Please go here and read the truth about what is going on over there. Children die there because Hamas wants them to - so they can say to the world "Look at what Israel has done!" Why so fewer casualties in Israel? Because Israel actually protects its citizens.
A Jihad Watch reader asked [Jihad Watch contributer Hugh Fitzgerald]: "If the Israel/Palestinian conflict were exactly the same as it is, only the roles of the two warring parties were exactly reversed, would you then switch allegiances to the Palestinian side?"
Let's see.
If there were 22 Jewish states, and only one tiny Arab state, and if in those 22 Jewish states every other group was denied anything like equality (see the various groups of Christians all over the Muslim Arab world, or for that matter see the various groups of non-Arab Muslims -- such as Kurds, Berbers, and black Africans in Darfur), and if those 22 Jewish states also possessed fantastic oil reserves and the one tiny Arab state possessed nothing but the intelligence of its populace, and if those 22 Jewish states were the size of the 22 members of the Arab League, with 14,000,000 square miles of territory, and the one tiny Arab state had less than 1/1,000th of that, or about 10,0000 square miles, and if those 22 Jewish states were possessed of an ideology that required them to move heaven and earth in order to eradicate that one tiny Arab state -- oh, and did I forget to mention all the other "not-quite Jewish states" that would be the correct analogue to the non-Arab Muslim states that the Arabs (and Islam) have convinced that they, too, have a stake in opposing Israel and wishing to see it destroyed? (See those frenzied mobs in Iran, or Pakistan.)
And if, furthermore, I knew that if those 22 Jewish states were intent on rewriting, or destroying, or utterly effacing, the history of those Arabs in their one tiny "Arab" state, because the rewriting of other peoples' history was what, for 1350 years, those Jews had been doing, and if there were a figure in Judaism akin to Muhammad, who was held up as the Model of Conduct, uswa hasana, as the Perfect Man, al-insan al-kamil, and if that Perfect Man in Judaism was not like any figure known to me in Judaism, or in Christianity, but was remarkably like Muhammad, as described in the Sira as teased out of the words and deeds attributed to him in the Hadith, and if, furthermore, I knew that if those 22 Jewish states, with their 14,000,000 square miles, and their fantastic unmerited oil wealth, and their unbelievable fixation on destroying a sliver of territory that was less than 1/1,000th of the territory they controlled, ever managed to destroy that tiny Arab state in the area bounded to the east by the River Jordan and on the west by the Mediterranean, a place so small one could not find it on the map, were ever to succeed, that would not satisfy them, but make them ever more eager to recover other lands that had once been in their possession, and indeed to work, with a sense of triumph, for the final acceptance, all over the world, of Judaism as the dominant faith, and with Jews assuming the role that Muslims look forward to assuming themselves, then yes, I would of course be on the side of that tiny Arab state.
Daniel 11:31 -32 "His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
This shows that in the end days, there will be a temple and animal sacrifices in Jerusalem. Of course, at this time, there is not. But for this prophecy to be fulfilled - for the sacrifices to cease, and the temple to be desecrated, there must be a temple.
There is that mindset that says this was fulfilled in 70 A.D. I will not take the time right now to explain why that cannot be so. You can go HERE and receive some explanation.
Jewish group devoted to rebuilding Temple in Jerusalem to send letters to all world leaders, including Arab ones, inviting them to take part in project, attend conference on Temple Mount in Israel
At this time I am listening to the audio book, "Judgment Day!" It is very good, and full of pertinent information.
Why is Israel at the center of the media? Why has anti-semetism been so rampant down through the ages, and ever increasing today? What about Israel and biblical prophecy? What about prophecy and all that is going on today? Here's an article that kind of summarizes things:
Israel is the major topic of the Bible. The word “Israel” occurs 2,565 times in 2,293 verses. More than enough prophecies have already been fulfilled in Israel’s unique history to prove that “the God of Israel” (203 times) is the true God. In Zechariah 12:2-3, He declares:
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
This is an amazing prophecy not only that Jerusalem, which was then in ruins, would become a burden to the whole world, but that all of Israel’s neighbors would be united against her. They have fought one another in the past. Yet today, for the first time in history, “all the people round about” are united by Islam to destroy Israel.
For more than 50 years, Israel’s neighbors have launched surprise attacks against her and she has proved too strong militarily, even though they outnumber her forty to one. God said, “I [will] make...Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood…and they shall devour all the people round about…” (Zech 12:6). Soundly defeated every time, her Muslim neighbors feign a desire for peace, hoping to deceive and ultimately destroy her—a strategy established by Muhammad.
The real battle is not between Arabs and Jews, but between Allah and Yahweh. There is no question of the outcome, but it will be costly for both sides: Israel will be severely punished for rebellion, and her enemies will be destroyed.
