Britain At Odds with EU
The Associated Press wrote on January 24:
“British Prime Minister David Cameron wants nothing to do with a United States of Europe, an idea that’s gaining currency as the countries that use the euro struggle to fix their debt crisis. But what if it’s a choice between a single country called Europe or a splintered continent? Cameron is determined to avoid that scary scenario. A day after he shook up Europe’s political landscape by offering British citizens the prospect of a vote on whether to stay in the 27-country European Union, Cameron insisted Thursday he wants Britain to remain a part of the bloc but that more unification would not be the answer…
“Many in the EU, particularly among the 17 countries that use the euro, are on a drive for closer political unification, and that’s raised particular concerns recently in Britain, which has often viewed the bloc through a business prism. ‘If you mean that Europe has to be a political union, a country called Europe, then I disagree,’ said Cameron… But many politicians in Europe think closer political ties are exactly what is needed to maintain continental unity… Some even think Europe’s end-game has to be to resemble the United States of America. Countries would be so tied together in their economic and social fabric to make war inconceivable.
“… many European leaders refuse to publicly acknowledge that a British exit is a possibility… Britain’s relations with Europe have been strained since the end of World War II. It did not join the European Steel and Coal Community, the forebear of what would later become the European Union, in 1951. Britain later realized there were benefits accruing from joining up with some of its wartime friends and foes, and joined the evolving European bloc in the 1970s. It has stood against many efforts to forge closer ties, notably the creation of the euro, but was at the forefront of the drive to create a single market.”
Europe’s coming political and military unification is clearly prophesied.
Britain No Longer a Leading Nation in the EU—-To Be Replaced by Poland?
The EUobserver wrote on January 25:
“Britain has lost its place in the club of leading EU nations with France and Germany over its plan to hold a referendum on EU membership, the Polish foreign minister has said. ‘The Prime Minister [the UK’s David Cameron] has shifted his country’s position in the EU hierarchy. From a country which was a natural member of the triumvirate capable of ruling the EU, Great Britain has moved to the category of a country of special concern, which should be treated with care in case it does something unwise, harms itself and leaves the Union. It means the group which holds power in the Union will have a different shape,’ Radek Sikorski [said]…
“He said Poland could take Britain’s place over the next decade. ‘We would have to continue reforms and join the eurozone, then we could be the ones in the group of three, or five, countries which have the biggest say in the EU,’ he added… He also said Cameron’s two conditions for holding the vote – renegotiating the EU treaties and repatriating some EU powers to the UK – ‘seem unlikely to happen.’ But he added that – referendum or no referendum – the British leader has shown he wants no part in further EU integration. ‘Cameron said very clearly: “We’re not interested in a political union, we want to take care of our own interests and retreat to our island.” But the rest of the continent does want political union because it’s indispensible to save the euro and to protect our place on the world arena,’ Sikorski said.”
The days of Britain’s stay in the EU are indeed numbered, and Poland might very well become quite influential as one of several leading core nations of the EU, under Germany’s direction. In this context, recent revelations and facts regarding Poland may not be in favor of Polish-British relationships.
The Guardian revealed on January 30 that in regard to horsemeat in “beef” hamburgers, a “Polish supplier at the heart of the scandal has been selling beef ‘filler’ to an Irish meat processor for over a year,” and “The Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine… announced earlier this week that their tests had shown that the horsemeat was probably being imported from Poland.”
In addition, Mail Online reported on January 31 that “Polish is Britain’s second language and nearly one in five people in London only speak English as a second tongue.”
While former Prime Minister Tony Blair has become increasingly unpopular in his homeland, Mail Online reported on January 30:
“In Britain, his ‘open door’ immigration policies have been criticised by all sides. But in Poland, which was transformed by entry into the EU, Tony Blair is feted as a hero. And yesterday the former Prime Minister was handed a special award for helping hundreds of thousands of Poles come to live in the UK… Around 700,000 eastern Europeans migrated to the UK from eight former communist nations when they were admitted to the European Union in 2004 – despite ministers predicting only 15,000 a year would arrive. Between December 2003 and December 2010 the Polish-born population of the UK increased from 75,000 to 532,000. Latest census figures reveal that the number of Poles living in Britain now stands at 625,000.
“Tory MP Philip Hollobone raged last night: ‘This award is entirely appropriate. Tony Blair presided over the biggest wave of immigration this country has seen since the Norman conquest, 2.5 million net migrants came in to the UK while he was in charge and Britain will never be the same again.’”
The British people might agree with the last statement and that the award to Tony Blair was “entirely appropriate.” since many would not agree with what Tony Blair did. Mr. Hollobone’s statements are to be viewed as a strong criticism of Tony Blair.
Scientology Destroys People with Crazy Ideas and Dangerous Methods?
The Website of salon.com reported on January 26:
“The great-grandson of the founder of Scientology said… Scientology specifically tries to rope in celebrities… DeWolf said Elvis Presley turned down an offer to join Scientology… Scientology ‘works through electrified hypnosis. It works through past life regression therapy… But to meet people who’ve been out of the cult… you want to ask them about Xenu and aliens — but the fact is these are smart people. They’ve just been completely destroyed,’ said DeWolf.”
That is indeed weird—but the people of this world want to believe just about anything, as long as it is not in accordance with the Bible.
Is The Catholic Church “Riding” the Government?
Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 24:
“Catholic facilities are increasingly sealing themselves off, often behaving as if they were part of a state within a state; a cosmos subject to its own rules, which are monitored by the pope and his bishops… Every year, Catholic dioceses receive billions in funds from obligatory taxes paid by church members. But when it comes to scandals, such as when sexual abuse is systematically covered up and remains uninvestigated for years, citizens have little influence and are left to experience how the church energetically defends its special rights…
“The church… is the second-largest employer in the country, after the government. It dictates the kind of life its doctors, educators, teachers and cleaning women are allowed to lead. It determines how children are raised… Germany has gradually entrusted the churches with large parts of its social welfare system… Between 90 and 100 percent of the funding for most of the Catholic Church’s social facilities comes from the government. Nevertheless, politicians and citizens have rarely tried to exert their influence…”
The Bible tells us about the dangers of collaboration between European states and the Catholic Church—which will even drastically increase in the future.
Some Jewish Thoughts on a Chief Rabbi
Jewish Ideas Daily wrote on January 23:
“Come September, both England and Israel will install new chief rabbis…The position of chief rabbi dates far back in Jewish history. In the Middle Ages, when Jews were treated as a corporate body, the chief rabbi served not only as the judge, scholar, and supreme religious authority for his community, but frequently bore responsibility for collecting its taxes as well. Many a chief rabbi, as a result, was appointed or confirmed directly by the king.
“Chief rabbis today confine their authority to the religious realm, but their role is never purely ceremonial. Inevitably, they must also devote themselves to promoting their own brand of Judaism (usually some variety of Orthodoxy) over all the others. Israel’s chief rabbinate, in recent years, has sought to undermine more liberal approaches…
“America is unusual in never having had an official chief rabbi. In 1888, a short-lived Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations imported Rabbi Jacob Joseph of Vilna to serve as chief rabbi of New York, but that effort ended disastrously… A few Orthodox rabbis in other American cities did, for a time, carry the title ‘chief rabbi,’ based on their learning and status. One or two even pretended to the title ‘chief rabbi of the United States.’ But none ever achieved recognition outside his own Orthodox circle.
“As a matter of law, the First Amendment precludes the government from recognizing one religious authority as ‘chief’ over another… the creation in America of a government-protected form of Judaism under the authority of a chief rabbi was clearly impossible…
“Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, America’s foremost 20th-century Modern Orthodox thinker… turned down the invitation to serve as Israel’s chief rabbi, because, he explained in 1964, he ‘was afraid to be an officer of the State.’ As England and Israel prepare to install new chief rabbis, Rabbi Soloveitchik’s decision deserves to be remembered. ‘A rabbinate linked up with the state,’ he warned, ‘cannot be completely free.’”
This kind of collaboration between religion and state has never produced good fruits in this day and age. Rabbi Soloveitchik’s objections are indeed worthwhile considering.
“Is Gun Ownership Christian?”
The Washington Post wrote on January 25:
“57 percent of white evangelicals live in homes where someone owns a gun (compared, for example, with 31 percent of Catholics.) And more startling, even after 20 first-graders were slaughtered in Connecticut at the hands of a madman with an assault rifle, 59 percent of white evangelicals continue to oppose tighter restrictions on gun laws.
“An obvious question occurs in light of these results: How do such Christians reconcile their stalwart commitment to the Second Amendment with their belief in a gospel that preaches nonviolence?… ‘If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also,’ [Jesus] says, in the Gospel of Matthew. The Bible is mute on the matter of guns, of course, but it is impossible to imagine that Jesus would find anything good to say about them…
“More than 500 children were killed in accidental gun deaths in 2011. As… Gary Hall preached at Washington National Cathedral last week, ‘If we want to stand with Jesus and Martin Luther King, we’ve also got to stand with those who, like them, die by means of violence. . . . That may sound like a hard truth, but for a Christian, there’s no way around it.’”
True Christians ought to be able to see that gun violence and the teachings of Jesus Christ are indeed totally incompatible. Many Jewish thinkers who strictly argue from the pages of the Old Testament, agree as well… note the next article.
Some Jewish Thoughts on Guns…
Jewish Ideas Daily wrote on January 22:
“The transformation of swords into plowshares represents the end of war and the beginning of the messianic era (Isaiah 2:4)…
“The Bible forbids the use of certain metal instruments to construct an altar (Exodus 20:21); the reason, in one interpretation, is that those same instruments may be used to shorten life, while worship on the altar is meant to extend life. Similarly, the Sages forbade entering the Sanctuary with a sword… a restriction later interpreted by medieval Jewish law to forbid bringing sharp knives, apparently used by traveling merchants for protection, into a synagogue… many rabbis believe that handling guns is prohibited on Shabbat… unless for saving lives…
“The same logic makes the notion of using guns for recreation, like hunting, totally alien to Jewish law… to use weapons to kill animals for fun… is to imitate biblical villains like Nimrod and Esau, not our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…
“In the same way… the glorification of weaponry is foreign to Jewish thought… the Sages, in line with Isaiah’s messianic vision, banned bearing weapons in public on Shabbat, even as an ornament, since ‘they are merely shameful.’ Very few historical sources refer to Jews wearing arms as ornaments…”
In this context, we might also remember that King David was not allowed to build the temple, as he was a man of war who had shed blood. Only Solomon, a “prince” of peace, was permitted to build the temple. But violence is not restricted to guns, as the next article shows.
President Obama: “Football a Violent Sport”
The Washington Times wrote on January 27:
“President Obama took a swipe at football in a new interview, saying he would “have to think long and hard” before letting his hypothetical son play the dangerous sport. ‘I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence,’ Mr. Obama told The New Republic in its Feb. 11 issue. ‘In some cases, that may make it a little bit less exciting,’ he said. ‘But it will be a whole lot better for the players, and those of us who are fans maybe won’t have to examine our consciences quite as much.’”
We agree with President Obama on his assessment of the violence in football and also in other “sports,” and the need for change.
Iran’s Brutal Islamist Dictatorship and Persecution of Christians
The Associated Press and Fox News reported on January 27:
“Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, an American imprisoned in Iran on charges of evangelizing, was sentenced this morning to eight years in prison. According to the American Center for Law and Justice, Abedini was verbally sentenced in Tehran by Judge Pir-Abassi, known as the ‘hanging judge,’ to eight years in prison for threatening the national security of Iran through his leadership in Christian house churches. He will serve the time in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, known as one of the most brutal. The evidence, the ACLJ reports, was based on Abedini’s activities primarily during the early 2000s, when house churches were not considered a threat in Iran.
“‘This is a real travesty – a mockery of justice,’ Jordan Sekulow, Executive Director of the ACLJ, who represents Pastor Saeed’s wife and children living in the U.S., said in a statement. ‘From the very beginning, Iranian authorities have lied about all aspects of this case, even releasing rumors of his expected release. Iran has not only abused its own laws, it has trampled on the fundamentals of human rights. We call on the citizens of the world to rise up in protest. We call on governments around the world to stand and defend Pastor Saeed.’…
“The 34-year-old father of two denied evangelizing in Iran and claims he had only returned to his native land to help establish an orphanage. Authorities pulled him off a bus last August and threw him into the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. The exact crimes he is accused of only became public on Monday, when the prosecutor outlined charges that Abedini undermined the Iranian government by creating a network of Christian house churches and that he was attempting to sway Iranian youth away from Islam.
“‘This trial apparently is focused on 13 years ago, when Pastor Saeed converted from Islam to Christianity,’ Sekulow said in a statement to FoxNews.com last week… Although the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said earlier this month that the administration was troubled over Abedini’s imprisonment. ‘We remain troubled by the case of U.S. citizen Saeed Abedini, who was arrested by Iranian officials more than three months ago on charges relating to his religious beliefs,’ Vietor said. ‘We call upon Iranian authorities to release him immediately.’”
It is very comforting and reassuring to know that the USA is “troubled” by this travesty of Iran’s Gestapo-like methods. As Fox News correctly put it on January 27: “…there has been little public repudiation from President Obama… why the irresponsible neglect from the bully pulpit of the White House? … Is the Obama White House fearful of confronting Iran?… This administration has proven over and over again to be unwilling to take on Islamist ideologies and defend their victims on the front lines… [its policy] is leading more and more to the lonely abandonment of icons of religious freedom inside Iran.”
But Iran’s dangerous modus operandi gets even worse. See the next article.
Ahmadinejad’s Call for Muslim Unity to Eradicate “Zionism”
The Times of Israel wrote on January 27:
“Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the Muslim world to unite to eradicate Zionism, which he called ‘corrupt, uncultured and murderous’ Sunday. Ahmadinejad spoke in Tehran to the 26th International Islamic Unity Conference, which coincided with International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Muslim nations around the world should pursue ‘specific aims’ toward unity, Iran’s semi-official PressTV quoted the president as saying…
“‘Under [the] circumstances [in which] the corrupt, uncultured and murderous Zionists are occupying and killing oppressed people, we should not sit idly by,’ [he reportedly said]… The existence of deep rifts and dissension among various sects within the Muslim world got short shrift from Iran’s leader, who stated that ‘an incomplete understanding of the Quran’ was the reason for such differences.”
One can only imagine what the Muslim world would look like if all Muslims would follow Ahmadinejad’s crazy interpretations and his dangerous understanding of the Quran.
Kissinger Warns of Nuclear War in Middle East
Newsmax reported on January 27:
“Former U.S. Secretary of State and Nobel Peace laureate Henry Kissinger is warning that the United States and Israel are very close to facing a crisis with a nuclear-arming Iran. The 89-year-old Kissinger told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that such a crisis — a full-fledged atomic war — would be ‘a turning point in human history,’ the BBC reported. ‘There has emerged in the region, the current and most urgent issue of nuclear proliferation. For 15 years, the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council [UNSC] have declared that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable, but it has been approaching,’ he said.
“ ‘In a few years, people will have to come to a determination of how to react, or the consequences of non-reaction. I believe this point will be reached in a very foreseeable future,’ he added… The most important thing, Kissinger said, was for the West to prevent letting things get so bad that Israel is forced to act alone… If Tehran gets nuclear weapons, regimes across the Middle East and Africa will want them, too, Kissinger said…”
Explosion at Iran’s Nuclear Plant?
Israel National News reported on January 28:
“Iran has denied reports that surfaced over the weekend about an explosion at its underground Fordo nuclear plant… On Friday, the American WND website reported that an explosion had occurred deep within Fordo.
“According to the report, the explosion which took place last Monday destroyed much of the installation and trapped about 240 personnel deep underground. The report of the blast was passed on to WND by Hamidreza Zakeri, formerly with the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence and National Security. Zakeri said that the blast shook facilities within a radius of three miles. Security forces enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles, and the Tehran-Qom highway was shut down for several hours after the blast, the source said.
“Iran admitted in the past it was moving more centrifuge machines for enriching uranium to the underground Fordo facility, which is carved into a mountain to protect it against possible attacks. The existence of the facility near Qom only came to light after it was identified by Western intelligence agencies in September 2009. The UN’s nuclear watchdog has already confirmed that Iran begun enriching uranium at the plant.
“Israeli officials on Sunday said they did not know whether there was any truth to the reports on the explosion. The reports came after Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the United States has plans for surgical strikes against Iran as a last-ditch measure if Tehran refuses to stop its development of a nuclear weapons capability.”
The White House denied the accuracy of the report as well. However, without any doubt, there are many secret operations and developments going on behind the political scene that are publically denied.
The World Against Israel?
Israel National News reported on January 31:
“The United Nations says Israel must withdraw all of its citizens from the regions of Judea and Samaria. The recommendation came in a report issued Thursday by the U.N. Human Rights Council, which has a history of passing numerous biased resolutions condemning Israel for various alleged ‘crimes’ each year…
“In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said, ‘The Human Rights Council has sadly distinguished itself by its systemically one-sided and biased approach towards Israel. This latest report is yet another reminder of that’… At least half a million Israelis live in Judea, Samaria and areas of Jerusalem restored to the capital during the 1967 Six Day War.”
Israeli Strike in Syria—Is a New War Coming?
The Times of Israel wrote on January 31:
“Iran threatened that a reported Israeli strike in Syria would have ‘grave consequences for Tel Aviv’ on Thursday, days after saying that an attack on Syria would be seen as an attack on Iran… On Wednesday, Damascus said Israeli planes struck a ‘research facility’ northwest of the Syrian capital. The accusation came after reports from foreign news sources earlier in the day saying Israel hit a weapons convoy near the Syria-Lebanon border that was transferring arms to the terror group Hezbollah… Iran is a major backer of both Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
“The Jamraya research center is… a crucial element of Syria’s missile program, and… it is also home to a chemical weapons facility… Officials [in Israel] have said in the past that it would act to keep chemical weapons or other arms from being transferred to Hezbollah…
“Russia, Syria’s strongest international ally, said Moscow is taking ‘urgent measures to clarify the situation in all its details. If this information is confirmed, we have a case of unprovoked attacks on targets in the territory of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the U.N. Charter and is unacceptable,’ Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement… Earlier Thursday, Hezbollah condemned the attack… Lebanon and the Arab League slammed Israel for the attacks, calling them a violation of the [country’s] sovereignty…
“US officials told The New York Times on Wednesday that Israel notified the United States about the reported airstrike. MK Tzachi Hanegbi, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stopped short of confirming Israel’s involvement in the strike. Hanegbi hinted, however, that Israel could carry out similar missions in the future…”
The Jerusalem Post added on January 31:
“Syrian state television accused Israel of bombing a military research center at Jamraya between Damascus and the nearby border. Syrian rebels disputed that, saying their forces had attacked the site.”
Der Spiegel Online reported on January 31 that Israel’s press (including Yedioth Ahronoth and Haaretz) and the civilian population are afraid of and are preparing for a new war with Syria and Lebanon.
Not “Politically Expedient” to List Terrorist Group Hezbollah as Terrorists?
JTA reported on January 29:
“Hezbollah may not be included on the European Union’s list of terrorist groups even if it did bomb Jewish tourists in Bulgaria, the EU’s top counter-terrorism official [Gilles de Kerchove] reportedly said… According to Israel, the Lebanon-based Hezbollah was behind the bombing on July 19 in Burgas, which targeted a bus of Israeli tourists and left five Israelis and one Bulgarian dead.
“U.S. and Israeli officials have said the EU should blacklist Hezbollah if the Bulgarians find it guilty of perpetrating the attack. Its inclusion would make it illegal for Hezbollah sympathizers in Europe to send money to the group, which the United States and Israel list as terrorist… [Kerchove] noted there is ‘no consensus’ among EU states on whether listing Hezbollah, which is part of the Lebanese government, would be useful or not.”
Egypt’s President Morsi—Arch Enemy of Israel
Der Spiegel Online reported on January 28:
“Is Mohammed Morsi a peacebroker or a virulent anti-Semite? A former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, who has known Morsi for 13 years, believes that behind the Egyptian president’s veneer of goodwill towards Israel lies a deep-seated hatred… the Egyptian president, who is visiting Berlin this week and will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel, a champion of Israel, appears to be a man with two faces… In mid-January… Western diplomats and politicians saw… a man filled with hate for the ‘Zionist entity,’ the term Islamists use for the Jewish state. An almost three-year-old video… depicts an Islamist who is practically foaming at the mouth, as he rants about the Israelis in an interview with an Arab network. Speaking in a deep and firm voice, he calls them ‘bloodsuckers’ and ‘warmongers,’ and says that there can be no peace with these ‘descendants of apes and pigs.’
“It was apparently more than just a regrettable moment of madness for Morsi, claims a prominent former member of the Muslim Brotherhood. After all, he says, the current president served as general inspector of the Muslim Brotherhood for years, which put him in charge of the group’s online service. That service includes quotes about Israelis and Jews that testify to the same hatred as the lapses in the video.
“Despite outrage internationally and at the White House over the video, Morsi was unperturbed by the furor over his remarks. In the end, his spokesman said that Morsi’s words had been taken out of context, but offered no further explanation or apology…
“The current president became the general inspector of the organization [Muslim Brotherhood] in 2007… In this capacity, Morsi would have been partly responsible for the anti-Jewish propaganda on the website, which featured the ‘banner of jihad’ at the time and saw ‘Jews and Zionists as archenemies’… Morsi gave a self-promoting interview in May 2009. Referring to the Israelis, the current president said: ‘They all have the same nature. They are equally shaped by shrewdness, deception and hate.’ He added that their only objectives are ‘killing, aggression and subjugation.'”
Morsi is not only determined (not unlike Iran’s Ahmadinejad) to go to war with and eradicate Israel; he is also determined to maintain his Islamist Presidency in Egypt with all means. The USA and Europe are willingly blind towards the true nature of Egypt’s newest dictator.
Egypt Denies the Holocaust
Mail Online wrote on January 30:
“A senior figure close to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi provoked outrage today after claiming the Holocaust was a myth invented by the United States. Fathi Shibab-Eddim, who is responsible for appointing editors of all the state-run newspapers, claimed the six million Jews killed by Hitler had actually been moved to America.
“His comments came as the world marked Holocaust Remembrance day on Sunday and little more than a week after it emerged that President Morsi himself had once described Jews as ‘descendants of apes and pigs’.
“Shibab-Eddim said: ‘The myth of the Holocaust is an industry that America invented. U.S. intelligence agencies in co-operation with their counterparts in allied nations during World War II created it [the Holocaust] to destroy the image of their opponents in Germany and to justify war and massive destruction against military and civilian facilities of the Axis powers, and especially to hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the atomic bomb.’
“His views have sparked fears that the Egyptian Government, like Iran’s, has significant elements that refuse to acknowledge one of the best-documented genocides in history. The bizarre claims will also be especially concerning for Israel, which had fostered good relations with President Morsi’s predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in 2011 following days of violent protests.
“Efraim Zuroff, Israel Director of the Jerusalem-based Simon Weisenthal Center, whose mission is to defend against anti-Semitism and teach the lessons of the Holocaust to future generations, [said] that Shibab-Eddim’s views showed a dangerous mindset. He said: ‘Obviously, if a person in that position makes that ridiculous claim it is of concern. The sad truth is that these views are relatively common in the Arab world and are the result of ignorance on one hand and of government-sponsored Holocaust denial on the other hand’… there are fears that Morsi may prove to be a radical Islamist…”
Morsi’s Rule with an Iron Fist
Deutsche Welle reported on January 29:
“Two years after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, thousands protest against his successor. They feel betrayed and demand a government of national unity. Enraged demonstrators, armed police, violence on the streets: the television pictures are reminiscent of February 2011, when thousands of Egyptians demanded the overthrow of the regime. They refused to give up until the dictator Hosni Mubarak was gone. Now we see the same pictures, but the leader of the government is Mohammed Morsi – and he doesn’t seem to be ready to go.
“Morsi has responded to the deadly rioting by imposing a state of emergency in three cities. On Monday (28.01.2013) he announced that the military would be deployed in an attempt to restore calm, and that the army would take on police duties until the forthcoming parliamentary elections. That development has brought the opposition onto the streets, saying it reminds them of the tyranny of the Mubarak regime.
“Morsi’s disparate opponents are united by one thing: they want a state that keeps a certain distance from religion. According to Gudrun Krämer, professor of Islam Studies at the Free University of Berlin, ‘The opposition doesn’t want the state or society to be dominated by Islam as interpreted by the Islamists. But that doesn’t mean that they are secularists or non-believing Muslims.’ Krämer sees two main tendencies among Morsi’s opposition. One group, centered on former presidential candidate Hamdin Sabahi, rejects an Islamist state and demands a separation between the state and religion, as well as a state welfare policy. A second group, meanwhile, also rejects any further Islamization, but also wants to see economic problems solved and demands the right of greater consultation and participation…
“Morsi can rely on the Muslim Brotherhood… The prominent opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammed ElBaradei tweeted, ‘Until the president takes responsibility for the recent bloodshed and promises to set up a government of national salvation and an independent authority to amend the constitution, any dialogue would be a mere waste of time.’”
As the Bible has prophesied long ago—Egyptians will fight against Egyptians in their own land. But more is revealed to come. Please read our free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.”
Germany Turns Blind Eye To Morsi
The Local wrote on January 30:
“Merkel told a joint press conference in Berlin with President Mohamed Morsi that Germany wanted a successful transformation process in Egypt, where Morsi took over last year, and was ready to help… Merkel said Morsi’s visit — his first to Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, since his election in June — was appreciated, albeit shortened, given the ‘not easy’ political situation at home… Morsi told reporters that Egypt would have ‘rule of law’ and be a state that allowed the exchange of opinions, and spoke of ties with Germany based on respect of different interests ‘without interference in domestic affairs’… Egypt’s military chief on Tuesday warned that the political crisis could lead to the collapse of the state.”
These developments are interesting, as it is prophesied that Germany and Egypt will work together for a while against Israel, before they become enemies.
Europe’s Present Wars
Italy’s La Repubblica reported the following on January 28:
“Remarkably for a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Europe has been at war for close to 15 years: in the Balkans, in Afghanistan, in Libya, and today in the Sahel… On the eve of elections in Italy [in February] and in Germany [in September] the lack of discussion over a subject as important as war is astonishing. Because a conflict is occurring elsewhere, it is not discussed. Yet, war permeates deep into our bones, and has done so for a long time.
“Because it lacks a common political government, the European Union is not leading the war but it is, nonetheless, now part of its daily routine. If we add the never-ending fight against terrorism to the fighting that spread throughout the Balkans at the end of the 20th Century, Europeans have been sporadically participating in armed conflicts for the past 14 years. At first, these were the object of heated debates: are these wars really necessary? And if not, what are we fighting for? Are they truly for humanitarian reasons or are they destructive? And what assessment are we to make of the War on Terror at the global level: has it reduced or increased terrorism?
“Political leaders are not answering these questions and no European country is raising the issue of a Union that has nothing to say on the question of war because it is too focused on its currency. Entering blindly into a new neo-colonial war, Europe is advancing into a fog-filled future…
“War – often bloody and rarely fruitful – is never called by its true name. It moves forward hidden behind a mask: an initiative that will stabilise countries that have collapsed and bring them democracy and, most of all, one that will be short and not costly. This is the case with the war that began on January 13 in Mali, which is led by the France of François Hollande with the feeble support of African troops and the – retroactive – support of France’s European allies.
“In violation of the Treaty of Lisbon (articles 32 and 347), there was no prior discussion. We are almost always thrown into war. We even have someone… to thank France, while immediately explaining that Paris will have to go it alone ‘in the absence of a European military force’…
“Much of what we read about the war is false: it does not call for reflection on the event but rather for us to, passively, take note and to consider the conflicts as isolated cases without any relation to each other… In these recent conflicts, we have learned nothing from the errors of the past, because these were systematically not discussed…
“The collapse of the situation in Mali would have been avoidable if Europeans had paid more attention to the country… Failures in Afghanistan engendered the Libyan conflict, while the half-failed Libyan effort is responsible for the situation in Mali. The problem is that each new conflict begins without any critical analysis of previous conflicts. In Libya, complacency continued until the assassination, in Benghazi, of the United States Ambassador, Christopher Stevens, on September 11, 2012. It took this event to demonstrate that many of Gaddafi’s militia troops – Tuaregs or Jihadists – had moved into the Azawad region. And that the war was not over, but that it was about to rise from its ashes in Mali.
“In the past seven years, the number of democracies in Africa has fallen from 24 to 19. This is a failure for Europe and for the West…”
America’s Failure in Mali
Deutsche Welle reported on January 30:
“For years, the US trained the Malian army to fight militants based in the Sahel desert. But Washington’s efforts have faced a major reversal, with armed Islamists now threatening Mali’s survival as a state. As French forces have swept through northern Mali in a campaign to flush out Islamist militant groups from the region’s major population centers, the United States has backed France’s military intervention, offering Paris transport and refueling planes as well as intelligence support. But these modest contributions belie a much deeper American involvement in a region where militants are making inroads against governments shaken by popular unrest.
“Situated on a critical juncture between North and West Africa, Mali has been a focus of US counterterrorism efforts. The Malian armed forces have just 7,000 personnel in a country three times the size of Germany. Islamist militant groups have exploited the security vacuum to take refuge in Mali’s northern desert expanse… with the focus on counterterrorism, little attention was paid to the political dynamics in Mali. The US and its European allies heralded the country as a model democracy on a continent where coups and corruption were all too common… ‘The US government was blind to many of the real problems that were going on in the country,’ [an expert] said… The militant groups Washington had sought to contain had established a sanctuary and began implementing Shariah law.
“While France has hastily intervened to stop an Islamist advance toward Bamako and reclaim the north, the US has suspended its military relations with the Malian government and called for a political solution…”
Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands Will Abdicate the Throne in Favor of Prince Willem-Alexander
CNN reported on January 28:
“Queen Beatrix spent 33 years on the throne and will be succeeded by her son, the Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander. She ascended to the throne when Queen Juliana abdicated on her 71st birthday, on April 30, 1980. Beatrix announced Monday that she will step aside on April 30.
“Beatrix was born January 31, 1938, and when World War II reached Holland the family fled to London. Juliana, Beatrix and her sister Irene then moved to Ottawa, Canada. Beatrix married German diplomat Claus von Amsberg on March 10, 1966, in Amsterdam. They have three sons, Willem-Alexander, born in 1967, Friso, born in 1968, and Constantijn, born in 1969. Friso was injured in an avalanche at an Austrian ski resort last year. She has eight grandchildren.
“Her husband died in 2002 aged 76. He overcame early Dutch wariness — in a country where the German occupation in WWII was still fresh in the national memory — to become one of the most popular members of the Dutch royal family .
“Under the Dutch Constitution the king or queen is head of state but politically neutral. The head of state also signs all new acts of Parliament, and plays a role in the formation of new governments.
“Prince Willem-Alexander, 45, was educated in Wales and Holland where he earned a history degree at Leiden University. He served in the Dutch Royal Navy from August 1985 to January 1987… He is married to Princess Máxima, who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has a degree in economics and has worked for HSBC and Deutsche Bank. The couple, who met at a party, were engaged in March 2001 and they were married in February 2002.
“The relationship — like his mother’s marriage — sparked initial controversy when it emerged that Maxima’s father had been a minister during the 1976-1983 Argentinean military dictatorship. He agreed to stay away from the wedding. They have three daughters, Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane. When Willem-Alexander becomes king, 9-year-old Catharina-Amalia will be next in line.”
What is interesting is the German descent of Prince Willem-Alexander.
Hitler’s Rise to Power Eighty Years Ago
The Local wrote on January 30:
“Germany on Wednesday marks Adolf Hitler’s rise to power 80 years ago… In a black-and-white photo… the Führer [is] saluting the crowd from the chancellery window on the evening of January 30, 1933, after earlier having been made chancellor and been charged by president Paul von Hindenburg with forming a new government… ‘The hour has come! We are at Wilhelmstrasse (the site of the chancellery at the time). Hitler is chancellor of the Reich. Like in a fairytale,’ wrote Joseph Goebbels, who was to become Nazi propaganda chief, in his diary on January 31, 1933… the Reichstag [was] going up in flames the following month and then the first measures [were] taken against the Jews on April 1, with the start of a boycott of Jewish shops, doctors and lawyers. ‘Germans, defend yourselves! Don’t buy from Jews,’ a poster state[d]…
“Andreas Nachama, director of The Topography of Terror, said the arrival of the failed painter from Austria at the helm of power in Germany was an ‘incision’ in history, although nobody at the time thought he would last. However the parliamentary system of the Weimar Republic failed to find a stable majority and Hitler, on the back of over-simplified themes, rallied millions of unemployed and people who had lost everything in the economic crisis…
“The 80th anniversary has sparked much interest in Germany – a novel that imagines Hitler’s return to modern-day Berlin entitled ‘He’s Back’ (Er Ist Wieder Da) has become a bestseller here… Just ahead of the anniversary, Merkel said in her weekly podcast that Germany had ‘an everlasting responsibility for the crimes of National Socialism, for the victims of World War II, and above all, for the Holocaust’. ‘We’re facing our history, we’re not hiding anything, we’re not repressing anything. We must confront this to make sure we are a good and trustworthy partner in the future, as we already are today, thankfully,’ Merkel said.”
In spite of the hope of well-meaning politicians and many Europeans, the terrible atrocities of the past are prophesied to repeat themselves… and even much worse…
Berlusconi and Mussolini—“Disgrace” for Italy or True Reflection?
Reuters reported on January 27:
“Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi triggered outrage from Italy’s political left on Sunday with comments defending fascist wartime leader Benito Mussolini at a ceremony commemorating victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Speaking at the margins of the event in Milan, Berlusconi said Mussolini had been wrong to follow Nazi Germany’s lead in passing anti-Jewish laws but that he had in other respects been a good leader… ‘Obviously the government of that time, out of fear that German power might lead to complete victory, preferred to ally itself with Hitler’s Germany rather than opposing it,’ he said. ‘As part of this alliance, there were impositions, including combating and exterminating Jews,’ he told reporters. ‘The racial laws were the worst fault of Mussolini as a leader, who in so many other ways did well,’ he said, referring to laws passed by Mussolini’s fascist government in 1938…
“Berlusconi’s comments overshadowed Sunday’s commemoration of thousands of Jews and others deported from Italy to the Nazi death camps of eastern Europe. They were condemned as ‘disgusting’ by the center-left Democratic Party (PD), which is leading in the polls ahead of the February 24-25 election. ‘Our republic is based on the struggle against Nazi fascism and these are intolerable remarks which are incompatible with leadership of democratic political forces,’ said Marco Meloni, the PD’s spokesman for institutional affairs. Antonio Ingroia, a former anti-mafia magistrate campaigning at the head of a separate left-wing coalition, said Berlusconi was ‘a disgrace to Italy’… Faced by the onslaught of criticism, Berlusconi later issued a statement saying he had always condemned dictatorships and regretted not having spelled that out in his earlier remarks…
“However, it was not the first time Berlusconi has defended Mussolini, whose status in Italy remains deeply ambiguous 67 years after he was executed by communist partisans while trying to flee to Switzerland in April, 1945. Many Italian politicians, including the speaker of the Lower House of parliament, Gianfranco Fini, come from the ranks of the old Italian Social Movement (MSI) which grew out of the fascist party, although Fini and others have renounced the far right. Others, including Francesco Storace, Berlusconi’s candidate for president of the Lazio region, have stayed true to what they see as the ‘social-right’ tradition of the fascist movement.
“Monuments to Mussolini, who came to power in 1922, still dot many Italian cities, including Rome, where a column to Il Duce stands close to the city’s main football stadium, within a stone’s throw of the foreign ministry… Mussolini’s government persecuted Italy’s Jewish population, which was then estimated to number about 40,000… The 1938 laws imposed oppressive restrictions on Jews and some 10,000 are estimated to have been deported from Italy between September 1943 and March 1945. Most of them died in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland… acts ranging from anti-Jewish graffiti to chants at football matches occur periodically [in Italy].”
Mussolini was as evil and demon-inspired or -possessed as Hitler. Berlusconi’s attempts to re-write history are truly appalling and despicable.
