through North Korea to avoid U.S. sanctions. This, despite the fact that China announced export controls on military and dual-use technologies last year. The arms components were ultimately delivered to a range of Middle East clients. As a result of this revelation, according to the news service, the Bush administration has decided to get tough with Beijing and will impose sanctions on Chinese companies found to have been cooperating with North Korea in the fields of missile and weapons of mass destruction. A lengthy debate within the National Security Council and State Department is said to have preceded the decision. China is among the nations that participated in the six-way talks held last month with North Korea over its nuclear-production program and stated intention to test a nuclear weapon.

FOJ Note: Focus on Jerusalem Prophecy Ministry highlighted this very important fact concerning the Kings of the East meddling in the proliferation of WMD in its August 12th Newsroom Section. President Clinton was also liable for assisting the Chinese efforts at WMD development and proliferation.



John Paul II: World Peace

Sept. 9….(FOJ) The world has spent too little effort to promote peace over the past few decades, says John Paul II. In a message to the 17th International Meeting of Prayer for Peace, the Pope said that in a world that urgently needs unity, the people of various religions and cultures are called to discover the importance of meetings and dialogue as a means to build peace. "This is the secret of the Aachen Meeting," a meeting of the Churches and Christian communities and other great world religions, meeting in Rome. The motto of the three-day event is "Between War and Peace: Religions and Cultures Meet." The Aachen meeting is a further stage in the initiative begun by the Pope in 1986. Pope John Paul II believes that meetings such as Aachen's, organized by the Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio, "are an answer" to the need for a pacified world because "every year people of different religions meet, dilute tensions, learn to live with others and have a joint responsibility for world peace." "The name of the one God must become increasingly what it is: a name of peace and a summons to peace," he added, quoting from No. 55 of his apostolic letter "Novo Millennio Ineunte." The scandal of division can no longer be tolerated, and for the sake of world peace we must all come together as one!”(I wonder what God the Pope and his religious friends have in mind)



Arafat Deals Blow to the Bush Doctrine

President Bush Sept. 8….(FOJ) President Bush’s hesitancy to allow Israel to expel or assassinate Yasser Arafat has allowed the terrorist leader once again the chance to destroy hopes for peace in the Middle East and also cost the Palestinian people another chance for Statehood. Mahmoud Abbas, the man that President Bush, entertained at the White House just 2 months ago and promoted as the choice the leader of a democratic Palestine, has been reduced to nothing, simply because Arafat was allowed to remain on the scene. It took just 100 days for Arafat to trash the dream of the US President and any dream of democracy for the Palestinians. Abbas was probably just a play along puppet with Arafat to destroy the Presidents Doctrine for a Democratic Palestine. The writing was on the wall from the very beginning. It was clear that Arafat, if left in Ramallah would do his utmost to foment terror and to undermine the concept of a Prime Minister. (What does it really matter about finding Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein if you refuse to do anything about a chief terrorist sitting in Ramallah?) While Abbas did absolutely nothing about terrorism, America looked the other way and hoped that Israel would continue down the Roadmap even the Palestinian side reciprocated with nothing. Finally Arafat managed to muster enough support in the Palestinian Legislative Council for a no confidence vote regarding the Abbas cabinet. Arafat will now us the new Prime Minister position to serve his own purposes and present the appearance to Europe that he is cooperating with the roadmap, and that he is still relevant! If anything, Abbas’s resignation shows that Arafat has only one choice for leader: himself, and that peace with Israel is, and has never been an option! The US, by allowing Arafat to remain unharmed in Ramallah, has also allowed Arafat to destroy the Bush Doctrine, at the expense not only of the American people, the Israeli people, but also the Palestinian people, and all the people in the Middle East. Ahmed Qureia, the speaker of the Palestinian parliament tapped by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to take over as Prime Minister, laid out his terms today for accepting the post. Qureia, also known as Abu Ala, said he would not be able to govern without Arafat's support, and said that the United States had not done enough to enforce Israeli compliance with the internationally-brokered road map for Middle East peace. Qureia also said he would only accept the job if Washington and Europe guarantee Israeli compliance with the road map. Israel has already stated, and properly so, that it will not entertain any discussions of the roadmap as long as Arafat is involved.
Thus, President Bush needs to see that Arafat is destroying his dream of democracy replacing terrorism in the West Bank and in Iraq. In his address to the nation last night President Bush stated: The Middle East will either become a place of progress and peace, or it will be an exporter of violence and terror that takes more lives in America and in other free nations. The triumph of democracy and tolerance in Iraq, in Afghanistan and beyond would be a grave setback for international terrorism. The terrorists thrive on the support of tyrants and the resentments of oppressed peoples. When tyrants fall, and resentment gives way to hope, men and women in every culture reject the ideologies of terror, and turn to the pursuits of peace. Everywhere that freedom takes hold, terror will retreat. Unfortunately, the Bush Doctrine made a terrible mistake by not removing the tyrant in the West Bank, and thus freedom has not succeeded.

