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WEEK OF OCTOBER 26 THROUGH NOVEMBER 1

 

A Ramadan Friday in Jerusalem

Oct. 31….(FOJ) Tens of thousands of Palestinian Muslims attended prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the first Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. They listened to preacher Yusef Abu Sneineh question the need to resume talks with Israel and condemn the separation wall that the Jewish state is constructing in the West Bank. "The detestable apartheid wall is aimed at preventing the creation of an independent Palestinian entity. Muslims turn their backs to the site that Jehovah claimed for his name. They bow towards Mecca and the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, with the golden Dome of the Rock in the background. About 175,000 Palestinians flocked to the sacred hilltop plaza in Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers. The Temple Mount remains off limits to Jews and Christians, for the fear of antagonizing the Muslim-Arab world.



Malaysian PM to Jews: "You are Not the Chosen People"

Oct. 31….(Jerusalem Post) Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has taken some more swipes at the United States and Israel. This time he talked about slavery and Christianity. He compared Europe's past ill-treatment of Jews to the way Israel treats Palestinians today. The US says that we here have no freedom of religion," but in reality, the people in the US are the one’s who were forced to embrace a religion," he said. People in America were abducted from Africa and were brought to that country and made slaves, tortured, and forced to change their religion. America is a land of slavery, he said. Mahathir also said he had a message for Jews. "You must never claim that you are the Chosen People! The Muslims have never ill-treated the Jews, but now the Jews are behaving exactly in the way the Europeans behaved toward them against the Muslims." They have taken land belonging to the Muslims," Mahathir said. "Suppose a part of Britain or a part of America was taken away and given to the Jews as Israel. Do you think the Americans are going to sit quietly and say 'Welcome,' and all that? They won't. "Why do you expect the Palestinians to accept being expelled from their own country, while it is being given to the Jews. It is not religion at all, it is territorial." And the Jews are not the Chosen People!



California Fires Believed to Be Arson
What About Terror Links?

Oct. 31….(FOJ) While firefighters focus on containing the California wildfires, the detective work necessary to prosecute arsonists, and a possible connection with terrorism are all subjects being seriously studied. Law enforcement officials now suspect several of the California wildfires that have killed 18, consumed more than 718,000 acres and destroyed more than 2,400 homes in 10 days were deliberately set, increasing speculation there is a terror connection to the blazes. One man has been arrested so far, Dikran Armouchian, 23, of Pasadena. That makes a June 25 FBI memo to United States law enforcement agencies all the more startling. It revealed a senior al-Qaida detainee claimed to have developed a plan to start midsummer forest fires in the U.S. The Al Qaeda memo stated that the fire-terrorism could significantly damage the U.S. economy and would result in chaos once it was realized that the fires were terrorist acts! Al Qaeda is known to have planned to send three or four operatives to travel to the U.S. and set timed explosive devices in forests and grasslands. FOJ private investigations on other tragedies in the US reflects that in the past the American government has routinely hidden and covered over known terrorist incidents perpetrated in the United States. FOJ has concluded that it is apparently the strategy of the American Government to sustain the public mindset toward a state of confidence about the threats posed by terrorists. The last thing the government wants is a panic, or hysteria setting in and spreading throughout the economic spectrum of American culture. Islamic Fundamentalist terrorists are known to have experience at using forest fires as a weapon. I cannot help but be reminded of the fact that the grass and trees are mentioned in Revelation 8:7 as being targets during the Apocalypse.



Judge Says No 'Homophobic' Teaching!

Oct. 31….(World Net Daily) A Colorado mother is appealing a child custody decision in which a court barred her from teaching homosexuality is wrong. Cheryl Clark, who says she is a Christian, has been ordered by Denver County Circuit Judge John W. Coughlin to "make sure that there is nothing in the religious upbringing or teaching that the minor child is exposed to that can be considered homophobic." The directive arose from the decision to award joint parenting responsibilities for her daughter to a practicing homosexual. "Forbidding the raising of children in the parent's Christian beliefs is an anathema to parental rights and religious freedom," said Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Florida-based Liberty Counsel. "Must the mother rip out pages of the Bible that say homosexuality is against nature, or must she cover her child's ears if her pastor preaches about sexual purity?" Staver explained to WorldNetDaily Clark and Elsey McLeod were in a lesbian relationship that broke up after Clark became a Christian and concluded homosexual behavior was wrong. The Denver court gave McLeod join custody of Clark's adopted daughter, Emma, even though McLeod had no legal relationship to the girl. It also, in conjunction with the ruling in favor of McLeod, said Clark cannot raise her child with any religious teaching or upbringing that is "homophobic."



U.S. Voices Assessment Of WMD To Syria

Oct. 30….(Middle East News Line) For the first time, the U.S. intelligence community has released an assessment that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were transferred to neighboring Syria in the weeks prior to the U.S.-led war against the Saddam Hussein regime. U.S. officials said the assessment was based on satellite images of convoys of Iraqi trucks that poured into Syria in February and March 2003. The officials said the intelligence community assessed that the trucks contained missiles and WMD components banned by the United Nations Security Council. The U.S. intelligence assessment was discussed publicly for the first time by the director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in a briefing in Washington on Tuesday. James Clapper, a retired air force general and a leading member of the U.S. intelligence community, said he linked the disappearance of Iraqi WMD with the huge number of Iraqi trucks that entered Syria before and during the U.S. military campaign to topple the Saddam regime.


Christians Arrested in Egypt

Oct. 30….(CNS News) At least 22 Egyptian Christians have been arrested over the last week, many of them converts from Islam to Christianity, in a crackdown on what Egypt terms apostates and those who support them. While it is not technically illegal for Muslims to convert to Christianity in Egypt, converts are often sought out and arrested on other charges in an attempt to force them to return to Islam, said Paul Cook, advocacy manager of the Barnabas Fund, which helps Christians in countries where they are persecuted. According to the British-based charity, a new wave of arrests began on October 21 with the arrests of two converts: Yusuf Samuel Makari Suliman and his wife, Mariam Girgis Makar, two former Muslims. "The Christians have been taken from Alexandria to police stations in Cairo and are being beaten, interrogated and tortured," the Barnabas Fund said in a statement. The group has also received information that Mariam and other women may have been raped in an attempt to persuade them to renounce their Christian faith and return to Islam, Cook reports.

 

EU, Religious Leaders Interfaith Meeting in Rome

Oct. 30….(AP) Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders and European Union interior ministers met Thursday to explore how inter-religious dialogue can help combat terrorism and tensions from immigration while promoting peace in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Giuseppe Pisanu of Italy, who currently holds the EU Presidency, said “"it is not enough to avoid conflict. It is necessary that they move on on the path of the fruitful coexistence of cultures, so that religious diversity becomes a common wealth." Pisanu called "dialogue among moderate people the most effective instrument to avert fundamentalism and build peace." "We need to spell out the origins in Abraham" that the three faiths have in common, he said.



The President Hosts Ramadan at the White House

Oct. 29….(FOJ) For the third time since Islamic fundamentalist terrorists attacked our nation, President Bush has hosted a Ramadan dinner with American Islamic leaders. The White House has been besieged with demands to fire General Boykin for stating that the US-led war on terror is basically a war against a false religion. General William Boykin's comments likened the US battle against terror to a battle between Christiandom and the Muslim world, placing the Bush Administration in an uncomfortable position. President Bush has repudiated General Boykin’s comments, saying that they did not reflect his own views on the war on terror. So once again this year, the President invited Muslim leaders to an Iftar, the evening feast that breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast Muslims observe during the month of Ramadan. The White House web-site discloses the following quote from the President, "America is a land of many faiths and we honor, and welcome and value the Muslim faith," "Our war is not against the Muslim faith." We in America think terrorists are evil people who have hijacked a great religion," Bush said, responding to a one reporter's question. I understand that the President is leader of all Americans and doesn’t want to be ignite any sparks that could make the war-on-terror unnecessarily more problematic. But I also cannot help but think that the one and only true God is watching our nation and our leaders, and is not amused about our tolerance and acceptance level for other gods. Listen to his words from Isaiah: (Isaiah 48:11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. Isaiah 42:8 I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.)
  The President stated in his remarks the following: According to the teachings of Islam, Ramadan commemorates the revelation of God's word in the Holy Koran to the prophet Mohammed. (This statement makes me absolutely sick to my stomach! Mohammed was not a prophet of God, and he has no part in the Revelation! This is blasphemy on a high level!) In this season, Muslims come together to remember their dependence on God, and to show charity to their neighbors. Fasting during Ramadan helps Muslims focus on God's greatness, to grow in virtue, and cultivate compassion toward those who live in poverty and hunger. The charity, discipline and sacrifice practiced during Ramadan in America makes America a better, more compassionate country. The family gatherings that break the fast at the end of each day enrich our communities. And the heartfelt prayers offered at this time of year are a blessing in many lives and they're a blessing to our nation. As we gather during this season, we are mindful of the struggles of the men and women around the world who long for the same peace and tolerance we enjoy here in America. (It is because America has a Christian heritage that other religions can worship frelly in America, unlike in Muslim countries where Christians are killed) And regarding Islam, a religion that teaches that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God, lets review these words from the apostle John. (John 5:23 That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.) (I John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.)
Had the President hosted a dinner for Jesus Christ, what would be the reaction in our society today?
I imagine the ACLU and a host of political figures would have complained about the separation of Church and State. America is slowly and methodically being de-Chistianized and our President seems to be naïve about that momentum.

 

Muslim-Turned-Christian Evangelist Says
America is Deceived About Islam

Oct. 29….(Agape Press) A former Muslim is deeply concerned about the Bush Administration's desire to welcome Muslims to the White House during the month of Ramadan. Now a Christian teacher, W.L. Cati believes pandering to God's enemies will not bode well for America's future. She says she is not surprised that the President is being deceived. America, she predicts, will face serious consequences in the future if its leaders continue to pander to the enemies of Jesus Christ. "Go and look at the U.S. Government's web-site that has just been posted about the Muslim life which says how wonderful it is," she says. Cati believes that if Americans do not kneel before God and fast and pray for repentance, the U.S. will not be the same country 18 months from now.

 

EU/With Us, Or With The Terrorists

Oct. 29….(Washington Times) Five large explosions made yesterday the deadliest day since Saddam Hussein was ousted from power. Evidence is mounting that many of the difficulties in pacifying Iraq are coming from outside the country. Yesterday, during the mayhem, the U.S. Army captured a man throwing a grenade at a police station in Baghdad. This terrorist held a Syrian passport and is suspected to be Syrian. His car was full of dynamite and mortar rounds. The series of attacks appears more coordinated by the day, and Syria's role in undermining Iraqi security looks to be serious. Foreign fighters are not the only ones providing aid and comfort to the enemies of Iraqi reconstruction. As more Syrian links to attacks in Iraq are exposed, the European Union (EU) is increasing economic links to Syria. In Damascus, a weekend business conference funded by the EU brought together 180 European officials and business executives and 226 of their counterparts from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The goal was to strengthen business cooperation and pave the way for a Syrian-EU trade pact by the end of the year. It is clear that this European coddling of Syria is a direct response to the growing movement toward American sanctions against the nation. The House of Representatives voted 398-4 only two weeks ago for new economic sanctions on Damascus because of its support for terrorism. It seems that the EU has no problem with Damascus support for terrorism! Syrian dictator Assad and Spainish King Juan Carlos hope that Syria will seal an economic association accord with the EU “in the near future.

 

PA Mouthpiece: Fight America, Destroy Israel

Oct. 29….(JNEWSWIRE) Israel's destruction at the hands of Arab Muslims and firm resistance to American "imperialism" in the region are to be the top priorities of the Arab world, according to the official PA paper. And we thought we were doing them a favor by helping them get a State!

 

Syria Continues Sending Fighters to Iraq

Oct. 29….(Middle East News Line) Al Qaida has recruited fighters from Syria for suicide and other attacks against the U.S. military presence in Iraq. U.S. officials said they have found evidence that hundreds of Syrian and other Arab nationals have entered Iraq from Syria over the past few weeks and joined new Al Qaida-related units for attacks against U.S. and Western targets in Iraq. They said the Islamic mercernaries were believed to have been involved in the wave of suicide bombings in Baghdad on Monday, the start of the Islamic fast month of Ramadan. "There are actual foreign terrorists that come into Iraq that need to be dealt with, with more military means, more aggressive means, to stop them from coming in and root them out," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "The issue of people coming in from Syria has been an issue that we have dealt with, that we have raised, and we continue to raise on an ongoing basis with the Syrian government to prevent outside elements from coming in from Syria, who might get involved in this sort of thing."

 

World Bank to Finance Caspian Pipeline

Oct. 29….(Guardian) A controversial scheme led by the oil giant BP to build a huge, strategically important pipeline is about to win crucial backing, according to a leaked document. Despite widespread criticism, the World Bank is due to approve at a meeting tomorrow a $250million loan to a consortium to build a pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea to the Turkish port of Ceyhan via Georgia. The pipeline is supported by the US government as an important route for reducing its dependence on oil from the troubled Middle East. It also takes large quantities of oil out of the hands of the Russians who have supported an alternative pipeline to their Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
FOJ Note: FOJ has regularly highlighted this building contentious scenario between America and Russia over OIL.



Syria is Playing A Dangerous Game!

Oct. 28….(FOJ) Apparently Syria has ordered the Hizbullah terrorist organization to launch a major attack along the Israeli border, according to IDF communications intercepts. Israeli intelligence sources said they have monitored evidence of communications between Syria and Hizbullah that suggests the Iranian-backed Shi'ite movement has been directed to carry out a strike on Israeli positions along the border with Lebanon. The sources said the Hizbullah targets could be either civilian or military. Two months ago Israeli F-16s buzzed the summer home of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Mediterranean port of Latakia, just to let him know he could be hit at any time if he decides to further unleash Hezbollah. Assad doesn't have an army capable of a conventional strike on Israel, and that is where Hizbullah comes in. Hizbullah can hurt Israel and provide Syria with the political element of attack denial. Israel has relayed an alert to its forces in the Golan Heights and along the border with Lebanon. For the last three months, the Assad regime has ordered Palestinian insurgency groups to maintain a low profile and refrain from issuing claims of terror announcements from Damascus. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called on Syria and Israel on Monday to ease tensions and tone down their rhetoric after a Syrian official threatened to retaliate against further Israeli attacks. Nevertheless Hezbollah guerrilla’s attacked Israeli border posts yesterday to mark the beginning of Ramadan. Speaking to reporters after Monday's firefight, the head of the Northern Command Major Gen. Benny Gans said the situation in Lebanon "is controlled by Syria." "We seek stability and those responsible for the instability are Syria and Lebanon," he continued. Hezbollah "is a dangerous element and these attacks could lead to a situation in which we would have to react very, very forcefully," he stressed. Assad and Damascus should beware, because the Bible has forewarned the Syrian Dictator about the Burden of Damascus!

 

Eurocrats and NATO Planning Israel’s Future

Oct. 28….(FOJ)Ariel Sharon took to the offensive yesterday when he was assailed with moral lectures from a group of 170 visiting European Union parliamentarians. Asked by Irish parliamentarian David Norris how Israel could talk about “executing” Arafat if Israel is indeed, as it likes to say, the only democracy in the Middle East”, Ariel Sharon replied: “Don’t worry about our democracy. Arafat lives, and not only is he healthy, but he is very active in organizing acts of murder against women and children.” When one of the mission’s organizers said the Europeans’ number one complaint against Israel was the separation fence that Israel is constructing, Sharon countered with this statement: I have never heard anyone in the European Parliament speak out against Iran’s public threat to destroy Israel or its race for a nuclear weapon. “They only time the EU calls me is when the battery of Arafat’s mobile phone runs low, never do they call when Israeli families are wiped out by Palestinian suicides bombers. Sharon rapped out: “If there were no Palestinian terror, there would be no fence.” Sharon may have decided to give the European visitors the rough edge of his tongue after learning about certain innovative plans afoot in Brussels concerning the secret Geneva Accords that the EU is promoting. Sharon said that if NATO really wants to secure Europe, it needs to help stabilize other regions to its south. If Israelis and Palestinians reach a peace accord, they will need a credible multinational force to police it, and the only one that Israel would accept is a US-led NATO force. With that said, it seems that Arafat’s dream of an international force to police the conflict becomes attainable with the help of the creative strategists of Brussels. Israel’s standing as an independent democracy would then make way for its subservience to international rule with the peace guaranteed by an EU-NATO security force. This also explains why two senior NATO members, Belgium and France, enthusiastically granted its senior author, Yossi Bailin, $7 million for domestic marketing and promotion of the Geneva Accords initiative. Getting the Geneva Accords accepted as an official document by a group of NATO member-governments would provide the EU/NATO alliance with a solid basis for moving ahead with a private plan that would lead ultimately to the termination of the State of Israel. Ariel Sharon is keenly aware of the scheme afoot in the European branch of NATO. Hence his barely concealed out-lash at the Eurocrats. Although Sharon is probably unaware of it, according to Bible Prophecy the EU-NATO will someday play a major role in guaranteeing Israel security in the Middle East. Events are already leading in that very direction.



The War on Terror Needs Adjustments

Oct. 27….(DEBKA) As the guerrilla rockets pierced the fortifications surrounding Baghdad’s landmark al Rashid hotel yesterday apparently missing their presumed target, US deputy Defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, and as a US Black Hawk helicopter was shot down near Tikrit shortly after Wolfowitz left Saddam’s home town, the question is, is the US waging the war on terror effectively, or is it losing ground? In each recent attack targeting Mr. Wolfowitz, Iraqi guerrillas exactly knew where to find the deputy defense secretary and he had a narrow escape. It is apparent that the US has no way to measure whether it is winning or losing the global war on terror; and that America is in for “a long hard experience” in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Pointing to Iraq’s al Qaeda-linked Ansar al Islam, Rumsfeld asked: “Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the Islamic clerics are recruiting, training and deploying?” Clearly, the defense secretary is concerned that the war on terror cannot be won by military victories alone and wants more emphasis on the struggle for hearts and minds. Fighters and defense officials, says Rumsfeld, must start asking themselves: “Are there things we aren’t doing that we might be doing?” “I think it is pretty clear that current weapons control regimes aren’t working.” President Bush is in the early stages of a “new approach” to deal with weapons proliferation that will call for greater international cooperation. The defense secretary also stressed that US intelligence capabilities have been “compromised through spies and through the trading of information among rogue nations and terrorist networks.” This intelligence debacle, the most sensitive aspect of the global war on terror, bears directly on the degree of precision manifested by anti-US Iraqi guerrillas. It should be pointed out that without hostile spies planted inside America, the traumatic 9/11 terrorist assault on America could not have been carried out. Intelligence capabilities are also the key to Yasser Arafat’s sustained long-running terror campaign against Israel. (and that type of campaign can soon be expanded to America) The fact that Palestinian terror attacks were confined for nine days to targeting US military and security personnel (three US CIA security men) was no coincidence. It was the outcome of well-informed, pointed decision-making, in this case jointly by Arafat, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah. It has become obvious that compromised US intelligence capabilities are really troubling Secretary Rumsfeld. Were the US Defense Secretary to assess the main theatres of counter-terror war according to his own yardstick, he would have to admit that enemy resources, recruitment, intelligence and logistical assistance from “sponsor-states” and cash flow have not diminished. To the contrary, all these resources have expanded.
In Afghanistan
In a well-planned gambit, al Qaeda removed itself and its central command from Afghanistan leaving the war terrain to its ally the Taliban under the command of Mulla Omar. After spending a year in the Pakistan-Afghan border districts rebuilding its military strength and regrouping, the Taliban has begun retaking lost terrain. Coalition control is limited mainly to Kabul some key cities.
In Pakistan
Banned fundamentalist Islamic terror groups, including the Taliban and al Qaeda, are back in action. They have re-established their old operational and intelligence ties with Pakistan’s Inter-service intelligence agency, the SIS, which they maintained before America’s October 2001 campaign in Afghanistan.
India – Kashmir
The Vajpayee government in New Delhi is alone in calling a spade a spade, declaring India is fighting Islamic extremists. Spurning well-intentioned advice on how to go about their war, the Indians say terrorism must be fought unrelentingly and blame their partial victory on restraints from Washington preventing their taking the war into terrorist strongholds in Pakistan.
In Saudi Arabia
Domestic social and political unrest hampers Riyadh’s belated crackdown on al Qaeda and its supporters. Despite massive security operations launched after the oil kingdom was shocked by the May 12 suicide bomb attacks against Western compounds in Riyadh, the Saudis are fighting a losing battle. Bin Laden and his aides have decided that the overthrow of Saudi throne in Riyadh is just as important as fighting Americans in Iraq.
In Syria
Bashar Asad has made his capital the largest command center in the world for assorted terrorist organizations, which he terms “freedom movements,”notably the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islamic. Damascus, whose suburbs house the most important chain of clerics in the Middle East, also serves as the mainline transit route for Muslim terrorists destined for arenas of confrontation with the West such as Iraq, Chechnya and the Balkans, as well those making for Palestinian-controlled areas.
In Lebanon
This country remains the territorial base of the violent Hizballah which runs a uniquely efficient intelligence organ in the service of international terrorism. The Shiite group’s partners-in-terror are contingents of Iranian Revolutionary Guard which serve alongside them, as well as al Qaeda units in the south. Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the suicide bombing attack on the US Marines barracks in Beirut that killed more than 240 Americans and led to the United States decision to depart from Lebanon. The attack was masterminded by Imad Mughniyeh, the terrorist ace who was never captured though long on America’s wanted list. He is still in Lebanon under Hizballah protection.
In Iran
At the instigation of extremist factions of the Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic Republic has grown into a primary logistic and rear base center for al Qaeda and its affiliates, including the Iraqi Ansar al-Islam.
And In the Palestinian Authority Notwithstanding three and-a-half years of Israeli military action against Palestinian terrorists, neither can claim victory. Most of Arafat’s terror cells remain operational and quick to execute increasingly violent suicide and shooting attacks at his command. The Palestinian terror machine led by Arafat defies Rumsfeld’s attempt to put radical Muslim terrorism into neat boxes. Arafat’s Fatah and its offshoots are not essentially religious movements although in the last two years he has endeavored to harness Islamic radical sentiment to the Palestinian cause. He has been able to build up his army of suicides without religious clerics and his Fatah schools impart a different, more racially-oriented form of indoctrination. Bashar Assad has demonstrated like Arafat that terrorism is an effective binder between secular ruling bodies and Islamic regimes, especially in the Arab world.

 

Suicide Bombings in Baghdad

Oct. 27….(AP) Suicide bombers struck the Red Cross headquarters and three police stations across Baghdad on Monday, killing about 40 people and injuring more than 200 in a coordinated terror spree that stunned the Iraqi capital on the first day of the Islamic holy month of fasting, Ramadan. The string of car bombings, all within about 45 minutes, were the bloodiest episode yet in the city of 5 million by insurgents targeting the American-led occupation and those perceived as working with it. It also appeared to mark a dramatic escalation in tactics, suggesting a level of organization U.S. officials had doubted the resistance possessed. Iraqi police Brig. Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim, the deputy interior minister, blamed foreign fighters for the assault, saying a fifth aborted car bombing was attempted by a man captured with a Syrian passport. Since Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1, 113 U.S. soldiers have been killed by hostile fire. President Bush said he remains "even more determined to work with the Iraqi people" to restore peace and civility to the war-torn nation.

 

Syrian Minister Threatens Israeli Settlements

Oct. 27….(Telegraph) Syria has threatened to attack Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights if Tel Aviv launches another assault on its territory. In a move that will raise tension after Israel struck at a terrorist training camp near Damascus earlier this month, Farouk Sharaa, Syria's foreign minister, warned that further "aggression" would prompt Syria to use "other cards". Mr. Sharaa added that Israel's first incursion into Syria for 20 years had caused deep anger and that if Israel attacks again that, we have many cards that we have not played. Don't forget there are many Israeli settlements in the Golan, and we could strike hard at the Israeli settlements." Washington is already planning a war of economic sanctions against Syria. Mr. Sharaa risked further American criticism in admitting that Syria could not control the border with Iraq and had failed to stop Palestinians, Iraqis and Syrians going to fight against American forces."

 


WEEK OF OCTOBER 20 THROUGH OCTOBER 27

 

Palestinians Prepping for Battle over Arafat's Successorship

Oct. 24….(Ha Aretz) There are preparations in the Palestinian Authority for a war for Chairman Arafat's job as a result of Yasser Arafat's ailment, (death) and part of those preparations include the stockpiling of weapons by various security services ahead of an armed clash between them," Military Intelligence Commander Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze'evi told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
FOJ Note: Unquestionably the multitude of terrorist organizations that Yasser Arafat has created, financed and coddled will vie for supremacy after his death. It can only be imagined what havoc they will cause in the West Bank as they contend for control of the Palestinian arena.

 

Knowing The Enemy

Oct. 24….(Jewish World Review) The biggest imponderable concerning the war on terror is whether the American people and their leaders are clear on a central question: Exactly who is the enemy in this war? We are, after all, not fighting some abstraction called "terror." The truth is we are engaged in a death struggle with people who use terror, usually involving the deliberate murder of innocent civilians, as an instrument to advance their agendas. As to precisely who those people are, the past twenty-five months have brought to light a bewildering array of terrorist organizations pursuing a variety of stated objectives, usually with help from this or that rogue state-sponsor. But one thing should be clear post-9/11: The most determined, numerous and dangerous of these enemies are radical, violent Muslims known as "fundamental Islamists." Most experts believe that the Islamists are, at present, a small percentage of the Muslim faithful worldwide. The danger is that, since there are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims, even a small percentage could mean there are millions available to serve as cannon-fodder for the radicals. Worse yet, all things being equal, their numbers will continue to grow, thanks in no small measure to the assiduous efforts of Islamist regimes in Saudi Arabia and Iran (the former of the Sunni Wahhabi stripe, the latter favoring Shiite extremism). All too often, such efforts are accompanied, and systematically advanced by an insidious dis-information campaign. Its main thrust is that anyone who dares to point out the threat posed by fundamentalist the Islamists is a racist, bigot or ignoramus. Why? Because, we are told, such observations impugn all Muslims. So how do we know who the enemy is, or where he is?

 

Survey: American Views About Life After Death

Oct. 24….(Barna Research) Despite the constant flux in many dimensions of Americans’ lives, a new study from the Barna Research Group of Ventura, California, shows that most people have retained surprisingly traditional views about life after death. Although the lifestyles, values, and self-perceptions of most adults have undergone significant change, and millions of Americans have embraced many elements of a postmodern worldview, the vast majority continues to believe that there is life after death, that everyone has a soul, and that Heaven and Hell exist. However, more than 50 million adults are uncertain regarding their personal eternal fate. Most Americans do not expect to experience Hell first-hand: just one-half of 1% expect to go to Hell upon their death. Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) believe they will go to Heaven. One in 20 adults (5%) claim they will come back as another life form, while the same proportion (5%) contend they will simply cease to exist. Even though most Americans believe in life after death and the existence of the soul, not everyone is clear about their own ultimate destination. One in every four adults (24%) admitted that they have ”no idea” what will happen after they die. Those who felt their eternal future is undefined were most likely to be Hispanics, singles, men, atheists and agnostics, residents of the West, and 18 or 19-year-olds. Among those who expect to go to Heaven, there were differences in how they anticipate such an end would be attained. Nearly half of those who say they are Heaven bound (43%) believe they will go to Heaven because they have “confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.” Others felt they will get to Heaven because “they have tried to obey the 10 Commandments” (15%) or because “they are basically a good person” (15%). Another 6% believed their entrance to Heaven would be based upon the fact that “God loves all people and will not let them perish.” One of the intriguing findings from the research is that education and income are negatively correlated with belief in Heaven and Hell. In other words, the more education a person gets or the more income they earn, the less likely they are to believe that Heaven or Hell exists. While most high-income households and college graduates maintain belief in Heaven and Hell, the finding reinforces the popular notion, and, indeed, Jesus’ teaching, that people of economic means and those with considerable education struggle to embrace biblical teachings on such matters.

 

Dean Gets Standing Ovation from Arab-Americans

Oct. 24….(Reuters) Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean received a standing ovation from an Arab audience on Saturday when he attacked leading conservatives and figures from the religious right. Dean, one of seven Democratic presidential candidates to address the Arab American Institute's national leadership conference in Dearborn, Michigan pointed to an American flag and named some of the people he said it did not belong to. "It does not belong to General Boykin, or John Ashcroft, or Rush Limbaugh or Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. Dean’s speech was repeatedly interrupted by applause from the pro-Arab-American constituency. Dean said that the war on terror cannot become a war on civil rights and freedoms. Dean also won applause by reiterating his recent promises to send former President Bill Clinton to the Middle East as his peace broker if he is elected next year.
FOJ Note: I gather from Mr. Dean’s (and many others today) remarks that America belongs to Arabs, Hindu’s, Buddhists, and to any other group of “slash-Americans” except those people that are from the traditional American Christian background. America has been targeted by international demographic culture war-strategists to be transformed from its Judeo-Christian heritage into a multi-diverse country that is tolerant of all people except the kind that founded America! They plan on making Bible believing Christians extinct! God has a plan too, whereby they will temporarily get their wishes---it is called the Rapture! Today’s secularist declared culture war on Christianity in America reminds me of the party the world will throw when God’s prophets to Israel are killed during the Tribulation. (Revelation 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.) The world hates Jesus Christ and hates his people, (Christians and Israel) and the culture war emphatically demonstrates that demonically inspired growing hatred.



Russia Wants UN Resolution Endorsing Road Map

Oct. 23….(Ha Aretz) Russia is set to call on the United Nations Security Council to adopt the road map as the accepted international plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Moscow will also propose that the Quartet (Russia, the UN, the European Union, and the U.S.) be acknowledged as a mediator in the dispute. The United States is expected to back the proposal, which should be approved without difficulty. Russia brought up the proposal several months ago, at which time Washington deferred support for it. Now, in view of Russia's support for Security Council resolutions on Iraq, the U.S. government has conceded to the Russian position on the road map. Israel has always opposed the Russian proposal fearing that it would "internationalize" the dispute. Israeli officials regard the acceptance of such a proposal under the current circumstances as a sign of support for Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

 

Bush Praises Islam as Religion of Tolerance

Oct. 23….(Reuters) President Bush praised the world's most populous Muslim nation yesterday for its support in the war on terror and said Islamic terrorists defiled one of the great faiths. But Bush ran afoul of leading moderate Muslim clerics during talks on the resort island of Bali, where Islamic militants linked to al Qaeda blew up two nightclubs packed with foreign tourists just over a year ago, killing 202 people. Reflecting growing mistrust of the United States among ordinary Indonesians, they criticized Washington for supporting Israel over the Palestinians and for the occupation of Iraq, and told President Bush that he needed to listen more to the rest of the world. Bush expressed his gratitude to Jakarta after meeting President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the Islamic clerics. Bush said, "we know that Islam is fully compatible with liberty and tolerance and progress because we see the proof in your country and in our own." "Terrorists who claim Islam as their inspiration defile one of the world's greatest faiths. Murder has no place in any religious tradition. It must find no home in Indonesia." U.S. officials said Bush wanted to correct what he felt was a misconception that the war on terror was a war against Islam.

 

Bush Repudiates Comments by General Boykin

Oct. 23….(AP) President Bush in Indonesia yesterday repudiated the views of a top general who cast the war on terrorism in religious terms, but the Pentagon brushed aside congressional calls to reassign the general during an investigation. Bush, talking to reporters on Air Force One as he flew to Australia, said he had discussed the comments of Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin with Muslim leaders in Indonesia. "I told them that the General’s comments didn't reflect my opinion," Bush said. General Boykin came under criticism last week when reports surfaced of his comments during several speeches at evangelical Christian churches. Boykin said the enemy in the fight against terrorism was Satan and that God had put Bush in the White House. Rep. Todd Tihart, R-Kansas, supported Boykin and criticized President Bush for repudiating the general's remarks. "I am disappointed at the level of intolerance being shown to the general for speaking about his faith in a church," Tihart said. In Indonesia, Bush said he wanted to correct what he felt was a misconception that the war on terror was a cover for a war against Islam or that Americans thought all Muslims were terrorists. Muslim clerics told Bush that U.S. policies in the Middle East were one of the root causes of terror attacks. "We told him U.S. foreign policy should seek a new paradigm if the U.S. wants to be respected by the world community and be safe," Syafii Maarif, head of the second-largest Muslim group in Indonesia, said. Maarif saHasyim Muzadi, leader of Indonesia's largest Muslim group, the 40-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama, said, "the clash between Islam and America needs to be stopped because this will destroy everything," he said. Speaking aboard Air Force One flying to Australia, Bush told reporters the Muslim leaders had told him they believed U.S. policy in the Middle East was biased in favor of Israel.

 

Syria Blames Bush for Israeli Intransigence

Oct. 23….(Jerusalem Post) Syrian army chief General Hassan Turkmany says Damascus is capable of deterring Israel by creating a power balance that would deter Israel and respond to its "aggressive adventures. He also accused the United States of "unlimited" support of Israel. Day after day the world is further convinced that Israel doesn't want peace. The US encourages Israel to be stubborn and continue its aggressive course. Israel uses the unlimited financial, military and political support offered by the U.S. President George Bush and his administration's rightist staff to wage war on everybody," Turkmany said.
FOJ Note: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad’s comments that Israel and Jews are the cause of all the world’s problems is shared by many other anti-Semitic leaders around the world. Anti-Semitism is a rapidly growing phenomenon all around the world, and it is fueled by demonic activity!
This demonic activity will draw the world against Israel someday. (Revelation 16:13-14 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.) The forces of Hell are preparing to lash out at Israel during the coming Tribulation era, but the target of most the anti-Israel sentiment right now is the United States. Satan knows full well that if he is ever going to be enabled to encircle Israel with the might of the Antichrist, something must be done about American (Christian) support for Israel.



Palestinians Support Continued Terror after State is Created

Oct. 22….(FOJ) If you think that the “two-State solution” being promoted by the Roadmap Quartet and by President Bush will resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, consider the following statistics taken from a recent poll conducted by the Palestinian Media Watch. Fifty-nine percent of Palestinians believe that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad should continue their armed struggle against Israel even if Israel leaves all of the West Bank and Gaza, including East Jerusalem, and even after a Palestinian State is created. Similarly, 80 percent of Palestinians testify that Palestinians should not give up the "right of return" under any circumstances, as was recently reported to be a concession in the floating Geneva Accords. Forty-two percent of Palestinians also stated that they support the terrorists who are attacking Americans in Iraq, and hoped that America would be defeated in the war-on-terror.

 

UN Condemns Israel for Defensive Barrier

Oct. 22….(FOJ) The UN has condemned Israel again! So what else is new? The UN regularly condemns Israel for everything that happens in the Middle East. The UN spends 2/3 of its time condemning Israel. Not one single time has the UN ever condemned a terrorist attack or even another nation’s attack on Israel. The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed the resolution late on Tuesday. The vote was carried 144-4, with 12 abstentions, with Israel's key ally the United States voting against the measure. Micronesia and the Marshall Islands also voted against. (these 3 members are the only ones to ever vote for Israel on anything in the UN body) The resolution negotiated during more than six hours of word haggling between European Union and Arab governments, demanding that Israel "stop and reverse the construction of the wall in the so-called occupied Palestinian Territory" and called the barrier "a contradiction to relevant provisions of international law." In response to the resolution, Israel vowed to press on with the construction of the barrier. "The fence will continue being built and we will go on taking care of the security of Israel's citizens," Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, reiterating the Jewish State's stance that the barrier is needed to keep out suicide bombers. Following the General Assembly vote, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman called the UN proceeding "a humiliating farce" and excoriated EU governments for concluding that "Israel's security measures are far more serious than the murder perpetrated by Palestinian terrorist groups."

 

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Develope Nuke Pact

Oct. 22….(Washington Times) Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have concluded a secret agreement on "nuclear cooperation" that will provide the Saudis with nuclear-weapons technology in exchange for cheap oil, according to a ranking Pakistani insider. The disclosure came at the end of a 26-hour state visit to Islamabad last weekend by Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, who flew across the Arabian Sea with an entourage of 200, including Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal and several Cabinet ministers. Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the pro-American defense minister who is next in line to the throne after the crown prince, was not part of the delegation. As predicted, Saudi Arabia, which has faced strong international suspicion for years that it was seeking a nuclear capability through Pakistan, strongly denied the claim. The CIA believes Pakistan already has shared its nuclear know-how with Saudi Arabia, working with North Korea in exchange for missile technology. A Pakistani C-130 was spotted by satellite loading North Korean missiles at Pyongyang airport last year. Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia," the Pakistani source said, "see a world that is moving from nonproliferation to proliferation of nuclear weapons." The Saudi rulers, who are Sunni Muslims, are believed to have concluded that nothing will deter the Shi'ite Muslims who rule Iran from continuing their quest for a nuclear weapons capability. Pakistan, meanwhile, is concerned about a recent arms agreement between India, its nuclear archrival, and Israel, a longtime nuclear power whose inventory is estimated at between 200 and 400 weapons. To counter what Pakistani and Saudi leaders regard as multiple regional threats, the two countries have decided to quietly move ahead with an exchange of free or cheap Saudi oil for Pakistani nuclear know-how. Prince Abdullah reportedly sees Saudi oil reserves, the world's largest, as becoming increasingly vulnerable over the next 10 years. By mutual agreement, U.S. forces withdrew from Saudi Arabia earlier this year to relocate across the border in the tiny oil sheikdom of Qatar. Saudi officials have expressed concerns that the United States might seize and occupy oil fields in the country's Eastern Province. President Bush was reported to have confronted Pervez Musharraf over the Saudi nuclear issue during the Pakistani president's visit to Camp David this summer, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage raised the issue during a trip to Islamabad earlier this month. "Apart from proliferation concerns, Washington likely harbors more general fears about what would happen if either of the regimes in Riyadh or Islamabad became radically Islamic.

 

America is Waging a 'War on Christ'

Oct. 22….(FOJ) Christians and Christianity are targeted for extinction in America! Secularists and anti-Christian forces have engaged in a massive culture war against Christian principles in America for over 40 years. One need only look at the systematic comprehensive assault" on Christianity at all levels of society. Just in the last week, the Supreme Court decided to review a decision outlawing "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. (thanks to secularist anti-Christian Michael Newdow) Also last week a army general, William Boykin, was castigated as an intolerant bigoted Holy Warrior because he had the audacity openly to declare his faith in the God of the Bible, and to identify the real enemy of America in the war on terror. America is at a crossroads. The day is quickly coming when the name and testimony of Jesus Christ will be a criminal offense in our nation. God almighty is watching America to see what choices our nation will make concerning all of these matters. The Ten Commandments, the under God pledge, abortion, the sin of homosexuality and gay marriage, and the tolerance of all gods except the God who has a son named Jesus Christ are all issues that will carry the fate of America in the balance as it fights the ominous war-on-terror. But, as the case with General Boykin demonstrates, America doesn’t even know who the enemy is, nor does it know who God really is! God removed his “hedge-of-protection” from America on September 11, 2001 and is allowing a span of time for America to repent.
Sadly, I see no such spiritual turnaround happening in American culture. America’s anti-Christian culture war strategists are busy eradicating the name of Jesus Christ from our once Judeo-Christian society.

 

The Syrian-Iranian Terror Network

Oct. 22….(FOJ) After the US Congress slapped its war of economic sanctions on Syria last week, it appears that the Israeli-PLO-Syria confrontation has entered into a potentially crucial stage. Israel and Syria are each preparing for a possible military confrontation. This dangerous momentum has built up on several tracks.
The Syria-Hizballah-Iran track:
In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar Assad took up the gauntlets thrown down by the US congressional legislation for sanctions against his country. Israel has also Syria warned that the October 5 air strike near Damascus would not be the last if the Syrians continued to dabble in anti-Israel terrorism. Far from being deterred, the Syrian ruler called a terror summit last week to close ranks and to prepare a fresh onslaught. For the first time, the external Damascus-based head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Abdallah Shalah, and Hamas chief, Khaled Mashal, came and met together this week to plan a joint massive campaign of suicide and multi-casualty attacks in Israel. Iranian, Syrian and Hizballah representatives at the unprecedented get-together consecrated the new coalition. It was Assad’s way of showing contempt for Washington and for stressing his commitment not only to keep up the flow of anti-American fighters through his country into Iraq, but also to continue with parallel incursions of terrorists into Israel and Palestinian-controlled areas. The Islamic Jihad terrorist organization decided to distance itself from the influence of Fatah, (Arafat) including its political wing, and made common cause with the Palestinian Hamas and the Lebanese Hizballah, thereby fortifying the Syrian terror machine and offering reinforcements to Yasser Arafat’s suicidal al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. Iran bankrolls the Jihad Islamic and fully endorses the group’s new orientation.
Arafat’s Terror Front
Yesterday America gave Yasser Arafat a 48-hour deadline to come up with information for advancing their investigation into the remote-controlled bomb attack in the northern Gaza Strip Beit Hanoun district on October 15, in which three US security agents lost their lives. That time limit was also a temporary damper on Arafat’s campaign of terror. Meetings between U.S. investigators and Palestinian security officials at Beit Hanoun have gotten absolutely nowhere. (what a surprise!) The PLO continues to insist the attack was the work of Arab or unrecognized Palestinian bodies controlled from overseas, such as the Arab Liberation Front that Saddam Hussein once ran from Baghdad. They refuse to even permit the Americans to question or even see the suspects. After hearing the Palestinians out, the US agents accused them of leading the investigation down a blind alley and gave them 48 hours to come up with solid data for their next meeting.



Syria Says Mideast Stands on 'Crackling Volcano'


Oct. 21….(Naharnet) Flanked by senior Lebanese army officers, Syria's Chief-of-Staff Gen. Ali Turkmani has warned that the Middle East "is standing atop a crackling volcano" as a result of Israel's first air attack on Syrian soil in three decades, which was staged three weeks ago. Turkmani's remark came two days after he ordered the 320,000 soldiers of the army, navy and air force, including the 20,000 stationed in Lebanon, to go on an around-the-clock alert for a potential war with the Jewish state. "This volcano may explode any moment because of Ariel Sharon's deliberate escalation and expansion of the area of violence," Turkmani said in a graduation ceremony of a new batch of Syrian air force fighter pilots in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. A Lebanese army delegation was close to Turkmani in the main gallery when he called for Israel's withdrawal from all occupied territories conquered in the 1967 Middle East War as well as the Shabaa farms on the Lebanon-Israel border. Israel said in the meantime that the recent air attack on a Palestinian training base near Damascus was a message and if Syria failed to understand the message there will be more attacks.


Sharon Slams Geneva Accord at Knesset's Opening Session

Oct. 21….(Ha Aretz) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opened the winter session of the Knesset on Monday with a speech slamming the Geneva Accord proposal for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During the session, the government survived two no-confidence votes introduced by the Shas and Meretz parties.
Sharon accused the members of the opposition who had worked with Palestinian officials on the proposal of providing the Palestinian Authority with an excuse to escape its formal understandings with the government. "Every Palestinian deviation from the [internationally-brokered] road map is a boost for the terrorist organizations," he said. "But it is no wonder that they are trying to evade its implementation, there are those in Israel who are also ready to deviate from this plan through all kinds of other schemes."
Sharon declared PA Chairman Yasser Arafat the "greatest obstacle to peace," prompting several Arab legislators to leave the plenum in protest. Sharon said Arafat has sabotaged all peace efforts and was to blame for the latest upswing of attacks on Israelis.

 

Damascus: US 'Helping Zionist War'

Oct. 21….(Gulf Daily) In the latest salvo of a war of words with Washington, Syria accused the US yesterday of facilitating Israel's "annihilation war" against Palestinians by backing the Jewish state. Vice-President Zuheir Mash-arqa said the Palestinians had the right to continue to resist Israeli occupation, an apparent reference to Palestinian martyr attacks. "The Zionist enemy would not have committed terrorism acts against the Palestinians or waged an annihilation war against them... had it not been for the support, patronage and protection of the US administration," Masharqa said in a speech to a conference for Arabic language scholars. "No matter how hard Zionist circles and their backers try to label the acts of national resistance by the Arab Palestinian people as terror they will not end them," he said in comments reported by the official news agency. Washington has voiced support for Israel's right to defend itself after Israeli warplanes attacked a target near Damascus this month.


The Nuclear Kings of the East

Oct. 21….(Hal Lindsay) In a statement, it warned, “When an appropriate time comes, the DPRK will take a measure to open its nuclear deterrent to the public as a physical force and then there will be no need to have any more argument.” The implication is that the North Koreans are planning a nuclear test. Earlier this month, North Korea said it had redirected plutonium extracted from thousands of spent nuclear fuel rods to help enhance its deterrent force. U.S. intelligence officials have estimated the North had processed enough plutonium for two bombs. The New York Times reported this week there could be more. North Korea’s nukes are just the latest threat as countries across the Far East rush to arm themselves with doomsday weapons. India and Pakistan are both openly nuclear powers. Last year, tensions rose to such levels that only eleventh hour concessions prevented a nuclear exchange between them. Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, despite its protests to the contrary. The IAEA has given Iran until the end of this month to answer a series of questions about a program experts say could enable the Islamic regime to build a bomb by 2005. If Iran does not comply, the IAEA board could refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions against Iran. But experts say there is also a serious potential for pre-emptive military action by the United States or by Israel. Iran has been seeking nuclear technology since the time of the shah. He was overthrown in an Islamic revolution in 1979. Iranian officials insist that their program is meant only to generate electricity, and not to accumulate ingredients for weapons. But UN inspectors have found traces of highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium at a bogus watch-making plant near Tehran and a uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz. The Natanz plant’s existence was kept secret until last year, when an Iranian opposition group revealed it. Iran failed to report that it imported nearly 2 million tons of uranium ore from China in 1991. It has also failed to account for what happened to it all. And Iran conducted a successful test in July of its Shahab-3 missile, which can carry a 2,200-pound payload more than 900 miles. That would put Israel well within range. Secretary of State Colin Powell said this week that, “the IAEA has found conclusively that Iran is pursuing a clandestine program to produce fissile material that could be used to build nuclear weapons.” All of this fits into the predicted role of the Kings of the East in the War of Armageddon. The Apostle John predicts, “The Sixth Angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the Kings of the East.” (Rev.16:12) This must be connected with another prediction concerning a very strange Divine boundary set at the Euphrates River. John predicts in connection with the sixth trumpet judgment, ‘“Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrated.’ And the four angels who had been kept ready for this hour and day and month and year were released in order to ki1/3 mankind. The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.” (Rev.914-15 NIV) There are no coincidences in the Scripture. Every association has a meaning. The fact that the prophecy in 16:12 very specifically names the crossing of the Euphrates River by the Kings of the East, and 9:14-15 also links this vast army coming from east of the Euphrates is meant to connect and warn that they will number 200 million. It is a fact that the vast populations of Asia have historically been restrained from invading the Western World. When God releases these four particularly vicious angels, that restraint is taken away.

John emphasizes that “He heard the specific number of them.” John then predicts the cataclysm this Asian invasion will cause, “A Third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke (fall out) and brimstone (molten earth), which proceeds out of their mouth.” (Rev.9:18 NIV) I believe this is a case of a first century man witnessing a nuclear holocaust and trying to describe it with a first century vocabulary.
And Asia is just about ready to fulfill this fateful role.



PA Smuggles In Anti-Aircraft Missiles

Oct. 20….(FOJ) The Palestinian Authority is said to have succeeded in efforts to smuggle anti-aircraft missiles from Egypt. A Palestinian security officer detained by Israel asserted during interrogation that the PA used more than a dozen tunnels that extend from the southern Gaza town of Rafah to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula for the smuggling of anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, insurgents, semi-automatic weapons and ammunition.
FOJ Note: The Oslo Accords and the new Roadmap prohibit the PLO from equipping itself militarily, especially in an offensive manner. The PA procurements of anti-air missiles reveal the intention of the PLO. Also, the massive tunnels system from Egypt into Gaza belies the paper peace Israel has with Egypt.

 

Bush Urges America Onward in Face of Threats

Oct. 20….(Middle East News Line) A new audio message purportedly from Osama Bin Laden should persuade the world to support the US-led war on terror, President George W Bush has said. "The Bin Laden tape should say to everybody the war on terror goes on, that there's still a danger to free nations," Mr Bush said. In the tape, aired on the Arabic television station al-Jazeera, the speaker calls on the US to withdraw from Iraq and warns of more suicide attacks inside and outside the US. It praises the continuing violence against US forces in Iraq, where more than 100 American troops have been killed since Mr Bush declared major hostilities over in May. The latest message, broadcast on Saturday, was in two parts. In one, the voice called on young Muslims around the world, and "especially in the neighbouring countries and in Yemen" to go to Iraq to wage jihad or holy war. "America has fallen into the quagmires of the Tigris and Euphrates. Bush thought that Iraq and its oil are easy spoils," the voice said. "Now, he is in a critical situation." The second tape was a message directed at the American people. "I tell the American people: God willing, we will continue to fight you. We will continue the martyrdom operations inside and outside the United States until you end your injustice, abandon your stupidity."
FOJ Note: Obviously, the stupidity that Bin Laden is referring to is America’s support for Israel.



WEEK OF OCTOBER 13 THROUGH OCTOBER 20


The Jerusalem Globalism Summit

Oct. 17….(Arutz) Jerusalem was the host this week of the First Annual Jerusalem Summit (October 12-14), which drew together leading thinkers and statesmen from Israel, the United States and Europe. Under the banner "Building Peace on Truth", the Summit was called "to establish an international think-tank; an alliance of prominent intellectuals, public and spiritual leaders, who will search for solutions to the crucial global problems based on the rock of everlasting moral values, rather than on the shifting sands of political, economic or military interests," according to the organizers’ purpose statement. As for Israel, the Summit’s promotional material states, it is "the moral alternative to Totalitarianism of the East and Moral Relativism of the West." Accordingly, the Summit’s purpose statement says, "the immediate goal is to establish an international alliance of Israel's friends with a center in Jerusalem that will generate innovative public and information campaigns to benefit and secure Israel a place in the world.
FOJ Note: Satan is already logistically preparing for his world capitol in Jerusalem.


Al Qaida Targeting U.S. In Iraq

Oct. 17….(Middle East News Line) Al Qaida, unable to strike the United States, appears ready to plan a major attack against American troops in Iraq. The International Institute for Strategic Studies said in its annual report that Al Qaida has formed an alliance with the deposed regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to strike U.S. interests throughout Iraq. The London-based institute said in a report that the U.S.-led coalition was unprepared for Saddam's strategy of withdrawing his regular forces and converting them into insurgents aligned with Al Qaida. Al Qaida, the report said, appears unable to stage a repeat of the Sept. 11, 2001 suicide attacks on New York and Washington. But the group, with an estimated 18,000 trained insurgents spread over 100 countries, remains powerful and could adopt the strategy of Hizbullah when it killed nearly 300 Americans in suicide attacks in Lebanon in the early 1980s.
FOJ Note: There is also the possibility of Al Qaida networking with Iranian backed Shiite militants and with Syrian backed terrorist organizations to wage a guerrilla style war on America in Iraq. And of course, it should never be forgotten that Russia is assisting in the development of the Iranian nuclear program. It looks like the Euphrates River Valley is shaping into the frontline of the war on terror!
(Jeremiah 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.)

 

General Rebuked For Talk Of God

Oct. 17….(Washington Post) Remarks by a three-star U.S. Army general casting the war on terrorism in religious terms drew rebukes yesterday from politicians and military specialists and calls from religious groups for the officer to be reassigned or reprimanded. A Los Angeles Times citing Boykin, who is an evangelical Christian, accuses him of inciting hatred. General Boykin says Islamic extremists hate the United States because "we're a Christian nation" and added that our "spiritual enemy will only be defeated if we come against them in the name of Jesus Christ. Outraged by Boykin's remarks, the Interfaith Alliance appealed to Bush to reprimand the general. An Islamic rights group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, demanded that Boykin be reassigned. "Putting a man with such extremist views in a critical policymaking position sends entirely the wrong message to a Muslim world that is already skeptical about America's motives and intentions," said Nihad Awad, the council's executive director.

 

God Put Bush in Charge, says General

Oct. 17….(Telegraph) The American general leading the hunt for Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein has publicly declared that the Christian God is "bigger" than Allah, who is a false "idol", and believes the war on terrorism is a fight with Satan, it emerged yesterday. Investigative reporters from the Los Angeles Times and NBC television have dug up two years' worth of seemingly incendiary comments from Lt. General William "Jerry" Boykin, the newly promoted deputy undersecretary of state of defense for intelligence. General Boykin has repeatedly told Christian groups and prayer meetings that President George W Bush was chosen by God to lead the global fight against Satan. He told one gathering: "Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans did not vote for him. He's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this." In January, he told Baptists in Florida about a victory over a Muslim warlord in Somalia, who had boasted that Allah would protect him from American capture. "I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real god and his was an idol," General Boykin said. He also emerged from the conflict with a photograph of the Somalian capital Mogadishu bearing a strange dark mark. He has said this showed "the principalities of darkness, a demonic presence in that city that God revealed to me as the enemy". On the Middle East, General Boykin told an Oregon church in June that America could not ignore its Judaeo-Christian roots. "Our religion came from Judaism and therefore Islamic radicals will hate us forever." In the same month, General Boykin told an Oklahoma congregation that Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were not the enemy. "Our enemy is a spiritual enemy because we are a nation of believers, his name is Satan."
In June, Boykin said, "The battle that we're in is a spiritual battle. Satan wants to destroy America, he wants to destroy us as a nation, and he wants to destroy us as a Christian army." (FOJ note: This statement is the absolute truth! Christians need to wake up to this reality!) Thse disclosures will doubtless be seized on by Muslim critics as proof that the US-led war on terrorism is a crusade against Islam. It is a charge that Mr. Bush has worked hard to refute. Though careful to respect minority religions within its ranks, the US military is strikingly devout from top to bottom. Mr. Bush and several key figures in his administration are staunch Christian conservatives. Few outside the Pentagon noticed when General Boykin, a 13-year member of Delta Force, the top-secret commando unit modeled on the SAS, was promoted this summer, with responsibility for speeding the flow of top-secret intelligence to commandos hunting bin Laden and other high-value targets. At a routine press conference yesterday, Donald Rumsfeld, the normally confident defense secretary, appeared wrong-footed by the controversy. He hailed the general's "outstanding record" and said his comments were made "in his private capacity". However, Mr. Rumsfeld was careful to cite Mr. Bush's injunctions against viewing Islam as the enemy. General Boykin told NBC that he would be curtailing his speeches to religious groups. "I don't want to come across as a Right-wing radical," he said.
FOJ Note: Thank God for General Boykin! General Boykin is exactly correct in his comments, and his comments should not be construed as politically insensitive or from a political base. The truth is the truth, and the sooner America learns these truths, the better. General Boykin is also correct when he says that God placed President Bush in his present position as our President. It is also true that God can remove him at any time, (if America doesn’t repent) and allow America to be led by someone that would be anti-Christian. (umm…and they are already waiting in the wings too!)

 

Fatah Believed To Have Attacked U.S. Convoy

Oct. 17….(Middle East News Line) Palestinian insurgents believed to have stemmed from the ruling Fatah movement were said to have bombed a U.S. convoy in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources said the insurgents came from the Fatah movement loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and were financed by Iran to launch attacks against U.S. interests. The sources said the insurgents had contacts within the PA security agencies and for months planned an attack against American targets. The attack reflected tactics similar to those of the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah. The sources said the insurgents used a remote-controlled mine that was more than 80 kilograms, similar to the bombs used to destroy Israeli Merkava Mk-3 main battle tanks in 2001 and 2002. "The bomb was prepared weeks ago and placed at the location for at least a week," a source said. "When they learned of the arrival of the Americans, they acted." The Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) also announced today that it has been documenting for years how "in its English statements, the PA presents itself as an American ally, while its Arabic messages incite its people to hate and kill Americans. Never has this hypocrisy been more striking than after the Palestinian ambush that targeted and killed the three American diplomats in the Gaza Strip.

 

US May Take Action Against Syria

Oct. 17….(Jerusalem Post) Pentagon adviser Richard Perle said yesterday that the recent Israeli attack on an alleged training camp for Palestinian militants in Syria was long overdue and that he would not rule out U.S. military action against the Arab state.
FOJ Note: (Isaiah 17:1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.) Who will soon deliver the blow to Damascus, America or Israel? That’s the only mystery about this subject.



Bush: Terror Compromises Palestinian Statehood

Oct. 16….(Fox News) U.S. President George W. Bush blamed Palestinian authorities Wednesday for the deaths, saying their failure to create security forces to combat terrorism "continues to cost lives." "Palestinian authorities should have acted long ago to fight terror in all its forms," said the president in a written statement. "There must be an empowered Prime Minister who controls all Palestinian forces, reforms that continue to be blocked by Yasser Arafat." "The failure to undertake these reforms and dismantle the terrorist organizations constitutes the greatest obstacle to achieving the Palestinian people's dream of statehood," Bush said. On the West Bank, Arafat condemned the attack as an "awful crime" and said he had ordered an investigation. But Bush and other U.S. officials took no public notice of Arafat's remarks.

 

Islamic Nations Meet For Arafat!

Oct. 16….(AP) The biggest summit of Islamic leaders in three years opened today with calls for the world's 1.3 billion Muslims to unite against "a few million Jews" who allegedly rule the world by controlling the world's major powers and to offer support to beleaguered Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and reassert their support for the uprising against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, according to a draft resolution. The OIC resolution applauds the "legitimate leadership commanded by President Yasser Arafat in the face of Israeli aggression" and demands the immediate lifting of restrictions imposed against Arafat. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Muslims need guns and rockets, bombs and warplanes, tanks and warships for our defense. Malaysia, a moderate, mostly Muslim nation in Southeast Asia, has long been a longtime critic of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and of U.S. policy in the Middle East, including its strong backing of Israel. Mahathir, chairman of the two-day summit, launched a blistering attack on what he described as Jewish domination of the world. Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad (L) greeting Iran's Mohammad Khatami at the OIC summit.

 

House Approves Sanctions on Syria

Oct. 16….(Ha Aretz) The U.S. of Representatives voted to impose sanctions on Syria, tightening the economic and diplomatic squeeze on a nation the United States says is harboring terrorists and developing weapons of mass destruction. The House bill, passed 398-4 Wednesday, codifies some of the options the president already possesses to punish Syria, designated by the administration as a rogue state and a state sponsor of terrorism. It is also certain to further strain relations with Syria, which the United States says has done little to stop anti-American terrorists from entering Iraq and has aided terrorist groups carrying out violence against Israel. Washington has been unhappy with Syria's refusal to expel leaders of Islamic Jihad and Hamas, two Palestinian groups designated by the State Department as terrorist organizations. Bush defended the bombing earlier this month of a location near Damascus that Israel said was a training camp for Islamic Jihad. "Syria is two-faced, throwing a few small bones of information to American sources while continuing to aid the most violent terrorist groups in the Middle East, The bill states that Syria must end its support for terrorism, remove its 20,000 troops in Lebanon, and stop efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction and long-range ballistic missiles and stop the illegal shipments of weapons to Iraq or oil from Iraq.



No One is Safe in God’s Land

Oct. 15….(Jan Markell/Olive Tree Ministry) Just a day after 10,000 Christian Zionists paraded through the streets of Jerusalem from dozens of countries in the annual Feast of Tabernacles, there was an attack on American diplomats today in Gaza, killing several. Of course the big question: Who's responsible? Why is no one reporting that over the years many Americans have been killed by Arafat and other Palestinian radicals in Israel? And they have never been held accountable. Will this change anything? Perhaps it will. Killed were American diplomats and CIA officials deployed in the area to monitor the implementation of the "Road Map". All the vehicles in the convoy bore diplomatic license plates that identified them as Americans. Some traditional media outlets are already "spinning" this as "unintentional", but those at the scene say it was clearly a road-side bomb deliberately targeting the diplomats. A number of scenarios may unfold: 1) Palestinian cabinet official Saeb Ereket said moments ago that this "underscores the necessity for international peace-keeping forces" which would be a disaster for Israel. U.N. troops have been there before, looking the other way at every Palestinian atrocity against Israel. 2) Syria may have been behind this in that the U.S. was supportive of Israel's strike inside Syria last week. Syria will likely be the next battlefield in our war on terror as she has more terrorists and training camps within her borders than one can count. Her regime is as evil as Iraq's former regime. 3) Arafat is possibly behind this as he is ultimately in control of almost all terror elements in the region. Could this lead to the U.S. giving Israel the o.k. to expel him? If so, watch the world have a collective stroke as it gives sympathy to the devil. 4) Al-Qaida could be involved, but if so, will remain in the shadows as it always does. The Palestinian areas are a haven for al-Qaida operatives, some who fled from Afghanistan to the Palestinian territories. All peace efforts in God's Land are strong delusions, not just the "Road Map." Actually, the "Road Map" may be dead, unless the E.U. revives it. Who comes out of the E.U. with a "sure-thing" peace plan? "Mr. Fix-It...the man with a plan...the Antichrist. The Bible says some day troops (U.N.?) will surround Jerusalem, but all those who get involved will be "cut in pieces." (Zech. 12)

 

Sharon Thanks Christians for Supporting Israel

Oct. 15….(ICEJ) This week, Jews around the world are celebrating the feast of tabernacles. Thousands of Christian pilgrims are in Jerusalem for a celebration of the feast, and they heard from some of Israel's highest leaders. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon addressed more than 3,000 Christians at the opening celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. Sharon said, "You're here because your hearts and souls brought you here to the land of the Bible." To some, the gathering, which marks one of the feasts commanded in the Bible, represents the tip of the iceberg of worldwide Christian support for Israel. Malcolm Hedding, executive director of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem said, “the groups present here tonight represent millions of Christians around the world who stand with Israel and are prepared to come here and express their love and support for this people at this time." Israel's weariness and world isolation from the three-year battle against Palestinian terrorists makes the support from Christians more important than ever. Michael Utterback, international director of the International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem said, 'The Israelis have never been in the situation they are in since the founding of the country; where they just feel hopeless, where they feel everyone has turned against them. And yet, it's been stated over and over again the last three years that the evangelical Christians of the world are our best friends." Rannan Gissan, spokesman for the Prime Minister, said, "We don't have many friends around us in the world. It gets quite lonely. And when you're at the head of the column, you always want the soldiers to tap you on the helmet to know someone is behind you. Your coming here is tapping on the helmets of all the Israelis who are standing in the front lines for freedom, for prosperity, for western society." A sentiment Sharon echoed to the crowd. "Your support sends a strong message to the world and your friendship is important to us. Very important."
FOJ Note: Christian support for Israel never implies that Christians are anti-Arab. God has chosen Israel as his vehicle of national testimony to the whole world. Israel has given the world the two greatest gifts the world has ever received. Those gifts are the Holy Bible and Jesus Christ. Someday the whole world will know the blessedness of Israel.

 

Gaza Blast Was Arafat’s Shot at Bush

Oct. 15….(FOJ) At least three American embassymen were killed and another seriously wounded today when a terrorist detonated a bomb that was placed to hit a U.S. Embassy convoy in northern Gaza near the border with Israel, according to U.S. and Israeli sources. A senior administration official in Washington confirmed that the four American casualties were employed by the U.S. Embassy to provide security. It was the first attack on a U.S. target in three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting and likely will cause the United States to Yasser Arafat to take action against Palestinian terrorist groups. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat condemned the attack, calling it an "awful crime" and said he ordered an investigation. (he probably orchestrated it) When U.S. investigators arrived to photograph the scene, about a dozen Palestinian youths threw stones at the investigators as about 200 Palestinians looked on. As the angry crowd chanted "Allahu Akbar" -- "our God is greater" -- the Americans rushed back into their cars, surrounded by nervous Palestinian security officers with rifles raised. Attacks on U.S. targets have taken place in other Arab countries, including Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and now Iraq. In October last year, an American administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development was gunned down in Amman, Jordan, in an assassination thought linked to Al Qaeda. But in the bloody conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, there has been an unofficial policy of "hands-off" the Americans, though American civilians have been caught in the crossfire, killed in suicide bombings or by Israeli soldiers taking action against militants. Now that has all changed, and probably with Arafat’s blessing! Despite official denials, the American convoy was carrying members of John Wolf’s monitoring team appointed by the US President to bring some normalcy to Palestinian-controlled areas and start defusing Palestinian-Israel warfare. (something Arafat opposes) Clearly, the Palestinian attack aimed at undermining not only the American initiative but also the efforts of diplomats and aid workers posted in region by the United Nations and Europeans, who of late are avoiding contact with Yasser Arafat and threatening to sever ties with him altogether. Now, their representatives and staff will almost certainly emulate their colleagues in Iraq and quietly pull up their stakes in the embattled country. Arafat, despite his grave health condition, is still concocting one of his famous smoke-and- mirrors stratagems. Brandishing an olive branch while concealing his gun, he assigned one of his top dis-information experts, Yasser Abd Rabbo, to the task of luring a group of Israeli peace now-left-wingers (Arafat has always played the Peres-Labor peace wing like a drum) into the web of deceit which this week became known as the “Geneva Accords”. At the very moment that attention focused on the debate aroused by this “peace” initiative, he struck an official American target in the Gaza Strip with swift, dramatic effect as the next stage in his coming terror campaign. Arafat stirs the terrorist machine in Gaza and the West Bank whether the perpetrators are Palestinian, Hizballah or even al Qaeda.



China and EU Forming Alliance

Oct. 14….(Telegraph) The European Union is the world's rising superpower, poised to overtake both America and Japan as the biggest trade and investment force in China, according to a strategic policy paper published by Beijing. The Chinese government says the EU is transforming the global landscape with its successful currency launch and strides towards a joint foreign policy, defense, and judicial union. The EU presently enjoys a 25-35 per cent share of the global economy and is projected to grow to a 450 million population after expanding into the former communist (Russian) bloc next year. The white paper follows a flurry of Sino-EU ventures, including the Galileo global satellite system, described as a direct challenge to the American GPS monopoly in space. The two sides are also working together on nuclear research. France and Germany have been pushing hard for closer ties with China, hoping to cash in on a lucrative market but also to develop a strategic alliance as a counterweight to American power after the diplomatic trauma of the Iraq war. The Chinese already have the world's second biggest defense budget. China's efforts to court Brussels (EU) reflects a new mood of respect for the EU across Asia.

 

America Is Being De-Christianized

Oct. 14….(Elwood McQuaid-Friends of Israel) On September 20, US Secretary of State Colin Powell told a group at the UN in New York that the United States is a "Judeo-Christian" country. Immediately Powell felt compelled to amend his statement by saying America is "a country of many faiths." Scratch Judeo-Christian and insert country of many faiths. This qualification put the secretary back on the politically correct side of the ledger, and that was that. Or was it? Powell's obvious slip of the tongue and his quick attempt to rectify it demonstrate the prevailing mood of our society to appease the rabid minorities that are fast calling the shots for the rest of us in the "land of the free." What is wrong with referring to America as a Judeo-Christian country? After all, the basis of our traditional concepts of law, morality, civility, and social order have been rooted in Judeo-Christian principles and ethics, and then translated into personal lifestyles and community mores. For more than two centuries the international community referred to the United States as a "Christian nation." And though it may not have been accurate in the most biblical sense of the term, no one seemed to object. Who takes to the streets in Muslim countries with the expressed intent of wiping the landscape clean of Muhammad's visage? And who lambastes Islamic representatives at the UN for saying, "Ours is a Muslim country"? Cultural forces are on a crusade to destroy the underpinnings of our Judeo-Christian heritage. And make no mistake about it: the liberal militant anti-Judeo-Christian forces will not rest until every vestige of the Christian foundation upon which this country was built is destroyed. This culture war is nothing new. It has recurred time and time again over the course of history, and inevitably it will continue as long as Satan runs loose.

 

Damascus, Washington and Israel Wrestle

Oct. 14….(FOJ) Syria is secretly calling up 300,000 reservists to double the size of its army. Obviously President Assad is preparing for the prospects of war. Syria has discovered that it can no longer bank on immunity from American military retribution, as it had previously, because it now perceives that the Bush Administration is no longer reluctant to apply force against a second problematic Arab country after Iraq. The Israeli attack near Damascus last week changed that. Bashar Assad should look at the Israeli attack as the “last American warning through a third party” and perceived that Syria is the potential target of a two-pronged military threat posed by the Americans and the Israelis. The Bush Administration began to lose patience with Syria last month when US special forces operating in the Sunni Triangle of central Iraq and among the Iraqi-Syrian tribes facilitating the smuggling of men and arms through the al Qaim border district, discovered vast sums of cash being pumped from Syrian banks to the anti-American guerrilla forces killing American troops in Iraq day after day. This was followed by the uncovering of the “Syrian spy ring” at Guantanamo Bay. The Bush Administration wants full disclosure about $700 million of Saddam Hussein’s money on deposit in banks in Damascus and Aleppo. America is finally onto the Syrian game of concealing the full scope of Saddam’s fortune, and Assad’s gambit to continue his double game which consists of a paltry measure of cooperation with US forces in Iraq coupled with all-out collaboration with Saddam’s loyalist forces in Central Iraq. President Bush sent Assad an ultimatum two weeks ago, demanding information from Syria on the weapons of mass destruction which Syrian military engineering units transported from Iraq into Syria between January 10 and March 10. Since the likelihood of the Bashar government ever coming through on any of these points is zero, (or ever closing down terrorist organizations in Damascus) the frictions between Washington and Damascus are expected to be long-lived and the border tensions between Jerusalem and south Lebanon via Damascus unabated.




Geneva Accords: Israel to Surrender Temple Mount?

Oct. 13….(JNEWSWIRE)Jewish political leftists, acting without the knowledge or authorization of the Israeli government, have "agreed" to surrender the Jewish nation's claim to their holiest site, the Temple Mount. And Palestinians, acting with the blessing of PLO leader Yasser Arafat, have agreed to sign away their highly prized "right of return" in exchange for the one thing Muslim Arabs cherish more: the site of the biblical Jewish temples. Israelis describe Jerusalem, the city that was King David's capital more than 3000 years ago, as the heart of the land of Israel. The Temple Mount, known in the Bible as Mount Moriah and the Hill of the Lord, they call the heart of Jerusalem. It was the site of Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple, which Herod the Great began to refurbish shortly before the birth of Jesus. It is also the site of the future throne room of the Messiah King, according to the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. The mount, enclosed by the walls of the Old City, is the most volatile issue in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Driven out of Jerusalem in AD70, after witnessing the devastation of the city and the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews around the world have prayed daily for nearly 2000 years to be restored to their capital and their mount. In 1967, after the Arab states massed their armies in order to drive the Jews into the sea, Israel retook control of all Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. Speaking to thousands of pilgrims at a Christian celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem last night, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stressed that the city was "the united and undivided capital of the State of Israel forever." According to the International Christian Embassy, which sponsored the event, Sharon reminded his listeners, including the millions who would hear his words via the media, that "Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible 677 times." "Zion as Jerusalem," he said, "is mentioned another154 times." "And the name of King David, who made Jerusalem his capital 3000 years ago, was "mentioned 1083 times. " By contrast, Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Muslims' Koran. Sharon rammed home the fact that "only after Jerusalem was reunited in 1967 with the Temple Mount at the center, was freedom of worship guaranteed at all the holy sites."
Despite the strongly expressed convictions, it appeared Sunday as if the Israeli left-wingers who negotiated the "deal," among them chief Oslo-architect Yossi Beilin and former Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna, had put the Sharon government on the defensive. Last Wednesday, Sharon had knifed into the plotters for what he called "a cynical political attempt by Labor and the left to topple the government by illegitimate means." Left wing groups had been "coordinating their actions with the Palestinians behind the government's back," Sharon said, and this at a time when Israel was "engaged in a difficult campaign against terror." Reacting to the news reports on the deal that flooded the Israeli press Sunday evening, Sharon said the initiative had foiled any chance of advancing serious negotiations on a peace agreement. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom tried to dismiss the deal as "virtual," saying, "there is a government in Israel That deals with such matters," adding that he would "not have expected much else from those who brought us the Oslo Accords, for which foolishness we are still paying the price today. Dismissing what Ha'aretz called the government's "fury," the Beilin-Mitzna cabal is planning a signing ceremony in Switzerland on or near November 4, the anniversary of the assassination of a former Labor Party Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin. The Swiss Government will reportedly sponsor the signing event. Following the ceremony, copies of the agreement will be mailed to Israeli households in an effort to garner widespread public support for it.

 

Confronting the Syrian Threat

Oct. 13….(GOPUSA) Although Iran and its emerging nuclear capacity are generating the big media headlines, Syria is proving to be a significant threat to the security of the Middle East as well. Bashar Assad's regime could very well trigger a flash-point in the region by its escalating aggression, particularly those acts aimed at Israel. The heart of the matter is that Syria is a rogue nation that aids and abets terrorism with alacrity. According to Sky News, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry noted that "Israel views every state which is harboring terrorist organizations, and the leaders of those terrorist organizations who are attacking innocent citizens of the state of Israel, as legitimate targets out of self-defense". In light of the most recent suicide bombing that killed 20 people in Haifa, Israel engaged in a well-warranted military response that rained Israeli air strikes upon a reputed terrorist training camp just outside of Damascus last week. The Islamic Jihad organization, which claimed responsibility for the Haifa attack, is being harbored and trained in Syria along with other terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. (And make no mistake, Hezbollah does have a salient terrorist component, even if it incorporates political and social-welfare branches within its larger organization). Israel rejected the subsequent ire and carping of the Syrians, citing Syria's collusion with terrorist groups that continue to target Israeli civilians. In fact, the Israelis have demonstrated considerable restraint in response to Syria's history of bellicose actions. Strikes and counterstrikes are all part of the ongoing battle being waged between the two nations for more than fifty-five years. Three major conflicts (1948, 1967, and 1973) have been initiated by Syria, since Israel's inception, and Syria continues to perpetrate low-intensity warfare against Israel by-way-of terror assaults staged from Syrian-occupied Southern Lebanon. There are palpable indications that another major conflict is brewing between Syria and Israel.

 

Syria Asked to Give Up Saddam's $3bn Loot

Oct. 13….(Telegraph) America believes that up to $3 billion of Saddam Hussein's loot is stashed away in Syrian government-controlled banks, a senior US official said yesterday. It has asked Damascus to surrender the money for fear it is used by Ba'ath Party diehards to pay for attacks on coalition troops in Iraq, the official told Time magazine. With tension between the two countries rising dramatically, Syria has publicly denied the accusation. But it is said to have claimed privately that unnamed accounts have been frozen. Since Saddam's downfall, the US has been hunting for the billions he is believed to have hidden away.


Damascus Chasing EU Deal

Oct. 13….(Daily Star) After almost a decade of wavering over whether to sign an association agreement with the EU aimed at a zone of shared prosperity throughout the Mediterranean basin, President Bashar al-Assad has indicated that Damascus will now be joining. The decision is a strategic one for Syria. With the Syria Accountability Act (SAA) now effectively adopted by the Bush Administration as a policy tool and the prospect of sanctions on Damascus looming, Damascus is in need of political cover. The decision by Syria to finally approach the EU is a deeply political strategy that is being compared by Middle East analysts to that taken in the 1960s to side with the Soviet Union. Syria is now taking the approach that it will be much more difficult for the US to attack and pressure a country which is a ‘partner’ of the EU.”

 

Pope Marks 25th Year as Pontiff

Oct. 13….(VOANEWS) Pope John Paul II has begun a week of activities celebrating his 25th year in office. The pontiff kicked off his anniversary week Sunday by appealing to young people for continued loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church. While addressing crowds in Rome he said he wants the young to know he still depends on their prayers and support, just as he did in the early days of his papacy. Later this week he is expected to meet with church officials from all over the world, beatify the late nun Mother Teresa, and hold a special thanksgiving Mass on Thursday.



WEEK OF OCTOBER 6 THROUGH OCTOBER 11

 

Weapons of Mass Destruction -- and Obstruction

Oct. 11….(Harpazo) Last week, CIA adviser and head of the Iraq Survey Group David Kay offered his interim report to Congress on his team's three-month-old search for evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The report states, "Iraq's WMD programs spanned more than two decades, involved thousands of people, billions of dollars, and was elaborately shielded by security and deception operations that continued even beyond the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Saddam had dozens of WMD-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations during the inspections that began in late 2002. The discovery of these deliberate concealment efforts have come about both through the admissions of Iraqi scientists and officials concerning information they deliberately withheld and through physical evidence of equipment and activities that ISG has discovered that should have been declared to the UN." President Bush made it plain to the United Nations a year ago that his principal concern in a post-September 11 world was not merely that a rogue regime such as Saddam Hussein's had WMD programs, but that such horrific weapons could find their way out of Iraq into the hands of surrogate terrorists. There is a substantial body of intelligence, as The Federalist reported in November of '02, that Iraq shipped some or all of its biological and nuclear WMD stores to Syria and Lebanon's heavily fortified Bekaa Valley. Indeed, additional intelligence this week indicates Syria is active in the production of biological and chemical weapons, quite possibly taking up where Saddam left off. An opponent to the ousting of Iraq's Ba'athists, Syria's foreign minister, Farouk al-Sharaa, made his country's position clear, saying, "Syria's interest is to see the invaders defeated in Iraq." Even more alarming, Damascus is pursuing a nuclear weapons program as well, under the guise of nuclear-energy development. The Syrians are conducting their nuclear R&D with contracted Russian aid, the precise pattern already observed in Iran.



Terrorists are Simply, “Bloodletters”!

Oct. 10….(FOJ) On Rosh Hashanah eve, on September 26th, a so-called heroic Palestinian "freedom fighter" knocked on the door of a trailer home in Negahot, where thirty religious families live quietly on two barren hilltops, and jubilantly murdered a seven-month old girl. Planned precisely for the start of the Jewish New Year, this deliberate attack on a Jewish infant with an M-16 assault rifle was subsequently described by Hamas and Islamic Jihad as a "successful military operation against the criminal Zionist occupation. Several months ago, a Palestinian terrorist machine-gunned two Jewish infants still sucking on pacifiers after the mother had been stabbed to death. What possible motivation relative to the so-called occupation could cause infants to be cast as the enemy? If it is simply state on West Bank lands that the Palestinians allegedly seek, do their leaders really believe that burning and dismembering Jewish infants will best incline Israel toward a compromise? Of course not, and that’s because they do not desire a compromise. And what sort of State would these merciless blood-letters build beside Israel anyway? The barbarism of Palestinian terrorism is unparalleled in the long history of mans inhumanity to man. The terrorists just like to shed innocent blood, and the more innocent the better. That is a characteristic of only one entity I know of—SATAN.

 

Arab League Wants U.N. Fence Resolution

Oct. 10….(Washington Times) Arab nations called on the U.N. Security Council yesterday to convene an immediate open meeting to discuss the barrier Israel is building which cuts into the West Bank and to approve a resolution calling it "illegal. "Syria's U.N. Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad, whose country is the only Arab nation on the 15-member council, circulated a letter and a draft resolution at a closed council meeting on behalf of the 22-member Arab League. In the letter, he described the security barrier as Israel's "expansionist conquest wall." In its bid to stop Palestinian suicide bombers and other attackers, Israel has already built some 90 miles of the security barrier that will eventually stretch, depending on the route, up to four times that distance. Palestinian officials have denounced the barrier as a land grab, charging that Israel is unilaterally drawing a border that should be determined in peace talks. But Israel contends it is essential, stressing that many suicide bombers have simply walked across the unmarked line between Israel and the West Bank, blowing themselves up in Israeli cities. The United States wants the barrier to run close to the Green Line, the frontier between Israel and the West Bank before the 1967 Mid-east war. The draft resolution circulated Thursday would have the Security Council decide "that the construction by Israel, the occupying power, of a wall in the occupied territories and in departure of the armistice line of 1949 is illegal under relevant provisions of international law and must be ceased and reversed."

 

State Dept. Worried About Israel Going Into Syria

Oct. 10….(UPI) The U.S. State Department has been trying to get the White House to pressure the Israelis to promise not to violate Syrian airspace the next time they respond to a suicide attack. But the Bush White House so far has been reluctant to dissuade Israel from its national defense posture, stating that Israel had a right to defend itself. U.S. overhead satellite photographs show the facility the Israelis decimated in Syria was indeed a training facility and in use at least a year ago, according to one U.S. official with access to the intelligence. This official said that the camp was recently refurbished with new construction and paved access roads and U.S. counter-terrorism analysts believed the camp could train not only operatives seeking to train and equip suicide bombers in Israel, but also in Iraq. "In the last 20 years there have not been Israeli attacks into Syria," former Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Edward Walker said in an interview Wednesday. "As soon as you break a barrier like this it makes it easier the next time." But he also cautioned, "It is hard to challenge the Israelis on this because they are doing nothing more than what we've done in Iraq." In the aftermath of Israel's attack on Syria, the Bush Administration's stance towards Damascus has gotten even frostier. Both the White House and State Department Wednesday signaled that the administration would lift objections to the Syria Accountability Act, legislation that would impose a wide range of new sanctions on Syria.

 

Distress of Nations, With Perplexity

Oct. 10….(FOJ) Focus on Jerusalem is soon to present its newest article, Distress of Nations With Perplexity. The article is based upon the statement of Jesus in his Olivert Discourse. (Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;) Have you ever wondered what this fascinating prophecy means? The world has never experienced the kind of geo-political anxiety that it is facing today. Please check the articles section of FOJ for this important study in the coming weeks. The word “distress” as used by Luke refers to the anxiety and anguish the nations of the world are already experiencing, but the word also refers to the innate desire of the nations for “a policy of restraint,” to prevail in the Last Days as the world coils in horror at the thought of nuclear holocaust. (Have you ever noticed how many times world leaders caution Israel and the Arabs to exercise “restraint” in their perpetual conflict?



Russia Growing Annoyed With West

Oct. 9….(BBC) Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov says that Russia will not rule out a pre-emptive military strike anywhere in the world if the national interest demands it. He said that Russia faced ‘foreign interference’ in its internal affairs and instability in neighboring states as well as classic threats such as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, international terrorism and the drug trade. Russian President Vladimir Putin, added that the Russian military still possessed a formidable nuclear arsenal. The Russian Defense Ministry also called on NATO to review its strategy, warning that otherwise it would be necessary to pursue "a radical reconstruction of Russian military planning, including changes in Russian nuclear strategy". Mr. Putin signed an agreement with US President George W Bush to cut the two countries' nuclear arsenals by two-thirds in 10 years. But many in Russia's military establishment are angry that former East Bloc allies are joining NATO, as the Western alliance moves into traditional spheres of Russian influence.
FOJ Note: The Russian bear would probably get very angry if something happened to Syria, or to Iran! The Russians and especially the Chinese have turned a willing blind eye while the North Koreans supply the Middle East portion of the Axis of Evil with weapons of mass destruction.

 

Israel to the UN: God is Watching You

Oct. 9….(JNEWSWIRE) Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman leveled a stern warning at Security Council members Sunday as they debated a Syria-sponsored draft resolution condemning Israel's strike on a terrorist base near Damascus. "God is watching" you, Gillerman said. The vote on the resolution has been postponed for the second time because Syria refuses to include a condemnation of terrorism in its text.
FOJ Note: A Palestinian-backed, Syrian-sponsored draft resolution demanding that Israel halt construction of its security fence may be introduced into the council in the coming days, and an additional resolution urging the parties to implement the road map is in the works. The road map, currently a US-led initiative of the international quartet, could become a UN plan if the resolution is adopted. "This is a very curious development that would have ominous repercussions for America.

 

PA TV Urges Israel's Destruction

Oct. 9….(Jerusalem Post) Despite rhetoric about wanting to secure peace with Israel, Palestinian officials, through PA television, have begun broadcasting a music video that promotes the use of violence to effect the destruction of the Jewish State. According to Palestinian Media Watch, PA TV last week "started re-broadcasting a short clip that reaffirms the fundamental PLO-PA message, that the goal and end result of Palestinian violence will be Israel's destruction.

 

The Terrorist Chain

Oct. 9….(FOJ) All the Palestinian suicide bombers have something in common. The axis of Palestinian-Islamic terror leads from Teheran through Damascus and Beirut to the Palestinians in Gaza and Ramallah. Similarly, the axis of al-Qaida terror went through Afghanistan and Iraq to the suicide bombers who perpetrated the 9/11 massacre in New York and Washington. The arms ship Karine A captured by Israel in January 2002 in the Red Sea was on its way from Iran to Yasser Arafat. Other arms shipments to Gaza come from Syria and Lebanon and originate from Iran. The orders, and frequently the financial backing, for terror attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad come from Iran and Syria. The suicide bomber is only the end of this production line.

 

Rumors Fly About Arafat

Oct. 9….(FOJ) There are a lot of rumors circulating this week about Yasser Arafat’s health. One report says that he has had a heart attack, while another hints that he may have died. As always, it is next to impossible for Palestinian Authority to tell the truth, so, FOJ shall wait and see. Albeit, I do find it ironic that Arafat and the Pope are each on the death-watch at the same time.



Israel Warns Syria and Iran to Step Carefully

Oct. 7….(JNEWSWIRE) Syria and Iran will find themselves in a deteriorating situation unless they act cautiously in the coming days, the head of IDF Northern Command, Benny Gantz, warned Monday evening. The veiled threat came as Syrian diplomats pressed Washington to support a UN Security Council resolution condemning Sunday's IAF air strike on a Palestinian terrorist training camp near Damascus, and as Israeli forces along the Lebanon border exchanged fire with Hezbullah forces. A sniper with Hezbollah fired toward Israeli soldiers, killing one soldier on a routine patrol near the border with Lebanon not far from the Israeli town of Metulla.

 

Egypt Says Arafat Removal Would be "Terrorist Act"

Oct. 7….(Reuters) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said today that if Israel expelled Palestinian President Yasser Arafat it would be a "terrorist act" condemned by the international community. Israeli calls to expel Arafat intensified after a Palestinian suicide bomb killed 19 people in Haifa two days ago, but Mubarak warned Israel of "grave consequences" if they went ahead and removed the Palestinian leader. "If Israel carries out its threat to expel Arafat, it will not achieve its goal. This would be an illegal act considered to be terrorist and condemned by the entire international community and will not lead to anything but the promotion of a climate of violence and despair", Mubarak said. Mubarak's comments came in the text of an interview published by the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1973 October War, when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise assault on Israel. Mubarak has previously criticized Israeli calls to exile Arafat many times, saying it would not serve the cause of peace.

 

Assad Speaks Out Against Israel & US

Oct. 7….(Reuters) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused Israel of trying to drag Syria and the rest of the Middle East into wider conflict in his first public comments on the weekend Israeli air strike near Damascus. Assad told London-based al-Hayat newspaper Syria would not yield to U.S. demands to expel Palestinian organizations. "The raid is an attempt by the Israeli government to extract itself from its big crisis by trying to terrorize Syria and drag it and the region into other wars," he said. "This Israeli government is one of war and war is the justification for its existence. Assad said a main U.S. demand on Syria was for it to deport Palestinian groups there, but that Damascus would not do so. "We refused for several reasons, primarily because these people did not break Syrian laws and have not harmed Syrian interests and are not terrorists," he told al-Hayat. Assad said U.S. pressure on Syria was a way "to escape the American crisis" in Iraq and denied U.S. charges that Syria was not doing enough to stop militants from crossing into Iraq. "The borders are large and cannot be controlled, and there is a lot of chaos. There is smuggling of arms and the escape of people we do not know. Of course, the Americans say these people are terrorist and anyone for them is a terrorist," he said.

 

Russia Calls for Conference on Mid-east

Oct. 7….(AP) Russia believes an international conference should be called to discuss all elements of the Middle East peace process, including relations between Israel and Syria, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said today. Ivanov also said the so-called road map to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be approved by the U.N. Security Council to make it binding. "We believe it is necessary to consider the possibility of conducting an international conference, which would consider all aspects of the Middle East peace process, including by taking into account Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Lebanese relations," Ivanov was quoted as saying after meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid. Ivanov also said the Security Council should approve the road map so that it would "take on a binding character." Ivanov said Moscow was concerned that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was spreading to other countries.



 

Israel Attacks Terror Base in Damascus After Terror Attack!

UN Considers Resolution Against Israel

Oct. 6….(FOJ) After suffering yet another suicide bombing killing 19 in Haifa on Saturday, Israel unleashed an attack on the terror organization Islamic Jihad which claimed responsibility for the attack. This time however, the retaliation was on an Islamic Jihad base in Syria. Today, Syria is urging the United States not to block a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel's air raid overnight Sunday on a Palestinian terror training base northwest of Damascus, saying Washington should help prevent escalation of tensions in the Middle East. We hope that the United States does not use the veto and that it practices its role as a superpower in preventing aggression and escalation," an official source at the Foreign Ministry said. "We hope that the United States joins those who condemned this aggressive operation and those are the vast majority in the world community," the source said. United Nations Security Council members agreed last night to delay the vote on the proposed Syrian resolution until Monday afternoon at the earliest. The Security Council met in an emergency session Sunday after Syria complained that the air raid threatened regional peace and stability. U.S. diplomats said the resolution text, which made no reference to attacks on Israel, would not be adopted in its current form. Israel continues "to flout the Charter of the United Nations to the point that Arabs and many people across the globe feel that Israel is above the law," Syrian UN Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad said at the meeting and called for an immediate vote on the resolution. Syria, the only Arab country on the council, is seeking a resolution from the 15-member body condemning the Israeli air strike and calling on Israel to halt actions that could result in "uncalculated consequences that would endanger the peace in the region." Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman, speaking after Mekdad, accused Syria of providing "safe harbor, training facilities, funding and logistical support" to terrorist organizations. He said it was ironic that Syria, which Israel accuses of harboring terrorists, should call for a meeting to condemn the attack and compared it to Osama bin Laden demanding a Security Council meeting after the Sept. 11 attacks. Gillerman also expressed anger that the meeting was called just before the holiest Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur. U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte did not directly condemn the Israel air-strike, but instead called on "all sides to avoid heightening tensions and to think carefully about the consequences of their actions." He blamed Syria for harboring terrorists. "The United States believes that Syria is on the wrong of the side of the war on terrorism," he said. "We believe it is in Syria's interest, and in the broader interest of Middle East peace, for Syria to stop harboring and supporting the groups that perpetrate acts such as the one that occurred yesterday." Other council diplomats condemned both Israel's air-strike in Syria as well as the bombing in Haifa, although they said Israel's retaliation action was not justified. "We think this attack is an unacceptable violation of the international law," said France's Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere. Britain's Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said, "Israel's action today is unacceptable and represents an escalation." "Israel should not allow its justified anger at continuing terrorism to lead to actions that undermine both the peace process and we believe Israel's own interests," he added. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the air strike, and a statement from his office said the UN chief was concerned that the "escalation of an already tense and difficult situation has the potential to broaden the scope of current conflicts in the Middle East." In his letter, al-Sharaa urged the Security Council to "immediately hold a session to discuss the Israeli aggression against Syrian territories and the measures the council ought to take to deter the Israeli government from following a provocative, aggressive policy against Syria." "Syria is not incapable of creating a resisting and deterring balance that forces Israel to review its" actions, the letter said. (I listened intently Sunday afternoon as Ambassadors Mekdad of Syria and Gillerman of Israel made their official statements to the Security Council. It was obvious one was telling the truth and one was flat out lying.) Syria is playing a dangerous game with terror. It is my further opinion that Israel is just altogether simply flabbergasted about what to do about the Islamic-Palestinian terrorism. Israel has been told to leave Arafat alone, so with ample evidence against Islamic Jihad in Syria, it decided to strike at the base of the Teheran-Damascus-Arafat terror axis. Also, I sense that the US has lost its momentum in the war-on-terror by not pressing the Syrian dictator to abandon his terrorist alliances. Someday, something will have to be done about Damascus!

 

U.S.: Syria Supports Terror, Developing WMD

Oct . 6….(Ha Aretz) Undersecretary of State John Bolton on Tuesday vehemently attacked Syria and said it was a rebellious country, like Iran, North Korea and Libya. Bolton told a congressional hearing that Syria is developing weapons of mass destruction and supporting terror organizations, and that the combination poses a serious threat to both U.S. and international security. Bolton said that the United States must keep open the option of using "every tool" a code for the remote possibility of military action to dissuade Syria and others from pursuing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. While saying the United States had yet not found any information to substantiate media reports that Iraq might have transferred some of its suspected weapons of mass destruction to Syria, Bolton said Washington was concerned by the reports. Bolton added that Syria continues to support Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, groups the United States considers terrorists, and that it is allowing militants to cross the border into Iraq. But Bolton asked the Congress committee members to be patient and allow Secretary of State Colin Powell time to bring about a change in Syria's behavior.

 

Bush: Israel Mustn’t Feel Constrained in Defense

Oct. 6….(Reuters) President Bush avoided criticizing Israel today over its attack inside Syria and said the Jewish state must not feel constrained in its self-defense. Referring to a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday after the Israeli strike at an alleged militant training base, Bush said, "I made it very clear to the Prime Minister that Israel's got a right to defend herself and that Israel must not feel constrained in terms of defending the homeland." "However, I said that it's very important that any action Israel takes should avoid escalation and creating higher tensions". Bush said that U.S. Middle East policy, and its insistence that the Palestinian Authority dismantle militant groups responsible for attacks on Israel, had not changed. Earlier, White House spokesman Scott McClellan supported the Israeli contention that its target in Syria was a "terrorist camp." In language that evoked Bush's Doctrine asserting a right to attack countries deemed to be supporting militants, McClellan said, "We have repeatedly told Syria that they need to stop harboring terrorists."



OCTOBER 1 THROUGH OCTOBER 4



Bush: Kay Report Vindicates Iraq War

Oct. 4….(Fox News) After maintaining a low profile while his chief inspector fielded questions, President Bush came out swinging Friday, saying David Kay's interim report demonstrates that the war against Iraq was just and necessary. "The report states that Saddam Hussein's regime had a clandestine network of biological laboratories, a live strain of deadly agent botulinum, sophisticated concealment efforts and advanced design work on prohibited longer-range missiles," President Bush said. "These findings already make clear that Saddam Hussein actively deceived the international community, that Saddam Hussein, was in clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 and that Saddam Hussein was a danger to the world," he said. CIA advisor and Iraqi WMD special agent David Kaye said, “At this point, we have found substantial evidence of an intent of senior-level Iraqi officials, including Saddam, to continue production at some future point in time of weapons of mass destruction. We have not found at this point actual weapons." Kay said Iraq's nuclear weapons program appears to have been the least developed program uncovered so far, but the country did have bombs that could fly as far as 1,000 kilometers, much further than the 93-kilometer limit the U.N. had imposed on the country. A declassified portion of Kay's interim report also revealed that Saddam had led an extensive covert operation that lasted years and required massive coordination. "Iraq's WMD programs spanned more than two decades, involved thousands of people, billions of dollars, and was elaborately shielded by security and deception operations.
FOJ Note: FOJ supported the President in going to war in Iraq. However, it was the opinion of FOJ that President Bush should clearly and unequivocally identify a connection between Iraq and the September 11th attack on America, or to Al Qaeda and other Middle East terrorist organizations. Those connections were instrumental in utilizing the pre-emptive doctrine. FOJ always maintained that President Bush needed to avoid a scenario of fighting a war in Iraq based on the premise of UN resolutions alone. It is my opinion that Saddam Hussein hustled out of Iraq all WMD, and relocated these stocks in places like Syria.

 

World’s Oil and Gas 'Running Out'

Oct. 4….(CNN) Global warming will never bring a "doomsday scenario" a team of scientists says, because oil and gas are running out much faster than thought. The world's oil reserves are up to 80 percent less than predicted, a team from Sweden's University of Uppsala says. Production levels will peak in about 10 years' time, they say. "Non-fossil fuels must come in much stronger than it had been hoped," Professor Kjell Alekett told CNN. Oil production levels will hit their maximum soon after 2010 with gas supplies peaking not long afterwards, the Swedish geologists say. At that point prices for petrol and other fuels will reach disastrous levels. Alekett said that his team had examined data on oil and gas reserves from all over the world and concluded that we are "facing a very critical situation globally."
FOJ Note: The world does not have an endless supply of oil. That is a fact. Another fact is that oil will indeed play a part in the world’s doomsday scenario according to Bible Prophecy. I find it most interesting that this article specifies that as soon as 2010 the world may face a Global crisis over oil.

 

Secretary Powell Speaks-Inadvertently

Oct. 4….(FOJ) US Secretary of State while answering two reporters questions recently on the Israeli-Arab conflict inadvertently highlighted America’s problems today. The Secretary responded to the Israeli security fence by saying that, "…actions such as Israel's continuing settlement activity and building a fence that is on its own property is fine, but when it transgresses and goes into Palestinian territory there is the problem.” Then later, the Secretary inadvertently described America as a "Judeo-Christian" country, and had to quickly alter his description to “a land of many faiths.” Within the Secretary’s two comments lies the reason that America is in real trouble. We are in trouble with God, not just in trouble around the world. First, Israel is building settlements and fences on land that God gave to Israel. It is all Israel’s land! The Bible is actually a deed to that land, and since America has abandoned its Judeo-Christian roots, it no longer recognizes the fact that the God of the Bible gave Israel the land in question. Secretary Powell’s inadvertent misspeaks symbolized in a unique way that America has left its Christian heritage, and is in fact accommodating the “god of this world” by supporting the partitioning of the Promised Land into two States!



Israel Continues to Build Wall of Security

Oct. 3….(FOJ) Israel's government approved yesterday the next stage of construction on a vast barrier wall and fence that it is building for security reasons in the West Bank. Political sources said the cabinet decided to press on with construction of what it calls a security fence to keep out Arafat’s suicide bombers. Meanwhile, Saeb Erekat, Arafat’s negotiator said of the wall, "It is a big land grab and not a security wall, and it will undermine President Bush's vision of the road map and the peace process." The UN is considering a resolution demanding that Israel halt construction on the security wall. It absolutely amazes me that anything Israel does to protect its citizens is condemned around the world, and yet the PLO/PA never have to do anything about preventing terrorism. It seems to me like the world is upset that the Palestinian terrorists are being obstructed in their mission to carry out suicide bombings in Israel! The wall is actually a symbol of the fact that Israel has been always willing to evacuate from the West Bank, (even though its their land) and give it to the Palestinian Authority, but the PLO prefers to deny itself statehood so that they can kill more Israeli’s and destroy the State of Israel altogether. The wall is also a symbol of Israel’s lack of faith in Jehovah!



PA Rejects US Anti-Terror Law

Oct. 2….(Palestinian Media Watch) The Palestinian Media Watch reported last week that Palestinian Authority social organizations are refusing to sign a US required anti-terror clause, which states that the PA will not transfer any money to terrorists or terrorist organizations. During the past week, the opposition to the US anti-terror campaign in the PA is growing more organized as 26 organizations gathered in Bethlehem to publicly declare they would not sign the US anti-terror clause. It is also interesting to note that condemnation of the US anti-terror conditions is spreading in the Arab world.

FOJ Note: The bottom line with this PA rejection of anti-terror legislation attached to US foreign aid is that the PA supports terrorism and suicide bombings, and will not change.

 

The Evidence on Yasser Arafat

Oct. 2….(JCPA) As of late September 2003, according to the head of Israeli military intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Zeevi-Farkash, orders for terrorist attacks were actually coming directly from Arafat's headquarters. As early as 1997, Arafat authorized Hamas and Islamic Jihad attacks; he formed an umbrella group together with these Islamists organizations called the "Nationalist and Islamic Forces" that coordinated attacks against Israel, during the recent intifada, under the leadership of Fatah. Arafat finances suicide bombings; he has paid operatives, while his office has funded explosive materials, manufactured locally or imported from abroad, most notably from Iran. Arafat actually commands the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which has taken a leading role in shooting incidents and bombing attacks against Israeli civilians. As the mastermind of the second Palestinian intifada of September 2000, according to Palestinian sources, his influence over the scope and timing of the violence is extensive and even decisive.
Arafat Orders all the Terror Attacks
      Yasser Arafat's record of not fighting terror was a cause of concern and consternation for the Israeli military soon after the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993. In 1998, Maj.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon, then head of military intelligence, noted: "Sadly, I cannot say that at any point since it entered the territory, in May 1994, that the Palestinian Authority acted decisively and in a clear-cut way against the terrorist operational capability of Hamas, as well as Islamic Jihad." On September 28, 2003, military intelligence head Maj.-Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash disclosed that orders for terrorist attacks were still emanating from Yasser Arafat's Ramallah compound. The international community has been debating the Israeli Cabinet's decision to remove Arafat. A broad international consensus has arisen that Arafat is an obstacle to peace. Even France's President Jacques Chirac recently said, "Arafat is responsible for the failure, for all the failures, because he always wanted a little more." Nonetheless, it is far less accepted that Arafat, in fact, is personally responsible for much of the ongoing terrorism. Should Israel actually move against Arafat, let us understand the reasons for such action:
Arafat Authorized Hamas-Islamic Jihad Terrorism
      During March 9-13, 1997, Arafat met personally in Gaza with the leaders of Hamas and other militant groups, and gave them the "green light" to resume terrorist attacks. Following those meetings, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Amnon Lipkin-Shahak said: "Organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad have an understanding from the Palestinian Authority to carry out attacks." After the outbreak of the violence in September 2000, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah coordinated together under the umbrella of the "Nationalist and Islamic Forces," led by Fatah.
Arafat Finances the Suicide Bombings
      In a memorandum captured in Operation Defensive Shield, the Secretary-General of the Fatah office in Tulkarm requested that Arafat provide $2,000 to each of 15 specifically named "Fighting
Brethren" of the Tanzim military wing of Fatah. According to Israeli military sources, each of the "fighters" was involved in the planning or execution of suicide attacks. With his own signature in Arabic, Arafat authorized the payment of $800 to each of the "fighters" on April 5, 2001.
Arafat Finances Terrorist Attacks
      On September 19, 2001, Arafat personally approved a request for payment of $600 to three people including Ra'ad Karmi, commander of the Tanzim in Tulkarm, who was personally involved in at least 25 shooting attacks against Israelis. Arafat funded Karmi even though Israel had placed Karmi on its "most- wanted" list. On the same day, Arafat approved payment to Amar Qadan, a member of his own Force-17 "Presidential Guard," who was involved in terrorist operations. A second request was faxed to Arafat to fund 12 more terrorists, every single one of them was on the wanted list, as Tanzim members, which is Arafat's own party. Arafat knew well that these individuals were involved in terrorism. Nevertheless, on January 7, 2002, "Arafat himself, in his own handwriting, with his signature, paid the money. Senior Fatah figures in Israeli custody, like Marwan Barghouti, admitted subsequently that Arafat approved funding for Fatah operatives with the knowledge that it would be used to finance terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.
Arafat Commands the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
      While some draw a distinction between Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Palestinians refute such assertions. The leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Tulkarm told USA Today in March 2002: "The truth is, we are Fatah, but we don't operate under the name of Fatah. We are the armed wing of the organization. We receive our instructions from Fatah. Our commander is Yasser Arafat himself." In the early months of 2002, the number of attacks by the Al- Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, including suicide bombings, exceeded those of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. On September 16, 2001, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades requested payment to cover expenses for "production of explosive charges" from Arafat' s financial confidante, Fuad Shubaki, who, as the head of the Palestinian Authority's "Armed Forces Financial Directorate," was also the mastermind behind the Karine-A weapons ship delivery from Iran. Arafat has been a participant in and supreme commander of, many of the Palestinians' terror activities. As the mastermind of the entire September 2000 intifada, his impact has been far more widespread. Even though he had committed at Oslo to "put an end to decades of confrontation and conflict and strive to live in peaceful coexistence, mutual dignity and security," Arafat's actions over the past decade have proven the opposite. On September 19, 2003, the UN General Assembly met in Emergency Special Session and adopted a resolution demanding that Israel "desist from any act of deportation and to cease any threat to the safety of the elected President of the Palestinian Authority." I guess the UN wants the terror to continue!



Pope ‘Is in a Very Bad Way’

Oct. 1….(FOJ) Yesterday, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican body which oversees doctrinal matters said that Pope John Paul was in very poor health and the faithful should pray for him. Ratzinger’s private secretary, Georg Gaenswein, said it was amazing how the pope, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, kept going. “He can’t walk and stand anymore”. It is becoming quite obvious that the 83-year old Pope is not much longer for this world. The Pope recently stacked the deck for his successor by naming 31 new Cardinals that will choose the next Pope. Seven of those appointees are members of the Roman Curia, to which the Pope has delegated a lot of authority over the years. The Curia is the vast network of departments and agencies within the Vatican that empower the Pope. The curia was also the senate assembly and house where Roman senators met during the Empire of the Republic of Rome. The original curia was built before the Republic, around the mid-6th c. B.C., by Tullus Hostilius, who built it to house the Ten elected representatives known as Curiae. The curia was part of the political center of Rome, which empowered Caesar. The word "curia" refers to the original 10 elected Curiae (clan leaders) of the three original tribes of Romans: Tities, Ramnes and Luceres. In ancient Rome, unity became prevalent by making the curia sacred and enforcing the worship of a common god. So the curia was bound together by the worship of a common deity. To preside over the common worship, a chief (curio) was selected, who was also the military commander in time of war, and chief magistrate in time of peace. Pope John Paul II has become lionized as the ecumenical Pope and the Pope of religious harmony. In light of Bible prophecy, it shall be most interesting to see whom the Curia selects as the next Pope, especially now that the Middle East Conflict is front-and-center on the world agenda.

 

Christianity Under Satanic Attack in America

Oct. 1….(Samuel Thompson) I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin, but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution. Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game. "But it's a Christian prayer," some will argue. Yes, and this is the United States of America, a country founded on Christian principles! And we are in the Bible Belt. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect, somebody chanting Hare Krishna? If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer. If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer. If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect tohear someone pray to Buddha. And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit. When in Rome..." But what about the atheists?" is another argument. What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear-plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer. Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations. Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us just to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying. God, help us! And if that last sentence offends you, well, just sue me. The silent majority has been silent too long, it's time we let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard, that the vast majority don't care what they want, it is time the majority rules! It's time we tell them, you don't have to pray, you don't have to say the pledge of allegiance, you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right, but by golly you are no longer going to take our rights away! God bless America, despite all her faults she is still the greatest nation of all! God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God.




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