Bible Prophesy: Israel Discovers More Oil

By Joel C. Rosenberg
From, Joel's WordPress Blog:
(Denver, Colorado, December 30, 2010) -- If you've been tracking the historic discoveries of natural gas and oil in Israel in recent years -- and the intriguing connection of these discoveries to ancient Bible prophecy -- then you will likely be interested in this week's headlines:

* Wall Street Journal: BIG GAS FIND SPARKS A FRENZY IN ISRAEL

* Haaretz: Largest natural gas reserve discovered in Israel worth approximately $95 billion - More than 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas discovered off Haifa shore in joint U.S.-Israeli drilling operation

* Agence France Presse: Israel has enough gas 'to become exporter'

In my first non-fiction book, "Epicenter," published in 2006, I included a chapter entitled, "Future Headline: Israel Discovers Massive Reserves of Oil, Gas." The chapter described a trail of prophetic clues found in the Hebrew Scriptures that some believe (myself included) indicate that in the "last days" the nation of Israel will be blessed by discovering huge reserves of petroleum that will make Israel quite wealthy.

Those clues suggest Israel will be able to "dip his foot in oil" and draw "oil from the flinty rock." The Jewish people will find "hidden treasures in the sand" and an "abundance of the seas." This newfound wealth in the last days will certainly be a blessing for Israel, but it will also draw enemies and may very well help trigger the "War of Gog and Magog" when the nations ask the leaders of the Russian-Iranian alliance that comes against the Jewish state, "Have you come to capture spoil [from Israel]? Have you assembled your [military forces] to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold….to capture a great spoil?"

The trail of clues can be found in the following Bible verses:

*Genesis 49:1
*Genesis 49:25
*Deuteronomy 33:13
*Deuteronomy 33:19
*Deuteronomy 33:24
*Deuteronomy 32:12-13
*Isaiah 45:3
*Ezekiel 38:8-13

Are such prophecies now coming to pass? Are such headlines further evidence that we are living in the "last days" before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ? It's a story worth keeping an eye on, to be sure.


Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Serious New Threat to Peace and Security of Israel