Exactly as foretold, Jerusalem is a burden to all people of the world. More than 60,000 individual votes have been cast in the UN against Israel. This tiny nation with one 1,000th of the world’s population has occupied one-third of the United Nations’ time—a burden indeed!
Skeptics accuse Christians of trying to fit current events to the Bible, claiming that no one recognized such prophecies until Israel was formed in 1948. On the contrary, for centuries most evangelical Christians have preached from the Bible the return of the Jews to their own land. Even John Owen, a leading Calvinist, wrote in the 17th century: “The Jews shall be gathered...into their homeland.” 1 This was also the opinion of the poet John Milton, of John Bunyan, Roger Williams, Oliver Cromwell, and many others.
Martin Luther wrote: “If the Jews are Abraham’s descendants…[they should be] back in their own land [with] a state of their own. But…[they are] scattered and despised.” 2 He therefore wrote off the Jews as God’s chosen people and persecuted them. But today the Jews are back in their own land after 2,500 years of being scattered worldwide, speaking Hebrew just as King David did 3,000 years ago. No other people have returned to reestablish their own nation and language after being cast out of their land for such a period of time.
Some prophecies applicable only to our day are frightening, foretelling God’s judgment. The language is often graphic:
If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies...my sword shall devour flesh… (Dt 32:41,42). For, behold, the LORD will come…to render his anger with fury...by his sword...
(Is 66:15,16). And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other…they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried.... (Jer 25:33)
The question is often asked as to whether the United States (or Canada, Australia, et al.) is in Bible prophecy. Of course! Scripture declares that every nation in the world will join together to invade Israel in the last days and be destroyed in the battle of Armageddon: “I will gather all nations [surely all includes America] against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken….Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations…” (Zech 12:9; 14:2-4).
But wouldn’t the United States be spared for being Israel’s friend? In fact, the U.S. State Department has often been against Israel. This was true in the Yom Kippur War. In a sneak attack (October 1973), 80,000 Egyptians overwhelmed 500 Israeli defenders along the Suez and 1,400 Syrian tanks swept down the Golan with only one Israeli tank in service to oppose them. Israel was taken by surprise. Most of her armed forces were on holiday. The initial success of the attackers so electrified the Arab world that nine other Arab states rushed to get in on the slaughter.
Historian David A. Rausch writes: “Jordan’s King Hussein sent two of his best armored brigades to Syria. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait financially underwrote the huge cost while sending thousands of troops to fight the Israelis. Kuwait lent her British-made Lightning jets to Egypt. Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi turned over forty French-made Mirage III fighters and 100 tanks. Iraqi MiG fighter jets as well as tank and infantry divisions fought on the Golan Heights, while a squadron of Iraqi Hunter jets were utilized by Egypt. Arabs predicted the extermination of the Jewish state and the ‘liberation’ of Palestine....” 3
The Soviet Union blocked any UN attempt at a cease-fire and refortified the Arab forces with armaments and supplies by sea and air. It was the closest Israel ever came to being defeated. But when the war ended, the Israeli tank columns were on the outskirts of Damascus and Cairo and could have taken those cities had they not turned back. Tragically, Israel suffered about 3,000 dead—which would be comparable to the U.S. losing 150,000. Except for a series of miracles from God, Israel would not have survived.
Where was her friend, the United States? Dozens of notices were sent to the Nixon White House by America’s National Security Administration (NSA) that an Arab Pearl Harbor was about to be launched against Israel. Nixon sat on them. Kissinger hid at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York the day of the attack and waited another three days before convening the UN Security Council. Declining to rush desperately needed military supplies to Israel, the White House said it had to be careful not to upset the Arabs and cause an oil crisis.
Six years earlier, on June 8, 1967, the fourth morning of the “Six-day War,” the USS Liberty, an electronics eavesdropping vessel, arrived off the Sinai coast and began to suck in every Israeli military communication, relaying it all to the British Secret Service’s giant computer installation on Cyprus. From there, complete maps of every Israeli military move were transmitted in advance to the Arab armed forces. With that help, the Arabs might have been able to use their overwhelming numerical superiority to turn the tide of the war. Israel had no choice except to sink the Liberty. Of course the media screamed about this “cold-blooded attack.” No one believed Israel’s public excuse that the Liberty had been mistaken for a hostile Egyptian ship—and neither the U.S. nor Israel has publicly told the truth.
Yes, the United States, too, will attack Israel and will be punished at Armageddon. God declares plainly that He will bring all nations against Israel to destroy them:
In the latter days...I will bring thee against my land…my fury shall come up in my face…there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel…the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things [on] the earth, and all the men [on] the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence…[all nations] shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezk 38:16-23)
This is terrifying language! What causes this “great shaking” of the entire planet and every living creature upon it? God is personally coming to earth as He did at Mount Sinai when He gave the Law—and He is going to take vengeance upon the enemies of Israel!
