IT’S HIGH TIME TO WAKE UP!
“You know what time
it is,
and that it is high time
for us to wake up from slumber;
for our salvation is
nearer now than when we first believed.”
(Romans 13:11)
CONTENTS
THE WORLD ECONOMY
THE FREE-FALLING U$ DOLLAR
U.S. THREAT TO WORLD ECONOMY
CHINA GIVES MARKETS THE
JITTERS
ECONOMIC ARMAGEDDON PREDICTED
THE US AND THE EU
IS THE EU WORKING TO BRING DOWN THE US?
EU TO EXPAND MILITARY
PLANS
EU MILITARY TO BECOME
MILITARY ARM OF THE UN
THE UNITED NATIONS
THE UNITED NATIONS: KOFI ANNAN IN THE FIRING LINE
THE UN OIL-FOR-FOOD
CORRUPTION
PETITION TO KICK U.N.
OUT OF THE U.S.
RESHAPING the UNITED NATIONS
PEACE AND THE PALESTIANS
THE PALESTINIAN PROBLEM
BUSH WILL NOT SUCCEED IN
“PALESTINE”
SOLANA’S PUSH TOWARD
PEACE
ARAFAT: “DESTROY ISRAEL
THROUGH PEACE”
Marwan Barghouti
MAHMOUD ABBAS
PLAGUES
LOCUST SWARMS SWEEP THROUGH CAIRO
My dear Reader,
Here are some of the signposts of the
coming world climax that are evident around the world today.
THE WORLD ECONOMY
THE FREE-FALLING U$
DOLLAR
In November the value of the US dollar
fell to a record low of $1.3105 against the euro, after being hit by
concerns over the US’s deficits, combined with signs that central banks
overseas are stepping up their sales of the ailing US currency, and buying
into euros.
The dollar sell-off was sparked by
comments of Russian authorities who hinted at plans to continue switching
their currency reserves into euros, to the detriment of the dollar.
Whether or not Russia reduces its
foreign exchange reserves of dollars, analysts said the US currency will
stay in freefall so long as the US continues to record massive deficits on
both the current account and the fiscal front.
Another shock was when a recent G20
meeting of the world’s top finance ministers and central bankers produced no
promise of any concerted action to help stabilise the dollar. This triggered
another sell-off.
Fears that the US wants to see its
currency weaken in order to ease its massive current account deficit, have
been the driving force behind the dollar’s recent decline.
Fuel was added to the fire after
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said the current account gap was
unsustainable. “The dollar is friendless and in danger of freefall,” said a
chief economist at the ECU Group.
Analysts say that not even strong US
data can provide the dollar respite, and they are now widely predicting the
euro will hit $1.45, and the pound $2.
The European Central Bank and the Bank
of Japan may intervene in the markets, and seek to stem their respective
currencies’ appreciation against the dollar, but analysts said the chances
of success are minimal.
As long as the markets believe the US
administration is following a policy of benign neglect, then the dollar will
continue to fall, no matter what the European and Japanese banks do to
counteract it.
- Nov 24, 04
U.S. THREAT TO WORLD ECONOMY
THIS was the headline of an alarming
article in The Australian, last January (9.1.04). It said:
“Massive trade and budget deficits in
the US threaten the world economy with higher interest rates, slower
economic growth and a
‘disorderly’ sell-off of
the greenback (the $), the
International Monetary Fund has warned.
“In a grim message, the IMF argued
there was a ‘substantial’ risk that the twin trade and budget deficits could
see a messy plunge in the value of the US dollar, which has (already)
fallen sharply over the past year.”
It looks like the time has now
arrived!
CHINA
GIVES MARKETS THE JITTERS
THE dollar fell to new lows on rumours
that China might shift some of its currency reserves away from the
greenback.
The Indonesian central bank said
Jakarta might reduce its reserves of dollar assets if the currency fell
further. And the fear is that other Asian central banks, including Japan,
might also dump US assets to avoid large losses as the dollar’s value falls.
If either of the Chinese and Japanese
central banks began to shift into European or Asian assets, the dollar would
plunge and interest rates on US government debt would rise sharply, damping
US growth prospects.