 

Bin Laden Threatens America Again

Sept. 8….(FOJ) A new tape purporting to be from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network yesterday threatened an onslaught against Americans so devastating it would obliterate memories of the September 11 suicide attacks. The audio-tape message dated September 3, was broadcast on al-Arabiyya satellite TV. We announce there will be new attacks inside and outside the US which would make America forget the attacks of September 11," said an al-Qaida spokesman who identified himself as Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Najdi. He urged Muslims to fight against US forces elsewhere. "God has opened the doors of jihad in Iraq and Palestine, so do not close them," he said.



WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 1 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 7


Watching Russia & Saudi Arabia

Sep. 5….(FOJ) Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader visited Moscow this week courting Russian help for Arab causes in the Middle East. Ironically it marked the first time a Saudi ruler has visited Russia since the 1936 discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia by America’s Standard Oil of California. Saudi Arabia has been heavily reliant upon American alliances in the economic, technical, and security arenas since the emergence of the Aramco Corporation (Arab-American Oil Company) in the 1930’s. Saudi Arabia assumed control of Aramco in 1974 and 1980 and immediately launched an oil embargo against the US for supporting Israel. In Abdullah’s visit to Moscow, Russian and Saudi officials agreed to coordinate their anti-terrorism taskforces. Moscow has accused Saudi charities of providing financial support to Chechen separatists, who in the eyes of many Muslim fundamentalists are fighting to free an Islamic people, but who are considered terrorists by the Russian government. Riyadh has faced widespread international criticism (America-9/11) for failing to control terrorist organizations allegedly operating in Saudi Arabia. While carefully prodding the sensitive terrorism issue, The 5-year deal called for "strengthening bilateral cooperation with the goal of ensuring stability in the global oil market", phrasing that may suggest coordinated action on production volume and prices. The agreement also envisaged joint ventures in oil and gas exploration. Russia and the Saudi Prince Abdullah discussed the stability of the entire world market and how the two largest oil producers affect the Global structure. Crown Prince Abdullah invited the Russian Prime Minister Putin to visit Saudi Arabia soon. Putin and Abdullah concluded their weeklong visit by discussing Iraq and Israel. Muslims make up about 1/7 of the population of Russia and Puttin expressed an interest to Abdullah in joining the Organization of Islamic Conference, in exchange for Russian help on the Israeli roadmap problem. (ummm!) It seems to me that the oil Sheiks of the House of Saud are beginning to look to the power of the North (Russia) for a weightier bargaining position with its old oil partner America, in its attempts to support the regional Jihad against Israel. (The prophet Ezekiel foretells that the Saudi’s will eventually become concerned about Russia’s true intentions in the Middle East) (see Ezekiel 38:13)