From Joel Rosenberg's Blog:
A serious new threat to the peace and security of Israel and the people of the epicenter is rapidly emerging — the prospect that the Palestinian leadership will unilaterally declare their own independent, sovereign state as early as the summer of 2011, and attempt to divide Jerusalem, and that the world will try to force Israel to accept this new state rather than require the Palestinians to sit down and negotiate a fair and just arrangement that both sides can accept.
Make no mistake: a unilateral declaration by the Palestinians is not a recipe for peace. It is a recipe for war. Over 450,000 Israelis live in the West Bank. They are not going to quietly accept a Palestinian government in Ramallah deciding their fate. Nor will these Israeli settlers allow the Palestinian police to  forcibly remove them from their villages, towns and cities. Especially Jerusalem. They will fight back. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be under enormous domestic political pressure to back these Jewish citizens with the force of the Israeli military, and should violence intensify, he would likely order the IDF into battle. The results would not be pretty, and the Palestinian people would pay a heavy price.
World leaders, therefore, should be putting enormous pressure on Palestinian leaders to sit down to direct negotiations with the Israelis and find a peaceful solution through diplomacy, lest violence result. Sadly, that’s not what is happening. Instead, world leaders are putting enormous pressure  on Israeli leaders to cut a fast deal with the Palestinians or face the prospect of Palestinian state being imposed upon them.
Bible prophecy makes it clear that the nations of the world will, in the last days, divide up the land of Israel. But the Scriptures are also crystal clear that the nations will face the judgment of Almighty God for doing so. “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat ["the Lord judges"]. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.” (Joel 3:1-2).
My colleagues and I will be teaching more about the threats and judgment outlined in the Book of Joel during the 2011 Epicenter Conference in Israel next May. Please make plans to join us. In the meantime, allow me to continue to outline the nature of this threat of the “unilateral option.”
In 2009, Palestinian President Salam Fayyad developed a detailed plan to have a Palestinian state ready within two years, and he has been building the political and economic infrastructure ever since. In April of 2010, during an exclusive interview with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, Fayyad said that ”the birth of a Palestinian state will be celebrated as a day of joy by the entire community of nations….The time for this baby to be born will come, and we estimate it will come around 2011. That is our vision, and a reflection of our will to exercise our right to live in freedom and dignity in the country [where] we are born, alongside the State of Israel in complete harmony.”
By the fall of 2010, several governments — including Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Turkey — had announced immediate or imminent recognition of a Palestinian state that hadn’t even been declared yet. Other countries are hinting that they, too, are ready to support the “unilateral option” soon. Top officials in the European Union, for example, are pushing an initiative for the E.U. to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state by the summer of 2011.
Making matters worse, I believe it is increasingly possible that the Obama administration will also back such an initiative. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in November that she opposed a unilateral declaration by the Palestinians, noting, “We do not support unilateral steps by either party that could prejudge the outcome of such negotiations.” But given how aggressively the White House and State Department are pushing for a Palestinian state — and how poor relations between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have been in 2009 and 2010 — U.S. support for the “unilateral option” is a real and serious threat.
Indeed, Members of Congress — both Democrats and Republicans — are so concerned that the Obama administration will support the “unilateral option” that on December 16th they voiced their opposition to such an approach. “The United States House of Representatives unanimously on Thursday approved a resolution opposing unilateral declaration of Palestinian state,” reported Haaretz. “The resolution introduced by Rep. Howard Berman, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, slams Palestinian efforts to push the international community to recognize a state in such a manner as ‘true and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties.’ The resolution calls on the U.S. administration to ‘deny recognition to any unilaterally declared Palestinian state and veto any resolution by the United Nations Security Council to establish or recognize a Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated by the two parties.’”
Such a unilateral move by the Palestinians, combined with widespread (and likely enthusiastic) international support would undermine six decades of attempts by the international community to reach a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Indeed, a unilaterally declared Palestinian state would violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which calls for ”a peaceful and accepted settlement.” How could the settlement be “accepted” if it wasn’t negotiated and agreed upon by both sides? A unilateral declaration would also violate Resolution 242′s call for ”secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.” How could the borders between Israel and the Palestinians be “secure and recognized” if they are not recognized by the Israelis?
Moreover, Resolution 242 doesn’t call on Israel to withdraw from” all of the territories” it acquired in the Six Day War of June 1967, only for the “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories” acquired in “the recent conflict.” In other words, based on a negotiated peace, Israel might withdraw from all of the territories, or only part of the territories. The key was for the Israelis and the Palestinians to have “secure” borders “free from threats or acts of force.”
Such a unilateral move by the Palestinians would also violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 338, which called for an immediate cease-fire after the 1973 Yom Kippur War and for “negotiations [to] start between the parties concerned under appropriate auspices aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in the Middle East.”
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and President Fayyad have been resisting true, reasonable, direct negotiations with Israel for months. They are simultaneously moving with confidence towards a unilateral declaration of their state and the division of Jerusalem. Why? Because they know they already have widespread international support. As noted above, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos announced in February 2010 that their two governments were likely to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state in pre-1967 borders within 18 months, regardless of whether Israelis and Palestinians reach a negotiated agreement. Moreover, Kouchner and Moratinos began urging the European Union as whole to recognize a Palestinian state by the summer of 2011.
“The issue before us at the moment is the building of a reality,” said Kouchner. “France is training Palestinian police, businesses are being created in the West Bank… It follows that one can envision the proclamation soon of a Palestinian state, and its immediate recognition by the international community, even before negotiating its borders….If by mid-2011, the political process has not ended the [Israeli] occupation, I would bet that the developed state of Palestinian infrastructure and institutions will be such that the pressure will force Israel to give up its occupation.”
Let us continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, not the division of Jerusalem. Let us pray for the Lord to restrain the Palestinian leadership from making such a disastrous move, and pray that the Lord would restrain world leaders from encouraging the “unilateral option.” At the same time, we need to realize that eventually the land of Israel will be divided by the nations. The only true hope of peace and reconciliation is through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, changing the hearts of Israelis and their neighbors and enemies and drawing them to Himself. Let us be praying, earnestly, therefore, towards that end.
AT-A-GLANCE: MOMENTUM BUILDING FOR A UNILATERALLY DECLARED PALESTINIAN STATE

• 2009 — Palestinian President Salam Fayyed issues detailed plan to have a Palestinian state ready in two years
• July 2009 — Javier Solana, E.U. Foreign Policy Chief, calls on the U.N. to recognize a Palestinian state by a certain deadline, even if negotiations break down.
• February 2010 –France and Spain indicate they are seriously considering formally recognizing an independent Palestinian state in pre-1967 border by the summer of 2011.
• April — Palestinian President Fayyad tells an Israeli newspaper that the Palestinian state will be ready to be born in 2011.
• December 4 — Brazil announces that it is formally recognizing an independent Palestinian state
• December 6 — Turkey announces it will also soon formally recognize a Palestinian state
• December 6 — Argentina announces it will formally recognize a Palestinian state
• December 22 — Bolivia announces will formally recognize a Palestinian state
• December 23 — Uruguay announces that it will formally recognize a Palestinian state

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Arabs Tip Their Hand--Not For Peace At All!!