For the present, China and Japan have
an incentive to retain US assets, because doing so holds down their own
currencies and maintains exports. But many economists say the situation is
not sustainable in the long term.
ECONOMIC ARMAGEDDON PREDICTED
“Come now, you rich, weep and wail because of the miseries that are coming
upon you. Your wealth has become rotten, and your garments are moth-eaten.
Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will testify against
you and will consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the
Last Days!” (James 5:1-3)
Stephen
Roach, the chief economist at investment banking giant Morgan Stanley,
predicts that America has no better than a 10% chance of avoiding economic
“Armageddon.”
This was not his public prediction,
but an assessment given to a select group of fund managers in November. The
Press was not allowed into the meetings, but the Boston Herald says
it obtained a copy of Roach’s presentation.
Roach sees a 30% chance of a slump
soon and a 60% chance that “we’ll muddle through for a while and delay the
eventual Armageddon.”’
The reasons:
* The dollar is hitting fresh lows
against most world currencies and America’s record trade deficit means it
will keep falling.
* America is living in a “debt bubble
of record proportions.”
* To entice foreigners to buy
Treasury-bills, and to prevent a resulting rise in inflation, Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will be forced to raise interest rates
further, and faster, than he wants.
Roach argues: to finance its current
account deficit with the rest of the world, America has to import $2.6
billion in cash every working day. That’s an amazing 80% of the entire
world’s net savings. Sustainable? Hardly.
The results:
* Inflation and an economic
“Armageddon.”
* A spectacular wave of bankruptcies
is possible.
* Debt-laden consumers will get
crushed. –
Source: Boston Herald.com / 23 Nov. 04
THE
US AND THE EU
IS THE EU WORKING TO BRING DOWN THE US?
IT is a fact that the EU has been
supporting the PLO and the PA against Israel for a very long time.
It is also true that the EU is now
larger in many ways than USA. For example, Germany alone exports more than
the US does, and does not have a huge debt like the US - trillions of
dollars, which is getting deeper every day because of the Iraqi war.
Europe is the growing superpower and
its combined economy is now surpassing that of the US. The euro had
strengthened dramatically this year and is now dwarfing the US dollar.
A major difference is that the US is
one nation with one vote, whereas the EU is still 25 nations with 25 votes
in the UN General Assembly.
Many of the 25 nations are not yet
willing to surrender full sovereignty to the European Union; but the newly
written constitution is now before them; and they are required to ratify it
within two years. It envisages central cohesion – a united states of Europe
which evidently is to be called “The Union.”
Recently British PM Tony Blair met
with French President Chirac to resolve their differences; and Chirac is
seeking to woo Blair away from his alliance with the US, whispering in his
ear that he will get nothing for supporting George Bush and his war. His
reasoning is that the US is a huge debtor country and cannot pay her debt;
and so it is headed for bankruptcy.
Blair is in serious trouble at home
thanks to his support for the Iraqi war. So Chirac, if he can, will persuade
Blair to turn against Bush to save his own political neck. Chirac evidently
believes that a British switch is all that is needed to isolate the US, and
to bring down the US.
France and Germany know they will not
be able to destroy the US militarily, but they can do it economically by
destroying the manufacturing base of the US and by targeting the US economy.
Russia, China, the EU and the UN, all
for their own various reasons, would like to see the US stripped. Whereas
the EU seeks to become the world’s new superpower, Russia and China want to
strengthen their economies through monetary arrangements with the Islamic
Arab world. And the US is a hindrance!
Russia lost billions of dollars
because of the US attacking Iraq. And China lost a good buyer for their
military goods and nuclear secrets, but that has now changed as China is
once again doing well in the arms trade to the Arab world. Then Russia and
China are also building nuclear reactors in Iran and Syria; and has already
built one in Libya.
American adventurism in the Middle
East is a hindrance to the business interests and goals of these nations.
The US support of Israel is also seen as the main obstacle to a settlement
of the Israel-Palestinian problem.
As the US does not figure in Bible
prophecy, many teachers believe this superpower will decline drastically
before the rise of the Antichrist at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.
EU TO EXPAND MILITARY PLANS
THE European Union is expanding plans
to set up several elite battle groups for rapid deployment to international
trouble spots.
The original plan was to have nine
such groups of 1,500 troops ready by 2007, but EU military officials said an
enthusiastic response from nations wanting to contribute forces meant that
at least 12 would now be set up. Of that, four — led by France, Britain,
Italy and Spain — should be in place next year.
France, Britain and Germany developed
the battle group idea early this year to give the EU more military reach, by
allowing it to intervene quickly in international crises before they spin
out of control. Smaller EU nations will be taking part in joint groups,
often with their larger partners.
Of the 12 battle groups,
two will be kept on high
alert,
ready to deploy within 10 days, and be self-supporting for up to four
months. The units will be used mostly for peacekeeping or humanitarian
operations
mandated by the United Nations.
Besides an operation in Congo, the EU
is already running missions helping local law enforcement operations in
Bosnia and Macedonia, and has a much smaller mission in Georgia.
- Brussels / 19 Nov,
04
EU MILITARY TO BECOME MILITARY ARM OF THE UN
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan gave
an interview in the Irish Times in which he told the paper he was
‘excited’ at the prospect of a possible deal that would make the EU military
the de facto military arm of the United Nations. Annan said of the proposal,
“You may not necessarily even have to fight ... You sometimes have to show
force in order not to use force.”
According to the paper, the
UN-proposed EU battlegroups or “hit squad” concept is in line with ‘new
thinking on international military action to prevent genocide, and to avoid
a repetition of the Rwanda tragedy ten years ago.’
Too late! The Rwanda tragedy is being
repeated, right now, in Sudan where Islamic forces of the Sudan are wiping
out the mainly Christian black population in the south and west.
Commentator Jack Kinsell, in the
Omega letter, made this observation:
“In inviting the EU battlegroups to
take on the role of United Nations’ policy enforcer, Kofi Annan has
inadvertently (or calculatingly, who knows?) named the EU as the UN’s
successor.”
THE UNITED NATIONS
KOFI ANNAN IN THE FIRING LINE
RECENTLY there has been a lot of
criticism of the United Nations, and of its Secretary-General, Kofi Annan,
over what is perceived to be deep-rooted corruption in the organisation.
Annan has also been in the line of
fire over a high-profile series of scandals including controversy about a UN
aid programme that investigators say, allowed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein
to embezzle billions of dollars.
Internally, the UN employees were
planning to issue an unprecedented vote of no confidence in Annan after he
pardoned the body’s top oversight official of a series of allegations of
favouritism and sexual harassment.
The UN staff union was set to approve
a resolution withdrawing support for the embattled Annan and senior UN
management. This was the first time in the history of the UN that employees
had risen up en masse to make a vote of no confidence in a sitting secretary
general.
Criticism goes back to 1994 when the
UN failed to stop the Rwanda genocide that left 800,000 people dead, even
though UN peacekeepers were on the ground - a catastrophe for which Annan
has publicly apologised.
The latest crisis comes as Annan faces
unprecedented calls to resign over the scandal about “oil-for-food,” a UN
aid scheme that US investigators say allowed Saddam to siphon off billions
of dollars.
Annan has been accused of obstructing
justice, as his officials have rejected calls from the US Senate to turn
over documents of the “oil-for-food” programme.
Referring to the Rwanda massacres, one
long term staffer at the UN said: “Kofi Annan is surrounded by corruption,
and a gang of criminals responsible for some of the worst things that
happened to mankind in the 20th century. It’s possible that he doesn’t know
directly what has gone on, but that’s no excuse.”
Annan is expected to serve out his
term, which ends in 2006.
- Source: AFP / UN /
19 Nov. 04
THE UN
OIL-FOR-FOOD CORRUPTION
Senator
Norm Coleman is the chairman of
the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations which is
investigating corruption and theft surrounding the Oil-For-Food scandal.
Coleman said in November that “the extent of the UN corruption is
staggering.”
The scope of the rip-off at the UN,
Coleman said, is substantially more than the widely reported $10 billion+ in
graft.
“The hearings of the Subcommittee
should expose the arrogance of the secretary general and his bureaucracy
which has refused to honor the Senate committee’s request for documents.”
Annan, of course, has been a source of
constant criticism against US operations aimed at bringing freedom to Iraq.
The UN authorized the ‘Oil-for-Food’
program which allowed Saddam Hussein to sell oil in order to get money to
provide food, medicine and other necessities of life for his people
suffering under the weight of Gulf-War sanctions. But documents obtained by
the committee show that billions of dollars, siphoned off by middlemen,
found their way to Saddam, who in turn used the money to bribe officials and
to buy weapons.
Among the recipients of oil-for-food
cash were the Palestinian and Iranian terrorist groups.
Coleman’s committee uncovered clear
evidence of the complicity of France, Germany, Russia and China and their
companies while competing for billions of dollars’ worth of business in
Iraq.
The web of corruption extends all the
way to the office door of UN Secretary General, says the report.
With the continuing conflict between
the UN and the US in the background, Kofi Annan issued a statement in Nov.,
saying that “the United States and the United Nations have the greatest
impact on global issues
when they work together”
- instead of squabbling, evidently, over the years of corruption, deceit and
international conspiracies that keep Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime in
power. “I think the relationship is important,” Annan said. “The US is
important for the UN, and I hope the UN is also important for them.”
Well, it can be argued that the US is
important to the UN. The United States is the UN’s largest bankroller; it
contributes 25% of the UN’s annual budget. The other 190 countries in the
UN, together contribute 75%. And US tax dollars make up one-third of the
UN’s operating budget for global “peace-keeping” efforts.
Since 1945, the United States has
given $30 billion to the UN, an organisation which is diametrically opposed
to the American system of government. Because of its very nature, the UN
must consistently seek to increase its power and to control the nations,
including the US, at the expense of their national sovereignties.
But is the UN important for the United
States? The answer is expected during the next four years of the Bush
administration.
During the debate over the planned war
with Iraq two years ago, George Bush warned that the UN was growing
increasingly irrelevant, and predicted it would ‘share the fate of the
League of Nations in the dustbin of history.’
If that happens, the EU is the
only
viable alternative to the United
Nations, and, thanks to its predictable opposition to all things American,
it would enjoy almost unanimous global support for its assumption of the
role.
PETITION TO KICK U.N. OUT OF THE U.S.
A conservative group, Move America
Forward, has launched an effort to kick the UN out of the United States.
Evidence of corruption at the U.N. and
its failure to support the US war on terrorism prompted the group to launch
a petition drive, which it is advertising in a TV commercial.
The petition criticizes the UN for
becoming “a safe harbor, an apologist, and a defender of terrorist
organizations and their agents.”
The 60-second television commercial
notes, “We tell other countries not to harbor organizations that support
terrorists; why then do we harbor the UN here in America?”
RESHAPING the UNITED NATIONS
ABOUT a year ago, Kofi Annan appointed
a 16-member “High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change” to make
recommendations for restructuring the UN Security Council. At the end of
November, the Panel submitted its report.
A main item is the proposal to expand
the UN Security Council, to make it “more representative.”
Originally, the Security Council
consisted of 11 members, five of which were permanent, each with veto power
– US, Britain, France, USSR and China (Taiwan). The remaining six members
served two-year terms, and rotated among the member nations.
The Council was later expanded to 15
members. The only changes in the status of the permanent five members were
when the defunct USSR was replaced by Russia, and Beijing took over the
Chinese seat from Taiwan. The other ten served on the Security Council as
non-permanent members.
The proposal now is to expand the
Security Council (SC) to 24 members; 11 permanent members (including the
original 5), and 13 rotating members. The leading candidates for the new
permanent seats are Germany, Brazil, Japan, India, Egypt, Nigeria and South
Africa.
An alternate proposal is a SC of 24
members; 5 permanent; 8 semi-permanent with renewable 4-year terms; and 11
non- permanent with two year terms.
In both proposals the veto rights
would remain with the “big five,” meaning that the ultimate power of the UN
would remain with the nations that won World War 2.
Some observers who closely watch the
UN believe that Kofi Annan, and a heap of nations, would like to see the
veto rights of the five abolished. They can be expected to push for that at
a later stage.
It is an apparent anomaly that
increased representation will not make the SC more effective. While the
General Assembly resolutions are not binding and are virtually worthless,
the veto power of the P5 (permanent five) ensures that SC resolutions need
not affect the five, or their close allies.
The veto power also means that in a
situation such as Kosovo, the UN is powerless because of differences within
the P5. That’s why Kosovo had to be tackled by NATO and not by the UN.
Another anomaly is that the United
Nations which seeks to keep peace and facilitate well-being between the
nations, does not embody a system of universal law. Nor does it have a
particular moral authority. Instead of functioning by an established rule of
law, it debates, and then takes decisions on the basis of a simple,
“democratic,” majority vote.
A paradox is that the veto right in
the SC is a weak-ness, and yet, at the same time, is a preserving
strength. In the General Assembly, all 191 nations have one vote each, and
if its resolutions were binding, Israel, for one, would have been destroyed
long ago. And if there were no veto in the SC, a simple majority might have
forced Israel into defeat.
As well as the SC expansion, Annan’s
High Level Panel has come up with new “rules of engagement” which seek to
prevent ‘unilateral’ military action – such as America’s war on Saddam
Hussein.
Before backing the use of force, the
panel recommends that the SC should weigh five “legitimacy” criteria:
* the seriousness of the threat. Is
the threat sufficiently clear and serious?
* proper purpose - to halt or avert
the threat in question.
* last resort. Has every non-military
option been explored?
* proportional means. Are the scale,
duration and intensity of proposed military action, the minimum necessary to
meet the threat?
* balance of consequences. Is there a
reasonable chance of the military action being successful in meeting the
threat, with the consequences of the action not likely to be worse than the
consequences of the action?
Sounds good as a “just war” theory;
but the rules can have various interpretations. Would these rules have
prevented the war against Saddam Hussein?
The Panel’s restructuring proposal, it
is believed, will be a ‘make-or-break’ deal, to rein in the United States.
The question is whether the US, and
other nations, are willing to take
another step towards
World Government; to surrender more of their sovereignty, and to be governed
by the UN.
George W. Bush, for one, will almost
certainly not cede sovereignty to the UN, no matter how it may be
restructured – unless, perhaps, the New World Order commands him to do so.
If the UN does not succeed, and the
conflict with the US continues, the organisation may once more be declared
irrelevant; it could even be paralyzed, and implode. If that happens, the
European Union will be in the wings waiting to take up the pieces.
PEACE AND THE PALESTIANS
THE PALESTINIAN PROBLEM
THE QUARTET - the US, EU, UN and
Russia - and many of the Arab states, are professedly concerned about a
solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Everyone knows that if the
Palestinians accept a peaceful solution – a state alongside with Israel,
they would receive more aid than any nation in the Arab world. And they
should welcome that!
But behind all the maneuvering, there
is a deeper conflict – the battle for Jerusalem. And it is not only the
Arabs’ determination to deny Israel sovereignty over Jerusalem; it is also
the scheme of the UN, the EU and the Vatican. All want to internationalize
the city.
More UN resolutions have been passed
condemning Israel since its rebirth in 1948, and Israel’s occupation of
Jerusalem, than against the rest of the global community combined.
So at the core of the conflict is
Jerusalem; and the Saudis, the Persians, and the Syrians are all playing
into the hands of the New World Order by supplying the Palestinians with the
money and arms they need to keep the fight against Israel alive.
Now with the Palestinian election
scheduled for 9 January, the issue of Jerusalem is once more in the front.
The Palestinian leaders are demanding that the Arabs of East Jerusalem have
a right to vote. The reason is
not
because they think these
Arabs will vote in the election.
In an earlier Palestinian parliament
election only 10% of them voted. When interviewed most of them said that
they did not want to lose their blue card that gives them full rights to
free medical care in Israel, and all the other rights a full Israeli citizen
has, with one exception, the right to vote in a Knesset election.
They all know there is no other place
they could live with such benefits. They have better rights and care under
Israeli administration than any ordinary citizen has in any Arab country;
and they want to keep it that way. But “the right of East Jerusalem Arabs to
vote in the PA election” is being used to try to force Israel to concede
that East Jerusalem is part of the “Palestinian” territories.
In mid-November, the PA threatened to
call off the January 9 vote if Jerusalem’s Arab residents were not permitted
to fully participate.
- Jerry
Golden in Israel has contributed to this article.
All my regular readers know the
prophecy of Zechariah which describes Jerusalem as a very heavy rock for all
the nations. Yahweh the Almighty says:
“Look! I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the
people around. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. And on that day,
when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make
Jerusalem a very heavy rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will
be severely injured.” (Zechariah 12:2-3)
BUSH
WILL NOT SUCCEED IN “PALESTINE”
PEACE plans bearing the name of US
presidents or their secretaries of state litter the history books of the
Middle East, most of them discarded as failures or non-starters. Now,
President Bush is ready to try his hand.
Just hours after Yasser Arafat’s
death, Bush signaled he would turn his full attention to the
Israel-Palestinian conflict, which he largely ignored during his first term.
“I intend to use the next four years to spend the capital of the United
States on such a state,” he said. “I think it is possible.´´
But Bush’s credibility is low with the
Palestinians, who perceive him as anti-Arab because of the war in Iraq, his
refusal to deal with Arafat, and their perception of his unqualified support
for Ariel Sharon.
Although Bush pleased the Palestinians
by endorsing full independence for them, he also angered them by accepting
the “reality” of Israel’s civilian presence in large West Bank settlement
blocs.
Palestinian political analyst Ali
Jarbawi said any attempt by Bush to impose a solution would fail. “Bush will
make the Palestinians swallow whatever Sharon wants them to swallow. He can
be effective only if he changes course with his policies. But if they remain
the same, he will not achieve much,” he said.
To succeed with the Arabs, and to keep
in good standing with Tony Blair and the EU, Bush will undoubtedly pressure
Israel into further compromise. The “capital” he uses, I expect, will be
the old “carrot and stick” trick – the carrot to coax the Palestinians, and
the stick to prod or beat Israel.
Bush has about as much chance of
establishing a democratic Palestine, as he has of achieving a successful
democracy in Iraq. But,
a “peace” will come up
shortly.
And with the EU’s increasing direct
involvement, it is likely that the “peace treaty” will be the covenant of
which Daniel prophesied.
Read on . . .
SOLANA’S PUSH TOWARD PEACE
AN EU Observer article says EU
High Representative Javier Solana has unveiled a series of concrete measures
which he hopes will push the establishment of a Palestinian state forward.
The article says the window for the
two-state solution is closing fast, and that the EU is determined to take a
leading role in getting a Palestinian state established in the Holy Land as
soon as possible.
Solana’s plan and paper recommends
that the EU present a series of measures to the US administration. Speaking
to the press, Mr Solana said he hoped the paper would help the Roadmap to be
implemented.
If adopted by EU leaders, the paper
would represent a substantial push on the EU’s part towards discussing the
tough final status issues such as Jerusalem, final borders and the right to
return.
With the European Union seeking to
confirm a peace agreement in the Middle East, we can believe the day is very
near when the Man of Sin will arise from within the EU (Reviving Roman
Empire) to confirm the covenant of Daniel 9:27;
“And he (the endtime Roman Antichrist) will confirm a covenant - a
treaty - with the many for one week (lit. one ‘seven’),
but in the middle of that week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering;
and on the wing of abominations he will make desolation*, until the complete
end that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes the
desolation.” (Daniel 9:27)
The Arab-Israeli conflict provides the
backdrop for the seven year covenant Daniel says will be confirm-ed by the
Antichrist. Astonishingly, even a prototype of the covenant is already in
place. The Oslo Agreement is an ‘unconfirmed’ [failed] seven-year agreement
aimed at peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Y’shua the Messiah tells His people:
“But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your
heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke
21:28)
The Rapture, the catching up of true
believers – the Body of Christ – is imminent.
Perhaps today!
ARAFAT:
“DESTROY ISRAEL THROUGH PEACE”
A respected Arab newspaper editor and
a Yasser Arafat-confidante, said recently that the deceased PLO chief had
signed
the “Oslo Accords” in order to drive
the Jews from the Middle East. Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based
daily al-Quds al-Arabi , recalled an important meeting he had with
Arafat at the PLO’s Tunis headquarters in 1994, just days before he was
allowed to triumphantly enter the Gaza Strip.
“The man told me, ‘Listen, Abdel Bari,
I know that you are opposed to the Oslo Accords, but you must always
remember what I’m going to tell you. The day will come when you will see
thousands of Jews fleeing Palestine. I will not live to see this, but you
will definitely see it in your lifetime. The Oslo Accords will help bring
this about’.”
-
Jerusalem Newswire / 21 Nov 04
Marwan Barghouti
ONE younger generation Palestinian
leader who is very popular, and would have a good chance of being voted to
power, is Marwan Barghouti. Barghouti is a Tanzim terrorist leader who is
currently serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail for ordering
attacks which left four Israelis and a Greek Orthodox priest dead in recent
years.
Barghouti announced his intention to
run for president, from prison, but after a visit from some Fatah leaders,
he dropped his candidacy in favour of “unity.” But then, in a reversal, on
the last day for submitting candidacy, Barghouti’s wife announced that he
would run as an independent.
Ariel Sharon has already made it clear
that he will never unlock the jailed Palestinian’s cell door, even though
Barghouti is responsible for the deaths of far less people than the
protected Yasser Arafat. But Sharon may not be PM much longer!
“INTIFADA MUST GO ON”
ON November 11, Marwan Barghouti said
the Palestinian people should carry on with the intifada, and the death of
Yasser Arafat should not signal the end of the “resistance” against Israel.
“It is important that we hold on to
our national principles and values, which were made sacred by the shahid
[martyr] leader [Arafat], who sacrificed his life for our cause, for
national unity and for the intifada and resistance,” Barghouti said in a
statement issued by his lawyer.
Barghouti called on the Palestinian
people to remain faithful to Arafat by working for a “true democracy that is
implemented through institutions and the rule of law,” the London-based
Arabic daily Dar Al-Hayat.
-
Jerusalem Post, Nov 11, 04
(Update,
2008. The
Palestinian Authority is demanding that Israel release Barghouti so that he
will be able to help stabilise the shaky Fatah-led administration in the
West Bank; and so that he will be able to provide strong leadership to the
Palestinian government when Mahmoud Abbas’ term expires - around the end of
this year).
MAHMOUD
ABBAS 
ALTHOUGH he is not a charismatic
character, and although many Palestinian voters regard him as far too
“moderate,” Mahmoud Abbas is expected to be-come the next Palestinian
Authority Chairman, which Fatah also calls “President.”
Abbas’ moderation is a plus point to
both the US and Israel as they feel he is a man you can do business with.
But how moderate he is remains to be
seen. In fact, Abbas was the one who convinced Arafat to reject the
Clinton-brokered final peace settlement at Camp David in July 2000, arguing
that it would not pass muster with most Palestinians.
As Arafat’s first, short-lived prime
minister in 2003, he also rebuffed US and EU pressure to disarm and
dismantle illegal Palestinian terror groups, as called for in the Road Map
peace plan. And there is doubt that even now, he would, or could, reign in
the terrorists.
Apart from Barghouti, however, there
is no one else of significant stature in the running for president.
Most opposition groups, including
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have already announced that they will boycott the
election since the PA is an “illegitimate” out-growth of the despised Oslo
peace process, which was secretly
negotiated in Norway by Abbas,
on behalf of Arafat.
ABBAS’ BACKGROUND
MAHMOUD ABBAS was born in the Galilee
town of Safed in 1935. He fled with his family to Syria after five Arab
countries joined local Palestinian leaders in declaring holy war against the
emerging Jewish State in 1948.
He studied law in Damascus, and later
received his Ph. D in history from the Oriental College in Moscow. His
university thesis “documented” the supposed connivance between Jewish
Zionist and German Nazi leaders before and during World War II - a trendy
theme in those days in the Soviet capital.
Abbas was a founding member of
Arafat’s Fatah movement, and has served as a PLO Executive Committee member
since 1968.
George W. Bush and Tony Blair were
among many world leaders expressing hope that if Abbas is indeed elected PA
president, the stalled Road Map peace plan will quickly move forward again.
In fact, Arafat’s body was barely cold
when the current Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei, demanded that a Palestinian
state be established by late 2005, as called for in the original plan.
Israeli leaders, however, decried that
demand, noting that the PA has not even weakly attempted to fulfill their
main Road Map requirement to disarm and dismantle all terror groups and to
halt attacks against Israel.
Source: Israel News
Review / 22 Nov 04
PLAGUES
LOCUST SWARMS SWEEP THROUGH CAIRO
NOV. 17. Swarms of pink locusts swept
through the Egyptian capital, evoking the biblical description of the
plagues which struck in the time of Moses. The swarms of millions flew high
above tall towers or swooped down onto tree-lined streets, where scared
pedestrians stamped on them or ran for cover.
“This is really horrible,” said one
man as he ran past a building where locusts, smacked into office windows or
landed on cars.
The flying insects arrived from
neighboring Libya after devouring the countryside in central and western
Africa over the last several months. The locust swarms also traveled on the
wind from North Africa to Cyprus.
As locusts do not feed voraciously
when the temperature is under 300 C (860 F), Cairo was not greatly affected.
Its current temperature was below 250 C.
LOCUSTS REACH JERUSALEM
LOCUST plagues that have munched their
way right across the north of Africa from Senegal to Egypt, this year,
reached Israel in November.
The city of Eilat was smothered by a
cloud of locusts, as millions of the ravenous plant-eating pests continued
to swarm across the Egyptian border.
The red locusts, which are about seven
centimeters (3") in length, came in two waves, first in the morning and then
a huge swarm that swept over the city during the afternoon before heading
north into the Negev desert.
Although the chemicals used to kill
the locusts are not dangerous to people, the Agriculture Ministry strictly
abstained from spraying residential areas from the air. But it did go to war
against the locusts, using crop-dusting aircraft to spray areas in the Negev
where the locusts spent the night after first arriving in Israel.
The spraying was reported to have
destroyed the locusts in the targeted areas. But a Tamar Agricultural
Director was dismayed to see hordes of insects returning to Ein Tamar
agricultural areas despite insecticide spraying operations in the morning.
Extermination activities are conducted
early in the morning when the heat-sensitive locusts are still grounded and
lethargic. As temperatures rise during the day the insects warm up and
become more active.
- The Jerusalem Post.
THE PLAGUE OF DEMONIC
LOCUSTS
IN THE TRIBULATION
“And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given
them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And they were told that they
should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree,
but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And
they were not permitted to kill them, but only to torment them for
five months. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it
stings a man.
“And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; and they will
long to die, but death flees from them. And the appearance of the locusts
was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were crowns like
gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. And they had hair like the
hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. And they
had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was
like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. And they have
tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to harm
men for five months.” (Revelation 9:3-10)
My dear Reader,
These and the other signs reported in
this Alert, must be an alarm for each one of us; and for our nations. It is
certainly high time to wake up! And you know ...
“God now commands all people everywhere to repent because He has fixed a day
in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has
appointed, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead.”
(Acts 17:30-31)
The “salvation” in Romans 13:11
(quoted above), is referring to the Rapture; that is, the deliverance when
Y’shua the Messiah receives His own, and escorts them to the glorious place
He has prepared for them:
“In My Father’s House are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would
have told you, for I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so
that you also may be where I am.” (John
14:2-3)
This deliverance will take place
before the Tribulation, for the Messiah has given this promise to all who
have received Him as their personal Saviour:
“Because you have kept the word of My endurance,
I also will keep you out of the hour of trial
which is about to come upon the whole world, to try those who live on
the earth. I am coming quickly - soon!”
(Revelation 3:10-11)
My reader, if you belong to the
Saviour, here is another promise, and an exhortation for you:
“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that the Day of YHWH
should take you by surprise like a thief; for you are all sons of light and
sons of day. We are not of the night nor of darkness; so then let us not
sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober ... But since we are of
the day, let us be sober and self-controlled, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For
God has not destined us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation
through our Master, Y’shua the Messiah.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:4-9)
But dear reader, if you do not know
the Lord Jesus as your personal Saviour, please
do not delay; come to Him
now, and settle the matter of your salvation. The prayer in “The Way to
God” will help you to settle your eternal destiny. Please settle it today!
With prayers for you,
Don
Stanton
