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Fireworks explode over the stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Friday, Aug. 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
The BibleSearchers
Reflections
Reflections on the Time of the End
By Robert Mock MD
robertmock@biblesearchers.com
www.BibleSearchers.com
Israel and the Middle East
Jew Against Jew. Will there be a Civil War in Israel?
August 18, 2004 began the month of Elul which traditionally according to the cycle of the Festivals of the Lord leads the worshippers of the God of Israel to the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah (Day of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (Day of Judgment). Rather than a day of fear and trembling before their God, Yom Kippur is seen as a day of sweetness and atonement as the culmination of the entire month process of return back to God.
The Nation of Israel is at the crossroads. The Bush administration along with the French, Germans and the United Nations are using every form of pressure on the Sharon government to quickly evacuate the Gaza Strip under the principles outlined in the “Quartet Road Map”. The implications that many settlements in the West Bank would become immune to international pressure quickly began to unravel when the State Department alluded that they would still be bargaining chips in the political future.
The Jewish people who have chosen to settle in communities within the West Bank area and the Gaza Strip are called the ‘settlers’ in Israel. They are many times looked down upon by the urbanites. The Jewish settlers are becoming radicalized as they are now beginning to realize that in the agenda of the globalists, they are destined to be a vanishing breed. Ariel Sharon, the tough general who has been seen as a friend of the settler’s movement, is now being seen as their prime minister who has abandoned and betrayed them. The radicalization of the settlers is also causing saber to rattle as more and more assassination plots are surfacing. The last time this happened was when Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin began to waver in the global pressure to offer more to the Palestinians over land for peace concessions. He was assassinated and the blame was placed by some on the settlers. Several authors have now disputed that claim and implicate Sharon’s Labor party’s nemesis and on and off political partner, Shimon Peres as being the hand being the death of Yitzhak Rabin.
Add to this fatal brew was a row between PM Sharon and French President Jacques Chirac, when Sharon went on record at an American Jewish leaders meeting as stating that it was time for the Jews in France to leave that country. "We see the spread of the wildest anti-Semitism there," Sharon said, adding that French Jews should make the move as soon as possible. "I think it's a must and they have to move immediately." President Chirac erupted and pronounced Sharon persona non grata in France. This political verbiage does not account that the incidents of anti-Semitism, some fatal, could potentially double this year over 2003. In France there are presently 600,000 Jews with over five million Muslim.
For the first time the international reporters are beginning to consider the potential of civil war in Israel. We considered this potential of a civil war in Israel in the Zechariah 11:14 prophecy of breaking the rod called ‘destroyer’ so that the brotherhood of Judah and Israel would be broken. We’re not even at the point of observing the reality of watching the literal return of the House of Israel (Joseph or Ephraim) yet we are seeing the potential of breaking the rod of Judah.
The height of this emotional fervor came at the time of the Fast of Tisha B’Av (9th of Av) which is the most profound day of loss to the Jewish people. On this day, the temples of Solomon and Herod were destroyed as well as bar Kokhba’s fortress at Betar. Add to this day of calamities; the first Christian Crusade was declared in 1095 CE by Pope Urban II in which 10,000 Jews were killed the first month; the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290 CE; the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (including Columbus) in 1492; Britain and Russia declared war on Germany in 1914 CE with 120,000 Jews loosing their lives; the deportation of the Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka concentration camp in 1942 CE and the deadly bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1994 CE.
The following day, 130,000 settlers and friends of the settlers sent a resounding ‘peaceful’ and forceful rebuke to their Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by setting up a human protest chain that stretched for 90 kilometers (55 miles) from Jerusalem to the Jewish settlements in Gaza. This protest came with one message, “Do Not Give Up Gaza! It is God’s Holy Land.” This human chain, the first of its kind in Israel and the third longest in history, set off a resounding message to Sharon and the nations of the world that a new political resistance force was beginning to erupt. The Jewish people who came to Israel to live in the land of their God were becoming more and more resistant to the idea that they have to keep moving to different homes to satisfy the unending lust of foreign internationalists to take away their land or manipulate their future with “The Land” that their God, the Eternal One of Israel gave to them. The topping on the cake was the international news reporting that hundreds of Jews have already begun the task of moving from France and the United States.
What will be the outcome? Only the Lord of hosts knows. It is important to remember that the Eternal One is guiding the evolution of all the events in the Middle East and around the world. As gut wrenching as it may be to each of us and the implications that it may have on our personal future and security, it is best to remember Yahshua (Jesus) as He taught His disciples to talk with their Heavenly Father, “Thy Will be Done”.
The Lord of hosts has to change the perception of all the people of the world. Over all there are two hundred plus national entities, all with their personal nationalistic and cultural differences and all with religious undertones that make up the matrix of their societies. Whatever your personal concept of the time after the coming of the Messiah is, whether a ‘kingdom of God’ on this earth in a restored paradise with Yahshua ruling with a ‘rod of iron’ or a transportation to another dimensional sphere called heaven, one thing is certain, “You must be Safe to Save”. Our personal desires for power, personal satisfaction and gratification, or the desire to control your own destiny will not be an option. The Lord of hosts will rule and His rule will be supreme.
What does God ask us to do? Watch and be Ready!
Isaiah 2:2-3 – “In the days to come, The Mount of the Lord's House shall stand firm above the mountains And tower above the hills; And all the nations shall gaze on it with joy. And the many peoples shall go and say: ‘Come, Let us go up to the Mount of the Lord, To the House of the God of Jacob; That He may instruct us in His ways, And that we may walk in His paths.’ For instruction shall come forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
A History of Conflict – Israel and the Palestinians – British Broadcasting Corp.
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Ancient times
Key Maps in the Israel – Palestinian/Arab Conflict – British Broadcasting Corp.
Click on the links below to see maps tracing the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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Isaiah 62:1 - For Zion's sake I will not be silent; for Jerusalem's sake I will not be still.
Thousands Gather to Pray at Tisha B’Av at the Temple Mount – July 27, 2004
Lekerev Report - Tens of
thousands of Jewish worshipers arrived at the Wailing Wall this morning for the
prayer service commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Today is a Jewish fast day as the faithful around the world mourn the loss of
the Temple. Throughout the night and yesterday, tens of thousands of worshipers
came to the Wailing Wall. After the fast ends, at about 8:00 pm, a light snack
and beverages are to be offered to the crowds.
Police are deployed in large numbers at the Wall, in the Old City and on the Temple Mount. According to estimates, the day would proceed peacefully. A senior police official told NRG Maariv that there aren't any specific warnings of attempts to stir unrest or perpetrate a terror attack.
The Temple Mount Faithful, headed by Gershon Solomon, will arrive at the wall as it does during every Tish'a Be'av. During a hearing at the High Court of Justice on Monday, which debated a petition filed by the movement to allow it to enter the Temple Mount today, Jerusalem Police chief, Commissioner Ilan Franko, promised to consider their request.
Jews Barred From Temple Mount While Mourning Destruction Of Temples – July 28, 2004 (9th of Av)
The Temple Mount (Israel National News) - Judaism's holiest
site - was closed to Jews today in response to Muslim threats of violence if
Jews were allowed to visit. The decision was made by Jerusalem Police Chief
Ilan Franco, citing the threat of Arab violence toward Jews who would enter the
holy site. The closure is particularly painful for many Jews, as today is the Fast of Tisha B'Av - the 9th of the
Jewish month of Av - marking the destruction of both the first and second Temples. Several other Jewish tragedies also took place on this date in
history. The decision to close the holy site to Jewish visitors came as a
surprise to hundreds of people from across the country who had planned on
ascending the Mount today. The Supreme Court, hearing a petition by the Temple
Mount Faithful yesterday, heard testimony from Franco himself to the effect
that there appeared to be no necessity to close the Mount "unless an
unusual security event occurs." Gershon Solomon, head of the Temple
Mount Faithful organization, later summed up, "Based on this,
the Court ruled that this would be the policy. Unfortunately, however, I have
to say that Franco lied, in that he knew he was not planning to open the Mount;
we see that there was no 'unusual security event,' and yet he still did not
allow us to enter. This has been the policy ever since I remember on Tisha
B'Av, and on many other holidays as well - not to allow the Temple Mount Faithful to enter the holy site, and consequently other Jews as well."
Solomon said that Franco's decision has
"devastating political and security ramifications, including increased
Islamic violence and destruction surrounding Temple Mount issues, as once
again, threats of Islamic violence have achieved their desired result." Members of the Temple
Mount Faithful marched instead around the outside of the Temple Mount to signal their desire to ascend the Mount. The group had hoped for a change in police
attitudes following Franco's assumption of the Commissionership, but the group
says he seems to have adopted the approach of his predecessors in banning Jews
from the Temple Mount whenever Muslims threaten violence against them. Solomon
said that the recent comments by Minister of Public Security Tzachi HaNegbi
(Likud) did not seem to have an effect on the decision today, "as this has
been the policy all along. But there is no question that he caused damage to
the People of Israel in giving ammunition to our enemies and in 'letting the
blood' of Jews who ascent to the Mount." Minister HaNegbi said three nights ago that he is
certain that Jews are planning to carry out an attack on the Temple Mount. His disclaimer that he has no concrete
evidence to support his claim was ignored by the Arab League and the Muslim
Waqf, which turned to international bodies to "prevent Jewish extremists
from endangering the Moslem holy sites on the Temple Mount."(Read entire article)
130,000 in Human Chain from Gush Katif (Gaza) to Jerusalem – July 25, 2004
Jerusalem Post - "Don't
evacuate us," wrote six-year-old Yael Better in a note she stuck in a
crevice in the Western Wall. She was the last participant in a human protest
chain anchored by her grandfather Yitzhak Shamir, one of the founders of Kfar
Darom, who lost an arm and a leg fighting for the Gaza Strip settlement during
the War of Independence in 1948.
The chain, the first of its kind in Israel, and the third longest in history, stretched 90 kilometers (55 miles) to Jerusalem, as Police said an estimated 130,000 people linked hands Sunday evening to protest the disengagement plan. The two-hour event ended at 7 p.m. with the singing of the national anthem "Hatikva" and the blowing of three large horns with blasts that sounded like shofars at the Western Wall.
Route
of Human Chain from Jerusalem to Gaza
While its organizers stressed that the human chain was "a chain linking the people of Israel," the string of humanity also served as a political bludgeon. "This is the spearhead of the settlement's passive resistance campaign," said Avner Avraham, who trekked up from Eilat to Kibbutz Yad Mordechai with his six young children to protest the evacuation. "This is about love, but it is also about showing Sharon that physically he will not be able to uproot Jews from their homes."
Avraham wore a T-shirt whose large bloc letters spelled out "BAD JOKE." He was convinced that is how the majority of Israelis feel about the evacuation.
Certainly that is how Better's grandfather Shamir, Avram Dimant, and their comrades – all of them nearing their ninth decade – feel. They had virtually chained themselves to the original incarnation of the embattled settlement during Israel's 1948 War of Independence.” We refused to leave, even though we survived on half a cup of water and a cube of chocolate a day for weeks," said Dimant, then-commander of the outpost. "That is why we cannot allow another pullback from any piece of land in the middle of a war," said Shamir, who served as the first link in the chain just outside the Erez checkpoint north of the Gaza Strip.
Purchased by Jews in 1946, Kfar Darom earned fame as a beacon of Israeli self-sacrifice and bravery in the face of an unrelenting Egyptian onslaught. Eventually Israel's founding father, David Ben-Gurion, personally ordered its members to abandon the settlement. The chain drew Israelis and visitors from around the world, including non-Jews. Current events mingled with Biblical history. Many demonstrators hailed from religious backgrounds and it was their faith, they said, which compelled them to believe that it is their duty to prevent evacuation.
The event was specifically scheduled for the day before Tisha
Be'av, a day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, in order to underscore what many settlers consider the catastrophic potential
of the disengagement plan. In Jerusalem, at the top of Jaffa Road, a group of 53
Independent Baptists from the United States held hands and sang "Don't
give away Gush Katif, Sharon." One of their organizers, Pastor Bob Ross
of from Oklahoma, said, "We believe as Zionist Christians that Jehovah God
clearly promises his blessings on those who bless Israel. We want to be a
blessing to Israel," all of it, including the Gaza Strip.
Among the participants was Dan Davidovitch, whose 30-year-old daughter Ahuva Amergi of Gush Katif was killed in a terrorist attack in February 2002. The son of a Holocaust survivor, he sat by Jerusalem's Central Bus Station with a large photograph of Ahuva stuck on the baby carriage of a new granddaughter, named for Ahuva.
She
herself was named for one of his father's seven children, who were killed in
the Holocaust. "My father lost 33 people," said Davidovitch. He recalled
how Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said that the picture of an old Palestinian
woman sifting through the rubble of her destroyed in Rafah following an IDF
attack reminded him of the Holocaust. "I want to tell Lapid that talk of
disengagement reminds me of stories my father told me about forcing Jews to
leave their homes during the Holocaust," said Davidovitch. "We came
to show the world that no force will take Jews away from their land," said
Davidovitch.
In a
parade-like atmosphere, supporters of Gush Katif lined the roads, brandished
signs at drivers, waved and sang. Knesset Speaker and Likud MK Reuven Rivlin
and Likud Minister Natan Sharansky were among the 20 politicians, including MKs
from the National Union and the National Religious Party, who participated in
the event.
Police mobilized thousands of officers, reinforced by more than 1,000 private security guards, to patrol the route, deal with snarled traffic and prevent any attempt to create a disturbance. Motorists were advised to take alternate routes. Nearly 900 buses were rented to bring people to various points along the route, said one of the organizers, Zevulun Halfon.
The coordination of the settlement organizers was precise. Hundreds of volunteers herded children off the curbs and ensured that the right people arrived at the right places at the right time. Like good soldiers, parents and toddlers moved to fill gaps in the human chain. Organizers on foot and in jeeps shuttled up and down the line ensuring order.
While Gush Katif spokeswoman Rachel Saperstein warned that provocateurs might try to stir things up, the demonstration ended peacefully. There were no reports of incitement against Sharon. In fact, the chain's ending seemed anti-climactic along the roads near Gaza. Demonstrators all along the route finished singing "Hatikva" and, not knowing what to do, began strolling toward waiting buses and hitching rides. Thousands of youths and adults turned toward Jerusalem for their evening prayers just after the completion of the national anthem. During downtimes, many read psalms by the roadside.
In Jerusalem, veteran Yitzhak Shamir's daughter, Tamar Better, held her daughter after the chain disbanded and said, "This is a very emotional moment. Our family is the story of the chain and we hope it will continue." Her husband, Mordechai Better, added, "I don't know if it will have any influence. But we at least want to show the government that this can't be given up easily. There are three generations here." AP contributed to this report. (Entire Article)
Settlers: Sharon trying
to discredit us – July 28, 2004 - Israel claims Jewish extremists trying to blow up temple, 
kill
PM
WorldNetDaily - Reports
that Jewish extremists are planning to blow up the Temple Mount and assassinate
Ariel Sharon are being contrived by the Israeli government to discredit the
settler movement ahead of the prime minister's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005,
settler leaders told WorldNetDaily. "We have said continually that any
protests we are planning will be entirely peaceful," said Mike Guzofsky,
head of the Jewish Legion in the Kfar Tapuach settlement, and one of the
settler figures being closely watched by Israel's Shin Bet. "These
announcements are simply to try to get world public opinion against the
settlers," Guzofsky told WND. "Sharon will do anything and everything
necessary to be able to carry out his disengagement. There is absolutely no
truth to statements that settlers are trying to blow up the Temple Mount or kill Sharon."
Internal Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi warned last week that Jewish extremists are planning a terror attack against Arabs on the Temple Mount, including use of airplane drones to blow up the Al Aqsa Mosque. Hanegbi also has said extremist Jews are plotting to assassinate Sharon to disrupt his Gaza pullout plan. "We sense that the threat level on the Temple Mount by extremist and fanatic Jewish elements, in order to upset the situation and be a catalyst for change of the political process, has increased in the last few months, and especially in the last few weeks, more than any time in the past," Hanegbi said. Hanegbi also recently warned, "There are people who have already taken the decision that, come the day they are going to 'save Israel', that they are going to kill the prime minister. … I have no doubt that they are out there."
But yesterday, leaders of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the largest settlers group, signed a document, the "Covenant of Brothers," that pledges to avert violence in the face of settler contention over Sharon's disengagement plan and its implementation. (Interesting article on Power Players on the Settlers and Government Division of caring for God’s Holy Land)
Human Chain from Gush to Jerusalem Picture Tour – by Jacob Richman
Chirac ends row over Sharon's call for Jews to flee France – July 24, 2004
Haaretz - French
President Jacques Chirac sent a message to his Israeli counterpart Moshe Katsav
in which he says he views the crisis over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's call
for French Jews to immigrate to Israel because of "wild
anti-Semitism" as over, Israel Radio reported Saturday.The message was handed
to Katsav by a French cabinet minister, the radio said.
The diplomatic crisis between France and Israel over Sharon's call erupted last week following Sharon's address to American Jewish leaders,
in which he urged French Jews to move to Israel as soon as possible. "We see the spread of the wildest anti-Semitism there," Sharon said, adding that French Jews should make the move as soon as possible. "I
think it's a must and they have to move immediately."
Even though Sharon also praised the French government's efforts
to combat anti-Semitism, the French were outraged. Chirac
responded by having his office inform Jerusalem that Sharon would not be
welcome in Paris right now. This message was mainly a show of displeasure,
since no visit is planned.
The French embassy said a date for a visit could be discussed
as soon as France gets the explanation for Sharon's remarks that it has
requested. In response, Sharon's office said: "The
prime minister reiterates there is anti-Semitism in France, and despite the
serious measures the French government is taking, he urges French Jews to
immigrate to Israel - just as he urges all Jews worldwide to immigrate to Israel." (Article)
200 Jews leave France for Israel - July 29, 2004
France (People Daily) - Two hundred
Jews from France boarded a flight to Tel Aviv Wednesday to make Israel
their new home, the BBC reported. About 2,000 French Jews emigrate to Israel every year for religious reasons, to find work and some because they say the fear of
anti-Semitic attack has made their lives intolerable.
But Wednesday's exodus only further frosted relations between France and Israel, the report said. France was outraged earlier this month when a young woman who is not Jewish made up a story about how Muslim youths who thought she was Jewish attacked her on a subway.
Before she recanted and said she made it all up for attention, French President Jacques Chirac made a personal pledge to clamp down on anti-Semitism. Days later, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon infuriated Chirac when he called on French Jews to flee the country and seek refuge in Israel. Sharon was scheduled to personally greet the 200 emigrants in Tel Aviv, the report said.
Hundreds of U.S. Immigrants Go to Israel – July 15, 2004
Ben Gurion Airport, Israel (AP) -- About 500 Jewish immigrants from North America, including 400 from the United States, arrived in Israel on Wednesday, one of the largest single-day numbers in recent months. The immigrants are backed by "Nefesh B'Nefesh," or Jewish Souls United, a group that gives financial support to Jews wanting to move to Israel. The group expects to help 1,500 North American Jews immigrate to Israel by the end of summer, group leaders said.
So far this year, 930 U.S. residents have immigrated to Israel, the Tourism Ministry said. (Read Entire Article)
Israel plans to
expand Settlements – August 2, 2004
Maale Adoumin, the largest settlement in
the West Bank, is home to 28,000 settlers
British Broadcasting Co - It has emerged that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has given the go-ahead for 600 new homes in the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Mr. Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz agreed the plan two months ago but it has only now been made public. The new homes are to be built in Maale Adoumin, close to Jerusalem. It is already home to 28,000 Jewish settlers. Israel has committed itself to freezing settlement activity under the international "roadmap" peace plan. Under the terms of the stalled peace plan, the Palestinians are obliged to crack down on militant attacks against Israel. All settlements in the West Bank and Gaza are considered illegal under international law.
The BBC's Katya Adler in Jerusalem says Palestinians fear that Israel's plan to pull out of Gaza next year could mean Mr. Sharon plans to bolster Jewish settlements in the West Bank instead. Our correspondent reports that US officials say the building plans appear incompatible with the peace plan. A spokesman at the US embassy in Tel Aviv said Ambassador Dan Kurtzer would examine the case as soon as he returned from a trip abroad. Israel plans to pull all its 7,000 settlers from Gaza and the troops that protect them, while keeping control of Gaza's borders, coastline and airspace. Four West Bank settlements are also to be evacuated. (Read entire article)
US Shatters Sharon's Justification for Gaza Pullout - August 6, 2004
Lekerev Report - A week
of intense American pressure has effectively destroyed one of Prime Minister
Sharon's major justifications to the Israeli people for withdrawing from Gaza. The US is demanding that Israel halt construction of 600 new homes in the largest
Samarian Jewish community. For months the prime minister insisted that
by uprooting the Jews of Gaza and northern Samaria, Israel would gain the Bush
Administration's support in strengthening major settlement blocs in Judea and
southern parts of Samaria.
Maale Adoumin, Jewish settlement to the northeast of Old Jerusalem
However, for the last several days Washington has leveled heavy criticism at Israel for authorizing a new neighborhood in the Jerusalem suburb of Ma'aleh Adumim, which it terms a 'West Bank settlement' with a population of roughly 30,000 people. Dr. Aaron Lerner of the Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA) organization noted that "what President Bush actually said was that the settlements blocs are a bargaining chip of substance."
According to Ha'aretz, the Bush Administration feels "frustration and bitterness" over the slow pace at which Israel is uprooting several sparsely populated and empty settler outposts it promised to remove under the Road Map. Zionist Organization of America President Morton A. Klein responded by saying it was "incredible that the administration remains silent while the Palestinian Authority ignores its obligations to arrest and disarm terrorists." He added, "The obstacle to peace is the PA 's terrorist behavior, not these scattered outposts on empty land".
Growing Threats Against Sharon's Life – August 8, 2004
Lekerev Report - Speaking on Israel
Channel 2, Dov Weisglass, Sharon's Bureau Chief, has said that there is an
increased threat on the Prime Minister's life, and that he too, was under
security protection. He said that Sharon has always been
considered under greater personal threat than any other PM. "In the past
the threat was from the Arabs, now it's from the extreme right wing",
he said.
Both Homeland Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi and ISA commander Avi Dichter have recently issued statements regarding the increased threat to the PM's life from right wing extremists. This is the first time, however, that a senior Prime Ministerial aide has also been considered under threat warranting ISA protection. Weisglass is seen by many as the driving force behinds the disengagement, and has been accused by several right wing MKs of being involved in questionable business links with the Palestinians.
Massive Mobilization of Reservists- July 29, 2004
Lekerev Report - The
IDF is planning to mobilize thousands of reserve soldiers to cope with the task
of evacuating settlers from their homes under the framework of the
disengagement plan, and at the same time to continue the intense volume of
operations to foil Palestinian terror attacks. The evacuation, if approved by
the government, will not be immediate and is expected to last for months due to
the harsh resistance the settlers are planning. The IDF estimates that police
and the regular IDF force will not be sufficient to handle all the tasks.
IDF officers do not rule out the possibility that the scope of reserves' mobilization would surpass that of Operation Defensive Shield. Since it is expected that among reserve soldiers the political argument regarding the disengagement would hamper their effectiveness, the plan is not to use them for evacuation but for other missions in the northern or central command, where they would replace regular forces, Maariv reports.
Meanwhile, preparation towards carrying out the infrastructure work on areas where the IDF will re- deploy to are moving into high gear. The Defense Ministry has decided this week to begin hiring professionals who are to carry out the architectural plans necessary for moving IDF bases from Gaza and re-positioning them along the border fence.
Disengagement Postponed to 2005; Labor Disappointed – July 30, 2004
Despite several rounds
of talks involving the Labor Party's negotiating team with the present government,
it appears that the Disengagement Plan of Prime Minister Sharon will be
postponed until 2005. Labor party officials have been pushing hard for
immediate implementation, but it seems they will have to relent.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Labor Party MK Shimon Perez
Labor party officials who suggested the disengagement plan's date be pushed up received a negative response from the government. The plan will carried out as planned, beginning in 2005, and not in November this year, as Labor hoped.
Civil War in Israel?
- 'If the IDF opens fire at us, believe me, we are going to shoot back' – July
6, 2004
WorldNetDaily - A group of
settlers is planning a civil revolt, which could develop into violence, in
response to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw settlements from the
entire Gaza Strip and some of the West Bank, a leader of the revolt told WND.
The small group of leaders held a series of meetings to discuss plans to
disrupt the unilateral withdrawal in 2005, including some actions that could
start as early as this month.
"We have plans for a civil revolt, which is going to include stopping traffic and causing traffic jams, no more paying of taxes, cutting down the fences the IDF will try to put up to keep us from our land, having people lie down in the streets and block bulldozers, and disobeying orders from the Israeli authorities," an operational leader in the planned revolt who asked that his name be withheld told WND. But he conceded the revolt could easily turn violent: "Of course, the part of the world we live in is dangerous, most of us are armed. We are not going to shoot first at anyone, but if the IDF opens fire at us, believe me, we are going to shoot back."
The leader would not divulge names of who participated in the meetings, but said, "I am sure Israeli intelligence already knows of everyone there and every word we spoke." "The general idea is that if Sharon is not democratic, then we also don't have to be democratic," Itamar Ben-Gvir, who also participated in the meetings, told reporters. Ben-Gvir is an activist in the Kach movement, which was started by Jewish Defense League founder Meir Kahane. "Follow [Defense Minister Shaul] Mofaz, day and night, for a week," Ben-Gvir said. "Wherever he goes, you should be there shouting. And not just against Mofaz – against all the mafia, against all the dictators."
On Sunday, Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter warned of growing extremism among opponents to Sharon's plan. In his briefing to government ministers, Dichter cited an example of the infighting he fears in Israel. A military chaplain who earlier this year oversaw the dismantling of an illegal outpost outside the West Bank settlement of Kfar Tapuach, home to some of the leaders of the Kach movement, paid a price personally, Dichter said. The rabbi, a lieutenant colonel in the military's Central Command, was physically assaulted while walking with his wife in Jerusalem. Dichter blamed the Kach movement for that incident.
Ben-Gvir, who was recently convicted on charges of supporting a terrorist organization, said, "The state should be afraid of the possibility of the eruption of violence." There have been religious aspects to the calls for violence, as well. Last week, Avigdor Nebenzahl, prominent rabbi of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City, declared that anyone giving away a part of the land of Israel is a "rodef" – someone whom it is permissible or required by Jewish law to kill before he kills.
Similar rabbinic proclamations were heard following the signing of the Oslo Accords, which some say may have been a motivating factor for Yigal Amir, the man who assassinated Yizhak Rabin. Knesset members scheduled a discussion of anti-incitement regulations for later this week, and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz says he will hold deliberations on whether laws against Jewish ideological vigilantism should be more strictly enforced.
Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, told WND: "Should the government go ahead with the forceable removal of Jewish residents of Gaza, intra-Israeli violence appears to be a distinct possibility. Which in turn makes me wonder why the Israeli authorities do not take quite a different track and merely stop providing security for them." There are separate, peaceful protests planned for the next few months. Volunteers and settler leaders met in Jerusalem yesterday to plan a human chain of 150,000 people to stretch from the Western Wall to the Gush Katif settlement. At one end will be Shmuel Cahane, who founded a settlement in 1946, and at the other end will be a girl from Gush Katif who will insert a note into the Wall.
The chain is to take place July 25, which is the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'Av, the anniversary of the destruction of the First and the Second Temples, and a date upon which many tragedies befell the Jewish people. "This chain is an unambiguous statement that we are not prepared to bring about additional destruction and the expulsion of Jews from their land," organizer Dror Vanunu said. (Read Entire Article)
Palestinians Against Palestinians – Will there be Civil War in Gaza and the West Bank?
Terrorism Against Arafat – A world against itself.
The terrorists in the Middle East are in the evolutionary stage of morphing themselves. Is it from bad to worse? According to Aksa Martyrs Brigades leader Zacharia Zubeidi, he confesses that “the intifada is in its death throes…Not only was the intifada a failure, but we are a total failure. We achieved nothing in 50 years of struggle; we’ve achieved only our survival.” In his frustration, Zubeidi turned on his friend, a Fatah leader and governor of Jenin, Kadura Musa and torched his offices.
In the midst of this holy war by the Palestinians, anger is flowing everywhere. The law of Arafat no longer rules, but the law of mobocracy. According to a Palestinian journalist, ''I'm not justifying the occupation, but in many ways, it was better. If I had a complaint, the Israelis would resolve it. … A revolution has been brewing for some time. If Sharon had not stormed onto Temple Mount (which ignited the current conflict in September 2000), there'd be a Palestinian-Palestinian intifada, not one with Israel.''
Within the power vacuum of the declining power of Yasser Arafat and the inability of any other leader to take charge over the Palestinian economy, from all appearances is that the al Qaeda is infiltrating Gaza and the West Bank and will attempt to become the kingpin within the midst of the land of Israel. As Zubeidi states, the al Qaeda is working to “find a nesting place in the West Bank.”
As the drama unfolds, the reoccurring theme is that the power structure of Yasser Arafat is gradually falling apart. It would be tantalizing to assume that with his ouster or demise that peace would suddenly reign, but that would only make for good political copy. It is universally recognized that the Palestinian culture has so thoroughly poisoned with hate against the Jewish people that without a radical housecleaning a whole generation of children who have been taught to kill and destroy and make demands later will have to be dealt with. Yet the Oracles of Zechariah which appear are meant for this generation state, “and he (“the Palestinian”) who remains, even He shall be for our God.”
The coming ‘Palestinian’ civil war? - August 2, 2004
Jewish World Review - In this
teeming West Bank city where government leaders arrogantly flaunt their
privileged status, anger is palpable everywhere. Average folks here barely make
ends meet while President Yasser Arafat's cronies tool around in fancy cars,
living in exquisite villas paid for, Palestinian critics charge, by graft and
corruption. The outrage and frustration is worse in Deisha near Bethlehem, a squalid refugee camp for a half-century. A humongous slum, it's a notorious
haven for terrorists of every ilk, including the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist-Leninist group that displays pictures of Che
Guevara proclaiming, ''I'm a Palestinian.'' In filthy, narrow streets, surly
unemployed young men glare menacingly at me and at nearby villages where
politicians and bureaucrats live in luxury.
Al Aqsa Brigade in revolt against Arafat’s Intelligence Headquarters in Gaza (Lekerev Report)
In Gaza, mobocracy reigns. Abject poverty is rampant. Last month in Khan Yunis, a rancid ghetto, the police chief warned of looming anarchy while Al Aqsa Brigades demanded free local elections (Arafat stopped the voting when his handpicked candidates were losing) and the ouster of high-ranking officials, ''thieves of public money'' who steal "national funds, property and land.''
A Palestinian journalist told me, ''I'm not justifying the occupation, but
in many ways, it was better. If I had a complaint, the Israelis would resolve
it. Now, our security forces — 50,000 of 150,000 government employees — break
into homes; extort money; rape wives and daughters. A revolution has been
brewing for some time. If [now-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon had not
stormed onto Temple Mount (which ignited the current conflict in September
2000), there'd be a Palestinian-Palestinian intifada, not one with Israel.'' Everyone I've spoken with intensely detests three things: Israel, the United States and Arafat's ''Tunis Mafia,'' henchmen he brought here from Tunisian exile
in 1993 (with Israel's acquiescence). They promptly seized the most important —
and lucrative — positions in the newly minted Palestinian Authority, giving
short shrift to citizens' needs…
Hatem Abdel Khader, Palestinian Legislative Council (Parliament) member, is
widely respected, considered honest and sincere. ''We lack democracy and
have an unhealthy system causing grave problems,'' he admits. "But
our national integrity doesn't permit us to remove Arafat. Deep inside our
soul, he's the symbol of our cause. After the symbol comes reform; after Arafat,
there will be no more symbols.''
Having interviewed Arafat several times, I thought I might be able to speak
with him. Scrutinized carefully by fierce terrorists on Israel's ''most wanted'' list who are holed up in the Mukatah, Arafat's Ramallah compound, I was
escorted to his office, which is blockaded by sandbags and armed guards. Close,
but no cigar. ''He's sleeping,'' his aide said apologetically. ''Maybe later.''
Right. Arafat has avoided journalists for months. Someday, Arafat will answer
for his transgressions, of which the most grievous may be: How can such callous
policies be justified when they are ripping his people apart? It's a crisis
that could easily lead to civil war. (A Point to
Remember in Zechariah 9)
Yasser's credo – August 2, 2004
JewsWeek - Yasser Arafat.
In certain ways, this Palestinian is a true enigma. In others, he is one of the
most transparent, predictable leaders in the world today. Surprisingly, it is
precisely the predictable side of Arafat that seems to fool other leaders
around the globe. His moves are obvious - he needs to placate. His public
statements are for the express purpose of bolstering the perpetually faltering
morale of the Palestinian people. His motives are personal. And so he lies, he
misappropriates funds, he makes promises he has no intention of fulfilling. He
gets away with it, time after time, move after move, lie after lie. Fooling the
world, duping his own people. Putting it as succinctly as possible, Arafat will
not ever, voluntarily, relinquish power and control. He does not compromise.
This is his personal credo: I am in complete charge; I am the font of
all power; I say whatever --- I do whatever; It is all for me. That is why he
rants. That is why he acts with reckless disregard for his people. That is why
he abuses the rules of international diplomacy with seeming aplomb. And that is
why he is at times perceived as a madman, at times as a genius.
Arafat is one of the wealthiest leaders in the world. But Arafat is not
a monarch, born with a silver nargila in his mouth like so many others in the
region. And the Palestinian territory is not oil rich, placing him in charge of
countless, priceless natural resources.
So how did it happen? Psychologically, Yasser Arafat is incapable of parting
with money that was given him. In his eyes monies that he raised,
ostensibly for his people, are his profits. And the money given to the
Palestinian Authority, he truly believes, belongs to him. No matter that it was
given for economic aid, or to feed the poor, to build roads, or to bring
plumbing and electricity into the 21st century. It is his. That is why he
writes the checks and approves allocations. That is why he pays the salaries of
security personnel. That is why policemen, security men, and terrorists are
accountable to him - personally, not merely politically.
There is almost no pressure that can be placed on Arafat that will ever
force him to relinquish power, even some power. Bill Clinton failed
miserably and George W. Bush is in the process of failing. Kofi Annan, even
with his soft spoken understanding ways is failing as surely as the European
Union and their compelling fig leaf of serious monetary aid. Israel has, is, and will probably continue to fail in forcing Arafat out or in diminishing his real
power. Even his compatriots, other Arab leaders, strong Arab leaders, like
Egypt's Mubarak and Jordan's kings, the late Hussein and his son Abdallah, have
failed in reigning Arafat in.
The only challenge that Arafat really feels, that frightens him, is from the
Palestinian "street," his power base, his popular support. (In-depth
profile)
Aksa leader: Intifada is in its death throes – August 6, 2004
Jerusalem Post - It's not so much what Zakariya Zubeidi, the fugitive leader of the West Bank Aksa Martyrs Brigades, says, but how he says it. Zubeidi speaks in the vacant tones of a ghost. And four years after he first picked up a rifle, this peace-activist-turned-local-hero-and-killer eulogized the Palestinian intifada in words similar to those in which he described himself. "The intifada is in its death throes. These are the final stages – this I can confirm," he said on Wednesday.
He held court in a safe house overlooking the Jenin refugee camp, now a sprawling complex of glimmering pastel-colored townhouses.
If anyone embodies the intifada on the eve of its fourth anniversary, it is Zubeidi. The 28-year-old Aksa chief boasts a pedigree of martyrdom: Zubeidi's mother was shot dead in the battle of Jenin, as was one of his brothers. Two other brothers are in Israeli prisons. His father died of a skin cancer that the family says went untreated while he served a prison term for political activism against Israel during the first intifada.
All this death and poverty – according to the World Bank, 52 percent of Palestinians live below the poverty line – has left the people "as exhausted as they were after the first intifada." The intifada has vented its suicidal wrath on Israelis, but in recent weeks criticism of the Palestinian Authority has ensconced itself in common parlance. "Not only was the intifada a failure, but we are a total failure. We achieved nothing in 50 years of struggle; we've achieved only our survival." (Read entire article)
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