26 December 2010 NO, MR. MAZEN, THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO PEACE! How in the world can you be so foolish and self defeating, dear Mr. Abbas (Mr. Abu Mazen), to go on record stating that, once you succeed - as you are ceaselessly striving to do - to have the land you are after turned into a Muslim dominated Palestinian state, you will not permit one Israeli man, woman or child to remain living in what once was the very biblical heartland of the Jewish people? Don't you realize that, by making such a stupid remark, you have let all Israelis know - if they didn't already -that you are not really interested in living in true peace with them; that you are only using the so-called peace process to arrive at your "Judenrein" State of Palestine - a state which, by its very anti-Zionist nature, will become a well-placed stepping stone for the entire fanaticized Muslim World from Iran to the Sudan to use to achieve the ultimate goal of most Muslims and Palestinians: the final eradication of the sovereign Jewish democratic state from your midst? What if Israel's prime minister were to announce to the world that the price for a two state solution is that all Arabs now living under the sovereignty of the State of Israel need to leave and be made citizens of your to-be-formed Palestinian state? How would you react, and how would the world react to such an announcement, which would mirror completely the one you just dared make concerning the Jews who now live in their own historic land? With your reprehensible declaration you have foolishly (for you) proclaimed the end of all peace negotiations, even with many among the Israelis who were duped into believing your intentions! Now we know. All you want to use the Europeans (and I am a European) and Americans for is to pressure little Israel into undoing what your Arab friends themselves brought about by their announced wish, as voiced by Abdul Nasser, to drive the Jewish people into the sea. Remember, it was in this war of Israeli self-defense that Jordan lost the so-called 'West Bank'. For many Israelis this land - illegally occupied by Jordan from 1949 to 1967 - was part of their ancestral land. By joining Egypt at the outbreak of the Six Day War (against the appeal of the Israeli government, "please do not do so") Jordan lost the territory to the people who, by divine decree, once owned it. And now you, Mr. Abu Mazan, dare to say that, while the Arabs can live in Jaffa, in Haifa and all over Israel, Israelis who live in their Hebron, in their Shiloh, in their Beth El, in their Samaria cannot live among you - not even one - when it becomes a Palestinian state? Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director International Christian Zionist Center

To support this work, please make your checks payable to the International Christian Zionist Center - USA and mail them to our address below, or you can make a cash transfer to the ICZC-USA bank account in Israel: _________________________________________________ Address: International Christian Zionist Center P.O. Box 49063 91490 Jerusalem, ISRAEL Telephone: +972 (0)2 997 8808 Fax: +972 (0)2 997 1659 Email Address: iczc@iczc.org.il         Web-site: www.israelmybeloved.com

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Jerusalem at Center Stage

Today we see storm clouds gathering all around Israel with nations committed to destroy her and the Jewish people. We hear of feverish negotiations and schemes underway to further divide Israel and Jerusalem - the apple of God's eye. The nations involved are obsessed in their efforts to divide Jerusalem, with many determined to destroy Israel – that the great name of Israel be remembered no more.

We are told in Scripture that those things would happen in the last days - and with increased intensity as the Day of the Lord draws near. That is exactly what is happening. What an exciting time to be alive!

Until that great day arrives, we must lift up His Holy Name, sing praises to Him, thank Him, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem - for our Lord's return is very near. Hallelujah!

Don



Jerusalem at Center Stage
By Todd Strandberg
Rapture Ready
Monday, December 20, 2010

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that he has no intention of sharing the holy city of Jerusalem with the Palestinians. This statement did not generate too many headlines, but I believe it is very significant in showing us where we are in Bible prophecy.

“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” (Zechariah 12:3).

The Palestinians' claim to Jerusalem is based on a massive sham. Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital for three thousand years. There never was a Palestinian people, nation, language, culture, or religion. The archeological record points endlessly to a Jewish heritage for Jerusalem. If the Palestinians had any common sense, they would go pick some other city as their capital.

Since Netanyahu came to power nearly two years ago, he has accepted the principle of a Palestinian state next to Israel. There is growing indication that Netanyahu is beating the Arabs at their old game of repeatedly agreeing to something but never getting around to actually accomplishing the task.

The international pressure on Israel has been relentless. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been pushing hard to get Israel to give on the core issues of Jerusalem's status. In one recent speech, she urged both sides to reach a final agreement "without delay and with real specificity." She pointedly called for compromise on the contested holy city, observing that "there will surely be no peace without an agreement" on Jerusalem — "the most sensitive of all the issues."

Bible prophecy promises calamity for any nation that seeks to divide Jerusalem. I believe a key reason America's economy has stumbled in recent years is the pressure we’ve been placing on Israel. Now that the Obama administration has decided to increase the pressure, I would expect to see greater trembling in the land.

Israelis have a good reason to stick with the status quo. A decade ago, the public lived in terror of being killed in a suicide bomber attack. After trying everything to combat the problem, the Israeli government was finally driven to the point of walling itself off from the Palestinians. Since the borders were sealed, there has not been a single terrorist attack in the past several years.