US Turns to UN for Help in Iraq

Sep. 4….(FOJ commentary) President Bush and the US finding itself engulfed in a quagmire in post-Saddam Iraq has discovered that it must once again court the UN Security Council for assistance. This is an about face for President Bush, who (see Aug 14 FOJ news article) just a few weeks ago concluded that the UN could not be trusted to help the Iraqi people rebuild their national infrastructure. The UN has demonstrated over and over that it does not care about the Iraqi people, as the UN would just as soon have left them to Saddam. Now that the Iraqi people have a shot at freedom, all the UN is concerned about is increasing the problems for the US so that America will become weakened. The United States has supplied 90 percent of the troops, 90 percent of the money and 95 percent of the casualties in liberating Iraq and enforcing the UN’s own resolutions. America had an imperative to go into Iraq, and to wage war on terror wherever it has a home. In the final analysis, whether America realizes it or not, the world wants a new Global Order in which the US can’t be more than co-equal player, and preferably a submissive player. (this will happen when the Antichrist emerges) America’s excursion into Iraq could have provided the entire Middle Eastern people a chance to discover freedom, but apparently the forces of Iron (dicatorships) don’t want too much Clay (democracy) introduced into the region. (see Daniel 2:40-43) The U.N. has steadfastly refused to help at all unless the United States surrenders control of Iraqi reconstruction to the UN Security Council. America should be learning that it has no allies in the UN, and that the whole world wants to see the US suffer in Iraq and become a second rate power. With the US spending billions of dollars in Iraq, and suffering daily attacks on its soldiers, the UN offers nothing. Iraq is indeed becoming a quagmire, but only because America is alone in trying to help Iraq and therefore America is increasingly finding that it is traversing a dangerous geo-political landmine. America’s fight in the war-on-terror is complicated and confusing, with many angles and twists, and the Iraq situation reveals that America has no true allies whatsoever. America needs to learn that it needs to trust in God alone, and return to his statutes, and repent. If America does not heed the warnings of God brewing at home, (10 Commandments issue, Gay marriage issue, and many others) God will allow America’s enemies to lead us into the Middle East quicksand.



Terror Link to Blackouts?

Sept. 3….(World Net Daily) International intelligence sources are skeptical that the major unexplained power outages in the United Kingdom and United States occurred within weeks of each other by mere coincidence. New York and much of the rest of the Eastern U.S. were hit first with a blackout. Then, last week, London was the center of the latest outage. New York and London are the West's major economic centers. The UK and U.S. are the two principal nations leading the war against Islamic terrorism on a global scale. London's blackout was unprecedented. The U.S. event was the worst in history. Within minutes, in each case, the governments were emphatically claiming terrorism was not the cause, though the cause is still to be determined. Here's what Osama bin Laden said in a statement released last October in threatening "U.S. economic interests": "The youth of Islam are preparing something to strike fear in your hearts and will target the vital sectors of your economy until you renounce your injustice and hostility." In a message directed to the American people and released through Al-Jazeera television, the al-Qaida terrorist network leader offered this statement: "I advise you in all sincerity and call upon you to follow Islam, which stands up for justice and opposes injustice and crime. I also call upon you to seize the messages of the conquests of New York and Washington, which was the response to a part of your past crimes. "However, the criminal gang in the White House, those agents of the Jews, are preparing to attack the Muslim world and carve it up, without you dissuading them, meaning that you have not learned anything. I tell you, as God is my witness, that if America does not cease or reduce the scope of this tension, we will respond in kind, God willing." Now, more intelligence experts familiar with electrical infrastructure weaknesses are acknowledging major vulnerabilities to sabotage, though not concluding terrorism was involved. "What's puzzling," said one terror expert, "is how these government officials simply ruled out terrorism just minutes or hours after the outage hit, yet days and weeks later they still can't pinpoint the actual cause."



Pope: Mary's Tears a Call to Conversion and Peace

Sept. 2….(Zenit) The tears of the Blessed Virgin are a call to conversion and peace, particularly in the Mid-east and Africa, says John Paul II. Praying the Angelus, the Pope recalled the 50th anniversary of the day that an image of Mary wept in Syracuse, Sicily. On Aug. 29, 1953, in the home of Antonia and Angelo Iannuso, a plaster plaque of the Immaculate Heart of Mary shed tears. The miraculous phenomenon, later recognized officially by Sicily's bishops, was prolonged for three consecutive days until Sept. 1. This year has been another Marian Year proclaimed to recall what the Pope described as "an amazing event." Pilgrims from Syracuse presented a gold crown for John Paul II's blessing in commemoration. The crown will be placed on the head of the Virgin's image. "How mysterious her tears are!" the Pope said. "They speak of suffering and tenderness, of comfort and divine mercy. They are the sign of a maternal presence, and an appeal to conversion to God, abandoning the way of evil to follow faithfully Jesus Christ." The Pontiff concluded with a prayer addressed to the "sweet Lady of Tears," entrusting to her the Church and the whole world. "Dry the tears that hatred and violence cause in many regions of the Earth, especially in the Middle East and the African continent." He concluded: "May your tears, O Mother, be a pledge of conversion and peace for all your children."



