WEEK OF AUGUST 29 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 4
The Double Slam on New Orleans
Today, President Bush admitted that the nation’s recovery efforts "are not acceptable," and that they must improve, just before he headed to the Gulf Coast to face the second greatest challenge of his presidency, with the first being the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the USA. Unlike September 11, and despite an unprecedented relief effort, President Bush finds himself in the eye of a political hurricane that started swirling down by his ranch with the media circus surrounding Cyndi Sheehan, and the anti-war protestors. Today, the President stated, “I’m not looking forward to this trip.” “It’s as if the entire Gulf Coast were obliterated by the worst kind of weapon you can imagine,” the president said. The President could not have spoken more true words. This weapon, like the 9-11 weapon is being supernaturally allowed by God to be used against us because we have mocked God and compromised the Promised Land in a time that God is readying to make his move in that part of the world. God removed his “hedge-of-protection” around America on 9-11, and because America has not repented and returned unto God, and prayed for forgiveness, God is continuing to warn us that Perilous Times shall overtake our nation unless we heed the advice of the following scripture. (II Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.)
America’s Three Presidents That Compromised Israel’s Land
What Katrina Reveals about US Security America's enemies gleefully study portrait of unpreparedness. Sept. 2….(Joseph Farah) While Americans watch the chaos in New Orleans in horror today, US enemies are smiling. Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin reveals strategists in China, Venezuela, North Korea and for rogue terrorist organizations like al-Qaida are realizing the full extent of America's unpreparedness for domestic disaster, even in a single, medium-sized urban area. Major vulnerabilities in planning and response are obvious and providing encouragement for future strikes on the country's infrastructure and population centers. Adnan el-Shukrijumah, America's most wanted al-Qaida terrorist, hatched a plot with the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang in Honduras and Mexico to smuggle nuclear weapons into the U.S. In the second part of a two-part series on the elusive el-Shukrijumah, Paul L. Williams, author of the new book "The Al-Qaeda Connection," reveals how the man handpicked by Osama bin Laden to execute a terrorist nuclear attack on the US got his weapons of mass destruction and sneaked them across the Mexican border. It's an alarming report that names, places and times, and explains where he got nuclear materials and who helped him bring them into the US In the first part of the series, still published nowhere else, you'll get to meet el-Shukrijumah, the man behind al-Qaida's "American Hiroshima" nuclear terrorism plot. Egyptian military intelligence tipped off US on danger posed by 9-11 hijacker Muhammad Atta before he ever got to the US.
Lessons in Democracy: Foundational and Prophetic Reasons for a Dim Bush Legacy Sept. 2….(By Bill Wilson) President George W. Bush has staked the legacy of his presidency on establishing democracy in radical Islamic states in order to foment peace- a noble cause, but flawed logic flying in the face of prophecy. The founding fathers of the United States said that in order for an elected republic such as America to flourish, moral and religious men must hold positions of leadership. They meant believers in Christ who were upstanding citizens should be active leaders otherwise the nation would fail. It is a basic underpinning, a foundational truth, of elected government. The two most public examples of the "Bush Doctrine of Democracy" are Iraq and Palestine. Neither is succeeding and peace seems to be an elusive goal. Fundamentally, neither of these nations' leaders meet the foundational requirements of democracy laid out by the inventers of it, moral and religious men. Yes, they are followers of Islam. And Islam does promote some form of moral code, but it also promotes radicalism, oppression and violence in its doctrine- a doctrine that is ingrained and institutionalized throughout the Palestinian territories and in Iraq. And those who are in leadership positions are not moral by any Western standard. They are the antithesis of the American founding fathers and they have competing interests that far outweigh the establishment of a peaceful nation. In the wake of the Israeli evacuation of the Gaza, the Palestinians have behaved like barbarians interested in only more land and control of the Holy City of Jerusalem. Even Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that Gaza was just a small step toward the Palestinians taking back "their" land. And that it will not be complete until the West Bank (Judea and Samaria, the heart of the covenant land given to the Jews by God) and Jerusalem are under Palestinian control. And Abbas said that terrorism and suicide missions worked. "Today we are getting part of the payoff, of your sacrifice, Abbas told hundreds of Palestinians. The credit for the evacuation is for the martyrs who sacrificed themselves and gave their lives for the homeland." The Fatah Party Constitution still says the following: Article (12) the complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence. Article (13) Establishing an independent democratic state with complete sovereignty on all Palestinian lands, and Jerusalem is its capital city, and protecting the citizens' legal and equal rights without any racial or religious discrimination. Article (19) Armed struggle (terrorism) is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People's armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated. Hamas who is looking forward to great gains in the January elections is a terrorist organization who is devoted to the complete annihilation of the Jews. Meanwhile in Iraq, the Constitution developed by the Shiites and Kurds establishes Islam as the law of the land. This is similar to Iran, where Islam is the law even though there is elected representatives of the people. The Bush Administration has called the Iranian elections a sham, but the Iraqi elections may well turn out the same. In Iran, the Ayatollahs are an all powerful influence over the Iranian government because they determine the interpretation of Islamic law. There is nothing that has been publicly released that would suggest Iraq would never fall into the same pattern, an elected government whose every move is controlled by a ruling committee of Islamic theologians. Already, the Sunni Muslims, who were in control during the brutal Saddam Hussein regime and are a majority in the country, are threatening to vote down the Constitution in the October referendum. The Sunnis refused to participate in the elections last year and are now, by fiat of being excluded from the government, are controlling the process with their threats and behind the scenes negotiating. They are also responsible for much of the anti-democratic civil war that daily kills American and allied troops as well as hundreds of Iraqi citizens. The Bush Administration response to both the Palestinians and the Iraqi situation is surreal. Either the White House is receiving information that totally disputes what is seen and heard on the ground in these countries or there is a total disconnect from reality. Of the Palestinian situation, the President, in remarks on Monday, said, "The Palestinian people have expressed their desire for sovereignty and peace in free and fair elections. President Abbas has rejected violence and taken steps toward democratic reform...Both Israelis and Palestinians have elected governments committed to peace and progress, and the way forward is clear." Similarly, the President has a different view of the goings on in Iraq. He said Monday, "The progress made over the past week has been impressive, with consensus reached on most provisions through debate, dialogue, and compromise. This is the essence of democracy, which is difficult and often slow, but leads to durable agreements, brokered by representatives that reflect the interests and values of free people… The United States pledges its full support as the Iraqis work to complete their democratic transition." Peace? Democracy? There is no indication that either is forthcoming. And it serves no positive purpose if terrorist thugs are legitimized by an election process. Once again, the fundamentals of democracy requiring a moral and religious leadership are not met. But even more are the fundamentals of God's word. In Genesis, and angel of the Lord prophesied over Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, who became the father of the Arab race, today's Islam, "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren (Genesis 16:11, 12)." How can there be peace when there is no peace in the hearts of those entrusted with it. Even Saddam Hussein last week said that he would martyr himself for Iraq and the Palestinian people. The irritant in this whole matter is Israel. The entire Islamic and Arab world believes that Israel has no right to exist and there will be no peace until the matter is resolved, the good intentions of George W. Bush or no. The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:6, "Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things come the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." These are the days of deception. These are times to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And even though President Bush is deceived by these wicked men, and he has based his presidential legacy upon false leadings, he is a blessed man and is in need of the nation's prayer and supplication for Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God." May it ever be so.
Chinese Activist Warns of Nuclear War Sept. 2….(Bill
Gertz/Washington Times) China is preparing for nuclear war with the United
States over Taiwan, and a conflict is likely in the near future because of
divisions among Beijing's leaders, a Chinese democracy activist says. Wei
Jingsheng, a leading international advocate for political reform in China, said
in an interview with The Washington Times that President Bush and other US
leaders do not fully understand the chance of a conflict breaking out and must
do more to avert it. "Sino-U.S. relations are reaching a crucial point and most
of the American public does not know about," said Mr. Wei, who spent almost 18
years in Chinese prisons before his release in 1997. "The United States needs to
pay more attention to the possibility of nuclear war with China." Mr. Wei said
he has heard from government officials in China, including some within the
military, who are worried by the growing chance of a nuclear war. Recent Chinese
military exercises and a Chinese general's threat to use nuclear missiles
against US cities are two signs of the danger, said Mr. Wei, who has an office
in Washington. "In the past, China may have felt that it was not time for
them to confront the US," Mr. Wei said. "Now, things are different. Now the
Chinese feel that they need to use these kind of nuclear threats. China is
very serious about that. The nuclear threat from China is a substantial threat,
not theoretical." The comments come as Chinese President Hu Jintao is set to
visit Washington next week. They also echo Pentagon concerns that China is
preparing to attack Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China, in the next few
years. Mr. Wei also said that social unrest is growing rapidly in China and that
hundreds of demonstrations in recent months have weakened Communist Party rule.
In Chinese history, he said, unrest has been a sign that a ruler is about to
fall, prompting concern among Beijing's communist leaders.