Another reason for Netanyahu to play coy with the Arabs is that it doesn't have any land to give away that will not jeopardize Israel's security. In the past, the Jews made the Arabs happy by giving them the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, a southern zone of Lebanon, and partial control of the West Bank. The Arabs always come back asking for more land.

The situation reminds me of story about a woman who was once chased by a grizzly bear. A human can only run half as fast as a bear, but the woman saved herself by taking off several items of clothing. Every time she dropped an item to the ground, the bear would momentarily pause before resuming the pursuit. At this point in the Middle East chase, Israel is down to its underwear, and instead of one bear there are about two dozen pursuing the Jewish state.

One of Satan’s key goals is to gain control of the city of Jerusalem. The devil certainly knows that his only chance of delaying events that will lead to his destruction is to capture Jerusalem and destroy the Jewish state. So far, Satan has edged closer to this goal by using peaceful means. Now that it looks like the Jews are not going to give up any more land, his next move will likely be war.

Prophecy teachers have long said that we are in the last days because our generation witnessed the rebirth of Israel. Perhaps it is time to say the Lord’s return is near because Jerusalem has now become the focal point of world attention.

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21:36).

Story source here

Analysis of Arab Shiites and Sunnis

This will help you understand what is going on in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey

Who Will Win the Battle For The Hearts And Minds Of The Arab Street: Turkey Or Iran?

Iran and today’s Turkish government are engaged in a battle for the hearts and minds of the Arab street. Iran represents the Shiites and Turkey represents the Sunnis. The Arab world is largely Sunni, with the exception of many of the Persian Gulf Arab countries and Iraq.

Iran and the Turkish government are also working together against the non-Muslim world – most specifically against the U.S. and Israel.

Both the Saudi government and private Saudi individuals are funding Islamist extremism throughout the Muslim world, most importantly in Turkey. They have a willing partner in the current Turkish government.

It appears that the Saudis and the present Turkish government are interested in reestablishing the Caliphate – at first culturally, but later possibly even politically – most likely in Istanbul, the seat of the last Sunni Caliph until the early 1920s.

Iran is Shiite and is appealing to the Arab Sunni street by trying to co-opt the agenda of the Sunni masses – the existence of Israel and the sanctity of Jerusalem – neither of which are traditional Shiite issues.