There are two specific reasons for God’s judgment: “I will also gather all nations ...into the valley of Jehoshaphat [between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, where God miraculously destroyed invading nations without Israel lifting a finger
(2 Chr 21:10-25)], and will plead with [punish] them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have [1] scattered among the nations, and [2] parted my land” (Joel 3:2).
Of course, all nations have participated in persecuting and scattering the Jews from country to country for 2,500 years. The second reason for God’s judgment falling on all nations, however, is something that has only occurred within our generation: “they have…parted [divided] my land.”
Israel has been overrun by invaders many times—but never did any conqueror divide the land. The victor does not share its spoils with others. Since World War I, however, all nations have joined to divide the land of Israel.
The 1917 Balfour Declaration, the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, and the 1922 Declaration of Principles by the League of Nations all recognized that the land that had become known as “Palestine” (since the Romans renamed Israel in A.D. 135) belonged to the Jews. It was set aside to become the national homeland of the Jewish people “internationally guaranteed, and…formally recognized to rest upon ancient historic connection.” Of course, history ties Israel to all of “Palestine.”
Britain was given the mandate to see that the Jews were safely settled there. The discovery of huge reservoirs of oil under Arab lands caused Britain to keep Jewish immigrants out and let in tens of thousands of Arabs. Just when millions of Jews desperately needed a haven to which they could flee from Nazi Germany, Britain’s 1939 White Paper limited Jewish immigrants to 10,000 per year for a maximum of five years, plus an additional 25,000 “refugees” during that period—then the door to Palestine would be shut entirely to the Jews. Since the Nazis had marked for extinction 11 million Jews in Europe, the quota of 25,000 defied God and conscience.
A year earlier, President Roosevelt had gathered delegates from 32 countries in Evian, France, to discuss the worsening plight of the Jews. Roosevelt made it clear that the United States would do nothing. Britain said there was no room in Palestine and it was not to be discussed. Professing their great sympathy for Europe’s Jews that everyone knew were to be exterminated, the nations offered various excuses why they could do nothing to intervene.
Hitler shrewdly declared, “We...are ready to put all these criminals at the disposal of these countries...even on luxury ships.” When the conference ended with the Jews completely abandoned, Hitler mocked the participants: “It was recently regarded as wholly incomprehensible why Germany did not wish to preserve in its population...the Jews…[yet these] countries seem in no way anxious to [receive them] now that the opportunity offers.” The entire world was Hitler’s partner in destroying the Jews!
In 1944, Hitler offered to sell to the allies 500,000 Hungarian Jews for $2 each—and no one would take them! England said there was “no room” in Palestine for them! In 1943, Britain and America had agreed to say and do nothing about the Holocaust, fearful that if pressed, Hitler would dump the Jews on his critics. The Allies steadfastly refused the repeated urgent appeals from Jewish organizations to bomb the rail lines going in and out of the extermination camps. God will judge all nations!
After the war, a trickle of emaciated survivors of Hitler’s death machines sought to reach “Palestine” in half-sinking ships. Some who got within sight of the land God had given to them as an everlasting inheritance (1 Chr 16:15-18) were driven back by the British navy and put into internment camps on Cyprus. Many who did manage to find shelter within what would become the new Jewish State of Israel were rounded up by the British and removed to those camps. Britain created Jordan out of most of the Promised Land. The demise of the British Empire, upon which “the sun never sank,” can be counted from the time Britain betrayed the Jews—one more fulfillment of the prophecy, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee…” (Gn 12:3).
When the UN finally voted to partition Palestine on November 29, 1947 (UN Res. 181), God’s “chosen people” received about 13 percent of the land that had once belonged to them! Thus Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled that all nations would join to divide Israel. The only part of that prophecy remaining to be fulfilled is the judgment on the nations for having “parted” God’s land: “The land shall not be sold [partitioned] for ever; for the land is mine” (Lev 25:23).
God’s anger is growing hotter against the nations of this world for robbing Israel of what He gave to her. Yet in continued defiance of God, every peace proposal that the West has imposed upon Israel has involved further dividing of God's land. President Bush, a professing Christian, originated the so-called “road map to peace,” which calls for a further dividing of the land of Israel. He ought to tremble and repent, as should President Putin, the EU, and the UN, who have joined Bush to make up the “quartet” sponsoring this plan.
On her part, Israel has been willing to give away more and more land in exchange for promises of “peace” from the PLO in spite of the fact that its charter calls for the destruction of Israel and that its maps and those of the entire Arab world do not even acknowledge Israel’s existence. The fact that Israel has been forced to do so by the West is no excuse. For this she will be punished severely in what is called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:7). Yes, God will deliver her, but only after two-thirds of all Jews on earth have been killed (Zec 13:8,9).
