est. 2007

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The Middle East Revisited: Islamism Based On a Cult of Murderous Violence

Submitted by Charles Knighton And so it begins anew. After months of provocation, Israel strikes back against Hamas, only to be almost universally condemned as the aggressor. As I pen this letter (Nov. 17) how this latest drama will evolve is unknown, though I am certain it will not take long for the wilfully naive…

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Submitted by Charles Knighton
Middle East continues to be the flash point – Israel Hamas Conflict

And so it begins anew. After months of provocation, Israel strikes back against Hamas, only to be almost universally condemned as the aggressor. As I pen this letter (Nov. 17) how this latest drama will evolve is unknown, though I am certain it will not take long for the wilfully naive to again claim all Israel needs to do is return occupied land in order for peace to reign supreme. Unfortunately, those calling the shots in the Middle East and North Africa are groups I would refer to as Islamofascists who view Israel as a whole as occupied land.

Any student of history must see that there is something horribly familiar about today’s Islamist movement. Like the fascism of Hitler, Mussolini and Franco, Islamism is based on a cult of murderous violence that exalts death and destruction and despises the life of the mind. Both are bitterly nostalgic for past empires and lost glories and bent on avenging various historical humiliations at the hands of inherently inferior outsiders. The Islamists, like the Nazis, have a particular loathing of Jews, homosexuals and women. And for Islamists, as for fascists, the ultimate goal is to establish a vast, unconquerable territory—a “caliphate” the Jihadists call it—where their power and ideology will reign unchallenged.

Land for peace is a fiction promulgated by Islamists and credulously swallowed by most of the world. Three times in the last few decades Israel has withdrawn from territories it occupied. Anyone contemplating another withdrawal will inevitably look to what has happened in those places when considering a fourth withdrawal.

In 2005, Israel withdrew every Jewish settler and Israeli soldier from Gaza. There are exactly zero Jewish settlers or settlements in Gaza. But any hope that the end of the settlements signified the beginning of peace disappeared long ago. The border between Israel and Gaza remains a war zone with rockets being fired into Israel by Hamas and the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad organization almost from the time of the Israeli withdrawal.

Another territory from which Israel withdrew is southern Lebanon, where the radical Hezbollah Militia, Iran’s principal ally, holds about 50,000 missiles. Hezbollah fired thousands of missiles at northern Israel in 2006, and has sporadically fired missiles into Israel since. Today, the group stands shoulder to shoulder with the murderous regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as he slaughters Syrians calling for an end to his dictatorship.

Islamic apologists insist those two withdrawals did not produce peace because Israel withdrew without negotiating peace agreements. Ahem.
But consider Egypt, the country with which Israel did negotiate and sign a peace treaty. To those who insist that Israel would never exchange land for peace, it’s worth remembering that 30 years ago Israelis gave back to Egypt the Sinai Peninsula, three times the size of Israel’s entire territory, removing thousands of Israelis, and leaving behind natural gas fields, military installations and other facilities. All in exchange for a lasting peace.

In March, the newly elected Egyptian parliament, dominated by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, made a symbolic—unanimous—vote to expel the Israeli ambassador and stop natural gas sales to Israel. The vote came in response to a parliamentary committee report that described Israel as Egypt’s “number one enemy” proclaiming that Egypt “will never be a friend” of Israel. It also pledged support to “all forms” of Palestinian “resistance” against Israel, a thinly-veiled endorsement of violence against Israeli civilians. Days ago Egyptian President Morsi dispatched his prime minister to Gaza in support of Hamas Islamofascists.

In just sixty years Israel has transformed the inhospitable land granted by the United Nations into a country rich in education, technology, culture and democratic principles, producing ten Nobel Laureates along the way. The barbarian sacking of Rome, during which I picture bands of uncultured and uneducated individuals wandering about the Roman Forum while picking lice off one another, presaged the coming of the Dark Age in Europe. If the world does not wake up to the existential threat posed by Islamofascism we may well witness similarly benighted bands picking their noses in the ruins of the Israeli Knesset, while the Middle East and North Africa continue their inexorable slide toward their own Dark Age.

164 responses to “The Middle East Revisited: Islamism Based On a Cult of Murderous Violence”

  1. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    A bit of history trivia: Under the leadership of Rt Excellent Errol Barrow, Barbados was second only to the USA in support of the state of Israel in the UN forum. Barrow is alleged to have justified this position on a claim that he (Barrow) had some Jewish ancestry!

  2. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ GP
    How come you did not have to use CAPS? 🙂

  3. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    The blatant bias and hatred of Jews and their ancient homeland, Israel, and the ignorance of, and/or, outright denial of the historic facts, throughoutt the world, is manifestly also demonstrated here on BU, not only by the unlearned, but even more so by those who claim some kind of intellectual background.

    Again I’ll repeat, “Facts become CREDIBLE facts, when they are warranted to the relevant degree of certainty.”

    10 Facts about the Arab-Israeli Conflict

    Fact #1: Jews have been living in Israel continuously for over 3,000 years.The Jewish people’s historical right to a homeland in Palestine was first recognized by the international community (and by Great Britain, which had gained control of the region from the Ottoman Empire during World War I) through the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the League of Nations Mandate of 1922. Both of these documents preceded the Nazi Holocaust by decades, thereby disproving more recent (yet widespread) claims according to which Israel’s creation was justified not by thousands of years of Jewish history, but rather only by the Holocaust.

    In reality, Jews have maintained an unbroken presence in Israel for well over 3,000 years – beginning in the 2nd millennium B.C.E., continuing under a long series of Jewish kingdoms and foreign rulers, and through to the modern State of Israel. Conquerors, diplomats, pilgrims and visitors throughout the ages have left an abundance of references to the Jewish communities living there. Israel is filled with archaeological and historical sites, many of which testify to Jewish life over the centuries. Even the Muslim Qur’an refers to the Jewish people as the “Children of Israel”.

    Israel has also always been central to the lives of Jews living outside it. Though it was renamed “Palaestina” by its Roman conquerors with the specific intention of erasing its Jewish significance, for nearly 2000 years Jews living in exile prayed 3 times a day, facing Jerusalem, in the hopes that they would one day return.

    Despite all this, Palestinian leaders, university professors, religious figures, archaeologists, historians, school textbooks, music videos, and even the Palestinian National Charter, continually spread the fabrication that Jews have no historical connection to the land, and that any claimed history was invented in order to justify the creation of Israel.

    “Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store.”

    – Charles Krauthammer
    http://arabisraeliconflict.info

  4. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    10 Facts about the Arab-Israeli Conflict

    Fact #2: One quarter of Israeli citizens are not Jewish.Though Israel was envisioned by the founders of Zionism as a home for the Jewish people after two thousand years of statelessness and persecution, that vision also included coexistence with the local non-Jewish populations. Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, specifically called for integration and warned against racism in his vision of the Jewish state. Ze’ev Jabotinsky, leader of the more nationalistic stream of Zionism, also advocated integrating the local Arab population as equals. In the years leading up to the creation of Israel, both Jews and Arabs who lived in the area benefitted greatly from the improving economy, social services and overall quality of life. In fact, many Arabs immigrated from surrounding areas in pursuit of these benefits.

    When Israel was founded in 1948, its Declaration of Independence specifically called on its Arab inhabitants to “participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship”, and on the neighboring Arab countries to “establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help… for the advancement of the entire Middle East”.

    Today, non-Jewish citizens of Israel constitute about 25% of the population, with 20% being Arabs. Arab Israelis have equal voting rights and their own political parties, and serve on the Israeli Knesset, Cabinet, Supreme Court, and diplomatic positions. They are granted all fundamental civil liberties, including freedoms of religion, speech, and assembly, and in fact enjoy more civil rights than Arabs living in any other Middle Eastern country. Israel is also the only country in the Middle East where Arab homosexuals can live without fear of prosecution, which is why many Palestinian gays have fled for Israel. Many Arab Israelis have spoken out in favor of Israel, and against allegations of an Israeli apartheid. Such claims have also been refuted by many others, including by Richard Goldstone, former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, who also presided over the UN report regarding the 2009 Gaza war.
    Arab Israelis are generally not required to serve in the military, though some do volunteer. Members of the Druze and Circassian communities are drafted like Jewish citizens, at the request of their own community leaders.

    Discrimination against Arab citizens of Israel does exist, though on a level comparable to that found in many other Western countries, and certainly far less than the discriminations to which Palestinians living in most Arab countries are subjected. In certain respects, Arab Israelis have more rights than some who live in Europe, such as the rights to wear hijabs.

    As a general indicator, a recent Harvard study found that 77% of Arab Israelis would rather live in Israel than in any other country. Many Arabs have also stated that they would much rather live in Israel than under Palestinian rule.

    “Palestine must be built up without violating the legitimate interests of the Arabs… Palestine is not Rhodesia… 600,000 Arabs live there, who before the sense of justice of the world have exactly the same rights to their homes as we have to our National Home.”

    – Chaim Weizmann, President of the World Zionist Organization (and later the first President of Israel), 1925
    http://arabisrsaeliconflict.info

  5. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    10 Facts about the Arab-Israeli Conflict

    Fact #3: Israel has repeatedly accepted the two state solution.In 1947, the U.N. voted to partition the British Mandate of Palestine, in light of its recognition that both Jews and Arabs had legitimate claims to the land. The proposed partition included three areas: a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an internationally administered zone in Jerusalem. The Jewish population accepted, and reaffirmed their intention to coexist peacefully with the Arabs living in the area; the Arab population refused, and responded with riots and violence.

    When Israel was established half a year later, its founders officially extended their “hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and [appealed] to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help […] for the advancement of the entire Middle East”. Those countries responded by launching a war of annihilation on the newborn state. Decades later, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas acknowledged the Arab refusal to accept the 1947 partition plan as a “mistake”.

    In 1967, after defending itself against another war of annihilation, the Israeli government accepted UN Resolution 242 and voted unanimously to return the vast majority of territories it had captured (the Sinai Desert, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and West Bank) in exchange for peace. The Arab response was unequivocal: “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it”.

    In 2000, Israel made a series of two-state proposals which (contrary to popular myth) eventually included almost all of the West Bank (plus additional territory from Israel proper), the entire Gaza strip, Palestinian control over East Jerusalem, and a $30 billion solution for the Palestinian refugees. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat not only refused – he made no counter-offer, abandoned negotiations, and immediately began planning the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Arafat was heavily criticized for this, both by the American mediators and by fellow Arabs and Palestinians.