In doing so, Iran seeks to undermine the existing autocratic and dictatorial Arab Sunni regimes by going over the heads of their leaders and appealing directly to the Arab street. That is the major reason why almost all of the regimes in the region hate the Iranian regime more than they hate Israel. The Sunni-Shiite Divide
Iranian Shiites and Turkish Sunnis are engaged today in a huge battle to capture the hearts and minds of the Arab street, most of which, outside of Iraq, the Persian Gulf, and southern and easternLebanon, are largely Sunni. Sunni Arabs feel more of a bond with Turkish Sunnis than with Iranian or Arab Shiites, in spite of the Arab Sunni world’s historical animosity toward what they define as Turkish/Ottoman imperialism.
When Muhammad died, the question arose as to who was going to inherit the mantle of Islam. Some supported the family of Muhammad, and later became known as the Shiites. Others – much stronger – who supported the aristocracy in Mecca, later became known as the Sunnis. The Sunni-Shiite divide occurred more than 1,400 years ago, but it is still alive and well. Iran represents the Shiites and Turkey represents the Sunnis in today’s battle for the leadership of Islam.
Sunnis and Shiites have very different world views, and their disputes have often descended into violence (with the Sunnis almost always winning military confrontations). Even so, this basic disagreement has not prevented them from working together against the non-Muslim world – most specifically today against America (the leader of the West) and Israel.
Iran is at a terrible disadvantage in the Arab and Muslim worlds because it is Shiite. Besides a god they call Allah and a prophet named Muhammad, they do not have much else in common. They do not even agree on the role of Muhammad, because the main figure in Shiism is Ali, Muhammad’s first cousin and son-in-law who was married to Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima. From this line come the Shiite imams. The Shiites believe that the Twelfth Imam will return and their version of Islam will triumph.
Shiites and Sunnis often do not view each other as fellow Muslims. In Iran, it is not uncommon to hear Iranian Shiites ask foreign Middle Easterners, “Are you Muslim or Sunni?” The Sunnis – especially the Saudis and other Wahhabis – return the “complement” by labeling the Shiites “apostates” or even “Jews.” The punishment for apostasy in Islam is death.
About 85 percent of the Muslim world is Sunni and most of the Arab world, except for Iraq, other Persian Gulf countries, and parts of Lebanon, does not really know what Shiism is. Therefore, the Shiites are at a disadvantage because their brand of Islam seems, at best, strange, if not heretical, to most of the people in the Arab world.
Some two-thirds of Turkey’s population is Sunni. The Ottoman Empire, on whose embers modern Turkey was founded, was a Sunni empire which treated the Shiites and their allies – like the Alevis in Turkey – badly.
About a third of Turkey’s population are Alevis. Historically, Alevism is closer to Shiism than Sunnism, as Alevis venerate Ali and traditionally have made pilgrimages to Najaf, where Ali is buried. Alevis are being terribly discriminated against by this Turkish regime. The government refuses to fund Alevi religious houses of worship – called Cemevis - but does fund mosque construction for Sunnis. The government also forces Alevi schoolchildren to take classes on Sunnism, trying to convert Alevis to Sunnism.
I have heard senior Turkish government officials call Alevis “dogs” and claim that Alevis engage in immoral acts. These are traditional Sunni accusations that were hurled at Alevis during the time of the Ottomans. During the earlier years of the secular Turkish Republic, where Ataturk and his allies, who had much Alevi support, tried to extinguish the differences between all citizens of Turkey, it was considered in bad taste for Sunnis to make such accusations. Since 2002, when Erdogan et al came to power, that is no longer the case.) Such discrimination was not always the case.
Until the 1500s, Iran was largely Sunni, but for various political reasons it became very Shiite within a hundred years, largely as a means of protecting Iranian culture from the Arab/Turkish/Sunni non-Iranian world around it.
Now, both Iran and this Turkish government are working together to undermine the West and to advance the Islamic cause around the world. The battle will continue until the entire world becomes Muslim. But deep down, they also loathe each other.
Jerusalem Is Not Holy to Shiites
Jerusalem is an important case in point in understanding the Iranian-Turkish battle for the Arab street.
Jerusalem does not matter for traditional Shiites. They see the city’s sanctification as a Sunni innovation and therefore summarily reject it. In the late 680s CE, the Sunni Umayyad rulers of Damascus built a dome over the Rock on the Temple Mount as a way to help smother a local revolt in Mecca at that time. The Umayyads were afraid that people who made the pilgrimage to Mecca would join the rebels’ cause, and therefore blocked pilgrims from going to Mecca. That is when and why they turned the Temple Mount into an alternative pilgrimage site. Jerusalem, in short, became holy in Islam as a result of a local revolt in Mecca, some 55 years after Muhammad’s death.
The Shiites hate the Umayyads and all that the Umayyads did. Some Shiite Grand Ayatollahs even have argued that Jerusalem was given to the children of Isaac, while Ishmael, Abraham’s older son, received Najaf, which is in Iraq. In other words, from a Shiite perspective, Jerusalem is a Sunni heresy.
Why then did Shiite Iran adopt the Jerusalem and Israel issues as its own, given Shiism’s historical antipathy to the Sunnis? Because these issues are so close to the hearts and minds of the Arab Sunni masses whose leaders have been unable to dislodge Israel from Jerusalem or to eliminate that country.
Additionally, the Iranians named their most elite unit the “Quds/Ghods” forces – the Arabic and Persian Muslim names for Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem/Israel issue has proven to be a wonderful tool for Iranian leaders to use to garner support for the Islamic Republic in its fight against the Arab Sunni rulers. The Iranian Shiite interest in Jerusalem is, therefore, nothing more than a political tool the Iranian government uses to bash their Arab Sunni enemies.
The Saudi Connection
The Saudis – Sunni Wahhabis – know they are too weak to rule over the Sunni world, and they are petrified of Iran, as the WikiLeaks cables make abundantly clear. The Saudis are interested in Turkey because traditionally: 1. the Turks are very militaristic and have been the soldiers of Islam; and 2. Istanbul was the capital of the Sunni Caliphate which in 1924 was abolished by Ataturk, the founder of the secular Republic of Turkey. The Saudis know they are impotent desert nomads and therefore need to enlist other, more powerful Sunnis like Erdogan and his crowd in their goal to “Sunni Islamify” the entire world.
Wahhabism is fanatical and for Islam is the equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan brand of Christianity. The difference, however, is that the Ku Klux Klan never had oil money to spread its brand of Christianity. The Wahhabis have lots of money and they are using it to propagate their hatred of Shiites, the West, and Israel. While they are doing all they can to eradicate radical Islam in their country – which really means anti-Saudi activity – they lavishly support radical Islam everywhere else. Erdogan and company are therefore their natural allies and beneficiaries.
It appears that the Saudis and the present Turkish government are both interested in reestablishing the Caliphate – certainly culturally and probably eventually politically – most likely in the capital of the last great Sunni empire in modern times: Istanbul. The Turkish government is very receptive to that idea. If they reach their common goal, an Islamist Turkey would be a bulwark against both the Shiites and against Westernization.
The Turkish government claims that there is no Wahhabi money going into Turkey. Maybe so, but gorgeous, expensive mosques are being built in Turkey’s poor, small villages. The locals obviously do not have the money for this. Moreover, mosques are also being built in Alevi villages which have no Sunnis and therefore don’t need mosques. The money to build these mosques comes from somewhere, and the Turkish government simply does not have the money to engage in such a massive building campaign. Everywhere else in the world, the Wahhabis are building mosques – but, if you choose to believe the government of Turkey, not in Turkey.