John Paul II Entrusts Future of Europe to Mary

John Paul II entrusted the future of the new Europe to Mary, as he concluded a series of addresses on his hopes and concerns for the Old World. From the courtyard of the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, the Pope dedicated the Sunday Angelus to reflect on the postsynodal apostolic exhortation "Ecclesia in Europa ." The Pope concluded his reflections, "with an 'Entrustment to Mary' of all the men and women of the continent." He placed Europe in Mary's hands, so that it will "become a symphony of nations committed to building together the civilization of love and peace." Last Sunday, the Holy Father urged that the final draft of the European Constitution should recognize explicitly the Christian roots of the continent, as they constitute a "guarantee of a future." On Aug. 17, he referred to the crisis of values in Europe and appealed for the recovery of the continent's "true identity," adding that "the process of enlargement of the European Union to other countries cannot affect only the geographic and economic aspects, but must be translated in a renewed agreement on values which must be expressed in law and in life."

FOJ Note: Regarding all of the above remarks and teachings by the Pope, let me add one word, “Hogwash”!



Syria Recruiting, Moving Jihadists into Iraq

Sept. 2….(World Net/Farah) Syrian intelligence officials, with the direct knowledge and support of President Bashar Assad, are actively recruiting holy warriors and providing them safe passage into Iraq to fight against U.S.-led forces. Plainclothes Syrian intelligence officials accompanied by a small number of Hezbollah security personnel and members of Lebanon's intelligence apparatus, the Second Bureau, have formed a joint unit stationed along the official land border crossings between Syria and Lebanon. This unit was established a few weeks ago to augment the regular security system. Its main goal is to screen ''free volunteers'' arriving from all corners of the Muslim world to join the Iraqifada. The goal of these volunteers is to reach the Syrian-Iraqi border, to cross it and join the jihad campaign against the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Syria prefers to allow the volunteers, to reach Iraq via Lebanon, instead of allowing them in through Syria's main ports and the Damascus International Airport. The inclusion of Hezbollah representatives serves two purposes. The first is to assure eager Lebanese Hezbollah fighters do not leave their bases in the south to fight in what they believe is the battlefield against the U.S. The other task of Hezbollah's security is to accompany Iraqis, or Iraqi Baath supporters sneaking into Syria, to arrive safely in Hezbollah's safe havens in the south or the Bekaa Valley.



Israel: World Must Halt "Nightmare Scenario" of Nuclear Iran

Sept. 2….(Jerusalem Post) Israel said a nuclear Iran would pose a grave danger to the world and urged the European Union and the international community Sunday to help halt a "nightmare scenario" from becoming reality. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom discussed the concerns in a meeting Sunday with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who arrived earlier after talks in Tehran. "Iran's nuclear program is a grave threat, not only to Israel but to Europe and the whole free world," Shalom said after the meeting. "Iran is fast approaching the point of no return in its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities."



Israel Re-Considers Expelling Arafat


Sept. 2….(Jerusalem Post) The State of Israel made a historic mistake by not expelling him some two years ago and we had more than a few opportunities to do this. Israel may have to decide on Yasser Arafat's fate before year's end, Israel's defense minister said Tuesday, adding that expelling the Palestinian leader was the likely course. Israel considers Arafat an obstacle to peace and has accused him of involvement in terrorism. "Because this is the situation and because Arafat never wanted to reach an agreement with us, I think that he has to disappear from the stage of history, and not be included in the ranks of the Palestinian leadership," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said. Mofaz said he favors expelling Arafat, but that the timing has to be right. "I believe that Israel made a historic mistake by not exiling him two years ago," he said. "With regard to the future, I think we will be compelled to deal with this issue within a relatively short period of time, very possibly even this year," Mofaz said. Mofaz said the timing would have to be chosen carefully so as not to undermine Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, whom Israel believes is serious about reaching a peace deal.

FOJ Note: FOJ encouraged the expelling or execution of Arafat ages ago. But if Israel thinks the Abbas scenario is going to be good, they better think again. Readers beware: The elimination of Arafat and the proposal for a peace-security process “after Arafat,” will ultimately lead us to the Antichrist!




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