    Those Arab countries that eventually came to accept Israel’s existence – Egypt (1979, despite widespread Arab opposition) and Jordan (1994) – signed peace treaties which have been mutually honored to this day.

    “Since 1948, every time we’ve had something on the table we say no. Then we say yes. When we say yes, it’s not on the table anymore. Then we have to deal with something less. Isn’t it about time we say yes?”

    – Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia
    http://arabisraeliconflict.info

  6. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    10 Facts about the Arab-Israeli Conflict

    Fact #4: The Arab-Israeli conflict is not about the occupation – it’s about the existence of Israel.The central issue in the Middle East conflict has never been Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza – rather, it’s the very fact of Israel’s existence.

    All major Palestinian organizations are centered around the goal of destroying Israel. The Palestinian National Charter (adopted in 1964 – three years before the Six Day War and the resulting occupation) declares its aim to be “the elimination of Zionism in Palestine”. The PLO’s 10 Point Program of 1974 reaffirmed this as the organization’s goal. The charters of Hamas and Hezbollah both explicitly state that their goal is to “obliterate” Israel. Even while supposedly negotiating for peace, Palestinian leaders have repeatedly stated that any peace agreement would only be a tactic towards the ultimate goal of eliminating Israel entirely. To this day, Palestinian media routinely broadcast the real Arab wish: to claim all of Israel, not just the West Bank and Gaza.

    Arab resistance to the Jewish presence before the occupation, and indeed before the creation of Israel itself, affected not only those Jews who were already living in the region but also European Jews who tried to flee the Nazis (most of whom had nowhere to go but Palestine) and who were prevented from entering due to Arab pressure on the British. These refusals resulted in large-scale tragedies such as the Struma affair.

    Jews living elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa also suffered greatly from Arab opposition to the creation of Israel. In the 1940’s, Arab mobs attacked Jewish communities (some of which had existed for thousands of years, and had been older than Islam itself) in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Morocco and Egypt. In Yemen, the nearly 2000-year old Jewish community of Aden was completely destroyed. These persecutions culminated in the expulsion and/or flight of nearly one million Jews from Arab lands.

    When Israel was created in 1948, the armies of five Arab nations invaded with the explicit intention of annihilating it. In the 1967 Six Day War, Arab leaders were again open about their goal of completely eradicating Israel. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat consistently stated over the decades that his goal was the outright elimination of Israel. In recent years, the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, along with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have continued in this vein by repeatedly declaring that their aim is not merely to end the occupation, but to destroy Israel entirely.

    “The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war.”

    – Benjamin Netanyahu, 2006
    http://arabisraeliconflict.info

  7. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    10 Facts about the Arab-Israeli Conflict

    Fact #5: Arab violence against civilians began long before the occupation.Contrary to popular myth, Palestinian Arabs had been deliberately targeting Jewish civilians for decades before Israel was even established, and half a century before the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The first major attacks on civilians took place in 1920-21, when violent riots erupted in Jerusalem and Jaffa. In 1929, at least 85 Jews were killed in massacres in Hebron and Safed, among other locations; in the early 1930’s, the first Palestinian terror organization, Black Hand, began carrying out attacks against civilians; and during the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939, violence against civilians became widespread throughout Palestine.

    Attacks by Arabs against Jewish civilians continued during the 1948 War, including an ambush on a medical convoy in which 79 Jews – mostly doctors and nurses – were killed, and massacres in Kfar Etzion and Haifa. During the 1950’s and 60’s, terrorists from neighboring Arab countries (“fedayeen”) repeatedly infiltrated Israel to attack civilian targets, including a wedding, a synagogue, buses, trains, and civilian homes.

    Attacks on civilians intensified in the period leading up to and following the Six Day War, including deliberate massacres of children in a school and on a school bus, the murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympic Games, and attacks on civilian buses, apartment buildings, hotels, airport terminals, and pedestrian malls, among others. Palestinian terrorism during this period also included the hijacking and/or bombing of several civilian flights and a cruise ship.

    Palestinian suicide attacks began in 1989 and continued throughout the 1990’s. The frequency of suicide bombings greatly intensified in the early 2000’s, with targets including many restaurants, bars and cafes, a Passover Seder, a discotheque, a university cafeteria, shopping malls, and many buses. Israel responded by building the West Bank security barrier and reinforcing the Gaza barrier, both of which have proved very effective at preventing terrorist attacks.

    Since the Gaza barrier prevented terrorists from attacking Israelis at close range, they changed tactics and began firing rockets at Israeli cities. Between 2001 and 2009, 8,600 rockets and mortars were fired at Israeli population centers. The rocketfire was multiplied several times over following Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005. After 8 years of rocket attacks on civilian targets, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in an attempt to root out the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.

    “This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades.”

    – Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League, May 15, 1948 (one day after Israel declared independence)
    http://arabisraeliconflict.info

  8. balance Avatar
    balance

    “Israel is the problem in the middle east and something must be done about it.
    One little shitty nation holding the world to ransome can not continue.”

    you are forgetting one thing carson. your party’s and indeed barbados’ but especially your party’s support strong ties with israel. matter of fact, mr barrow was contemptuos enough to declare one day that he was of jewish ancestryof BARUCH lineage.

  9. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    10 Facts about the Arab-Israeli Conflict

    Fact #6: Palestinian leadership actively supported the Nazis during WWII.The leader of the Muslims in pre-Israel Palestine, Grand Mufti Mohammad Amin Al-Husayni, was closely allied with, and actively assisted the Nazis throughout the Second World War.

    Al-Husayni met with Hitler several times, and was hosted in Berlin as the Nazis’ honored guest for most of WWII. He was given a personal tour of the Auschwitz death camp by Heinrich Himmler, where he reportedly “admonished the guards running the gas chambers to work more diligently”. Al-Husayni was also a leader in the recruitment of hundreds of thousands of Muslims for the German SS, and actively worked with the Nazis towards bringing the Holocaust to Palestine, including planning a chemical attack on Jewish civilians in Tel Aviv. Yasser Arafat, the next major Palestinian leader after Al-Husayni, was proud to have served as one of his troops in 1948, and considered him “our hero”.

    Muslim anti-semitism and support for the “Final Solution” have continued to this day, with calls to “kill all the Jews” routinely broadcast throughout the Muslim world. State-sponsored newspapers publish articles thanking the Nazis, while major religious figures preach killing the Jews “down to the very last one”. Holocaust denial is also openly preached – even by history professors, and in school textbooks. Books such as Hitler’s Mein Kampf and the antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are bestsellers in several Muslim countries, while Muslims in demonstrations hold signs bearing such slogans as “Re-open Auschwitz” and “God Bless Hitler”.

    “Kill the Jews wherever you find them, this is pleasing to Allah.”

    – Mohammad Amin Al-Husayni, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, 1943
    http://arabisraeliconflict.info

  10. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    10 Facts about the Arab-Israeli Conflict

    Fact #7: Arab leaders have been abusing the Palestinians for political gain since the beginning of the conflict.Certainly the most tragic example of Palestinian leaders abusing their own people is their explicit policy of maximizing their own civilian casualties in order to generate worldwide condemnation against Israel. Both Hamas in Gaza and Hizbullah in Lebanon intentionally put their own civilians in harm’s way by firing rockets from civilian areas, including hospitals, mosques, schools, UN posts, residential areas, and foreign press buildings. Hamas fighters have grabbed children off the streets to use as human shields, made their war headquarters under the largest hospital in Gaza, and booby trapped schools, zoos, civilian buildings, and even their own homes to maximize the carnage. They have prevented civilians from fleeing, broadcast messages on public television and radio calling on women and children to shield their fighters, and killed Palestinians who tried to resist being abused in this way. Civilians who were injured by Israeli attacks in both Gaza and Lebanon have blamed Palestinian terrorists for intentionally drawing fire to their homes. Several Arab leaders have also blamed Hamas and Hizbullah for dragging the region into conflict, including representatives of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian Authority, among others.

    Palestinian terrorists also make it extremely difficult for Israeli forces to differentiate between civilians and combatants by abusing humanitarian symbols, including a long history of hijacking ambulances and TV vehicles to transport fighters, explosives and suicide bombers. Both Hamas and Hizbullah have fought behind white flags; their combatants fight in civilian clothes; they have also used the Red Crescent symbol to disguise combatants. In the 2009 Gaza conflict, Hamas increased rocket attacks during the ceasefires, and repeatedly stole humanitarian aid (then tried to sell it back to the people), to the extent that at one point the UN suspended delivery of aid. Hamas has attacked aid trucks and border crossings; stolen fuel; refused aid; converted medicine bottles into grenades; and barred the injured from receiving medical treatment. When issuing requests for international aid, Hamas asks for weapons and fighters, instead of basic commodities for its people. In 2007, a Gaza resident who had been receiving treatment in an Israeli hospital used her medical permit to try to blow herself up in that same hospital.

    Palestinians and their supporters also generate blame towards Israel by exaggerating and fabricating civilian suffering for the international media, which routinely proceeds to propagate these claims unquestioningly. “Pallywood” tactics include staging injuries, funerals and power blackouts, doctoring and misrepresenting photos and videos for the press, and wildly exaggerating casualty figures. Several foreign and Palestinian journalists have been threatened and attacked for reporting stories not in keeping with the desired Palestinian image.

    The mass abuse of Palestinians at the hands of Arab leaders began with the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem in the War of 1948. Before launching the war, leaders of the invading Arab armies ordered Palestinian Arabs to leave their homes so they could “obliterate every place the Jews seek shelter in”. From then until today, Palestinians refugees have been denied basic rights in almost every Arab country where they have sought shelter, including Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iraq. Libya expelled 30,000 of its Palestinian refugees; Kuwait expelled over 400,000. Yasser Arafat himself said that “What Kuwait did to the Palestinian people is worse than what has been done by Israel to Palestinians in the occupied territories.”

    According to the Arab League, the explicit policy of denying Palestinians citizenship in other Arab countries and keeping them in “very bad conditions” is in order “to preserve their Palestinian identity”. An Egyptian foreign minister also openly stated that the intention in demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return “is the extermination of Israel”.

    Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza fare no better. Though they are the largest per-capita recipients of aid in the world, their leaders have to a large extent refused to use those funds to improve the conditions of ordinary Palestinians. Instead, several billion dollars in aid were diverted to Yasser Arafat’s personal accounts, while other aid was used to fund terrorism against Israel. The wealthy Arab states, for their part, have remained true to their policy of neglecting the Palestinians by giving only five percent of total aid, much less than they had publicly pledged.

    “For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahideen and the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: ‘We desire death like you desire life.’”

    – Hamas MP Fathi Hammad, 2008 [translation by MEMRI]
    http://arabisraeliconflict.info

  11. St George's Dragon Avatar
    St George’s Dragon

    @ Zoe
    So many facts!
    Too many facts.
    Poor mortals like myself will continue to think that Israel has an absolute right to exist but that it needs to find a way of co-existing with its neighbours.

  12. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    10 Facts about the Arab-Israeli Conflict

    Fact #8: Palestinian children are being brainwashed into hate, martyrdom and genocide.“Bombs are more precious than children”; “martyrdom is better than peace”; “it is a Muslim’s duty to kill Jews”: these are the messages Palestinian children get from all directions, including their schools, camps, TV shows, music videos, magazines, and political leaders – some even from their own parents.

    Children in both the West Bank and Gaza are flooded from the earliest age with messages glorifying death and murder. Babies are dressed up as suicide bombers; toddlers are given machine guns; pre-teens are sent to terrorist camps; and teens are sent on real suicide attacks. Children who have died as “martyrs” are glorified as role models, and are considered the “greatest message” Palestinians can send to the world.

    Perhaps most unthinkable is the reality that some Palestinian mothers rejoice over the deaths of their own children. One Gazan woman has been widely praised – even elected – for sending three of her nine children on suicide attacks, and encouraging the rest to follow in their footsteps.

    “We can forgive you for killing our sons. But we will never forgive you for making us kill yours.”

    – Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir to Egyptian President Anwar Saddat, 1978
    http:arabisraeliconflict.info

  13. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    Palestinians claim downing of Israeli Apache over Gaza

    By Al Arabiya With Agencies

    Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip on Sunday said they shot down an Israeli Apache helicopter, an Al Arabiya correspondent reported, adding that a long range missile was also intercepted over Tel Aviv.

    The official Turkish news agency, Anatolia, meanwhile, reported that Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, hit an Israeli warship off the coast of Gaza with three “107M” missiles.

    An Al Arabiya correspondent in the coastal enclave also reported that explosions were heard in Eilat in southern Israel.

    Meanwhile, at least 11 Palestinian civilians, including four children, were killed on Sunday in what Hamas said was an Israeli air strike on a Gaza apartment building, the highest death toll in a single incident in five days of fighting.

    Israel gave off signs of a possible ground invasion of the Hamas-run enclave as the next stage in its air and sea offensive billed as a bid to stop Palestinian rocket fire into the Jewish state, while also spelling out its conditions for a truce.

    http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/18/250384.html

  14. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    10 Facts about the Arab-Israeli Conflict

    Fact #9: Palestinians are treated differently than all other refugees.Palestinians who became refugees during the 1948 War were one group among many that were displaced during the 1940’s. Many millions of people, from many different places around the globe, became refugees during this time, including European Jews who had managed to survive the Holocaust, yet still faced continued persecution in their home countries, and up to one million Jews from ancient communities in the Middle East and North Africa, who were expelled, or forced to flee, from their homes as a result of the Arab response to the creation of Israel.

    From the start, the Palestinians were dealt with differently than all other refugees. While all others came under the administration of a series of global organizations that eventually became the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Palestinians received their own relief organization: the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). The entire set of criteria for qualifying as a Palestinian refugee was (and still is) significantly different than the criteria applicable to all others. While the UNHCR worked to provide durable solutions for refugees under its administration, Arab leaders intentionally kept the Palestinians in stateless limbo by refusing to accept any solution that did not involve than the complete destruction of the State of Israel.

    In 1948, the UN passed Resolution 194, which recommended the repatriation of refugees to their original homes. The Arab states unanimously rejected the resolution, because it also required all parties “to live at peace with their neighbours”.

    By 1960, the last remaining refugee camps from World War II had been successfully cleared. The hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Europe and Arab lands who chose to resettle in Israel had also been successfully accommodated – without assistance from the international community. The Palestinian refugees, however, were still being held hostage to the pan-Arab determination to destroy Israel.

    The abuse of Palestinian refugees by their fellow Arabs for political ends continues to this day. In nearly every Arab country where Palestinian refugees have sought shelter, have been denied the most basic of human rights. The total number of Palestinian refugees, instead of declining, has been multiplied six times over, due largely to the fact that the Palestinians are among the only nations in the world whose descendants also qualify as refugees. In fact, no Palestinian has ever lost their refugee status.

    The Palestinians have long since become the largest and longest-standing refugee population in the world. To support them, the UNRWA has also grown to become the largest of all UN agencies.

    “The Arab States do not want to solve the refugee problem. They want to keep it as an open sore, as an affront to the United Nations and as a weapon against Israel. Arab leaders don’t give a damn whether the refugees live or die.”
    http://arabisraeliconflict.info

  15. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    Piss Heads have been drinking holy wine talking bollocks again

    Now I am not the prophet
    I’m not a prophets son
    We must speak of deeper things
    ’till the prophet comes
    Golden days will disappear
    Nightmares will increase
    If you glorify the men of war
    and slay the men of peace

    I know your sign Israel
    I’ve seen it in the stars
    Be advised my brother
    to remember who you are
    softer dreams will disappear
    nightmares will increase
    If you glorify the men of war
    and slay the men of peace

    Terry Callier-Time Peace/No One Has to Tell You/Build a World of Love, Speak Your Peace

  16. David Avatar
    David

    Do we think the issues of the ME after many years of conflict can be resolved by holding hard positions? The very positions many are holding on this blog?

  17. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    Wails of mothers go unheard

    Last Updated : Monday, November 19, 2012 12:36 AM

    GAZA CITY – At least 11 Palestinian civilians, including four children from the same family, were killed Sunday in what Hamas said was an Israeli air strike on a Gaza apartment building, the highest death toll in a single incident in five days of fighting.

    The strike flattened a two-story building of the Daloo family. Gaza health official Ashraf Al-Kidra said four women and four small children were among the dead. Frantic rescuers pulled the children’s bodies from the rubble, including a toddler, as survivors and bystanders screamed in grief. Later, the four children were laid out in the morgue of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.

    http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20121119143321

  18. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    “The people (Palestinians) are in great need of a “MYTH” to fill their consciousness and imagination” -Musa Alami, 1948.

    That ‘Myth’ was the LIE, that there was a Palestinian identity in Palestine prior to 1948. The Land WAS ALWAYS, a dead, DRY, barren place, UNTIL the Jews returned to their ancient homeland, as it only flourished when the Jew returns, as Almighty God said it would.

    “Since 1948 Arab leaders have approached the Palestine problem in an irresponsible manner…They have used the Palestine people for SELFISH political purposes. this is rediculous and, I could say, even CRIMINAL.” -King Hussein of Jordan. 1960.

    What King Hussein was alluding to, WAS the fact, that all the Arab, Islamic countries, that could have, collectively, and very easily, absorbed their Arab Palestinian brother refugees, INTO the vast land areas, enough vast land area, to have created MANY Palestinian states, BUT NO, for nasty politica reasons, they PURPOSELY kept* and continue to KEEP* their Palestinian brothers IN Gaza, WHY? For the express purpose of having a devious political, ideological HATRED, for Jews and the very EXISTENCE of the state of Israel, whom they have REPEATEDLY stated must NOT exist, Israel must be annihilated.

    In the face and teeth of the FACTS, 1-10, can Israel, who have shown restraint, over and over again, against repeated attacks for over 60 years, and NOW with Hamas terrorising their civilian areas, knowing openly that the PLO/PA, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, et al WANT to ANNIHILATE Israel and kill every Jew, and the Arab ‘Turnspeak’ used over and over again, for decades, and carried by the major News agencies, throughout the world, which IS, ‘A cynical inventing or distorting of FACTS, which makes the Victim (Israel) appear as the culprit, and the Palestinians as the innocent ones.

    Lastl, but not least, there WAS/IS no such people as Palestinians, a modern day fabrication, ‘Myth’ as Arab activist Musa Alami said must be created, a LIE. These so-called Palestinians are really from Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and these Arab nations KNOW that is so, but deceitfully, without any human compassion, have deliberately KEPT* their own kin, in refugee camps, so thy can use this ‘Myth’ to DESTROY Israel!

    10 Facts about the Arab-Israeli Conflict

    Fact #10: Israel is treated differently than all other countries.
    For decades, Israel has been the target of widespread condemnation and criticism, out of all proportion to the severity of its actions in comparison with other countries, and with little to no consideration of the context within which the condemned actions were taken.

    The UN Commission for Human Rights, whose members represented some of the most repressive regimes in the world, dedicated such disproportionate efforts to criticizing Israel at the expense of other causes that it was dismantled and replaced, with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan stating that “the politicization of its sessions and the selectivity of its work […] cast a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system as a whole”. Its replacement, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), turned out to be even more biased than its predecessor, and has dedicated overwhelming attention to Israel, while ignoring and blocking criticism of human rights abuses of equal or greater severity – often committed by the council’s own members. Massacres committed by Palestinians against their own population, and war crimes routinely perpetrated by Palestinians against Israelis, are similarly ignored.

    The UNHRC has been strongly criticized for its overwhelming bias against Israel, both by Annan and by current UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, as well as by independent NGO’s such as Freedom House, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. HRW, however, has come under the exact same criticism from its own founder (among others), while AI is also demonstrably guilty of the same double standard.

    Discrimination against Israel at the United Nations is not limited to the UNHRC, and has long been prevalent in several other UN bodies, including the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Commission on the Status of Women, and UNESCO.

    The UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, established by the UNHRC in response to the 2008-2009 Gaza War, was so biased from the outset that Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, refused to lead it. Richard Goldstone also initially refused for the same reason, and only accepted after requiring that it also include an investigation into Palestinian crimes. The resulting report, however, was still extremely one-sided, with only one-twentieth of the document dedicated to the eight years of rocket attacks that prompted the Israeli response, and a similarly gross understatement of Hamas’s intentional practice of sacrificing its own civilians. Goldstone himself wrote an editorial in 2011 in which he retracted and corrected several of the report’s conclusions, and criticized the UN Human Rights Council for its bias against Israel.

    The claim implicit in this bias, that Israel is the “prime example of human rights violators in the world”, is particularly insidious in light of efforts Israel has made to avoid harming civilians, and the Palestinians’ deliberate policy of provoking Israel into doing just that.

    Israel has dropped millions of leaflets, made hundreds of thousands of phone calls, and broadcast messages by TV, radio and loudspeaker, all warning civilians to leave areas that were to be attacked. It has aborted military strikes in order to avoid civilian harm, invented new procedures aimed at getting civilians to leave before an attack, and even given medical treatment to enemy fighters. These and other efforts taken by the IDF to avoid harming civilians greatly exceed the measures taken by western military forces in areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Mogadishu, among others.

    During the early years of the conflict (1920-1937), the Jewish community in Palestine employed an official policy of restraint and purity of arms (“Havlagah”) in response to the repeated attacks inflicted upon it by the Arab population. Jewish terrorist groups that later carried out attacks on civilians were forcefully disbanded by Israel upon creation of the State, and were strongly condemned by the Zionist World Congress and prominent Jews worldwide.

    The Israeli Supreme Court has issued several rulings restricting IDF activity, including banning the use of human shields and torture, and prohibiting attacks on ambulances (even though these have repeatedly been used to transport terrorists and weapons). Israeli soldiers and officers who have violated these rulings and the IDF code of conduct have been investigated, tried and imprisoned. Israelis who commit acts of terrorism against Arabs are also arrested, tried and imprisoned.

    “During Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.”

    – Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in 2009
    http://arabisraeliconflict.info

  19. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    @ DAVID
    this is the real problem and the real truth

    “The Arab States do not want to solve the refugee problem. They want to keep it as an open sore, as an affront to the United Nations and as a weapon against Israel. Arab leaders don’t give a damn whether the refugees live or die.”
    It is stupid for the folk in the Gaza to fire rockets into Israel without retaliation.

    Would we tolerate it if the Vincentians, or St Lucians or Trinis shelled Barbados with rockets?

  20. David Avatar
    David

    @GP

    Agreed BUT we all know the circumstances which have lead to hostilities from the Gaza side.

  21. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    Zoe, presumably you call yourself a Christian and not a Jew,
    although I’m not sure as I never met a wicked Christian like you,
    But would the Prince of Peace support a war in Middle East,
    Or would he say war was the work of the 666 Mark of the Beast

    Now shut up and stop polluting BU blog with Isreali propaganda spam man

  22. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    David | November 18, 2012 at 10:31 PM |
    “Do we think the issues of the ME after many years of conflict can be resolved by holding hard positions? The very positions many are holding on this blog?”

    David, can you think critically, logically? Tell me, how can Israel, who have repeatedly from the FACTS cited, time and again, I.e., UN resolution 242, where they were willing to concede, for the sake of PEACE , almost EVERY thing by way of giving OVER 90% of what the Palestinians wanted, BUT, Arafat said NO! And, that Grandfather of Modern-Day Terrorism, then launched the second Inter Fada on Israel, BECAUSE the PLO’s Charter of 1967, article 7, calls for the ANNIHILATION of Israel.

    How, David et al, do you (Israel) make peace with your neighbors, WHO HAVE OPENLY SWORN TO YOUR DESTRUCTION, ANNIHILATION!

    But, you see David, all of this has been already prophecied in God’ Word, the Bible, and is panning OUT, exactly as He said it would.

    So, REPENT, and accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord, as the End is near at hand!

  23. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    YOU
    TAKE MY WATER
    BURN MY OLIVE TREE
    DESTROY MY HOUSE
    TAKE MY JOB
    STEAL MY LAND
    IMPRISON MY FATHER
    KILL MY MOTHER
    BOMB MY COUNTRY
    STARVE US ALL
    HUMILIATE US ALL
    BUT
    I am to blame : I shot
    a rocket back

  24. malcolm Avatar
    malcolm

    The Middle East Conflict : a never ending conflict.
    The Jews claim to Israel is fraudulent .
    The Palestineans are frauds as well.
    Neither group has ancient ties to Israel / Palestine ,both came the Middle East recently.
    See study by anthropologist ,C. Loring Brace .

    ” It is a further surprise that the Epipalaeolithic Natufian of Israel from whom the Neolithic realm was assumed to arise has a clear link to Sub-Saharan Africa. ”

    SOURCE: C. Loring Brace, et al. The questionable contribution of the
    Neolithic and the Bronze Age to European craniofacial form.
    PNAS, January 3, 2006. vol. 103. no. 1

  25. malcolm Avatar
    malcolm

    The Natufians: The Original Black Africans of Israel.
    The first authoritative account of the first and original Black African Israelites aka the Natufian was given by Sir Arthur Keith to the congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences. It was perceived then to be one of the greatest riddles of archaeology.

    Black African Israelites

    According to Sir Arthur, these original Israelites were clearly a Black people of African descent. Osteological analysis gave scientific backing to this theory. They had classical west African facial features as well as doliocephalic skull index (i.e. long large heads). Sir Arthur had stated:

    “Several features stand out quite definitely first the Natufians were a long-headed people – they had cap-shaped occiputs (the lower back part of the head). Secondly, the dimensions or their heads were greater than in the pre-dynastic Egyptians. Thirdly, their faces were short and wide. Fourthly, they were prognathous (with projecting jaws). Fifthly, their nasal bones were not narrow and high, but formed a wide, low arch. Sixthly, their chins were not prominent, but were masked by the fullness of the teeth-bearing parts of the jaw.”

    Larry Angel (1972) noted: one can identify Negroid traits of nose and prognathism appearing in Natufian latest hunters.

    The Natufians populated an area that includes Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon between 15,000 and 9,000 years ago. All the evidence indicates that they were East Africans, what the Bible calls “Kushite.” They practiced the removal of teeth as an initiation rite, a trait of many Nilotic tribes.

    Christopher Ehret noted that the intensive use of plants among the Natufians was first found in Africa, as a precursor to the development of farming in the Fertile Crescent.

  26. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    Israel seems more like a shit hole than holy
    Only country that still practices institutionalised racist apatheid segregation left over from colonial imperialist legacy with outdated backwardness where one race is deemed superior and another inferior it ain’t racist to hate racist warmongers who are weak ass fake religious perpetrators

  27. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Brilliant
    We have these “Christians”, followers of a man who talked, lived and died on the philisophy of doing only good to those that hate you…. Believers in the almighty God, who created everything……and they are justifying why these “people of God” have to defend themselves against a few starving militants by bombing the shit out of them…

    …..how “Christain”

    What? Is it that their God is unable to protect them so it falls on the Americans to do it?

  28. ac Avatar
    ac

    the war in the middle east would continue into eternity the funny thing is that the land significant has claims to selfrighteouness in that america right is one of strategy , the socalled jews right is claim to inheritance ,and the religious rights is one of prophecy, with all this self righteousness rooted in this piece of land how could there be an ending.tragic,

  29. well well Avatar
    well well

    We also all know that the warmongers and hate filled individuals masquerading for the past few centuries as jews are frauds. Stealing land is easier after u have stolen identities, the palestinians are not totally innocent, but over the years observing the timeless conflict, I have noticed where there would be a ceasefire lasting for months, and israel being the warmongers that they are would fire a missle into gaza or the syrian border just to provoke an incident knowing their supporters would back their wickedness. After so many decades of watching these evils events I have come to realize that israel is so blighted with hate and viciousness they cannot stop the warmongering, GOD will have to step in and say ENOUGH. Hope their supporters can face that event. Israelis practice racism at a level that will lead to world destruction.

  30. well well Avatar
    well well

    We also know this conflict is about world domination. Humans never learn from the mistakes taught by history AND ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT THEM THROUGH ETERNITY.

  31. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    re What? Is it that their God is unable to protect them so it falls on the Americans to do it?

    Seems to me that their God is well able to protect them
    He has also promised to personally intervene at Armaggeddon when all will seem all lost, to the chagrin of all the world haters of Israel.

    Seems to me that many of us will soon live to see this.

  32. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    Racial Reality
    Anthropology, Genetics & Human Biodiversity Blog

    Home Posts RSS Comments RSS WebsiteForum Natufians NOT Source of European Neolithic

    January 26, 2010 There’s a theory that the migrations that spread agriculture from West Asia to Europe during the Neolithic period had their source in the Natufians, a Mesolithic Levantine population. Afrocentrists have latched on to this theory (and often cite it as fact) because some anthropologists believe that Natufians traced their origins to Africa and had Negroid affinities. That’s a separate issue that’s more or less rendered moot by the craniometric evidence against the above theory.

    Pinhasi and Pluciennik (2004) analyzed the crania of Mesolithic and Neolithic populations and found no biological relationship between the Natufians and the later West Asian groups who spread farming to Europe:

    Analysis of morphological variability in the Near East and Europe suggests that the Epipalaeolithic populations from the Natufian Levant were noticeably different to the Mesolithic populations described from the Danube Gorge, the western Mediterranean, and central Europe. No close similarities were observed between Early Neolithic and Mesolithic European groups in any of the regions studied, with the possible exception of Mediterranean Europe. However, neither were clear affinities observed between Epipalaeolithic Near Eastern groups [Natufians] and any other Neolithic or Mesolithic groups. These results support a third scenario — that the Epipalaeolithic population from which the first Anatolian farmers descended has yet to be discovered…. There is therefore no unequivocal evidence from biological morphometrics for local continuity between Natufian specimens and any of those from the Anatolian or Levantine PPN [Pre-Pottery Neolithic] cultures. Statistical analysis of the Levantine populations indicates no obvious biological continuity between Natufian groups and their successors — either the first Neolithic cultures of the PPNA or subsequently between the PPNA and the PPNB.

    Pinhasi and von Cramon-Taubadel (2009) confirm the previous findings, and as a result don’t involve the Natufians at all in any of the possible dispersal models of migration from West Asia to Europe:

    Figure 1. Map showing geographic distribution of all OTUs. Dispersal models involving the active migration of people from SW Asia take two basic forms. Once-off single dispersals from either Anatolia (brown arrow) or the Levant (orange arrows), or continuous dispersal models whereby active population migration continued from southeastern Europe into central Europe (blue arrows). CD = Continuous dispersal, IBD = Isolation-by-distance (null), LGF = Limited gene flow.

    Figure 3 plots the first two principal co-ordinates of the craniometric distance matrix. The OTUs [operational taxonomic units] do not group according to any particular geographic or temporal pattern on the first or second principal co-ordinates. However, the first principal co-ordinate separates the archaeologically defined Neolithic OTUs from OTUs designated as Mesolithic plus the Natufian. Therefore, the principal co-ordinate analysis suggests that Neolithic and Mesolithic populations are biologically differentiated.

    Figure 3. Plot of the first two principal co-ordinates illustrating OTU affinity patterns based on craniometric data. The major axis of variation (horizontal axis, 34.9% variance) shows a clear distinction between all archaeologically defined Neolithic OTUs (green, brown and black circle symbols) and all Mesolithic OTUs (purple and red symbols) plus the Natufian (black triangle). Second axis = 18.7% variance.
    http://racialreality.blogspot.com

  33. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    In the following posts I will share my writings for an ESCHATOLOGY ASSIGNMENT while reading for my DMin, about 10 years ago.

    What is the role of Israel, the Church, and the Nations with regard to the End Times?

    In addressing this question it would help considerably to define the End Times as that period that begins with the Rapture of the Church and continues into eternity. If we then divide this period into sub- periods we would more easily and better be able to consider the roles of Israel, the Church, and the Nations with regard to each of these sub periods. It is worthy of note too that there are many Old Testament prophecies which refer to Israel in the last days under a variety of names such as:
    • Zion
    • Jerusalem
    • House of Jacob
    • Mount Zion
    • Glorious Land

    This fact should help the Bible student to be alert in finding such passages as he peruses the Scriptures.

    In pursuing this exercise we can use my favorite working outlines concerning the second coming.:-

    1. The Rapture of the Church, (Ist. Phase) followed by the judgement Seat of Christ (bema) and the marriage of the lamb.
    2.The Revelation of Antichrist.
    3. The Rigors of The Great Tribulation.
    4. The Resounding Victory of Christ at the Battle of Armageddon.
    5. The Return of Christ in Glory (2nd. phase)
    6.The Renegade Satan is bound.
    7.The Rule of Christ in the Millennial Kingdom.
    8. The Rebellion of Satan for the last time.
    9. The Rejection of unbelievers at the last judgement.
    10.The Retirement of the saints to the new heaven and the new earth.

    From this first outline we can relate each of these groups to the events above, which give a broad view of the occurrences of this period.

    With reference to this outline, a basic knowledge of scriptures would indicate that ONLY the CHURCH will be involved in 1) THE RAPTURE,
    4&5) The church will witness the Resounding Victory of Christ at the Battle of Armageddon, as it returns to heaven with Christ at His glorious ephiphany which I call the second phase of the second coming, as taught in scriptures such as Jude 14.

    6.&8 Perhaps we will also witness the binding of the renegade Satan, as well has his defeat which follows his final act of rebellion. The Church will not of course be apart of this rebellion.

    7- The church will participate with Jesus in the administration of the millennial kingdom as taught in Luke 19:16-19, 1 Cor. 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:27; 5:9f.; 20:4-6). Old Testament saints will also reign with Christ, and the church will sit with Christ in his throne (Rev. 3:21). It would seem that the believers will have individual rather than collective responsibility in the kingdom (Luke 19:16-19), but for the most part the details connected with that reign must be left unsettled.

    9 & 10 The church will probably witness the Rejection of unbelievers at the last judgement at the Great White Throne, and following this retirement the new heaven and the new earth to enjoy an eternity with the Godhead, and redeemed Israel..
    If we repeat the above exercise for the JEW and GENTILE using Paul’s classification of peoples after the death of Christ and the establishment of the Church of 1 Cor 12:13 into CHURCH, JEW and GENTILE.
    It is clear that 1) neither the Nations or Israel will be involved in The Rapture of the Church .

    2 &3 Both of these groups will be present on earth to witness the rise of Antichrist and will both undergo the tribulation period. This is clear from a study of the Olivet Discourse, Revelations and Daniel’s prophecies of the end times.
    4. 5 The remaining Jews left and perhaps the Gentiles will be rescued from wholesale slaughter
    by the Resounding Victory of Christ at the Battle of Armageddon, and will witness The
    Return of Christ in Glory (2nd. phase) in the clouds as described in the Olivet discourse and
    other passages ( remember that these events coincide.)

    6 Both groups will probably witness the binding of Satan

    7. DISCUSS JUDGEMENT OF NATIONS AND JEWS HERE
    As REGARDS ISRAEL in the period of the millennium, Thiessen writes “Most of the teaching concerning this period affects Israel, especially insofar as the Old Testament is concerned. We note that Israel is to be regathered (Isa. 11:10-13; Jer. 16:14f.; 23:5-8; 30:6-11; Ezek. 37:1-4; Matt. 24:2033). The establishment of the state of Israel in Palestine is surely a forerunner of the ultimate regathering. A good many Israelites will be brought out of the land of their sojourn, but because of a rebellious spirit will not be permitted to enter the land (Ezek. 20:33-38). Then Israel will repent and be converted (Isa. 66:8; Jer. 31:31-37; Ezek. 36:24-29; 37:1-14; Zech. 12:10-13:2; Rom. 11:25f.). Finally, they will receive him who came to be their Savior long ago, and their acceptance of the Lord will be life from the dead (Rom. 11: 15). Next we find that Ephraim and Judah are to be reunited (Isa. 11: 13; Jer. 3:18; Ezek. 37:16-22; Hos. 1: 11). Further, we note that the temple and its worship are to be restored (Ezek. 37:26-28; 40-46; Zech. 14:16f.). When we remember that sacrifices can be memorial as well as typical, we see no reason why this prophecy too should not be interpreted literally. Again, Palestine is to be divided among the tribes (Ezek. 47, 48) and to be Israel’s possession forever (Ezek. 34:28; 37:25). Further, Israel is to have her judges restored to her (Isa. 1:26; Matt. 19:28). And finally, Israel is to evangelize the Gentiles (Isa. 66:19; Zech. 8:13, 20-23). No doubt, this refers to the nations that will be born during the millennium, for at the outset the millennium will consist of converted people only.

    As REGARDS THE NATIONS in this period the same author posits “ Following the judgment of the nations, the sheep will enter the kingdom (Matt. 25:34-40). They will form the nucleus of the kingdom, together with restored and converted Israel. But it is evident that multitudes will be born during that age (Isa. 65:20; Jer. 30:20; Mic. 4:1-5; Zech. 8:4-6), and these will need to be evangelized. Israel will be the evangelists, perhaps, to these Gentiles (Isa. 66:19; Zech. 8:13, 20-23; Acts 15:16f.). Finally, we note that the Gentiles will go up to worship at Jerusalem, especially at the annual feast of tabernacles (Isa. 2:2-4; Zech. 14:16-19). Then we will have a united people of God and a united worship (Isa. 19:23-25).”

    Though Gentile nations will be recipients of great blessing during the millennial age, the center of God’s prophetic program is Israel. This is the clear indication of a literal interpretation of the Bible. The Scriptures teach that the Jews will as a nation turn to Christ, and also that they will occupy the central place in the millennial age when Christ personally brings to this earth universal peace, prosperity and justice.

    It is important to realize that both Israel as a people, and the land of Palestine did not fade into insignificance after the ascension or the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. God is not finished with either the Jewish nation or the land which he gave them to possess fully. One of the greatest miracles of all the ages has been the preservation of the Jews in fulfillment of God’s promise of Leviticus 26:44-45. Today despite centuries of catastrophic judgements, including the killing of one million one hundred thousand Jews by Titus in AD 70 and six million by Hitler in the last century, the Jews still exist as a people even after 18oo years without a home and such bitter persecution. Other peoples living under such extreme circumstances would long ago have lost their identity. Their very existence in the state of Israel today, though in unbelief in fulfillment of the prophesy of Ezekiel 37 and Isaiah 66:22, is of tremendous significance gives credence to the concept that the other promises concerning their involvement in end time events is a reality. Ezekiel 36:24-28 teach very clearly that after the return of a remnant that the nation of Israel will be converted to Christ, and begin to live for God’s glory. The prophesy of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14 with respect to the bones being brought together and clothed with flesh before they receive the breath of life has been fulfilled, as the necessary prerequisite for the complete fulfillment of this prophecy , which seems to loom closely ahead.

  34. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    We must realize that Israel as a land holds a unique place in God’s program since it is here tha the final overthrow of the armies of Russia will take place as described in Ezekiel 38 & 39. The land of Israel is vitally important also in God’s end time program, because it will play an important part in the career of the Antichrist, the coming political world ruler ( Daniel 9:27). Palestine is also the scene for the final defeat of Antichrist at the Battle of Armageddon on the plains of Megiddo as predicted by Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19, and when Jesus comes in power and glory to destroy His enemies and to establish His Kingdom, it is upon the Mount of Olives in Israel that His feet shall stand as foretold in Zechariah 14:4. He will then bring peace , justice and prosperity to this weary world ruling from Jerusalem in accordance to the promise of Isaiah 2:3-4.

    8 Both unrepentant Jews if they are any and ungodly gentiles who did not really truly acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus in the millennium will join in, and be crushed in the rebellion led by Satan after he is released for a season following the perfect reign of the millennium.
    It is of course important to note on the strength of John 8:39, Galatians 3:6-9,and Romans 9:7 that being a physical descendant of Abraham only does not qualify a Jew of any age for the blessings of God’s kingdom. The qualification for God’s blessings to Jew and Gentile alike of all ages is the exercise of faith in God as exemplified by Abraham in Genesis 15 and discussed in scripture passages such as Romans 4 especially verses 3-5.

    They will no doubt witness too his final banishment to the lake of fire prepared for him and his angels.
    9.10 Unsaved Jews and Gentiles from all ages will be part of those unbelievers that are rejected at the last judgement. These will certainly not retire with the saints, or the Godhead to the new heaven and the new earth.
    Having completed the exercises above. Perhaps we could present the second outline below which presents a listing of the events shown in the Bible which will occur during the “end times”. Even among those who hold a pre-millenial view of the end times, there are differences about the order of these events, but almost all think of these events as occurring during the end times. This might help us to better integrate and correlate the scriptures from all over the Bible to better be able to address the role of Israel, the Church, and the Nations with regard to the End Times

    EVENTS IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD
    1. The Church raptured: John 14:1-3, 1 Cor. 15:51,52; 1 Thess. 4:16-18; Rev.3:10.
    2. The Restrainer removed: 2 Thess. 2:7.
    3. The Judgment Seat of Christ (in heaven): 1 Cor. 3:12-15; 2 Cor. 5:10.
    We can associate these three events with the RAPTURE.

    4. The anti-Christ rises to power over the Roman confederacy: Dan. 7:20, 24.
    EVENT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD
    1. The anti Christ (the coming “ruler”) makes a covenant with Israel: Dan. 9:26,27.

    EVENTS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD
    1. Israel living in peace in the land: Ezek. 38:8.

    2. Temple sacrifices re-instituted: Rev. 11:1,2.

    3. World church dominates religion and the anti-Christ: Rev. 17.
    EVENTS JUST BEFORE THE MIDDLE OF THE SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD
    1. Gog and his allies invade Palestine from the north: Eze. 38:2-6,22

    2. Gog and his allies destroyed by God: Eze. 38:17-23.
    We can associate all of these last seven listed events with the REVELATION OF ANTICHRIST

    EVENTS AT THE MIDDLE OF THE SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD
    1. Satan cast down from heaven and energizes the anti-Christ: Rev. 12:12-17.

    2. The anti-Christ breaks his covenant with Israel, causing her sacrifices to cease: Dan. 9:27.

    3. The ten kings under the anti-Christ destroy the world church: Rev. 17:16-18.

    4. The 144,000 Israelites saved and sealed: Rev. 7:1-8.
    EVENTS OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEVEN YEAR PERIOD

    These 3 1/2 years are called “the great tribulation (Rev. 7:14), “great distress” (Matt. 24:21); “time of distress” (Dan. 12:1), and a “time of trouble for Jacob” (Jer. 30:7).
    1. Rebellion (apostasy) against the truth in the professing church: Matt. 24:12; 2 Thess. 2:3.

    2. the anti-Christ becomes a world ruler (first seal, Rev. 6:1,2), with support of the Western confederacy: Rev. 13:5-7; 17:12,13.

    3. The anti-Christ is revealed as “the man of lawlessness” or “the lawless one”: 2 Thess. 2:3,8,9.

    4. War, famine, and death (2nd, 3rd, and 4th seals): Rev. 6:3-8.

    5. Converted multitudes from every nation are martyred (5th seal): Rev. 6:9-11; 7:9-14; Matt. 24:9.

    6. Natural disturbances and worldwide fear of divine wrath (6th seal): Rev. 6:12-17.

    7. The anti-Christ’s image (an “abomination”) is set up for worship: Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 13:14,15.

    8. Two witnesses begin their ministry: Rev. 11:3.

    9. The false prophet promotes the anti-Christ, who is worshipped by nations and unbelieving Israel: Matt. 24:11,12; 2 Thess. 2:11; Rev. 13:14,11-15.

    10. The mark of the Beast is used to promote worship of the anti-Christ: Rev. 13:16-18.
    11. Israel scattered because of the anger of Satan (Rev. 12:6, 13-17) and because of the “abomination” (the anti-Christ’s image) in the temple (Matt. 24:15-26).

    12. Jerusalem overrun by Gentiles: Luke 21:24; Rev. 11:2.

    13. The anti-Christ and false prophets deceive many people: Matt. 24:11; 2 Thess. 2:9-11.

    14. The gospel of the Kingdom is proclaimed: Matt. 24:14.

    15. Israel persecuted by the anti-Christ: Jer. 30:5-7; Dan. 12:1; Zech. 13:8; Matt. 24:21,22.

    16. Trumpet judgments (Rev. 8 and 9) and bowl judgments (Rev. 16) are poured out by God on the anti-Christ’s empire.

    17. Blasphemy increases as the judgments intensify: Rev. 16:8-11.
    EVENTS CONCLUDING THE SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD
    1. Two witnesses slain by the anti-Christ: Rev. 11:7.

    2. Two witnesses resurrected: Rev. 11:11,12.

    3. The king of the South and the king of the North fight against the anti-Christ: Dan. 11:40.

    4. The anti-Christ enters Palestine and defeats Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia: Dan. 11:40-43.

    5. Armies from the East and the North move toward Palestine: Dan. 11:44; Rev. 16:12.

    6. Jerusalem is ravaged: Zech. 14:1-4.

    7. Commercial Babylon is destroyed: Rev. 16:19; 18:1-3, 21-24.

    8. Signs appear in the earth and sky: Isa. 13:10; Joel 2:10,30,31; 3:15; Matt. 24:29.

    9. Christ returns with the armies of Heaven: Matt. 24:27-31; Rev. 19:11-16.

    10. Jews flee Jerusalem, facilitated by topographical changes: Zech. 14:5.

    11. Armies unite at Armageddon against Christ and the armies of Heaven: Joel 3:9-11; Rev. 16;16; 19:17-19.

    12. Armies are destroyed by Christ: Rev. 19:19,21.

    13. The “beast” (anti-Christ) and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire: Rev. 19:20.
    The above events above constitute the occurrences in the RIGORS OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION, and the battle of Armageddon.

    EVENTS FOLLOWING THE SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD
    1. Final regathering of Israel: Isa. 11:11,12; Jer. 30:3; Eze. 36:24; 37:1-14; Amos 9:14,15; Micah 4:6,7; Matt. 24:31.

    2. A remnant of Israelies turn to the Lord and are forgiven and cleansed: Hosea 14:1-5; Zech. 12:10; 13:1.

    3. National deliverance of Israel from the anti-Christ: Dan. 12:1; Zech. 12:10; 13:1; Rom. 11:26,27.

    These last events are associated with the millennial period.

  35. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    Although this last outline does not address all the issues in outline 1 it certainly expands on points numbers 1-4 especially. Having outlined the Scripture’s teaching concerning the end times we can now put a little more “meat” on “the bones” above.

    With respect to ISRAEL, we know from our reading of Romans 9-11, that God is NOT through with Israel as a nation as many suppose and that currently Israel is undergoing persecution in accordance to God’s predictions given via Moses in Deut 31:29. They are suffering because of their unbelief, disobedience and spiritual apostasy as they forsook God and finally rejected their true King, Jesus when he presented Himself to them as recorded in the Gospels.

    Some object to the teaching that the Jews as a nation will inherit great spiritual and material Pressing in the millennial age deserves our attention. The words of the Lord Jesus as recorded in Matthew 21:43 are often misunderstood.

    Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it.-

    Many believe this text is an affirmation that the kingdom will be taken from the Jews and given as a permanent possession to another nation. If Jesus meant this, however, He would have contradicted many of the plain declarations of the Old Testament, and would make erroneous the assertion of Paul in Romans 11:25. Paul definitely affirms that the nation of Israel will once again return to the center of God’s program at the close of the present age. Therefore it is well to take note of the fact that Jesus here used a term not often found in Matthew. He spoke of the “kingdom c God,” the sphere of genuine possession, in contrast to the usual “kingdom of heaven,” the sphere of profession. Jesus told these unbelieving scribes and Pharisees that because they rejected Him they would not be saved, and that instead the Gospel would go to a nation that would bring forth the fruits of salvation. The Church of the present age is that nation. Speaking of the Church, in a context where he quoted from Psalm 118:22, 23, even as Jesus did on this occasion, Peter declared, “ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a people of his own , that ye should show forth the praises of him who bath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (I Peter 2:9).

    The reference to another nation is not, therefore, an indication that some earthly nation other than Israel shall not inherit the physical blessing promised to the seed of Abraham through Isaac.

    It is also well to recognize that the Lord was speaking to the chief priests and elders, the civil and religious leader, of that time who were determined to destroy Him. The people on the previous day had actually acclaimed Him as the “Son of David” (Matthew 21:45, 46), so that He was not addressing the people in general, but the leaders who were so intent upon His destruction. The chief priests and Pharisees knew that Jesus was speaking of them, not of the nation as a whole, because we are told in Matthew 21:45, “And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard Ms parables, they perceived that he spoke of them.” Though these particular Jewish leaders were thus excluded from the kingdom of God, individual Jews can still be saved today if they trust Christ as Savior. And then we know that Israel as a nation will also still realize the blessings God has promised. Even as only a renewed people today enter the kingdom of God in the Church, so in the millennial age, the Jewish nation to whom the kingdom will be given will be a new nation spiritually, though it will also still be the same nation historically which came down through Abraham, term Isaac, Jacob and his sons.

    The Jews living upon earth today are the people to whom God has made many great and glorious. They will someday turn to God, inherit all the blessings that God has promised, and be revered among the nations.

    In addition, on the basis of the pronouncements in both the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants we know that God has much in store still for everlasting because of the unconditional nature of these covenants. For example God promised that He would grant the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession to Israel, and also that he will give unto Jesus the throne of His Father David, which the angel promised to Mary’s virgin born Son thus: . . . . and the Lord God shall give onto Him the throne of his father David And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:32, 33)..
    The earthly throne of David will not be abolished, but will merge into the eternal throne in the new earth. There is good reason to believe that David will, under the supervising mediatorial kingship of Jesus Christ, rule over during the millennium ( Isaiah 55:3, 4; Jeremiah 30:9; 3 17, 20, 21; Ezekiel 34:23, 24; 37:24, 25; Hosea 3:5; Amos 9:11). On the new earth Israel will still be distinct, have her own king – perhaps David.
    The Lord Jesus Christ will leave His throne as the mediatorial King to take His place on the one eternal throne, throne of God and the Lamb” (Revelation 22:3), thus bringing the mediatorial Kingdom to an end as it leads into the eternal kingdom of God in the new heaven and the earth. He will continue to exercise His regal authority, but will do so as the eternal Son with the Father in the unity of the Godhead. It is because the prophets saw the earthly kingdom as a prelude to the eternal kingdom of God that they spoke of it as eternal, and sometimes, as in Isaiah 65:17, they viewed the new heavens and new earth in close connection with the millennial kingdom on this present earth.

    As long as this earth stands in its present form, Israel holds the divine title deed to the entire land of Canaan. In that sense it is forever. This use of the word “forever is illustrated by the slave who requested that his ear be bored as a token of his desire to continue as the servant of a beloved master, and thereby indicated that be would serve him forever” (Exodus 21:6). He did not mean that the master-slave, relationship would be continued on the other side of dleath. Forever in this case meant as long as both of them lived. Thus, the land of Canaan belongs to the Jews through all time as an earthly possession, and in eternity will still be theirs on the new earth, though transfigured and much enlarged.

    According to the terms of the Davidic covenant recorded in 2 Samuel 7:12-16, David was assured that God would never take the kingship of Israel from his family as He had done in he case of Saul , and that David’s house, his throne and his kingdom will endure forever. These promises are restated and confirmed in later Scriptures although there has been no rightful king of David’s line since Jehoiachin. A proper understanding of the promises made to David in the Bible indicates that God did not say that that David’s descendants would reign upon the throne without a break. In fact God specifically warned David that when his heirs to the throne disobeyed Him they would be chastised . This part of the prophecy was fulfilled when the Babylonians conquered Judah in 586 BC. Although the nation has had to suffer a time during which there has been no actual literal throne and kingdom in accordance with the prediction of Hosea 3:4-5, God has given the assurance that He will always preserve a lineage with a right to the throne, and that David’s kingdom was eternally established. And so David’s house will yet literally take up the reins of government of this kingdom which was established forever, as foretold in Psalm 89:27-38.

  36. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    It is imperative for a right division of the Scriptures to see that God never promised David that his descendants in unbroken succession would sit upon the throne, but he did give him His word that He would preserve a royal seed and a kingdom which would be established for ever, and build up his throne to all generations ( Psalm 89:4). God did not say “ through all succeeding generations without interruption.” It is for this reason that Jeremiah could predict during dark days of evil and approaching calamity in Jeremiah 33:14-17, that God would someday bring about blessing to Israel and the Gentile nations through a righteous king from the seed of David. The promise that there will always be a man to sit on David’s throne is not therefore a declaration that every generation will see a son of David reigning on the earth, but rather an assurance that God will preserve David’s lineage so that it is unbroken down through the centuries.

    Though we recognize that Gentile believers are among the seed of Abraham and heirs according to promise ( Gal 3:29) this does not mean that the promises to Israel have been cancelled. That Gentile believers are the spiritual seed of Abraham in no way changes this promise to Israel. The Bible not only distinguishes between the fourfold seed of Abraham but also carefully denotes to which division the specific promises apply. The descendants of Ishmael, Keturah, and Esau are not to claim the promises made to Israel. The received their own special blessings. The unbelieving Israelite will not receive the same inheritance as the one who lives a life of obedience and faith. Nor can Gentile believers who are the spiritual seed of Abraham lay claim to the promise of the land of Canaan. As God’s Heavenly people, we have at distinctive place in His program. The promise of Canaan belongs to Israel, and to Israel alone.

    The clear teaching of the Bible is that it was never God’s intention to deal only with one nation. This can be seen in the promise of the Abrahamic covenant that through Abraham ALL the families of the earth would be blessed ( Gen 12:3).The OT Scriptures give us a detailed picture of confederacies of specific nations, and the role that THE GENTILE NATIONS will play in God’s end time program. As we observe the current international scene it is fascinating to note how things are moving toward the final fulfillment of these great prophetic pronouncements.

    To best appreciate the role of the non-Jewish peoples of the world during the end times we must realize that just as God has outlined in the Bible a specific plan for Israel, he has also revealed a program for the Gentiles as well. In Luke 21 :24 Jesus referred to this program as the “ times of the Gentiles”, but the Bible elsewhere makes it abundantly clear when this period began and when it will end. The book of Daniel gives us the picture of four great Gentile world powers which should rise and fall before Christ establishes His universal kingdom. This information is first given from the human view point in Daniel 2:31-36, and again from God’s viewpoint in Daniel 7. History records the four great Gentile world powers to have been Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. Since this has all come to pass and does not impact on the end times we will not discuss these empires further, except to say that it is reasonable to expect that just as the first portion of these prophecies were fulfilled that the remaining portion of the prophecy will also be fulfilled.

    Both in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and in Daniel’s vision the destruction of these kingdoms are portrayed. Nebuchadnezzer saw a stone crash against the image, smiting it to bits , then the stone suddenly became a great mountain that filled the entire earth ( Daniel 2:34-35), but Daniel saw far more than the smiting and destroying stone. We are told in Daniel 7:13-14, that the prophet saw the Ancient of Days taking over the kingdoms of the world, and that he saw man, true man represented in the Son of Man, and assuming the reins of human government.

    Now this last phase of Nubuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s vision has posed a problem for many Bible students. In the dream the stone destroyed the Roman Empire with a sudden and cataclysmic blow, and immediately filled the earth with its presence. In the vision the Ancient of Days took over the reins of human government. This seems contrary to historical fact since the Roman) Empire was never suddenly destroyed, but continued for several hundred after the Lord Jesus came to earth, died, and ascended into Heaven. A combination of factors – immorality, weakening home life, and spiritual darkness – gradually led to the decay of this mighty empire until barbarian armies brought about its fall.

    Some students suggested that the stone represents Jesus Christ in His first coming, and declare that He by His life, death, and resurrection defeated Satan and provided for the ultimate conquest of all the forces arrayed against God’s people. This interpretation is rather difficult to accept because it is too general, and moves from a description of literal earthly kingdoms to a completely non literal and spiritual sphere. For the most part these interpreters believe the Church is the means by which God overcomes these hostile powers until they are completely subjugated by Jesus Christ at His return. However, the truth is that the Church had no significant part in the destruction of the Roman Empire, since Rome deteriorated slowly for several centuries before barbarian armies invaded it and brought about its fall. T dream, however, does not present the downfall of the R man Empire in such a gradual manner. Consequently this interpretation must be rejected as erroneous.

    We who believe Bible prophecy will be literally fulfilled know that nothing in history can be truly looked upon the realization of the “stone aspect” of Daniel’s dream. Therefore, we expect the final “feet stage” of this image to appear sometime very soon in the future, and we believe it will then suffer a sudden cataclysmic destruction just as we have described in Daniel 2:34, 35. Inasmuch as two feet would normally have ten toes we see a ten-nation confederacy implied.

    The final destruction of Gentile world power as described by Daniel is therefore still future, and it is obvious that a long period of time separates the fourth kingdom in its first phase from the final 10-part form. The vision itself gives no indication of this long time lapse. The best explanation of this is found in a recognition that God not give Daniel or the other Old Testament prophet understanding of the Church Age, the age of grace which spans the time from Christ’s first advent to His return. The Old Testament Scriptures predicted our Lord’s birth, death resurrection, ascension, present position at God’s right hand and His glorious return, but gave no indication of the length of time involved between His ascension and return in glory. If we understand this, many questions concerning Bible prophecy are answered. When we recognize Bible prophecy passes over this interim period without filling in details, we can see why the Scriptures present no specific prediction concerning many of the prominent nations in the world today.

  37. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    Prophecy deals with those events connected with the Lord’s first coming, and with those that will occur during the brief period just before He returns in glory. But some modern nations, like Russia, are mentioned in the prophet Scriptures, but only as they relate to Israel in the period immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ to rule over the earth. It is for this reason that we must be v careful in the interpretation of prophecy.

    The times of the Gentiles began when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem in 586 BC.
    Ever since that time Jerusalem was under Gentile dominion, until 1967 when the
    Israeli were successful in recapturing it. We do not know how long the Jews will be
    able to maintain control of it. What we do know is that after the rapture, which could
    take place at any moment. When this happens, the Jews will return to the land of
    Palestine in great numbers, and enjoy freedom for three and one-half years. Then Daniel
    9:27 tells us that the political world ruler will suddenly enter into Jerusalem, take over
    the temple, and initiate the most horrible period of persecution against the Jews as described later in this essay.

    We must be aware that Luke 21:20-24 reveals that our Lord foretold the destruction of
    Jerusalem, which was accomplished by Titus and the Roman armies in 70 A.D., and
    then declared that Jerusalem would be under Gentile dominion “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

    The words immediately following describe the signs which will be manifested just before Jesus Christ returns to reign over the earth (Luke 21:25-28). The Lord gave no explanation of the time period that would elapse between the destruction of Jerusalem and His glorious return. The Lord Jesus was aware of Old Testament prophecies which declared that the Jews would return to Palestine and in the state of unbelief rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. He certainly, knew that they would dwell for a time while in unbelief, feeling secure as prophesied in Ezekiel 38:8. However, He also knew that this would only be temporary, and that when He would return to reign over the earth Jerusalem would be under the domination of Gentile oppressors.
    The Apostle Paul also recognized that the Jews would rebuild their temple, and that the political world ruler the end-time would seize it and demand that men worship him there. ( 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

    It is therefore necessary to recognize that the Jews will have temporary possession of the city before Antichrist turns against them. In other words, the occupation of Jerusalem by the Jews as we see it today is not a contradiction of our Lord’s prophecy, nor does it necessarily indicate that the return of Jesus Christ must occur within a few months. Our Lord simply declared that the Jews will not have permanent control of this city until “the times of the Gentiles” has been ended. It is certain that the Jews will not retain direction over the city of Jerusalem indefinitely. During the last half of the tribulation period it will be under Gentile dominion. God’s ancient people cannot permanently possess this sacred city until they turn to Christ and submit to His rule. The “times of the Gentiles” began about 600 B.C. and will end when Jesus comes in glory to rule over the earth from Jerusalem.
    As the time of the Gentiles comes to a close the Jews will again experience a most terrible time of persecution- the worse in their history. According to Zechariah 13:8 an intensive campaign of extermination will effect the destruction of two thirds of the Jews then living in Palestine. In fact when the nations gather to fight the last battle before Christ comes, their purpose will be to utter destroy the Jews who have turned to God during the great tribulation It is at this precise time to defeat the rebellious nations and establish His righteous rule over the earth as foretold in Zechariah 14:2-4,9. When this prophecy is fulfilled , “ The times of the Gentiles” will have run its course and come to an end. Christ’s establishment as King will inaugurate God’s program of millennial blessing.

    The prophetic Scriptures speak also of a day when the nations will be under a world ruler who will achieve political ( Revelation13:7), commercial ( Revelation 13:17), and religious ( Revelation 13:15) world unity for a very brief period of time. The advent of this future ( or better apparently presently already formed) confederation of nations under the Antichrist, referred to as the revived Roman Empire is predicted in Daniel 7:7,8ff; Rev 13:1-2.It is to be noted that the boundaries of this alignment of nations does not have to correspond to exactly to that of the ancient Roman Empire at the time it reached its zenith.

    God informed Daniel that the ten horns on the fourth beast ( the ten kingdoms implied in the feet of Nebuchadnezzer’s image) represented ten kings or political leaders and their realms, that will rise to power. The little horn signifies a political ruler who will come to the fore subduing three heads of state in the process, and apparently securing the submission of the other seven. He will be a arrogant , presumptuous, blasphemous, and a bitter enemy of God and his people, and will rule for three and one half years before being personally judged and his kingdom destroyed by the Ancient of Days ( Daniel 7:9-14, 26,27).