In addition, beautifully produced and very inexpensive books which spread hated and advocate violence against the West, America, and Israel are easily available in Turkey. Again, the Turks simply don’t have the money to produce such beautifully crafted books. If one chooses to believe the Turkish government, then it is curious that Wahhabi money is going into every Muslim country except Turkey, which, the Turks claim, is one of the most important countries in the Muslim world.
Iran Sees Its Opportunities
The Iranians are great strategists and know how to wait. The Iranians cannot stand up against the whole Arab world because they do not have the resources or the military to do so. So they have devised a campaign to go over the heads of the Arab Sunni-ruled regimes, directly to the Sunni masses. That is the major reason why almost all of the regimes in the region hate the Iranian regime more than they hate Israel.
Their first audience is other Shiites. In the Persian Gulf, where there is oil there are Shiites. Saudi oil is found in an area approximately 80 kilometers by 400 kilometers along the northeastern coast of the Gulf. That area is Arabic-speaking and overwhelmingly Shiite, and was independent until 1902 when the Saudis captured it, much to the chagrin of its local inhabitants. In Sunni-ruled Kuwait, which is probably 40-50 percent Shiite, the government does everything possible to placate the Shiites because they are a natural target for Iran. Bahrain is 80 percent Shiite, but its ruling family is Sunni.
In the game of Shiites versus Sunnis, Iranian cunning has to be admired. The Iranians are trying to steal the agenda of the Sunni Arab leaders. At the same time, the current Turkish government and its Wahhabi cohorts are trying to block the Iranian Shiites from succeeding. And all of them together are working against America and Israel.
Khomeini Stands Up to America
When Ayatollah Khomeini got off the plane upon his return to Iran in 1979, he said he had come to rectify a wrong which took place 1,400 years ago. What he meant by that was not lost either on the Shiites or the Arab world’s Sunni rulers. They knew he meant that his form of Islam – Shiism, which is of course the only true Islam from his point of view – must defeat Sunnism. As part of his plan, Khomeini, unlike the rulers of the Arab Sunni world, constantly harangued against and humiliated the West, most specifically the United States – the leader of the West. In doing so, Khomeini was standing up for Islam which had for centuries suffered territorial losses at the hands of the Christian West and later their Jewish allies in Israel.
The Muslim world in general, and the Arab world in particular, feel that Islam has been losing ever since 1683 when they were routed at Vienna, and that Islam has been in retreat ever since. When Khomeini’s “students” took American diplomats hostage, the U.S. acted as if it were afraid. In response, students throughout the Muslim world put up pictures of Khomeini, who said he was restoring the honor of the Muslim world. This describes the Iranian battle for the Arab street, as Iran has been going over the heads of Arab leaders – appealing directly to the Arab street – to claim it is restoring Muslim honor.
Khomeini and his successors thus touched a deep cord among Muslims everywhere, and particularly in the Arab world. When he, and later Ahmadinejad or Khamenei, gave public speeches, behind them often was a sign in Persian, and sometimes also in Arabic, saying: “America can’t do anything.” In other words, we (Shiites and Iranians) are the ones standing up for Islam and, by extension, the Arab (Sunni) rulers either kowtow to the Americans or are incapable of doing anything to stop non-Muslim advances. Over and over again Iran’s leaders repeat: “America can do nothing.”
The Arab street sees that neither America nor Israel is doing anything about Iran’s nuclear capability. Few Sunni Arabs outside of Iraq, the Persian Gulf, and Lebanon really know much about Shiism, but they see that the Shiites are standing up for them, while their own rulers do nothing. The Iranians have been doing this for over thirty years and they have made some headway in the Arab street.
Turkey’s View of the World
There is an enormous Islamist revival going on in Turkey today, strongly encouraged and pushed by Turkey’s Islamist rulers. They are slowly but surely trying to reestablish the Caliphate, and are encouraging journalists to write articles about Ottoman control over areas over which the Ottomans once ruled – i.e., southeast Europe and the Arab world. Arab Sunnis appear to be willing to overlook the Turkish imperial past because Arab nationalism has failed them and so many now look to Islam to save them.
When the current Turkish government took power in 2002, it began a slow process of returning the Turkish polity to its Islamic roots. However, the Islam that Turkey’s government is pushing isn’t the more tolerant Ottoman Islam but a version much more closely attuned to that of the Wahhabi, extremist, anti-Western Islam pushed by the Saudis.
Reactions to the Flotilla Crisis
How did the Turkish masses react to the Turkish government-inspired “flotilla crisis”? To be sure, many Turks supported the flotilla terrorists, but that is because they had little or no knowledge about who the people were on board the ship. Even so, many common people in Turkey reacted otherwise. They said: Gaza is “Arab” and the word “Arab” in Turkish often has a pejorative meaning. Turks associate Arabs with money and laziness. (Industriousness is a highly prized commodity in Turkish culture.) Turks see Arabs coming to Istanbul not to see the sights but to go to prostitutes. These Turks wonder why Arab Egypt – which also blockades the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip – and the oil-rich Arab countries with limitless financial resources have not taken care of the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza. Why should Turkey, they reason, which has many people who do not have enough money to put bread on the table, be more concerned about the Arabs than the Arabs themselves?
Arab Sunni reaction to the “flotilla crisis” was different. Arab Sunnis, especially among the Palestinians, started naming children after Erdogan. When Erdogan later visited Lebanon, Sunnis referred to him as “Sultan Erdogan,” i.e., their ruler – calling him by the title that had been reserved for the ruler of the Ottoman Empire to which their ancestors had belonged – the (Sunni) Caliph of the Muslim world.
Which Side Is Winning?
So how have Turkey and Iran fared in their battle to win the hearts and minds of the Arab street?
The press in every Arab country besides Iraq is government-controlled, so we cannot get a true reading of what the masses think from the press. Nevertheless, a foreign polling company recently asked Arabs what they thought about foreign leaders. No one could get in trouble if they mentioned Turkey positively, but had they mentioned Iran favorably, they might have suffered consequences at the hands of their authoritarian and totalitarian rulers. We must keep this in mind when trying to analyze who is winning this battle.
The pollsters asked, “Which is the foreign country friendliest to the Arabs?” France came in first, Turkey was second, and Iran did not even make the top ten. In essence, public opinion in the Arab world is by and large fickle. What is important is who can destroy Israel, and the Iranians have been working at it since 1979 and seem to be doing a much better job than their own Arab rulers. Yet even though Iran has gone to great lengths to win the hearts and minds of the Arabs, they come up short because the Turkish government is Sunni, as are most Arabs.
In the end, Iran will always remain at a tremendous disadvantage. The Turkish government has only been engaged in efforts to win the hearts and minds of the Arab street since 2002, when Erdogan’s party came to power, while the Iranians have been at this for 31 years. Only if Sunni Muslims converted en masse to Shiism would Iran really be able to gain the upper hand. This does not seem to be in the cards for the foreseeable future.
What would happen if Turkey and Iran switched places? Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that Turkey abandoned any pretense of secularism and re-established the (Sunni) Caliphate in Istanbul, while Iran returned to secular non-clerical rule. While we can only speculate, it is likely that, with the exception of Shiite-dominated Iraq and the Arab Shiites of the Persian Gulf and parts of Lebanon, the Sunni Arabs would look to Turkey and abandon any pro-Iranian feeling because they would no longer see Iran as the center of the battle to defeat the non-Muslim world. In that case, Turkey would clearly be the winner in the battle for the hearts and minds of the Arab world.
By Harold Rhode
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Congress: No to Palestinian statehood declaration