There is no more appropriate place and way to destroy the nations that have abused Israel than when they, in the spirit of Satan, come to effect once and for all what Hitler called the “final solution to the Jewish problem.” Believers are to meet together to encourage and exhort one another from Scripture, “so much the more, as ye see the day [of judgment] approaching” (Heb 10:25). Fulfilled prophecies are heralding that day as never before. TBC
Endnotes
1. Cited in Bridges for Peace website, May 21, 2004.
2. J. Randall Price, paper delivered at the Pre-Trib Study Group Conference, December 6, 2004.
3. David A. Rausch, The Middle East Maze: Israel and Her Neighbors (Chicago: Moody Press, 1991), 57.
Has anyone ever considered that the Palestinians have no jobs because both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas has squandered billions of dollars in aid on weapons instead of building a financial infrastructure to provide jobs for their people.
Why doesn't anyone face the truth? The main obstacle to improving conditions for the Palestinian people is the Palestinian people. Specifically, their overwhelming decision to elect Hamas to represent them as their government.
Hamas refuses to work with Abbas because it refuses any compromise that doesn't lead to Israel's destruction.
[U.S. Secretary of State] Rice said she and Abbas had discussed ways to "make possible a life for the Palestinian people that is not subject to the kind of daily humiliations that we know have been associated with the occupation. That is my program here." Hey! Let's get real. The main reason the Palestinian people elected Hamas is because the Palestinian Authority did not provide an economy either.
Rice's comments sound like Yasser Arafat had scripted them. "Daily humiliations" associated with "the occupation"? What occupation? The only territory under Israeli "occupation" is Israel. Israel unilaterally pulled out of Gaza, forcing their own Israeli settlers out, and gave the Palestinians free reigns over that territory. They showed their gratitude by raining missiles down on every civilian target near enough to hit.
Recent moves by the U.S. Secretary of State have Israelis scratching their heads in confusion. Noted a despairing columnist in the Jerusalem Post, "Rice had previously insisted that Israel endorse the transfer of weapons to Palestinian security forces to strengthen the PA. Although reluctant, Olmert agreed to do so in May on the grounds that "'we need to help Abu Mazen.'"Rice has announced that the U.S. will also fund the expansion of the Abbas Presidential Guard from 2,500 to 6,000 troops. By any other name, the U.S. has forced one "appeasement after another."
DAMASCUS, (SANA)_ The meeting between President Bashar al-Assad and Pastor Rick Warren, a famous Protestant clergyman in the USA and an accompanying delegation on Sunday focused on the Syrian-American relations.
The American delegation stressed that the American administration is mistaken not to hold dialogue with Syria. The importance of dialogue among religions and achieving the just and comprehensive peace in the region which leads for stability and prosperity were emphasized during the meeting.
Pastor Warren hailed the religious coexistence, tolerance and stability that the Syrian society is enjoying due to the wise leadership of President al-Assad, asserting that he will convey the true image about Syria to the American people.
He offered to President al-Assad a memorial drawing as a gift to the Syrian people for their generosity and hospitality, thanking their efforts exerted for maintaining peace and harmony.
DAMASCUS, (SANA)- Members of a US religious Delegation currently is visiting Syria have expressed sorrow that US gave Israel the green light for 33 days to destroy Lebanon and kill women and children .
Meeting on Monday with the Grand Mufti of the Republic Ahmad Bader Hassoun, Chairman of the Religion and Diplomatic Center in Washington Douglas Johnston and Secretary General of the center Brayan Douglas, as well as members of the US delegation said " What makes man sad is that the US Administration claims, it wants peace and actually it is not working to realize that ."
Dr. Hassoun emphasized the unity of divine missions, assuring on the importance of building man, spreading love and peace in the world.
"Our Arab region is the cradle of divine religion and the base of Prophets who circulated light all over the world," Grand Mufti underlined.
Dr. Hassoun rejected calls to establish countries on religious, racial and ethnic base, because they contradict the building of human civilization and push for extremism under the name of religion.
He pointed out to the massacres committed by the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and its killings of elderly, women, and children backed by the US Administration which claims to secure the democracy and human rights in addition to what is going in Iraq .
For his part, Johnston called to exert more efforts to establish peace in the region, adding "as an American citizen, I admit that we committed a lot of mistakes in our foreign policy, but we feel happy because the American people expressed what they want in the latest mid-terms elections.
While there are wars and conflicts, it is as it has been for the past few years -- last year we had some horrific weather happenings -- but this year things have gone pretty well.
Some may call this doomsaying, but I believe that we are on the verge of economic collapse - Katrina and the war in Iraq have drained us, say nothing of the debt we already owed. More and more American companies are selling out to foreigners. Even our ports. Wow.
We are so ready as a nation to go global. I believe there will be no choice. I saw in the news the other day, a SCHOOL saying the pledge to the MEXICAN flag. Hello? This is AMERICA. We are under the American flag. Wow.
One thing that is increasing, in my estimation, is evil. Oh, the heinous crimes are too much to bear. And I'm talking America. Say nothing of what's going on in some of these African countries where women (young, child bearing age) are being raped and then mutilated so as to never bear children. It's unreal. Can we bear to know? It amazes me as to some of the U.N. members on the human rights commission. Leaders of nations that are doing horrific things to people. Wow.
In the Old Testament, there always came a time when God said ENOUGH!! His wrath fell, judgement came -- the Day of the Lord.
The Day of the Lord is coming. There is a calm before the storm. Luke 17 says:
22And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
23And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
24For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
25But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
26And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
31In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
32Remember Lot's wife.
33Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
34I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
Just as Old Testament prophecy was a mix of the suffering servant, and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah come to rescue Israel, the above encompasses the day of the Lord beginning with the rapture and ending with Messiah coming in such a way that every eye shall see Him.
It will begin with the taking up of the church (as in the days of Noah -- a time of prosperity -- eating and drinking, marrying etc.) The rapture -- the beginning of the day of the Lord -- will come at a time the world is not expecting. Those who are watching for His coming will know - not the hour or the day, but that the time is very near - quite at hand. Then the false peace - and globality. Ecumenicism is preparing all religions to come together under this amazing man who will be very charismatic and have all the right answers. The Muslims are looking for the 12th Immam. They will think this is he. Pres. of Iran is trying to create a chaos to bring the 12th Immam in. His own words.
The Jews will have their temple, and sacrifice will resume, for the first time in a few thousand years. Wow.
THEN Mr. Amazing world leader will demand he be worshipped. Everyone must come under him - take his mark. I believe micro-chips are a part of this. The first three and a half years will be the false peace. The last three and a half years will be a greater tribulation than the world has ever seen. That is when the Jews must flee -- and woe to nursing mothers in that day (Matt. 24:19)
Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
For the suffering church in other countries, for all suffering at the hands of evil men throughout the earth, I cry "Lord, COME QUICKLY!!"
Down a few posts, I was probably pretty harsh using the term " ...parroting the media ..." in terms of ignorance concerning Middle East issues. I say I was harsh, because it's all there is - in the main media outlets. Some of the things I've learned through digging and searching have never been told on any of the media outlets. Not the more conservative, certainly not the left leaning. I was personally dumbfounded when I began to learn the untold story. One has to ask, "Why is the truth so elusive, and why are these things not being told?" Why indeed. (The book "Philistine" goes into it a bit ... what happens to people who tell the truth. It's a bit scary ... for me too, even writing this blog. I think we can see by what has happened in recent years, even recently concerning the Pope's remarks - that no one can say much of anything without serious death threats.) In 1984, Joan Peters wrote a book "From Time Immemorial" which deals with the Middle East conflict. She started out researching from one point of view. Her research instead led her to things she had never known, and she wound up on the other side of the view. In other words, she uncovered the lies. Her book has been very controversial, but the central theme is right on, and unrefuted. From Wikepedia:
The American Middle East authority, Harvard scholar, and well regarded author Dr. Daniel Pipes expressed a more favorable opinion, stating:
"The fact remains that the book presents a thesis that neither Professor Porath nor any other reviewer has so far succeeded in refuting. Miss Peters's central thesis is that a substantial immigration of Arabs to Palestine took place during the first half of the twentieth century. She supports this argument with an array of demographic statistics and contemporary accounts, the bulk of which have not been questioned by any reviewer, including Professor Porath."
My heart aches for Israel, yes. But it also aches for those people who are taught every day to hate their Jewish neighbor, lie stacked upon lie stacked upon lie. A poor and oppressed people who have been kicked out of their homes -- and enough years have passed that they do not know they were asked to leave their homes so that the Arab nations 'round about could blow Israel off the planet. Strategically, Israel gained and kept land - so tiny is that country - it was necessary for survival. People are taught that the Holocaust (a major reason for the necessity of a land for the wandering Jew) never happened. I am reading that more and more, on some of the boards I have visited: "The Holocaust never happened." Incredible.
So you have a people - these Palestinian refugees - who are used as pawns by their own selfish, power hungry dictators. One thing I never heard until the past few years -- and certainly not from any main media outlet -- was that there were Jewish refugees who had to leave the areas outside the boundries of the alloted land created for them. Their country did not leave them to rot, but rather absorbed them.
It makes me angry. Not just for Israel, but for these Palestinians as well. A missionary I know, that our church supports, traveled to Israel. When he got to Bethlehem, a Palestinian was nearby as he read from Luke. He was reading out loud, and got emotional, and began to cry. He couldn't continue. The Palestinian nearby picked up where he left off, and read ... then the missionary read ... then the Palestinian read ... and on they went. Soon, the Palestinian had tears running down his face, and he whispered "I believe." He was a believer.
Believers or not, these people are hurting, are being told lies, are being used and abused by their own leadership. Now that Arafat is gone, there's a better chance for them, but Hamas is in there, fueling the fires of hatred. We need to pray for these poor souls. My heart goes out to them. I'm angry at their leadership who has put them in this situation ... not at them. I am angry at the book that demands " ... the last day cannot come until all the Jews have been killed ..." and that " ... all Jews are pigs ..." These are in Islam's Hadiths ... revered almost as much as the Koran itself. The Koran demands that if one does not bow to Islam, he must be killed. Yet it also states "there is no compulsion in religion."
John Kerry wanted a more sensitive war (anyone remember the characiture of him standing around a pile of skeletons, asking "can't we just talk about it?"). There's an ideology at work here, that is entirely different from ours. You cannot talk about something that you are on an entirely different page on. Tolerance is encouraged, and I wonder what is meant by that? "I'm OK, You're OK"? "You believe what you want, I'll believe what I want"? What about when your beliefs demand my head? Am I supposed to tolerate that?
I'm getting off topic. The Palestinian people ... they've been lied to about the Jews. About their homes. They've been used as pawns. They are poor, and most of them filled with hatred. A misplaced, misdirected hatred. Because they've been lied to. My heart goes out to them, and I pray that more will come to believe in Him, for in Him lies all truth -- and eternal life far from this veil of tears they've been born into. Not living eternally with all those constantly reestablished virgins and rivers of wine. Eternal life with Him, in perfect peace and joy - fellowship with Him, the giver of all life - and with all who have bowed their hearts to Him. He offers forgiveness and eternal life to "whosoever will." And He promises that all who seek Him will find Him. One onlyneed have a desire for truth, and ask "God, are you there? Are you real? Show me yourself, make yourself real to me." Isn't that seeking God? The bible speaks all over the place of seeking Him, and calls on men to do so. I know that God loves this people too. That's why He chose a people to call His own -- that's why He created the Jewish nation -- that the Messiah would be born through it, and in turn bless all nations. This people too ... He loves them so much. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather they turn and live (Ezekiel). We are all "the wicked." "... for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God ..." (Romans).
Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. He came for all people. He came for the Palestinian refugees. He loves them so much.
(P.S. I would exercise caution in reading "Philistine." The tortures described are very hard to handle, but the hard facts of what goes on is also important to understand if you want to "get" the ideology and the methods.)
Israel did not take the land, in 1948, by conquest. It was partitioned off by the U.N., and had been ruled by the British at that time. Jews who lived outside it's borders had to leave their homes. Why don't we ever hear about those refugees? Because Israel absorbed them.
Israel, to this day, has not taken land by way of offensive war, be in defense (being attacked by Arab nations) has taken back land. Strategically, this was necessary for it's survival. Expansionist? Tiny Israel? Silly thought, when one sees the bit of land they desperately try to hang on to.
The Holocaust was the last straw, and the U.N finally made a place for the wandering Jew to call home. A plan that had been in place since 1917 finally came to fruition. Back in their homeland, the land of David. The promised land. This is directly related to prophecy in Zechariah 12, that God would regather the Jews.
Here's another animation, brief and to the point, concerning Israel's conflicts.
I can't explain it. As every year passes, my heart beats Israel louder and louder. My love for Israel simply grows and grows. As a result of this love, it really upsets me when I hear the lies repeated in the media, and then parroted by the media's viewing public.
I am going to spend a bit of time dealing with the myths out there. It truly is amazing, when you begin to see the pattern of not only twisting, but ignoring of certain news while magnifying other stories. Israel can be the obvious and blatant victim, and news will make it look like their fault.
First, lets imagine waking up every day with an enemy living right next door, that wishes to blow us off the planet. While the PLO continues to aggressively push into Israel's borders, Israel must think strategically for the sake of survival. Their enemy has been fed hatred towards them since the day they were born. Here's a good visual for how tiny Israel is:
Israel would fit INSIDE nearly every U.S. state! In fact, tiny Israel would fit into the United States (Alaska & Hawaii included) 768 times! Israel could fit into Florida SEVEN times! The United States is a country surrounded by two vast oceans and two friendly countries, Canada and Mexico. Israel is not so lucky. she is surrounded by 22 Arab countries and some very nasty Arab Islamic terrorist organizations.
Moving on ... from HERE: Israel granted full citizenship to all of the Palestinian Arabs who fell within its borders after the War of Independence. Arabic is an official language in Israel. Israel remains to this day one of the few countries in the Middle East where Arabs can legitimately vote--and it is the only one where women can vote.
So who was the seed of the Palestinian refugees outside its borders, living in squalor, oppressed and afflicted? The Arab nations 'round about told these "Palestinians" living in Israel to get out -- so they could come in and demolish it. Some did, some didn't. Those who fled, that Israel might be destroyed, were not let back in. Their "dictators" keep them poor, and feed them hatred, and train them to strap bombs onto their bodies and blow up as many Israelis as possible. Those "Palestinians" living within Israel's borders who did not flee, but stood by Israel, were allowed to remain.
Oh, there's so much more to say but I can't say it all in one post. A very good, brief history (animation - short, and to the point) can be seen HERE.
Last month we noted that the only true God, the Creator of the universe and all things thereinthe God of the Biblehas linked His name with and tied His integrity to Israel. Yet many evangelicals, including well-known leaders, insist that Israel is of no significance to God any longer, having been cut off for rejecting Christ and now having been replaced by the church. There are even groups (not only among white supremacists or cults such as Herbert W. Armstrongs die-hard followers today) who persist in the ridiculous theory that the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel migrated to the British Isles and that therefore all those of British descent are the true Jews today. Some go so far as to say that all of the white races are the true Jewsas though not only England but all of Europe and Russia was uninhabited wasteland until these remnants of the Ten Lost Tribes settled there. We have proved that the ten tribes taken to Assyria (2 Ki 17:6-23) were not lost but make up most of those called Jews today (see 2 Chr 34,35; Q&A Nov 92, May 96). Far from Israel being cut off, hundreds of prophecies foretell Israels importance in world affairs in the last days, the attack of all the world against her at Armageddon, her rescue by the Messiah, and her glorious final restoration in the Millennial Kingdom. Nor is there ever a reference to Israel anywhere in Scripture that could possibly be interpreted as meaning the British Isles or the British people, much less the white races!
A very good read! Read the whole article at the link above.
Since including references to two Christian rock groups in one of my articles, outraged members of the rising generation have launched a fierce defense of the bands in question. The email equivalent of katyusha rockets have been landing in my in box and in the comments section at the rate of about three an hour for days now. Many, if not most, are angry. "You guys are pathetic. Get a life. Shut this site down!" That sort of thing. Others are somewhat pitiful. "I love you all, really, but ZombiGutz ministers to me. You're hurting my feelings by saying this stuff." Others play the age card. "You're out of touch. You don't have a clue about our generation!! Do your homework." (A little homework on me would reveal that my husband and I have raised three young adult males currently aged 20, 19, and 18 with two more younger children growing up as we speak. We are highly aware of youth culture.)
The one thought that repeatedly came to me while looking over the emails was, "if only this loyalty and energy would appear when Jesus Christ is blasphemed." These kids are fiercely, energetically loyal to their gods of rock and roll. They will nearly riot in defense of their style of music, down to defending a Christian band with the idiotic name, ZombieGutz. But ask them to put down their idols for the sake of the true Gospel, ask them to surrender their brand of music and be separate from the world? Not a chance. They claim they can have both their rock, which was birthed in rebellion, and their God.
[The rest of this article is a must read. Go to the link above to read it in its entirety.]
It's the story that the journalistic elite would rather just go away. In the aftermath of Reuters' admission that one of its photographers, Adnan Hajj, had manipulated two war images from Lebanon after bloggers smoked out hiscrude Photoshop alterations and all 920 of his Reuters photos were pulled, evidence of far more troubling photo staging and media deception in the Middle East continues to pour in.
Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs (littlegreenfootballs.com) calls it "fauxtography."
One of Hajj's photos was an iconic image of a dusty dead child with a clean blue pacifier clipped to his shirt, paraded by a corpse handler at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Qana, Lebanon. Mainstream journalists have sneered at bloggers' suspicions, first raised at EU Referendum (eureferendum.blogspost.com), that some of the gruesome photos from that scene may have been staged. Washington Post photographer Michael Robinson-Chavez, who was at Qana, huffed: "Everyone was dead, many of them children. Nothing was set up." But last week, a German television station aired ****ing video footage from the scene showing a lead propaganda director (dubbed the "Green Helmet Guy") positioning a young boy's corpse, yanking it from an ambulance, placing it on two different stretchers for the cameras, and pushing bystanders out of the way for clearer shots.
Not all photographers overseas have their heads in the sand. Last week, Middle East-based photographer Bryan Denton, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, revealed on the professional photography website Light Stalkers (lightstalkers.org) that he had observed routine staging of photos -- and even corpse-digging -- by Lebanese stringers:
"I have been witness to the daily practice of directed shots, one case where a group of wire photogs were choreographing the unearthing of bodies, directing emergency workers here and there, asking them to position bodies just so, even remove bodies that have already been put in graves so that they can photograph them in people[']s arms." Denton noted that he had witnessed the photo choreography at numerous protests and evacuations, as well as at an Israeli airstrike location in Chiyeh, Lebanon. Denton followed up with a second post reporting that respected photographer friends of his Lebanon informed him that "this was not an isolated incident" and that "this has been something [I]'ve noticed happening here, more than any other place [I]ve worked previously."
Which is probably why bloggers have noticed so many copious examples of phony-looking scenes < from countless pristine stuffed animals lying in the foreground of destroyed buildings to artfully placed Korans amid scenes of destruction, to a snow-white wedding dress on a mannequin standing in the middle of a street surrounded by piles of rubble, to intact cars photographed on Lebanese roadsides and dubiously labeled as being struck by Israeli missiles
Miscaptioning (which always makes Israel look worse, never Hezbollah, go figure) adds another dimension of faux to deception. One Associated Press image of an anguished father carrying his dead 5-year-old daughter into a Gaza City hospital last week blamed the death on an Israeli airstrike. Charles Johnson found a correction of the caption revealing that the girl had been killed in a swingset accident. I found a Reuters photo of an 18-month-old girl with two broken legs that was pulled by the wire service in late July after being included among a photo set of hospital patients injured in an Israeli air raid. In truth, the girl had been admitted for a "routine hospitalisation."
Then there was the New York Times' misrepresentation of a half-naked young man sprawled Pieta-like, appearing dead, amid Tyre rubble. The original Times' website photo caption? "The mayor of Tyre said that in the worst-hit areas, bodies were still buried under the rubble..." Turned out the "dead" man was a "rescue worker" who was supposedly "injured" (with his baseball cap tucked neatly in his arm as he closed his eyes and flung his head back) and had been photographed in several other scenes running around the bombing site.
Isolated incidents? In a rare moment of candor, CNN's Anderson Cooper revealed the routine mechanics of Hezbollywood propaganda tours last week: "I was in Beirut, and they took me on this sort of guided tour of the Hezbollah controlled territories in southern Lebanon that were heavily bombed . . . they clearly want the story of civilian casualties out. That is their - what they're heavily pushing, to the point where on this tour I was on, they were just making stuff up. They had six ambulances lined up in a row and said, OK, you know, they brought reporters there, they said you can talk to the ambulance drivers. And then one by one, they told the ambulances to turn on their sirens and to zoom off, and people taking that picture would be reporting, I guess, the idea that these ambulances were zooming off to treat civilian casualties, when in fact, these ambulances were literally going back and forth down the street just for people to take pictures of them."
Iranian cataclysm forecast Aug. 22 Islamists seeking heaven could spark apocalypse, Princeton expert warns
[Excerpt]
A top expert on the Mideast says it is possible Iran could pick Aug. 22, the anniversary of one of Islam's holiest events, for a cataclysm Shiite Muslims believe will forever resolve the battle between "good" and "evil."
Princeton's Bernard Lewis has written an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal advising that the rest of the world would be wise to bear in mind that for those who believe the end of the world is imminent and good, there is no deterrent even to nuclear warfare.
If I were totally worldly, and in search of a good investment (I'm talking financial) I would try to market something spiritual. Because we are living in a very spiritual day and age. There's a hunger out there for spirituality. ESPECIALLY a spirituality that I can invent myself, that leaves little accountability to the One True God.
THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING!! For everyone 1 that is being sincere, I bet there are 99 who are in it just for the money.
Sincere or not, there an awful lot of flapping that has nothing to do with truth. But is sure feels good.
More than any other time, deception is rampant. The most dangerous for our children (and for us) are those things that are called Christian, which have just enough truth to make it palatable. After all, isn't that how Satan hooked Eve to begin with?
We must know His Word!! We must cling to it, and it alone. We must pray, pray, pray for our children. Watch out for those new, large movements -- purpose driven, seeker friendly, emergent church. Christianity has never been popular. Christianity has been hated down through the ages -- because it holds to One Truth. His name is Jesus Christ, His way is narrow. When Christianity begins to look like the world, and people are throwing the F word around, giving the "rock on" (Satanic) hand sign, or disregarding reverance for God (as in the rap video discussed below) then there's a problem. There's a big problem. Yes, holiness is a matter of the heart -- and God looks at the heart. But from that heart come actions and words that reveal the heart. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck ... you get the picture.
It is our family's belief that we are in the last days of the church. This web journal will focus on end time prophecy (and sometimes prophecy fulfilled). Understanding the Word of God, and the times we live in, is the most important thing a homeschool family can study. In these last days of the church, great discernment is necessary. There is " ... no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." 3 John 1:4