Dumping of US dollar Could Trigger 'Economic 9-11' Sept. 2….(The Australian) There is a potentially fatal flaw at the heart of the global economy: the strong possibility of financial meltdown following a collapse of confidence in the greenback, says Clyde Prestowitz. The nightmare scenario that haunts global strategist Clyde Prestowitz is an economic September 11, a worldwide financial panic triggered by a sudden massive sell-off of US dollars that would lead inexorably to the collapse of economies around the world. If that happens, Prestowitz predicts: "It would make the Great Depression of the 1930s look like a walk in the park." Australia would be sucked into the vortex of such a recession, which would cause great hardship throughout the world, he warns. Prestowitz is not a doomsayer, neither is he alone in his views. As president of the Economic Strategy Institute, a Washington think tank, he is in regular contact with the most influential US business leaders, several of whom, Warren Buffet and George Soros included, (Soros attempted a financial defeat of President Bush in the 2004 election) have taken steps to hedge their currency positions against the possibility of a cataclysmic plunge in the greenback. "Right now," he says, "we have a situation in which the US is running huge trade deficits, about $US650 billion ($766 billion) in 2004, which are financed by borrowings from the central banks of Asia, mainly the Chinese and the Japanese. All the world's central banks are chock-full of US dollars, they're holding many more dollars than they really want. They're holding those dollars because at the moment there's no great alternative and also because the global economy depends on US consumption. If they dump the dollar and the dollar collapses, then the whole global economy is in trouble. However, some countries have a bigger stake than others in maintaining the status quo. China and Japan have a big stake in maintaining the flow of their exports to the US and keeping the US economy humming. Russia, on the other hand, does not export much to the US. India doesn't export much to the US. Yet Russia and India are also big dollar-holders. They hold many more dollars than they really want or need. "You would then see an immediate cascade effect, a world financial panic on a scale that would dwarf the Great Depression of the 1930s." Prestowitz says the panic could be started by something as simple as a hedge-fund miscalculation. "We had exactly that scenario in the US recently," he points out, "when a big hedge fund called Long Term Capital Management went belly-up. These guys were pros. They had two Nobel prize-winning economists writing their trading algorithms, and their traders were the creme de la creme among New York bond traders. "They made a big bet, a trillion dollars leveraged 20 to one, and they blew it. They went belly-up. That threatened to bring down the whole system so US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan had to organize a bail-out through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. "Now consider this: there are currently 8000 hedge funds in the US alone. Every day $6 trillion of derivative instruments trade on international markets. So the potential for another disaster is not insignificant. This is why Warren Buffet, chairman of investment giant Berkshire Hathaway, is betting $US21 billion against the dollar. This is why currency speculator and hedge fund manager George Soros has also made a big bet against the dollar. "Soros is one of the greatest currency speculators of all time. He was the guy who broke the British pound in the early 1990s by betting $US10 billion it would fall. He made a quick billion when it did. In 2002, he warned that the greenback was in danger of losing a third of its value. Of course, it could be argued that Soros is a professional hedge fund manager whose job is to play the ups and downs of currencies and his remarks could be seen more as manipulation than prophecy. And yet, in conversations, Soros has expressed concern about the market fundamentalist view that prevails in Washington and parts of Wall Street. "This is the belief that markets are self-correcting and best left alone. Soros calls this a dangerous siren song. Far from being self-correcting, he emphasizes, markets tend to excess. They over-shoot. Anyone with any experience of markets knows this. "When markets are going down, all the weaknesses get concentrated, and you need intervention at the right time to stop things from getting out of control. If the dollar started to melt down, the results could be really nasty. A 1930s-style global depression is not out of the question." To underscore the point that he is not alone in this, Prestowitz cites Paul Volcker, head of the Federal Reserve before Greenspan, who has said publicly there is a 75 per cent chance of a dollar crash in the next five years. "No one knows for sure what will happen, but clearly the global markets could implode very quickly. The lack of an alternative to the dollar is the only reason it hasn't taken a big fall already." (Bible prophecy reveals that the Antichrist will assume control of the world’s currency system during the Tribulation) Prestowitz, formerly a trade adviser and negotiator for former US president Ronald Reagan, believes the US will continue to be the world's most powerful economy for the foreseeable future. But he foreshadows an inexorable decline, a trend that is likely to continue "depending on the way we play our cards". "Right now, we're playing them just about as badly as it's possible to play them, and that has geo-political implications." he says. "We've outsourced trying to deal with North Korea to China, we really can't deal with Iran, so we've outsourced that to the EU, which is failing, and Iran is cozying up to China. Other bad actors like Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Sudan are cozying up to China. (not to mention Venezuela’s Chvez) "America's global hegemony is already under challenge, and that challenge is going to become more and more evident as the extent of the relative US economic decline becomes evident. How's the US going to look as a global power when the dollar is at 50 per cent of its current value? One thing is certain, there are powers readying to move to take America’s place at the head of the world.
New Orleans Descending into Chaos Sept.
1….(MSNBC) National Guard troops in armored vehicles poured into New Orleans
on Thursday to curb the growing lawlessness that included shots reportedly fired
at a helicopter airlifting people out of the Superdome and arson fires outside
the arena. The scene at the Superdome became increasingly chaotic, with
thousands of people rushing from nearby hotels and other buildings, hoping to
climb onto the buses taking evacuees from the arena, officials said. Paramedics
became increasingly alarmed by the sight of people with guns. The operation to
bus more than 20,000 people to the Houston Astrodome was suspended, “until they
gain control of the Superdome,” said Richard Zeuschlag, head of Acadian
Ambulance, which was handling the evacuation of sick and injured people from the
Superdome. He said that military would not fly out of the Superdome either
because of the gunfire and that the National Guard told him that it was sending
100 military police officers to gain control. “That’s not enough,” Zeuschlag.
“We need a thousand.” He said medics were calling him and crying for help
because they were so scared of people with guns at the Superdome. Lt. Col. Pete
Schneider of the Louisiana National Guard said the military, which was handling
the evacuation of the able-bodied from the Superdome, had suspended operations,
too, because fires set outside the arena were preventing buses from getting
close enough to pick up people. Zeuschlag said shots were fired at a military
helicopter over the Superdome before daybreak, adding that when another
evacuation helicopter tried to land at a hospital in the outlying town of Kenner
overnight, the pilot reported that 100 people were on the landing pad, and some
of them had guns. “He was frightened and would not land,” Zeuschlag said. An
additional 10,000 National Guard troops from across the country were ordered
into the Gulf Coast to shore up security, rescue and relief operations. The new
units brought the number of troops dedicated to the effort to more than 28,000,
in what may be the largest military response to a natural disaster. Looting has
also been a problem in Mississippi. “The truth is, a terrible tragedy like this
brings out the best in most people, brings out the worst in some people,” said
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on NBC’s “Today” show Thursday. We’re trying to
deal with looters as ruthlessly as we can get our hands on them.” Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, meanwhile, said one problem is that “we
have an ongoing flood situation even as we’re in the middle of recovering from
the hurricane.” “We’re in a position where there are additional people we have
to look for,” he told “Today.” “We’re hoping to get the most people out as we
can in the next 12 hours and 24 hours, but we’re going to continue to search
until we’re sure we’ve got everybody safe.”
Islamic Jihadists Celebrate American Catastrophe Sept. 1….(WND) Islamic extremists rejoiced in America's misfortune, giving the storm a military rank and declaring in Internet chatter that "Private" Katrina had joined the global jihad, or holy war. With "Allah's help," they declared, oil prices would hit $100 a barrel this year.
Katrina Hit Just Before Big Easy Homosexual Event Sept. 1….(World Net Daily) Hurricane Katrina walloped New Orleans just two days before the annual homosexual "Southern Decadence" festival was to begin in the town, an act being characterized by some as God's work. Southern Decadence has a history of "filling the French Quarters section of the city with drunken homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets and bars," says a statement from the Philadelphia Christian organization Repent America. This year's 34th annual Southern Decadence festival, which drew 125,000 revelers last year, was set to begin today in the Big Easy and run through next Monday. As writer John d'Addario explained in "Southern Decadence 2005: Parades and non-stop parties aside, Southern Decadence may be most famous (or infamous) for the displays of naked flesh which characterize the event, which is only fitting, since New Orleans in early September is generally the closest thing you'll ever experience to walking around in a steambath outside of a health spa. While police have started to crack down on public lewdness and pressure from a local crackpot conservative religious organization has caused the five-day festival to become a little more sedate than it was in years past, the atmosphere of Southern Decadence has stayed true to its name and public displays of sexuality are pretty much everywhere you look. Of course, the massive flooding of the city and evacuation order from Gov. Kathleen Blanco has forced the event's cancellation. "Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city," stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage in a statement. "From 'Girls Gone Wild' to 'Southern Decadence,' New Orleans was a city that opened its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. May it never be the same." Repent America says three former and current mayors of New Orleans have issued official proclamations welcoming visitors to Southern Decadence. "Let us pray for those ravaged by this disaster. However, we must not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long," Marcavage said. "May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits, and bring us trembling before the throne of Almighty God." Marcavage was one of the five Philadelphia Christians arrested last year for protesting at a homosexual event. The charges eventually were tossed out.
Ouch! $6 Gas Near Atlanta Sept. 1….(World Net Daily) As impacts of Hurricane Katrina affect both the production and transportation of fuel, gas stations in the Atlanta area today dramatically jacked up their prices, with one charging $5.87 a gallon. WSB-TV in Atlanta confirmed to WND that a retailer in a rural area outside the city had priced its gas at $5.87, and the TV station indicated it had another unconfirmed report of $5.99. The sudden increases prompted Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue late today to enact an executive order preventing retailers from selling gas at an unreasonable or egregious price. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the law does not prevent price increases that accurately reflect an increase in the cost of the goods or services to the retailer, an increase in the cost of transporting the goods or services into the area, or an increase due to the market forces of supply and demand. Perdue's office indicated the gouging was going on in all parts of the state, not just in the Atlanta area. "We will not tolerate the exploitation of Georgia consumers as we recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina," Perdue said in a statement. "Violators of this price gouging statute will be punished to the fullest extent possible." Most Atlanta stations that raised their prices placed them at between $3.50 and $4. There were '70s-era gas lines at several stations. Mike Brown, owner of Georgetown Chevron in Chamblee, Ga., said his station had run out of gasoline. "People are just lined up,'' he told Bloomberg. "All of a sudden, people are panicking.'' Katrina knocked out about 95 percent of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, a key supply point for the US About a quarter of domestic oil comes from the region. Alpharetta-based Colonial Pipeline, the largest pipeline distributing fuel into Georgia, expects to be operational again by Labor Day weekend, the governor said. "There's plenty of gas on the way," Perdue said at a news conference. Referring to the executive order, Perdue stated, "I'm frankly embarrassed for our state and some of our businesses that we have to do this." Meanwhile, several gas stations in the Milwaukee area ran out of fuel for several hours at a time, having to post "Out of Gas" signs at their pumps. The outages were blamed more on logistical problems on the supply end than any increase in demand, Forbes.com reported. As World Net Daily reported, many of the nation's truck drivers are encountering unprecedented fuel rationing at truck stops as they brace for a spike in prices.