House of Representatives unanimously decides to remind Obama it supports Israel, passes motion saying US will not recognize Palestinian state declared without Israel's approval, veto UN resolution to this effect if it is brought forth - Yitzhak Benhorin

Published: 12.16.10, 08:49 / Israel News

Quote:
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a motion opposing a move being promoted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, for recognition of a state within the 1967 borders without Israel's agreement.

Quote:
"The US reaffirms strong opposition to any attempt to establish or seek recognition of a Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians," the motion says, also stating that "real and lasting peace could only be achieved through direct negotiations between the two sides"

Quote:
The house mentioned that Palestinian leaders were threatening to make a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state and were requesting recognition from the UN and other international forums.

Full story here




Abbas has been trying to get countries around the world to recognize a Palestinian state without Israel's cooperation - a sneaky "backdoor" approach.

With this decision, it would appear that Congress is doing something right! I applaud their stance. In spite of the "black eye" Obama received from them, the decision probably will not slow his efforts toward achieving a Palestinian state.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Don

Media Coverup of Arab Arson...

Coverup of Arab Arson Offensive Exposed
 Interesting to note that this goes on, while Jews are blamed, jailed, beaten, and maligned... Sad state of affairs, which is all the more reason we need to pray... Shalu shalom Yerushalayim and Yisroel!

by Gil Ronen

Israel's police, fire brigades and press intentionally hushed up an Arab arson offensive that took place while fires raged on the Carmel last week, a reporter for Ma'ariv Hebrew daily claimes.