    Now some Bible students posit that the ten horns represent ten successive kings in ancient history, but this view is erroneous since the Word clearly states that the ten kings appear on the world scene simultaneously and co-exist with the little horn. They do not come up one by one each standing alone but are in power together. Nothing like this has ever happened before, although many now believe that the ten kings are present in the form of the TEN STATES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMON MARKET. Further more, the destruction of the blasphemous little horn is by the Ancient of Days and results in the ushering of the universal and everlasting kingdom spoken of consistently by all the prophets. Clearly then, this ten horn stage of the fourth beast is still future, and it is obvious that the rise of the these kingdoms and the arrogant little horn will occur before Jesus returns to establish His kingdom at His glorious appearing. If we are correct about the ten European states now in confederacy being the ten horns, this prophecy could be fulfilled within the next ten years or so. Though we will not be so silly to set a date for the rapture which would precede these events by at least 9.5 years it should be very obvious that our salvation is definitely nearer than when we first believed, and certainly than we think!

    Revelation 13:1-2 is another scripture that refers to an end time Gentile empire which includes ten political leaders and their territories. It seems that John in his vision saw a similar scene to Daniel ecept that the seven heads is an additional detail that is now revealed. Perhaps these seven heads correspond to the seven kings of Revelation 17:10.

    CONCLUSION
    The issues raised in this essay indicate that the great events predicted by the prophets will soon be fulfilled. Consequently this should stimulate all believers to live daily in readiness for the Lord’s return, and be strengthened as he realizes anew that God and his people will be victorious in the end.

  38. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ GP
    ..is the Iron Dome anti-missile system God’s latest form of protection then? Did God provide the drones and FA18 fighter jets that allows your heroes to sit over Gaza and kill at will? …like shooting ducks…?
    …..Bushie is guessing that this is the latest ‘heaven-technology’ – according to you and Zoe.

    The truth is that the bushman is more inclined to associate Katrina, Sandy, 911, and the financial mess now facing Israel’s protectors with “acts of God” than any surface to air missiles and Iron Dome anti-missile systems.

    ….but you two are the Bible experts here….. 🙂

  39. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    LISTEN GP and ZOE
    ….the two o’ wunna don’t come back with that nonsense and disrespect of posting long cut and paste papers that are boring, irrelevant and obviously designed to hog the forum.

    Whenever serious questions are raised to wunna beliefs this is the standard reaction….Dictionary style.
    Stupssseee

    In any case how the two of you get to speak of what God plans to do in the last days?
    Wunna can’t even come up with an answer yet as to WHY GOD CREATED THE DEVIL as requested by Technician, or where in the Bible wunna see anything about any TRINITY…..as asked by yours truly…

    Shame on wunna for the long distracting posts that no one reads…..

    If wanna don’t know the answers just stop putting up wunna hands…

  40. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    When the devil comes blowing through your door
    You’ll know there’s trouble, and he’s coming back for more
    You better keep what is precious hidden under the floor
    Or you better treat it so good it will never want for more

    But looking back in retrospect
    Did you ever really get what you’d expect?
    Trying to rectify
    Got lost a little further
    You’ve been trying to justify
    Find out how and where it came

    Devil was your angel, but it’s not no more
    The devil was your angel, when you weren’t sure

    But when I found my peace
    There was still mistakes
    However painfully awaring every step I take
    Trying to rectify
    Got lost a little further
    Well, I’ve been trying to justify
    Find out how and where it came

    The devil was my angel, now I’m just not sure.
    To travel as my angel there’s always my witch

  41. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    re The truth is that the bushman is more inclined to associate Katrina, Sandy, 911, and the financial mess now facing Israel’s protectors with “acts of God” than any surface to air missiles and Iron Dome anti-missile systems.

    I TOTALLY AGREE THAT GOD IS SPEAKING TO THE USA IN THESE INCIDENTS

    RE the two o’ wunna don’t come back with that nonsense and disrespect of posting long cut and paste papers that are boring, irrelevant and obviously designed to hog the forum.

    I RESERVE THE RIGHT T0 PRESENT MY SCHOLARLY RESEARCH

    YOU DONT SEE ME COMPLAIN ABOUT THE LOAD OF BOVINE EXCREMENT THAT IS PRESENTED ON BU DAILY

    IF YOU DONT READ MY POSTS SOME ONE ELSE WILL
    I DONT STOP YOU FROM WRITING YOUR GOO
    YOU CAN NOW CURSE WE AS YOU DID THREE YEARS AGO

    AND I WILL ANSWER THE QUESTIONS I CHOOSE TO WHEN I FEEL LIKE

  42. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    So I’ve been calling angels down to Earth,
    An’ I don’t need a reason,
    Calling angels down to Earth,
    Because I believe we need them,
    We only hurt the ones we love,
    Why we don’t need a reason,
    Gonna get all that you deserve,
    And all that you believe in,
    Do you believe in,
    Do you need them,
    If you need them,
    Do you know,
    Do you need them,
    If you need them,
    Do you know,
    Do you need them,
    If you need them.

  43. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    RE In any case how the two of you get to speak of what God plans to do in the last days?
    EVERYONE HAS AN OPINION ON BU

    WHY CANT ZOE AND I PRESENT OUR VIEWS ON WHAT WE HAVE STUDIED CONCERNING WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES

    I HAVE PRESENTED MY OPINIONS ON WHAT I HAVE READ AND SIFTED FOR MYSELF AND MY VIEWS,

    AND I HAVE NO APOLOGY TO MAKE FOR MY BELIEFS OR MY POSTS.

  44. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=428843790502072&set=a.428843603835424.111584.114884335231354&type=1&theater

  45. Carson C. Cadogan Avatar
    Carson C. Cadogan

    click on ALBUM: The Israeli-Palestinian Struggle

  46. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ GP
    “WHY CANT ZOE AND I PRESENT OUR VIEWS ON WHAT WE HAVE STUDIED CONCERNING WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES”
    ************
    Man GP, that is EXACTLY the point. We WANT you and Zoe to present your views on BU, but that is not what is happening.

    When you present YOUR views they are clear, well thought out, humorous, enlightening and fun to interact with….
    …..with Zoe you can delete the “humorous and fun” parts 🙂

    This business of posting long expositions is INAPPROPRIATE for the blog. It is like shouting in a library. This is a forum for the interaction and exchange of ideas, not scholarly research papers.

    ….Wuh you don’t think that Bushie got published papers too…? Nuff!!, ……and at the very highest level. But there is a time and place….

    With respect to Bushie cussing you…. You know well enough that the bushman only cuss those whom he respect…and admire.
    ….so that ain’t going to stop anytime soon ….LOL

  47. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    Georgie Porgie | November 19, 2012 at 12:37 PM |
    “WHY CANT ZOE AND I PRESENT OUR VIEWS ON WHAT WE HAVE STUDIED CONCERNING WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ”

    What about the following:
    “God commanding Moses to kill:
    “They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man……..Now kill all the boys [innocent kids]. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man. (Numbers 31:7,17-18)”
    Kill everything that“breathes” from humans and animals! Deuteronomy 20:16”

    What are your views? Would you agree with those injunctions loaded with invectives?

  48. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    RE This is a forum for the interaction and exchange of ideas, not scholarly research papers.

    I THINK THAT MY POSTS AND ZOE’S GIVE RELEVANT THEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND AND IS WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION DESPITE THE BIAS OR ALTERNATIVE OPINIONS OF THE BU AUDIENCEi

    ….Wuh you don’t think that Bushie got published papers too…? Nuff!!, ……and at the very highest level.

    I FULL WELCOME SEEING ANY OF THIS MATERIAL THAT WOULD EDIFY ME. I WOULD EXPECT THAT SUCH WOULD BE MORE USEFUL THAN THE USUAL RUBBISH ON VIEW ON BU PERENNIALLY FOR THE LAST SIX YEARS OR SO
    CLEARLY BU MEANS DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT FOLK

  49. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    1. VIDEO SHOWS HAMAS STRATEGY: DEATH WISH
    by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

    Hamas is winning international sympathy as a result of alleged civilian deaths, some caused by its own misfired rockets.

    Mainstream media has emphasized the number of alleged civilian deaths in Gaza the past several days, after believing and headlining a story that the visiting Egyptian prime minister kissed the head of a dead boy, allegedly killed by Israel.

    Watchdog sites and Arutz Sheva exposed the fact that that the boy died after one of Hamas” own rockets misfired and exploded in Gaza. The IDF also stated that there was no military activity in the area where the boy died.

    CNN reported a heart-wrenching story on the death but did not correct its report after the guise was discovered.

    The IDF has produced an animated YouTube illustrating Hamas” use of civilians as human shields for terrorist activities, a tactic it perfected in the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign in 2006.

    The video explains that Hamas used private buildings weapons depots, leaving Israel in the predicament of striking while trying to avoid civilian casualties or allowing Hamas to freely launch missiles on Israel”s civilian population.

    The Israeli campaign to explain Hamas”s strategy has had little effect on foreign media such as CNN and The New York Times. The newspaper on Monday headlined that Israel was bombing civilian sites but later changed it to read “government” offices, which are used by Hamas for terrorist activities.

    Defining government officials as “civilians” raises the toll of supposed civilians.

    The Associated Press quoted on Monday Hamas medics as saying that “farmers” and a child were killed in Air Force aerial strikes.

    Foreign media have repeatedly called the counterterrorist operation “deadly” and “relentless,” occasionally mentioning the barrage of missiles on Israeli civilians but without noting that the attacks on southern Israel have continued for years, with limited Israeli retaliation.

    Hamas expressed its “death wish” in a video encouraging Gaza residents, including women and children, to carry out suicide bombings.

    2. VIDEO OF OBAMA: NO COUNTRY ON EARTH WOULD TOLERATE ROCKET FIRE
    by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

    “There”s no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders,” President Barack Obama said in a press conference in Thailand Sunday.

    [youtube:127227]

    Speaking with reporters after remarks he made at a press conference with Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, he reiterated American support for “fully supportive of Israel”s right to defend itself from missiles landing on people”s homes and workplaces and potentially killing civilians.”

    While trying to prevent an Israeli ground invasion to dismantle the Hamas terrorist infrastructure, President Obama added that he has told Egyptian and Turkish leaders that “Israel has every right to expect that it does not have missiles fired into its territory.”

    He made it clear that his conversations with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egypt”s Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi have one objective, “to see if we can end those missiles being fired without further escalation of violence in the region.”

  50. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    To: License to Kill By Order Of God Fantasists
    So apparently targeting people killing them with Bombs is Gods Work when Israel do it because the Bible says Israel in it a lot. George the Porge says its all true and Wars are Prophecies not Murder of Innocents. End of the World turns GP on and his belief like US End of World nut jobs who think Christians are good and muslims are bad because the Government told them so with war propaganda. That’s an insight of a pseudo intellectual who has not learnt shit. He needs to visit a doctor about delusions and obsessive compulsion disorder to his perceived fantasy instead of venting on BU

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