New Orleans is Sunk
Naval Academy to Keep Saying Prayers
Aug. 31….(Fox News)
The Naval Academy has no plans to drop the regular saying of grace before its
midshipmen's lunch, despite a policy issued this week by the Air Force to
discourage most public prayer, a spokesman said. The
The “Birth Pangs” Intensify Aug. 31….(Jan Markell/Olive Tree) Most people know that birth pangs intensify and become more frequent as the baby is about to be born. Some translations call this “the beginning of sorrows.” And that is exactly what is happening around the world. News’ stories suggest Hurricane Katrina was “a once in a lifetime” event. How many times in the last five years have we heard that something, usually a disaster, was “of Biblical proportions? Hurricane Katrina is America’s tsunami though you might not know that unless you’re watching Fox News. What you won’t hear anywhere is that this week New Orleans was to observe “Southern Decadence Day with 100,000 homosexuals gathering there to commit unspeakable acts in public. Previous events were photographed and sent to the mayor and police officials but they did not care. They had their own lust: The $100,000,000 the event brings in. Gambling casinos took a hit on the coast as this is where the eye of the storm hit. And as America forced Israelis out of parts of their land, hurricane Katrina was building in the Atlantic. A Fox reporter said, “It must be an emotional experience (for Americans) to walk away from their homes and not ever live in them again.” Same with those forced out in Israel. Israeli homes are being demolished as Gulf Coast homes are demolished. This was America’s greatest “evacuation.” Now we have “refugees”. Israelis were evacuated and many are refugees living in tents and refugee centers, thanks to America. The Israeli uprooting will affect their entire economy in that some of their finest produce which was exported is now left behind. America’s economy could face a steep recession as oil processing refineries were damaged. Plan to see price increases within days. Will this bring our economy down? Major industries will be affected from food delivery, jet fuel, travel, insurance, and so much more with the “ripple effect” of skyrocketing gas prices. Luke 21 talks about “the sea and the waves roaring” and “men’s hearts failing them for fear.” We must not stop there. It goes on to say, “When these things begin to happen, look up and know your redemption draws nigh. Everyone has a mantra today. Mine is this: You cannot understand world events without the proper interpretation of Bible prophecy. It’s as simple as that. Let us continue to pray for the “homeless” both in America and Israel. Millions have had their lives torn apart and our greatest contribution to them, other than physical needs, is prayer.
Netanyahu: Sharon Will Split Jerusalem
Is Another Oil War Brewing? Aug. 30….(FOJ) Last week CBN President Pat Robertson caused a lot of media waves when he called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Chavez. Not many Americans are aware that the Venezuelan leader is changing Venezuela into a Marxist regime that is overtly friendly to the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Fidel Castro. Chavez adeptly leverages Venezuela's oil industry to forge an array of regional alliances that leave the United States vulnerable to economic warfare. Thus the reason that President Bush this summer was moved to be extra cozy with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Venezuela supplies more oil to the US than both Iraq and Kuwait combined. Venezuela is America’s number two source for oil, and the prospect of Venezuela cutting off the spicket to the US would have serious ramifications, especially if the shipment of crude oil from Saudi Arabia become impeded for some reason. (terrorism) Every week, Mr. Chávez threatens the United States with canceling the sale of crude oil from Venezuela. He does so from the ''anti-imperialist tribunal'' with which Venezuelan Chavistas have been amusing themselves this summer, an anti-American circus where participants call Bush ''Mr. Danger'' and insult his Cabinet with terrible epithets, and rant against the American led war on terror in Iraq. Oddly enough, they even rant and rave about the illegal occupation of territory by Israel. Ummm! According to Chávez, if Venezuela stops US oil sales, it already has a substitute client. The client he is referring to is China, which is moving all around the world to displace American oil supplies, and establish trade alliances that favor China, and cater to an anti-Israel fervor in oil producing states. Venezuela exports two tankers of crude to the United States every day, and already this year Venezuela has seen the threat of politically-manipulated oil strikes interrupt sales to the US. In one year, Venezuela delivers approximately 16 percent of all US imported oil. It is not impossible for the US to find other sources of supply in the immediate future, and Venezuela knows it, and Mr. Chavez seems to be using his spicket control to assist his Marxist-terrorist friends around the world against the US. Many oil analysts speculate that the OPEC states and other oil-producing nations may hit a steeper decline in production in the next 3 years. With America getting the majority of its foreign oil supplies from Canada, Mexico, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, it shows what effects Venezuela and Saudi Arabia could have on the American economy. Political hackers say that Mexico is using its oil reserves to blackmail Washington into turning a blind eye to illegal immigration, and that in turn serves the interest of the Middle Eastern terrorists organizations that are waging Jihad against the US. Saudi Arabia is really ground zero in the war-on-terror, since Saudi Arabia controls the largest share of the world's oil, and it is home to Osama Bin Laden and thousands of insurgents in Iraq . It also serves as the market regulator for the global petroleum industry. No country is more dependent on Saudi oil than the United States, and the cutting off of the Venezuelan spicket only makes the US more dependent on Saudi Arabia. Shutting off the Saudi spigot would be devastating to the US. But, there is one other scenario before us. What if the hand on the spicket controls in Saudi Arabia fall into the hands of an anti-American, anti-Israelradical core of devout Wahabbi-following Islamic fundamentalists such as Al Qaeda. They would take over Arabia and cast out the House of Saud. Iran and the other Islamic Fundamentalists have been trying to do this for years. Islamic Fundamentalists do not believe the Saudi royal family are worthy of ruling “holy Mecca.” Coupled with the Marxist Chavez in Venezuela, the likes of Osama bin-Laden would have control of the world’s oil supply. Guess who would be shut out? America would be in for an economic catastrophe, and her standing as the superpower of the world would become voided. Alas, isn’t that what much of the world is wanting anyway? And it would make encircling Israel a simple matter
New Sanhedrin Calls For Jewish Temple Aug. 30….(Temple Mount Institute) The Jewish Sanhedrin has officially called upon all groups who work in the area of Temple and Temple Mount-related research and activity, to begin to prepare detailed architectural plans for the construction of the Holy Temple, towards the goal of its establishment in its proper place. The Sanhedrin will establish a forum of architects and engineers whose goal will be to implement this decision, so that detailed working plans are effectively brought to an operational stage. The Sanhedrin calls upon the Jewish people to contribute towards the acquisition of materials for the purpose of rebuilding the Holy Temple; the gathering and preparation of prefabricated, disassembled portions of this building to be stored and ready for rapid assembly, in the manner of King David. These contributions will be considered "chulin," i.e., non-sacred, for the purpose of the planning and construction of the Temple.
Hurricane Katrina Veered Away from New Orleans
At the last moment however, Katrina veered east of New Orleans and hit the casino laden Mississippi Gulf Coast. Had Katrina veered west of New Orleans the city would still have undergone the massive flooding predicted in a direct hit, but by veering east, New Orleans was subjected to Northerly winds in the counter clockwise rotation in the storm, thus much of the storm surge was pushed back out to open sea rather than pushed into the city. It was a close call. Although many people have lost their lives, and many people are still suffering from the storm, it looks as if a mighty hand from above spared the city from a much worse fate. It appears that God is sending America a message! Last week, America forced Israel to uproot its people from part of the Promised Land, and hand it over to the maniacal terrorists that are sadistically seeking Israel’s extermination. America better heed this warning. The next Big Hit on our shores may not come from Mother nature, but from the enemy (terror) that is seeking our destruction!
PA Wants Arafat's Tomb on Temple Mount Aug. 30….(JNEWSWIRE) The Palestinian Authority still intends to have its former iconic leader Yasser Arafat entombed atop Israel's holiest site, the Jerusalem Temple Mount, a senior “Palestinian” official announced Sunday. Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat said during a meeting in Jericho that transferring Arafat's grave from Ramallah to Jerusalem in accordance with his wishes was a “trust” deposited with the PA. During his decades of fighting to obliterate the Jewish presence in the Middle East, Arafat repeatedly expressed his desire to be buried at the Al Aqsa Mosque, which sits at the Temple Mount's southern end. Arafat died last November from what are still undeclared causes. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told The Jerusalem Post Arafat's re-interment in Jerusalem was a non-starter. “From the Israeli perspective the issue is not on the agenda and neither do I expect it to be on the agenda,” said Regev. The Temple Mount is the one place on earth the God of Israel declared He would put His name. It has for millennia been revered by the Jewish people as their most holy site. In 1967, the mount reverted to Jewish sovereignty after nearly 2,000 years in the hands of foreign occupiers, all of whom, from the Romans to the Byzantines to the Muslims, sought to erase Israel's connection to the site by constructing their own shrines atop the hill. Many Jews and Christians believe the Bible foretells a soon coming day when Israel's temple to the Almighty will be rebuilt.
Battle for Jerusalem has Begun in Earnest Aug. 30….(JNEWSWIRE) The Palestinian Authority held its weekly cabinet meeting for this week in a Mount of Olives town just half-a-kilometer away from the Temple Mount. Convening in Abu Dis, it was the first time that PA lawmakers held such a meeting adjacent to the heart of the Israeli capital, which the Palestinian Arabs claim for their own. While a Palestinian Authority official said the meeting's aim was to express the Arabs' concern over Israel's “plan to expand settlements,” the decision to convene the meeting so close to Israel’s holiest site was apparently made by a PLO emboldened by its successful campaign to drive the Jews out of the Gaza Strip. Since Israelis were expelled from the strip last week, the PA has reiterated its resolve to also see the Jews driven from the heart of Israel’s ancient land, including Jerusalem. Following that line, PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia declared during Sunday's meeting that “the fight for Jerusalem has begun.” “And it is a dangerous war,” continued Qureia, insisting the Arabs, both Muslim and Christian, would never accept Jewish sovereignty in the city where Israel's kings once ruled. Abu Dis is located between the site of the biblical town of Bethany and one of two sites identified as the village of Bethpage. It is an area rich in Jewish and Christian history, Bethany being a place Jesus loved to frequent and Bethpage the site where sacrifice animals were kept before being taken up to the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount was designated by the God of Israel as His holiest site, the place where He put His name. It is the holiest place to the Jewish people. Abbas’ predecessor, Yasser Arafat wanted to be able to see the mount from his offices in Abu Dis. Reports a few years ago spoke of his ambition to lead worshippers to prayer on the Temple Mount after the successful establishment of his state. Arafat wanted to be buried on the Temple Mount but Israel would not permit this desecration of its sacred site. The compound built in Abu Dis under the Oslo Accords has served in the past as headquarters for PA security organs, including Force 17, the General Intelligence Force, the Preventative Security Service, Military Intelligence, the Political Guidance Apparatus (responsible for military and political propaganda) and the Palestinian Police forces. In May 2000, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak extended “A-area” status to the town, placing it under full PA control.
Hurricane Katrina - The fist of God?
Untold numbers of people are about to be made refugees. Life, as many in the south-eastern USA have known it for generations, is about to change, painfully and dramatically. For millions more citizens in the “greatest nation on earth,” those who are not physically near the advancing storm, their existence is also about to take a turn for the worse. Katrina has forced oil workers to evacuate rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, stopping the production of 600,000 barrels of oil a day. Seven oil refineries and a major oil import terminal have been closed. Oil prices have already gone through the roof, soaring to a record high of $70.80 a barrel of crude since last Friday. Things could get much worse. The US is particularly sensitive to oil price hikes. While comprising just five percent of the world population, Americans daily consume 20 million barrels of oil, 25 percent of the world’s total. Two weeks ago, the monster Katrina was not on any radar screen, although the 2005 hurricane season, which began in July and will not peak until September, had already seen a record number of hurricanes. On August 14, citizens in the United States, like people around the world, heard about the issuing of an order for the forced evacuation of Jews from parts of Israel’s biblical land. For six days they watched as thousands of weeping people were pulled and carried from their homes, forced to leave their gardens, parks, communities, schools, towns and synagogues, everything they had spent decades building; banned from ever returning again. Those scenes were soon followed by pictures of bulldozers and other earth-moving machinery pulverizing the just-vacated homes into heaps of dust. While this was taking place, a small tropical depression was forming near the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean. Slowly, as the air began to revolve, the nonthreatening weather system began moving in the direction of Florida. Yesterday, we in Israel watched as American officials, including President George W. Bush, ordered the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans and its surrounds. That small depression had turned into a frightening fiend. Now we are seeing on our television screens up to a million people being forced to leave their homes. People are weeping on camera, mourning that they are going to lose “everything we own; everything we have worked for.” As today unfolds we are bracing to see wind and water pounding homes, whole communities, into the ground. Is this some sort of bizarre coincidence? Not for those who believe in the God of the Bible and the immutability of His Word. What America is about to experience is the lifting of God’s hand of protection; the implementation of His judgment on the nation most responsible for endangering the land and people of Israel. The Bible talks about Him shaking His fist over bodies of water, and striking them. While the “disengagement” plan was purportedly the brainchild of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the United States of America has for more than a decade been the chief sponsor and propeller of a diplomatic process that has dangerously weakened Israel in the face of an overwhelming, growing threat to annihilate her. In the context of the last 12 years of peace-process history, and not withstanding the desire of many on Israel’s left to go ahead with this process, the Sharon disengagement plan was something that was forced on Israel, primarily by the United States. “It is a fact that Israel’s very existence is in grave danger, because of our nation’s sponsorship of 'land for peace' plans, which have led her to the brink of war,” writes US author William R. Koenig, in his 2004 book Eye to Eye– Facing the consequences of dividing Israel. On the cover, a grim-faced President Bush is shown looking warily at a massive hurricane threatening his country. Koenig writes, in a book listing major natural and man-made disasters experienced by the USA during its peace-process efforts in the Middle East:“America is now experiencing the consequences (curses) of Middle East policies, which have been opposed to God’s Word and to the preservation of His covenant land.” As this “storm of a lifetime” wreaks its rage on the southern United States today, non-believers may be tempted to shake their fists at God. Others will cry out for mercy. Will God hear them? Our prayer is that He will. “Pray for us. Pray for all of New Orleans,” a weeping woman resident of the city pleaded on an international television network Sunday evening as Katrina barreled its way towards her. Many in America couldn’t have cared less about Jews being forced out of their homes and losing everything they have built. Here in Israel, many Jews will be feeling for the Americans who are now facing similar tragedies, tragedies brought about by the forces of heaven rather than through the political power of men. Can’t you see the link, America? Won’t you see the link?
WEEK OF AUGUST 21 THROUGH AUGUST 28
Palestinian Rockets hit North and South Aug. 26….(JNEWSWIRE) In what may prove to have been an ominous warning of terrors to come, missiles fired by Israel’s Arab enemies hit targets in the north and south of the country within less than an hour of one another Thursday. Two Katyusha rockets were fired at the northern Galilee from southern Lebanon at around 11:00 AM, one of which landed in a moshav (Israeli cooperative farm), while the second fell within Lebanese territory. No injuries were reported in that attack. Less than 60 minutes later, Palestinian Arabs fired two Kassam rockets into the northern Negev from within the Gaza Strip. One hit the town of Sderot, causing some damage but no injuries. It is unclear whether there may have been an attempt to coordinate the two strikes, which came after Israeli forces Wednesday conducted an anti-terrorism operation in the Samarian town of Tulkarm, killing five Palestinian Arabs, among them senior members of Islamic Jihad. Earlier, in the first terrorist attack in Jerusalem’s Old City for many months, a knife-wielding Arab stabbed two Jewish men, killing one and lightly wounding the other. Claiming credit for the strike from Gaza, the military wing of the so-called Popular Resistance Committees said it was a response to “the crime” in Tulkarm, “the continuation of the security fence construction and West Bank settlement expansion.” Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas lashed out at Israel, saying it was responsible for the upsurge in violence, and calling for international condemnation of the Jewish state. Israel put its military in the north on high alert following the Galilee attack, and lodged a complaint with the United Nations. A spokesman for the US “peace-keeping” force in Lebanon called on both sides to “exercise restraint.” Southern Lebanon was unilaterally vacated by Israeli forces in 2000. Israel is presently in the midst of completing a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. On August 19, while the current withdrawal was in full swing, terrorists fired a Katyusha rocket from Jordan into the Israeli Red Sea port city of Eilat. Israelis opposed to the “disengagement” from Gaza, among them the previous IDF Chief of Staff and the previous head of Israel’s Internal Security Services, have argued that the one-sided Israeli pullout will be followed by simultaneous rocket attacks in the north and south. Israel’s Army Radio reported Wednesday that the Popular Resistance Committees, the same group that claimed responsibility for this morning’s rocket attack on Sderot, had announced its development of a missile called the Sajil which, it said, had a longer range than the Kassam, bringing southern Ashkelon within reach. In Lebanon, the Hizb’allah is believed to have about 13,000 missiles deployed for use against Israel. Some, like the Fajr-3 and the Fajr-5, have ranges that can reach south of Haifa, targeting an area that holds about a third of the Israeli population, half of its industry and its main oil refinery. Unverified reports more than a year ago indicated that Iran had also deployed Zelzal-2 heavy artillery rockets “capable of carrying half-a-ton of chemical warheads as far as Tel Aviv.” Most of these rockets are flown from Tehran to Damascus International Airport, and are transported from there by truck into Lebanon. The small-scale strikes this week were the preface for terror assault plans thoroughly prepared behind the screen of the Gaza disengagement. Israel’s dismantling of Gaza communities was constantly accompanied by Hamas vows to pursue its violent campaign until the last Israeli was dead or out of Palestine and al Qaeda-Palestine’s publication of five threatening communiqués. The night before the Tulkarm clash, Shmuel Matt, 21, from London, was stabbed to death in the Old City of Jerusalem in an attack on three Yeshiva students that was claimed by al Qaeda-Palestine, a new player on the expanding anti-Israel terror stage. Military sources reveal that Hizballah’s triple rocket attack on northern Israel was no accident, but coordinated by Al Qaeda-Hamas-Hizballah’s as a post-disengagement strategy. The Lebanese terrorists were retaliating for the Israeli raid in the West Bank town of Tulkarm. At least two of the Palestinians killed were either Hizballah agents or Fatah-Al Aqsa Brigade operatives which the outside group controlled and funded. By striking back on behalf of its Palestinian partners, the Hizballah shows that it is ready for the West Bank war.
America’s Role in Dividing Israel is Bringing Judgment Aug. 26….(By Bill Wilson, Montana News Senior Analyst) The role of America in the eviction of Jews from the covenant land has been pivotal in bringing political disruption, natural disasters, economic disaster and violence against the United States. Every President since Jimmy Carter has tried to broker peace by putting Israel on a path to give up its land. President George W. Bush is the first President to ever advocate a Palestinian state and apply constant and forceful pressure for Israel to give up its land. And since this pressure has become so intense during the Bush Administration, Islam has prosecuted the war on terror ferociously against America; fuel prices have more than doubled; the direct nuclear threat against the US has increased; temperatures, droughts, earthquakes and hurricanes have increased; and America lives in constant vigilance against attacks on its own soil. A thorough understanding of Biblical prophecies, the Word of God, would indicate that modern Israel is the fulfillment of prophecy and the standard by which future prophecies will be fulfilled. In Ezekiel 37:5, the Lord said unto the dry bones of Israel, “Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live.” And on May 15, 1948, Israel came alive once again as a nation. And Jesus, speaking of the end times in Matthew 24, said to learn the parable of the fig tree, that when its branches sprout leaves that “this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” The fig tree is Israel and many of the events of Jesus’ Matthew 24 prophecies are being fulfilled in this very generation. The world has focused itself on Israel, this tiny little nation whose dry bones became flesh by the vote of the United Nations. All Arab states at that time voted against the establishment of Israel and vowed to destroy it. The world has come against the nation it created by intensely pressuring Israel to give up the heart of the covenant land, Judea and Samaria, commonly known today as the West Bank. Under intense pressure from the United States for Israel to comply with U.N. Resolution 242, requiring Israel to give up the land it acquired as a result of war in 1967 and 1873, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has unilaterally given up Gaza as a peace offering to the Palestinians with Samaria and Judea not far behind. The Palestinians have answered with the slogan “Gaza today, Jerusalem tomorrow.” Palestinian leaders at the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and at Islamic Jihad now claim victory and demand Jerusalem. The United States may be facing God’s judgment for its role in forcing Israel to give up land for peace. Not since the war of 1812 was America attacked on her own soil. And now America is under attack by the same enemy of Israel, radical Islam. America is mentioned in the same breath with Israel at the United Nations, in Iran and Syria, and on the lips of every terrorist who stands on the violent passages of the Koran. America is joined with Israel, grafted in by the covenant of those who dedicated America in its infancy to God and to the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The pattern is clear--so long as America continues to advocate the division of Israel, judgment will be commensurate with the increasing pressure. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! Pray that America is not “cut in pieces” for coming against Jerusalem as the prophecy of Zechariah promises. Palestinian Authority Greenlights Terror Ops Aug. 25….(WND) Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and members of various Palestinian terror groups this week decided at a meeting that "resistance" (terror) against Israel would continue and would be coordinated at the national level until the Jewish state evacuates "all territories," WND has learned. Earlier this week, it was reported that PA Prime Minister Qurei held a private conference in Damascus with leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. According to media reports, the parties reached an agreement under which the PA would not attempt to disarm the terror groups in spite of recent US and Israeli calls for the groups to be dismantled after the Gaza evacuation. But security sources close to the meeting told WND agreements reached at the conference went one step further, it was concluded the Palestinians would continue to use "resistance" (terror) against Israel until the Jewish state leaves "all occupied territories," code for the destruction of Israel. The resistance, the sources said, is to be coordinated between the Palestinian groups and based on the foundations of Palestinian unity. Qurei also allegedly discussed other ways of cooperating with the terror groups after Israel's Gaza evacuation is completed, and stressed that the focus of the Palestinian struggle must be turned to the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. Said a security source, "just the fact alone that the PA won't disarm the terrorists is already a green light to go ahead with attacks.” But there is information the idea of future attacks were discussed and encouraged." The revelations are significant. Since Mahmoud Abbas assumed control of the Palestinian government following the death last year of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, the PA has been careful not to publicly endorse terrorism. Islamic Jihad Chairman Ramadan Shalah yesterday echoed the alleged conclusions of the Qurei meeting in an interview he gave in Arabic to Al-Jazeera. "We reached an agreement regarding a common strategy based on the premise that the resistance was a strategic option which should not be interfered with and which had to continue on a foundation of Palestinian national unity," Shalah said. Shalah stressed the PA had agreed not to disarm his group "as long as Palestinian land was occupied." At a press conference held after the meeting, Musa Abu Marzuq, a member of Hamas' political office, stated, "The real battle with Israel was on the West Bank. We hope there will be no disagreement with the Palestinian Authority regarding the weapon of resistance, (terrorism) because as long as the occupation exists the weapon must exist." The same day Hamas, Islamic Jihad and local terror groups including the Democratic Front and the Jerusalem Battalions held competing parades in which each claimed their violence drove Israel out of the Gaza Strip. Several thousand Palestinians attended a Hamas rally in Gaza and a separate victory procession in Nablus in which Hamas flags and models of the Temple Mount were waved, and mock tanks, rockets and even houses of Jewish settlers were displayed. Hundreds reportedly attended a rally in Khan Yunis led by the Democratic Front, and about one thousand Palestinians marched in a Jerusalem Battalions victory procession in Rafah. Afterward, the Battalions held a press conference in which a spokesman stressed his group's determination to "do whatever it took" to liberate the "rest of our land," including kidnapping Israelis and committing "resistance attacks."
PA Ministry of Culture Glorifies Female Terrorist Aug. 25….(Arutz) The PA's Ministry of Culture released its "Book of the Month" on Monday, a poetry collection honoring female suicide terrorist Hanadi Jaradat, who murdered 19 Israelis. It was distributed as a special supplement in the daily Al-Ayyam. Entitled "What Did Hanadi Say?" the collection includes a poem glorifying Jaradat's act of suicide terror, calling it "the highest goal": "O Hanadi! Shake the earth under the feet of the enemies! Blow it up! Hanadi said: 'It is the wedding of Hanadi, the day when death as a Martyr for Allah becomes the highest goal that liberates my land.'" The poem is dedicated to Jaradat, referred to as "the Rose of Palestine," who murdered 19 Jews and Arabs in a suicide bombing in the Maxim restaurant in Haifa on October 4, 2003. While world leaders push for a two-state solution in Israel based on an Israeli retreat to the 1967 borders in exchange for a total cessation of terrorism, the PA Ministry of Culture poem published on Monday does little to encourage such a settlement. The poem, published in the PA Ministry of Culture arouses in its readers a yearning for Arab sovereignty over Israel's third largest city (Haifa) which is located deep inside of Israel's pre-1967 borders: O Hanadi! O Hanadi! Revenge calls! She shouted: 'O the light of my eyes! O my beloved, I long for Haifa.' This same theme of sovereignty over all of Israel was echoed earlier this year in a sermon by Sheik Ibrahim Madiras broadcast on the Palestinian Authority TV. The PA broadcast called for Arab sovereignty over all of Israel, or meaning the elimination of Israel altogether. The PA broadcast exclaimed: “We might return to the 1967 borders by diplomacy, but we shall not return to the 1948 borders by diplomacy. No one on this earth recognizes our right to the 1948 borders, so therefore, we shall return to the 1967 borders, but it does not mean that we have given up on acquiring Jerusalem, and Haifa, Jaffa, Lod, Ramle, Netanya and Tel Aviv. In another example of honoring female terrorists, the PA's official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, yesterday trumpeted the establishment by Hamas of a brigade of aspiring female terrorists in the Gaza Strip, a brigade slated to be sent to the West Bank for terrorist operations.
Islam: In Its Own Words
Here is a sample of quotes taken directly from Islamic Holy writings: “Allah made the Jews leave their homes by terrorizing them so that you killed some and made many captive. And He made you inherit their lands, their homes, and their wealth. He gave you a country you had not traversed before.” (Qur’an 33:26) “I shall terrorize the infidels. So wound their bodies and incapacitate them because they oppose Allah and His Apostle.” (Qur’an 8:12) “He who believes in Allah and His Messenger has protected his life and possessions from us. As for those who disbelieve, we will fight them forever in the Cause of Allah. Killing them is a small matter to us.” (Tabari IX:69) “The infidels aid one another. Unless you do the same there will be anarchy in the land. Those who accepted Islam and left their homes to fight in Allah’s Cause are good Muslims.” (Qur’an 8:73) “Believers, take not Jews and Christians for your friends. They are but friends and protectors to each other.” (Qur’an 5:51) “Your Lord inspired the angels with the message: ‘I am with you. Give firmness to the Believers. I will terrorize the unbelievers. Therefore smite them on their necks and every joint and incapacitate them. Strike off their heads and cut off each of their fingers and toes.” (Qur’an 8:12) “Jihad (holy fighting in Allah’s Cause) is ordained for you (Muslims), though you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and like a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not.” (Qur’an 2:216) Fight those who do not believe in ALLAH (Qur’an 9:29) "Oh, Allah, annihilate the Jews and their supporters!" "Oh, Allah, raise the flag of Jihad across the land!" Fact: At least 15 of the world's 18 current conflicts involve Islamic militants attempting to force their way of life upon their neighbors.
Palestinians Will Rename Gaza Settlement after ArafatAug. 24….(Jerusalem Post) Palestinians are planning to rename the settlements in the Gaza Strip "to erase any memory" of Israel's presence in the area. In recent weeks, the PA received many requests from Palestinians asking that the settlements be given Arab names. Most of the requests have come from families of Palestinians who were killed since the second intifada broke out in September 2000. The families want to honor their sons by calling some of the settlements after them. Others have demanded that some settlements be named after Palestinian leaders. The UAE announced last month that it would donate $100 million to build a new city for some 30,000 Palestinians on the rubble of Morag. Earlier this week, the PA approved the request. The city, which will consist of 3,000 housing units, will be named after UAE ruler Khalifa Bin Zayed. According to Agence France Press, some Palestinians have proposed to name Neveh Dekalim, the largest settlement in Gush Katif, after Yasser Arafat. The agency said other proposals called for naming Atzmona after a Palestinian "martyr" and Netzarim or Kfar Darom after slain Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin. Rafah governor Majid al-Agha said most of the areas would be named after countries or leaders who would help establish cities in the settlements. PA officials in Ramallah said it was premature to talk about new names for the settlement areas. "There are many proposals and we are studying them," said one. "We haven't yet reached a decision about the names. But what's certain is that at least one settlement will be named after Yasser Arafat." FOJ Note: US Consul General Jacob Walles will transfer $50 million to PA Finance Minister Salam Fayyad on Wednesday to go towards repairing infrastructure and new construction in Gaza.
Bush: Next step is Establishing a working Palestinian GovernmentAug. 24….(Ha Aretz) With the Israeli settlers out of the Gaza Strip, the next step is the establishment of a working Palestinian government and consolidation of its security forces, President George W. Bush said yesterday. He again praised Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for a decision to withdraw about 8,000 civilians, saying it changed the dynamics on the ground and provided hope for the Palestinian people. What must take place next is the establishment of a working government in Gaza, a government that responds to the people," he said at a vacation resort in this western state. He said Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, has committed himself to fight off violence because he understands a democracy can't exist with terrorist groups trying to take the law in their own hands. Bush said different Palestinian factions and security forces that were in place to help keep longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in power, but they did not provide overall security for the Palestinian people. Arafat died in November. Bush said US envoy William Ward, was in the region helping the Palestinians consolidate their forces. Another American, former World Bank president James Wolfensohn, is helping Abbas develop a government that responds to the will of the people. Bush said that for progress to be made "there must be confidence, confidence that the Palestinian people will have in their own government to perform; the confidence with the Israelis that they'll see a peaceful state emerging."
Islamic Jihad says all Palestinians United (Leader says total annihilation of Israel joint strategy) Aug. 23….(WND) In a news conference in Damascus, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad today boasted all Palestinian groups remain united in the goal of annihilating the Jewish state of Israel. With Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia looking on, Ramazan Abdullah, secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said the Palestinian Authority and all Palestinian movements have reached agreement on a joint strategy after Israel's evacuation of the Gaza Strip. This war would continue till full liberation of Palestine, restoration of the denied rights of the whole Palestinian nation and briefly speaking, uprooting of the usurper Israeli regime," he said, according to a translation by the official Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency. There would be no disputes between the groups, he asserted because "all Palestinian groups share the mutual concern of securing Palestinians national solidarity, favor restoration of social order and full establishment of Palestinian government organizations, they have all agreed on the need to move toward those objectives solidly and harmoniously." Though the Palestinian Authority has agreed to disarm terrorists within its territory, Abdullah said there is no dispute about arms between the various groups. "The issue of weapons at the disposal of resistance movement groups on one hand, and the Palestinian Authority on the other hand has neither been a matter of dispute in the past, nor would it ever be so in the future," he said. "Efforts made by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israeli officials are focused on highlighting the differences of opinion and disputes among the resistance movements on the one hand, and between them and the PA on the other, so that they could at best ignite the flames of a civil war among Palestinians. The Palestinians are alert and will not fall prey to the plots hatched by their enemies, nor would they ever begin fratricide, as the Zionists desire." Abdullah made clear there will be no relaxing of hostilities with Israel as a result of the pullback from Gaza. "The Gaza Strip that is being evacuated after thirty-eight years of occupation is only some 1.5 percent of the historic motherland of the Palestinians, and therefore its evacuation cannot mean the end of the liberation campaign," he said. Abdullah said the evacuation of the Gaza Strip by Israel did not occur because of negotiations, but rather because of armed struggle. "Let us not forget we have never succeeded in restoration of any of our denied rights from Tel Aviv relying on negotiations and that it has definitely been the restless resistance of the Palestinians, like that of the Lebanese, that has urged the Zionists to retreat from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon," said. "We would therefore, also liberate the rest of the occupied Palestine, particularly the dear occupied Holy Qods, [Jerusalem] by keeping alive our nation's resistance movement."
Pope Urges Religions to Unite Against Terror Aug. 23….(by Chris Johnston/Rapture Ready) The Pope has told Muslim leaders they must help defeat terrorism and turn back the “wave of cruel fanaticism” that uses religion to incite hatred. Pope Benedict, in his first address to Muslim leaders, said yesterday that the world would be exposed to “the darkness of a new barbarism” unless religions united to combat terrorism. “Terrorism of any kind is a perverse and cruel decision, which shows contempt for the sacred right to life and undermines the very foundations of all civil society,” he told leaders of Germany’s Muslim communities. Benedict said those who planned and carried out such attacks wanted to “poison our relations, making use of all means, including religion, to oppose every attempt to build a peaceful, fair and serene life together”. Benedict, who had a meeting with Jews on Friday, is making good inter-religious relations one of the aims of his papacy. He also reminded Islamic teachers of the role they played. “Words are highly influential in the education of the mind,” he said. “You therefore have a great responsibility for the formation of the younger generation.”
Al-Qaida's nuclear efforts: 'sophisticated, professional' (CIA official tried to blow whistle on 'American Hiroshima' plot in '96) Aug. 22….(WND) The man who headed the Central Intelligence Agency's Osama bin Laden desk said he recognized al-Qaida's single-minded efforts to secure nuclear weapons for use against the US nearly a decade ago, but multiple efforts to have the terror leader captured before Sept. 11, 2001, went unheeded. "We had found that he and al-Qaida were involved in an extraordinarily sophisticated and professional effort to acquire weapons of mass destruction," Michael Scheuer told CBS News. "In this case, nuclear material, so by the end of 1996, it was clear that this was an organization unlike any other one we had ever seen." Scheuer was one of the CIA's foremost authorities on bin Laden. He was the senior intelligence analyst who created and then advised a secret CIA unit for tracking and eliminating bin Laden beginning in 1996. Scheuer said his bosses at the CIA were skeptical of the information about bin Laden's nuclear ambitions and ability. In a letter to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees earlier this year, Scheuer says his agents provided US government officials with about 10 opportunities to capture bin Laden. All of them were rejected. One of the last proposals, which he described to the 9-11 Commission in a closed-door session, involved a cruise missile attack against a remote hunting camp in the Afghan desert, where bin Laden was believed to be socializing with members of the royal family from the United Arab Emirates. By 1999, Scheuer was in trouble at the CIA because of his persistence about getting bin Laden, and was relieved of his position. His exile ended shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, when he was brought back to the bin Laden unit as a special adviser. Now, he says, the problems are greatly complicated. He also says he fully anticipates bigger attacks on the US, including the probability of a nuclear terrorist attack. "One of the great intellectual failures of the American intelligence community, and especially the counterterrorism community, is to assume if someone hasn't attacked us, it's because he can't or because we've defeated him," said Scheuer. About the the prospects of a nuclear terrorist strike on the US by al-Qaida, he says: "I don't believe in inevitability. But I think it's pretty close to being inevitable. Yes, I think it's probably a near thing." Scheuer points out that bin Laden has announced his intentions. "He secured from a Saudi sheik named Hamid bin Fahd a rather long treatise on the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Americans," he said. The treatise found that he was perfectly within his rights to use them. Muslims argue that the United States is responsible for millions of dead Muslims around the world, so reciprocity would mean you could kill millions of Americans." Scheuer says the fatwa was issued in May 2003, "and that's another thing that doesn't come to the attention of the American people." As WND has reported, for more than 10 years, bin Laden has planned to use nuclear weapons in a terrorist attack on the US. The plan is dubbed "American Hiroshima." In fact, as first reported in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, captured al-Qaida operatives and documents suggest the weapons have already been smuggled into the country.
Hamas: Christian Zionism is Our Enemy Aug. 22….(Jerusalem Newswire) The Hamas terrorist organization has singled out Christian supporters of Israel, putting them on notice that it views their actions as “criminal,” making them enemies of the Palestinian Arabs. In an interview published in the Arabic language newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat last Thursday, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Gaza-based Hamas leader said, surprisingly, that his organization did not regard the West as the enemy. “We do not consider the West as an enemy but we believe Christian Zionism is criminal,” he said. While no Arab nationalist or Islamic group has thus far targeted Christians specifically for standing with Israel, the news that Hamas hates them as it hates the Jewish state will not surprise many who regard themselves as “Christian Zionists.” Christian Zionists, who are to be found mostly, but not exclusively, in the ranks of Evangelical Christianity, not only believe that the God of Israel gave the Land of Israel to the People of Israel. They also believe that they are to stand with Israel against those who are out to rob the Jews of their land. Millions of Christian Zionists around the world support the Jewish claims to the Land of Israel and reject Arab assertions that they have national rights to this land. While Arabs may and should be allowed to live in peace in the State of Israel, these Christians believe, any Arab efforts to assert sovereign control over any land in the biblical country of Israel are rejected. FOJ Note: Focus on Jerusalem itself has experienced the hate of Islamic radicals like those of the Hamas terrorist organization. I have been told by these hatemongers that I will be killed for supporting Israel.
Last Gaza Community, Netzarim, to be Uprooted Today Aug. 22….(Arutz) Netzarim was established just before the Purim holiday in the winter of 1972 by a group of young Jews from HaShomer HaTza’ir, a movement aligned today with the far left. The town was run as an army outpost until 1984, when the original settlers left and were replaced by new residents, who established a national-religious kibbutz there. A few years later, the collective was dismantled and a non-communal town was established. After their expulsion, Netzarim residents will take up temporary residence at the College of Judea and Samaria in Ariel. That region will not be their permanent abode, however, as the Disengagement Authority will reduce compensation to families choosing to live in Judea or Samaria. Netzarim residents have decided to establish a new town with the same name in the Negev. Many of Netzarim’s 75 families worked in agriculture, growing tomatoes, mangos, insect-free vegetables and raising chickens as well. Netzarim became a symbol of Israeli resilience to the onslaught of Arab terror that began with the first Intifada in 1988. The late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who refused to relinquish Netzarim after signing the Oslo Accords in 1993, was skeptical, however, of the town’s ability to survive under the harsh security conditions brought about by the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. Imbued with a powerful faith in the Almighty, and belief that ultimately the State of Israel will exert its sovereignty over all the land of Israel, Netzarim residents continued to plant and farm, until soldiers reached their town this morning.
Replaying an Old, Old Story
US Secretary of State Rice: Gaza is Just First. Aug. 22….(Jerusalem Post) "Everyone empathizes with what the Israelis are facing," she said in an interview with The New York Times. But, she added, "It cannot be Gaza only." Secretary Rice said this is "really quite a dramatic moment in the history of the Middle East," and praised Sharon for proving himself "enormously courageous." According to the Times, Rice said that while the withdrawal would take several weeks, Israel must take further steps soon afterward, including loosening travel restrictions in the West Bank and withdrawing from more Palestinian cities. She also said the Palestinian Authority must disarm Hamas. "That is their obligation under the road map," she said. Rice's comments prompted Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz, a disengagement opponent, to call on Sharon to hold an emergency cabinet discussion on the matter. "Rice's comments prove there is no basis to the prime minister's statement that there will not be an additional disengagement," he said. "To my dismay, the unilateral evacuation of settlements from Gaza and northern Samaria creates a dangerous precedent which endangers the legitimacy of Israeli settlement in Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, the Golan Heights and neighborhoods in east Jerusalem," Katz said. But a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office warned against blowing Rice's words "out of proportion." The official said that whereas some would automatically want to interpret her words as evidence that the US would now begin pressuring Israel to begin a second stage of disengagement, this was not what she said. He said Rice was interested in seeing the implementation of the security plan put together by her envoy, Lt.-Gen. William Ward, which called for Israel to transfer control of the West Bank cities to the PA, but which Israel halted because of security considerations. The official said Israel would transfer the cities to the PA when the security situation on the ground would make such a step possible. Furthermore, he repeated the government's well-known position that Israel would move ahead with the road map when the Palestinians fulfilled their obligations under the plan, first and foremost the dismantling of the terrorist infrastructure. Some officials in Jerusalem have warned in recent weeks that once disengagement was complete, the US would once again begin pressuring Israel to remove the unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank. The US backed off of this issue in recent months, so as not to create any additional domestic problems for Sharon as he was gearing up for disengagement. While Rice said she expected Israel to take further steps immediately, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai Al-Aam that Gaza would serve as a "model," and if the PA dismantled the terrorist infrastructure and "peace and quiet reign in the region, we will be able to move forward and return to the road map." But, he said in comments published Thursday, "If Gaza turns into a base for shooting missiles at Israel and increasing Palestinian attacks, it will be impossible to move on to another step and take a new risk." During the interview with the paper, conducted in Shalom's office on Wednesday, he said Israel was now expecting Palestinian "actions," not excuses. He said Israel was focused on the day after disengagement, and waiting to see whether the PA would rise to the occasion and, when it gains control of Gaza, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and govern responsibly. Shalom said PA Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's first order of business after disengagement should be to arrest Hamas activists. "Abbas should do this not to protect Israel, but to safeguard his own power," he said. Asked about the long-disrupted peace talks with Syria, and whether Israel would be willing to give up the settlements in the Golan Heights as it did in Gaza, Shalom said: "Every party can come to the negotiation table with the topics they want, and we have to talk about everything."
WEEK OF AUGUST 15 THROUGH AUGUST 21
Al Qaeda Linked Group Attacks US Navy in Aqaba
Officials said they believe Katyusha rockets were fired from a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Aqaba, a Jordanian Red Sea port 210 miles south of the capital, Amman, officials added. The attacks come amid a time of tension in the region marked by Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which itself is only 125 miles away. The three Katyusha rockets, weapons routinely used by Palestinian militants and Lebanon's Hezbollah group in attacks against Israel, were fired from an Aqaba warehouse rented this week by four people holding Egyptian and Iraqi nationalities, Jordan's state-run Petra news agency reported citing preliminary investigations. Hezbollah is known to possess several thousand Katyusha rockets and has used them to attack Israeli positions along Lebanon's southern border with the Jewish state. Aqaba, once a sleepy city, has grown into a regional tourist attraction for mainly eastern Europeans and US and other military personnel serving in Iraq and seeking a short respite from the battlefield.
Netanyahu: Red Sea Attacks are a Warning Aug. 19….(YNET) (Netanyahu says kaytusha rocket attacks on Eilat and Aqaba are precursor to rocket attacks on Israeli cities, made possible by the Gaza disengagement.) *Recently resigned finance minister and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responding to the coordinated kaytusha attack on Eilat and Aqaba, said, “This attack is a stark warning of the missiles that will be fired within a year to two years on Israeli cities from the terror bases that we are allowing Islamic terrorists to set up in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. One sided concessions only push peace back and encourages terror,” said Netanyahu. The head of the Anti-Terror Bureau, Dani Arditi, told Ynet that “the targets of the terrorists were apparently American ships in Aqaba, and not the nearby airport in Eilat. From my experience with the Jordanians, they will do whatever is necessary in order to not suffer from such threats. They are very effective and professional, and neutralizing terrorism is a major priority for them. I think they will be able to do so, as they have in the past.” Artidi also said he believed that “Jordan has been under a terrorist threat for a long time. Up to now, this threat has been dealt with well, but one can’t rule out the possibility that one day the Jordanians will not succeed. The threat is directed at the Jordanian regime and the interests of foreign, western states including Israel. The origins of this threat is Al Qaeda in Iraq. Exeperts say Al Qaeda is attacking Jordan and Egypt because they are working to avoid weapons smuggling and the prevention of terror attacks within Israel. There’s not doubt the intention is to project a “business as usual” message following the disengagement.
Orient House Reopened, Symbol of Palestinian Foothold in Jerusalem
A. Priority Number One: Palestinian intelligence must assure itself of a presence and the freedom to operate in the city. B. Priority Number Two: To contain the “Judaization” of Jerusalem and its metropolitan environs.
Hamas: On to Jerusalem, and Down with America! Aug. 18….(FOJ) Hamas terrorist leader Khaled Mashaal declared yesterday that the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank marked the beginning of the end of the Zionist dream in the whole of Palestine. Mashaal, speaking to reporters from his quarters in Beirut, called the Israeli pullout a "defeat in the face of Palestinian resistance (terror) and a significant step with historic dimensions. (meaning, driving Israel out of Palestine and causing a setback for the US in the war on terror) Mashaal said that the disengagement marked the beginning of the death of the Zionist dream. "The resistance and the steadfastness of our people forced the Zionists to withdraw," he boasted. "The resistance is capable of ending the entire Israeli occupation and achieving all our rights. The armed struggle is the only strategy that Hamas possesses." Mashaal reiterated that Hamas's duty was to defend the Palestinians and help them restore their rights. "Until Jerusalem and all of Palestine is ours, Hamas won't lay down its weapons." He said, however, that Hamas was not interested in a confrontation with the Palestinian Authority. Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas's overall leader in the Gaza Strip, said in an interview published yesterday that his movement will move its terrorist activities to the West Bank after the disengagement. "Now, after the victory in the Gaza Strip, we will transfer the struggle first to the West Bank and later to Jerusalem," Zahar told the London-based pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat. "We will continue the struggle until w |
Sept.
2…. (FOJ) Many people have e-mailed me asking a lot of questions about the
catastrophe in New Orleans. Many want to know what this tragedy means in light
of prophetic scripture, and still many others want to know how this catastrophe
physically came about. Since I dabble in engineering, I decided to provide a
brief overview. I have attached the map from the Army Corp of Engineers below to
help people see the simple explanation. Hurricane Katrina by tracking just east
of downtown New Orleans was spared the full force of the hurricane winds, (which
blasted Mississippi) but it also was exposed to a storm surge with northerly
winds behind it. Lake Ponchartrain took a swell surge from the Gulf, and the
northerlies pressed it into the canals. These northerlies literally pushed the
surge into the canals of New Orleans, creating the breach in the levee system
inside the city, thus flooding the below sea-level portion of the city that
bellies up against the lake. The levees along the shoreline of Lake
Pontchartrain held, while the breaks occurred in the narrow canal inlets. Most
people don’t realize that New Orleans was subjected to not “one” cataclysm, but
two cataclysms within a 24 hour period, (a hurricane followed by a flood)
thus creating an unprecedented catastrophe, and causing an enormous logistics
problem for recovery personnel. An unprecedented political storm is now brewing
because of these problems. And this kind of political civil warmongering
environment is the last thing America needs at this point in time. America needs
to pull together, and work together, and above all start calling out to God, and
repenting of our national sins, and begging him to heal our land. 
Sept. 2….(World Watch/ FOJ)
Bill Koenig’s website World Watch
carried the following news photo op showing the three American Presidents who
fostered the Oslo Peace Process and the UN conspiracy to divide the Promised
Land of Israel. Standing with former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W.
Bush, President George W. Bush discusses the plans to help people affected by
Hurricane Katrina in the Oval Office Sept. 1, 2005. While these men were
actively involved in the negotiations to divide Israel’s covenant land the
United States experienced nine of the ten costliest insurance events in US
history; six of the seven costliest hurricanes in US history; three of the four
largest tornado outbreaks in US history; nine of the top ten natural disasters
in US history ranked by FEMA relief costs; and the two largest terrorism events
in US history. Now, these Presidents are facing the terrible consequences of
their foolish actions to portion out God’s land. The curse of such actions are
being brought to bare upon our nation because we have abandoned God, and created
a culture of debauchery. 
Aug.
31….(MSNS) Rescuers along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast pushed aside the
dead to reach the living Tuesday in a race against time and rising waters, while
New Orleans sank deeper into crisis and Louisiana's governor ordered storm
refugees out of this drowning city. An estimated 80% of 
Aug.
31….(Arutz) Jerusalem is in danger, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said
yesterday on his first campaign tour. Netanyahu said that by relinquishing every
grain of Gaza sand, Sharon had sanctified the pre-1967 lines and the potential
division of Jerusalem. "The Palestinians are actively trying to detach Jerusalem
from Maaleh Adumim." He called for a new wave of construction to create Jewish
contiguity between the two. Quick to blame his political rival, Netanyahu said,
"I unfroze the construction in this area in 1999, and today, Sharon is freezing
it." He blamed the Prime Minister's policies for isolating Jerusalem. "The
Palestinians are building from north to south, suffocating Jerusalem," Netanyahu
said. "Sharon perpetuated that situation by stopping Jewish construction because
he gave in to international pressures." Netanyahu was accompanied on his tour by
Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin. He is hoping to receive the party's right-wing
support against likely candidates Uzi Landau and Moshe Feiglin. However, many in
the religious-Zionist camp are not likely to quickly forget that he resigned
from the government only after it was too late to save Gush Katif. At his
candidacy-announcing press conference yesterday, Netanyahu, who served as Prime
Minister from 1996 until he was defeated by Labor's Ehud Barak in 1999, said,
"Our political home [the Likud] has experienced a great shake-up that threatens
all of us. The man who received our votes turned his back on us. Ariel Sharon
abandoned the Likud's principles and chose to take the path of the left-wing.
The Likud and the country need a leader that will deal with terrorism, and with
the splits in the nation. We need a leader who can unify the ranks and rebuild
from the ruins." Netanyahu's candidacy caused a stir in Labor, as well. With
none of the Labor candidates for party leader taking a real lead, last-place
Ehud Barak shrewdly called for all of them to unite behind Shimon Peres.
Aug.
30….(FOJ) Hurricane Katrina was classified a category 5 hurricane Sunday
night, and was taking a direct aim at New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans just
happens to be America’s party town, and a major center for the oil refining
industry. As it sat offshore early Monday morning, it looked as if Katrina was
baring down on mainland USA at its weakest point, and taking aim at its oil
infrastructure at the same time. New Orleans might have ceased to exist, and
America’s economy could have taken a debilitating blow.
Aug. 29….(By: Stan Goodenough)
Aug. 25….(Jerry
Robinson/Week in Review) According to the Islamic religion, war against
unbelievers is a fundamental teaching and Jihad is an obligation of every
able-bodied Muslim man. There are over 120 verses in the Quran advocating
violence against 'unbelievers,' including Jihad. 
Aug. 22….(Hal Lindsay) As usual, they find themselves reviled as hated
interlopers, and, after a generation or so, they are expelled, and relocated,
until the next whim of fate uproots their lives again. That story is being
replayed for the umpteenth time, only this time, the Jews are being expelled to
relocation camps by other Jews. As Israeli settlers, some of whom had spent a
lifetime building their settlements, were carried away kicking and screaming by
Israeli troops, jeering groups of Arab bystanders mocked them and Hamas
terrorists fired mortars at Israeli installations. An Israeli woman at a
roadblock in southern Israel set herself on fire to protest the evacuations.
Five years of unrelenting terror, coupled with political betrayal and absentee
alliances, has forced an Israeli surrender to terror. It doesn't matter what
anybody else calls it. Hamas calls it "surrender." Islamic Jihad calls it
"victory." The Palestinian Authority calls it the "first victory in the ongoing
struggle for Jerusalem." Whether the West wants to see it or not, to the Islamic
world it is proof positive that terrorism works. The Gaza withdrawal had barely
begun when media headlines blared, "Abbas says Israel must give up more than
Gaza." The Wafa News Agency quoted Abbas on Monday: The Israeli withdrawal that
has begun today is an important and historic step that shouldn't only happen in
Gaza, but also the West Bank and the rest of the land reaching to the 1949
borders. In 1967, Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and the Gaza Strip
from Egypt. Both were used as staging areas in a war designed to annihilate
Israel. Israel captured these areas in a defensive war in which they were
fighting for their lives. They annexed them as a buffer zone against future
attempts to annihilate them. All this was in accordance with established
international law. Forgetting why Israel took the land in the first place, the
media announced the West Bank was "occupied territory." All historical
precedence of other nations was denied to Israel. The cry of "occupied land" was
repeated so often that even the next generation of Israelis began to believe it.
In 1993, Israel agreed to a "land for peace" formula with Yasser Arafat. Israel
offered limited autonomy over Jericho. But the moment it did, Arafat declared
himself president of the "occupied" West Bank. The old proverb of "Give them an
inch and they will take a mile" perfectly applies here. Before the ink was dry
on the Oslo agreement, the media was speculating about a Palestinian state.
Sharon's intention in withdrawing from Gaza was two-fold, the first was to
demonstrate that it has been the Palestinians who have been the obstacle to
peace all along. The second was to use the Gaza withdrawal as a "line in the
sand," putting Israel in a position to refuse further land concessions, thereby
permanently establishing Israel's borders. The Quartet squashed Sharon's first
objective, by insisting Israel's "unilateral" withdrawal be coordinated and
negotiated with the Palestinians. In so doing, Sharon's unilateral withdrawal
became, in practice, a negotiated surrender under fire. The Bush administration
ripped the foundation from under Sharon's secondary plan of refusing future land
concessions, creating a de facto Israeli border that included all of Jerusalem.
Out of the blue, it seemed, Bush announced his intention to impose a peace plan
based on the 1948 borders, insisting that any deviation be by mutual agreement.
In effect, Bush neutralized Israel's advantage of being in possession of the
city. The 1948 borders would put East Jerusalem in Arab hands. Any deviation,
according to Bush, would have to meet with Palestinian agreement. That means
that the Arabs would have to agree to give up Jerusalem. If not, it is theirs
automatically. Israel is left nothing with which to bargain. Here is what the
world will not learn or believe ... and it is going to bring about its
destruction. Jehovah God says that the Land of Israel belongs to Him. God warns
the nations surrounding Israel about what He is going to do to them for stealing
His land: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the
valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which
became plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around – therefore
thus says the Lord God: "Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the
rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave MY LAND to themselves as a
possession, with whole-hearted joy and spiteful minds, in order to plunder its
open country." Therefore thus says the Lord God: "I have raised my hand in an
oath that surely the nations that are around you shall bear their own shame."
(Ezekiel 36:4, 5, 7 NKJ) Note that God declares that Israel is His land. In this
same chapter in Ezekiel, God declares that He will bring the Israelites back to
the land in the days just before Messiah comes. God testifies that even though
the Israelites do not deserve it, He will return them to the land because of His
oaths made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Ezekiel and Zechariah warn of the global
war that will come because of a dispute with the Muslim nations and the re-born
state of Israel over Jerusalem and the land. It is interesting that the current
Israeli leadership is doing exactly the same thing that early generations did.
The Lord warned Israel: And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of
this land; you shall tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice.
Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, "I will not drive them out before
you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to
you." (Judges 2:2-3) When God gave Israel the great victory of 1967, they failed
to kick them off the Temple Mount. Moshe Dayan allowed pagan temples to remain
on Israel's sacred Temple Mount. That set up the seeds of rebellion in the
resident Muslim population. Then the ultimate compromise was made by Rabin and
Perez at the 1993 Oslo agreement. It was at its root a recognition that
Palestinian terror had worked. They agreed to give land for peace. As a result,
Israel is losing the hard won land that God gave them. They are retreating to
the indefensible borders of 1948-49. Now Israel is capitulating to the very area
that hundreds of years ago they failed to cast out, Gaza. Today's enemies are
even named after their ancient enemies of this area, the Philistines.
Palestinian is the Arab pronunciation for Philistine. As God promised Israel
long ago, this withdrawal from Gaza will be thorns in their side. And the
foreign god, Allah, will be a snare to them. As Bible prophecy declares, they
will have to make a covenant with the antichrist for their protection. And that
will bring a catastrophe that only the Messiah can and will deliver them from.
Aug.
19….(My Way) Attackers fired at least three missiles from Jordan on Friday,
with one narrowly missing a US Navy ship docked in a Jordanian port and killing
a Jordanian soldier, and another falling close to a nearby airport in
neighboring Israel, officials said. Jordanian security forces are hunting a
Syrian and two Iraqi nationals, a security source said. An Internet statement
released by the al-Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades militant group claimed
responsibility the attacks. 
Aug.
18….(Debka) Although not a word of this has been reported in the media thus
far, Orient House, the symbol of Palestinian Authority sovereign rule in East
Jerusalem, has reopened for business for the first time in four years. In 2001,
this symbol of Palestinian control in Jerusalem was demonstratively shut down on
the orders of the first Sharon government. Now, with Israel withdrawing from
Gaza, Abbas has jumped the gun and set his brand on Jerusalem,
the city Israel calls its capitol, ahead of peace negotiations or any talks with
Israel on the profoundly controversial Jerusalem issue. DEBKAfile’s Palestinians
sources reveal that the Palestinian Authority, on Abbas’ orders, has begun
issuing communiqués to the Palestinians of East Jerusalem. But that is just the
beginning. According to our sources, Abbas has just appointed a new Palestinian
intelligence commander for the West Bank. He is Rashid Nafa, the former chief of
Palestinian special forces. The instructions he received from his boss are clear
and were transmitted to the regional intelligence commanders. Their mission is
to focus on Jerusalem according to the following order of priorities set by PM
Abu Mazen.