According to Kalman Libeskind, sources in the Police and within the Fire Commission said - in briefings that were not for attribution - that they decided not to spread the information about the arson "so as not to wake into action more potential terrorists." The press became "willing accompices" in this hush-up effort.

Libeskind lists the locations of about 25 arson attacks that the fire brigades fought in the course of last week: In Kiryat Shemona In southern Golan Twice near Tzfat (Safed) Several times in a grove that separates Abu Ghosh and Kiryat Anavim near Jerusalem Twice in a grove near Tzur Hadassah At the Sansan Ridge near Moshav Mata Twice in the forest next to Kaukab Once in the grove near Tzur Shalom In the area next to Mitzpeh Adi In a lot near Ma'alot Near Kiryat Tiv'on Between Yokne'am and Bat Shlomo Near HaMovil Junction Near Moshav Hoshaya In Nazareth Three times in Iloot Forest Once in Jerusalem Forest Twice in the Forest of Peace in southern Jerusalem.

No less than eighteen acts of arson were recorded last month in the Forest of Peace, Libeskind notes.

"This is a true Intifadah  [uprising - ed.] that had to be the top headline of any news report," Libeskind wrote. "The media consumers need to know that the story they have been getting is not the true one. The reason is that the Israeli press treats the Arabs of Israel as if they were spoiled children. They can inflict pain, hurl rocks and torch property, but no matter what, journalistic press rooms will still act as if insulting the Arabs is not PC." 
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

A Season of Peace Disguised

In America, we are wishing each other peace and joy. The Christmas holiday is approaching and there are many emotions involved at this time of year: some are making merry...some are stressing out over the gift-giving dilemma...some are trying to cope with the weather...some are simply basking in the simple joy of celebrating the Anointed One~Yeshua's, birth and enjoying time with family and friends.
In Israel, the Festival of Lights-Hanukkah, is over. Now the country is struggling with the aftermath of a devastating fire, with severe winter weather, and they are trying to cope with pressure from the United States to freeze settlement building in order to appease her enemies and coerce her into giving up more of her God-given land, all while Gaza continues to fire rockets into Israeli territory.
And yet, God's promises resound through the heavens to His people and remain true and unyielding to those who would seek to render them ineffective. In Isaiah 42:1-6, God prophesies to Isaiah about His Servant, His Anointed~Elect~Chosen One, who will be a light and bring justice to the Goyim-Gentiles. This was echoed by Shim'on in the Temple when Yosef and Miryam brought Yeshua to present Him before God: Luke 2:25-32. And Isaiah prophesies about the Prince of Peace in 9: 6-7 and ends by saying: "The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this."
Through all the turmoil and adverse circumstances around us, we have the assurance of peace through Yeshua HaMashiach, because His Word is forever settled in heaven! Psalm 119:89

There is a song in Hebrew called Oseh Shalom:

"Oseh shalom bimromav

Hu ya'aseh shalom

Aleinu v'al kol Yisrael

V'imru, Omain."

Translated, it says: "May the One who makes peace, send peace to us and all of Israel."

So He has, and so He will! 

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Massive Fire in Northern Israel

(Washington, D.C., December 2, 2010) -- As the Jewish holiday of Hanukah has begun this week, a serious national crisis is unfolding in northern Israel. "More than 12,000 northern Israel residens were being evacuated from their homes as a massive fire that claimed the lives of at least 40 people continued to rage Thursday night," reports Ynet News.

"Rescue forces have yet to contain the fire, which in addition to the northern town of Tirat Carmel also threatens the communities of Nir Etzion, Ein Hod, and Beit Oren, all evacuated by now. Meanwhile, the IDF is gearing up to evacuate its transport base in Tirat Carmel. The evacuation of Damon Prison ended in tragedy, after 40 cadets in a Prison Service officers course were burned to death in a flaming bus sent to help in the prison's evacuation. Apart from the 40 victims, several firemen and three police officers who drove a police car behind the bus were also injured."

Prime Minister Netanyahu is calling the massive fires a "disaster on an international scale." He added that, "We do not have what it takes to put out the fire, but help is on the way. As a result of calls I have made, there are currently ten aircraft on their way to Israel from Greece, France and Cyprus."

The Joshua Fund is alerting Christians all over the world to the gravity of the situation, and we are asking people to pray:

*For the fires to be contained and put out quickly
*For the Israelis who have been evacuated from their homes to be comforted and to have adequate housing and all the supplies they need
*For no further evacuations to be necessary
*For other countries to provide Israel needed assistance in firefighting
*For believers in Israel to be able to love their neighbors in real and practical ways during this crisis
*For The Joshua Fund to be able to assist in real and practical ways, as needed - we've been in touch in the past few hours with a number of our key allies in northern Israel to assess their needs, and we'll let you know more as we learn more.

Thanks so much for praying for the people of Israel at this critical time. 
Joel Rosenberg

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua