Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Middle East Report Oct. 28, 2015


Luke Rudkowski, in the video below, examines how Russia just won and took over the Middle East.



This was not the first attempt by the Palestinians in recent days to get the UN to take action against Israel.

The Palestinian Authority recently backed down on a resolution it was planning to submit to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeking to claim the Kotel (Western Wall) as a Muslim holy site, wresting the Kotel from the Jewish nation and claiming it as its own.

The area known as the Kotel was originally a part of the outer, western retaining wall of the Second Holy Temple that was destroyed in the year 70 CE. It has been sacred to Jews and Christians for 2,000 years. The millennia-long holiness of the Kotel derives from its association with the Temple Mount, where the two previous Holy Temples stood.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the recent efforts “a clear endeavor to distort history, in order to erase the connection between the Jewish people and its holiest site, and to create a false reality.”

Despite protests by Palestinian leaders, observers say that claims of Israeli plans to restrict Muslims from the Temple Mount contradict the facts on the ground. Jews and Christians are in fact the ones barred from the mount during most hours of the day and are never allowed to pray at the site or carry holy objects. 

Those rules, enforced by the Israeli police, are imposed by the real custodians of the Temple Mount, the Waqf, which is controlled jointly by the Palestinians and the Jordanians. Young Muslim men only find themselves restricted from the area as a result of stone throwing or other violence.

The United States has also been drawn into the controversy and recently met with Jordanian and Palestinian leaders about the situation on the temple mount. US Secretary of State John Kerry's proposed solution to keeping the “status quo” involves 24-hour video surveillance of the temple mount area.  The Palestinians, Jordanians and Israelis have all indicated an openness to this plan although it is unclear at this point who will be controlling and monitoring the cameras.

Some Bible prophecy students point out the interesting verses in Revelation 11 which speak of the whole world being able to watch what happens in Jerusalem when God's Two Witnesses are killed on the streets and left there for three and a half days, where they then rise from the dead.  Although it is unclear from scripture where in Jerusalem they will be slain, the Temple Mount area would be a likely place in which they would deliver a message to the people of Jerusalem. 
Controversial personal views on the Temple Mount continue to persist at various levels. Recently well-known cleric and Muslim preacher, Sheik Khaled Al-Mughrabi, sensationally claimed that Jews will eventually build a temple outside of the area of the Temple Mount, where they will worship the devil “because the Anti-Christ won’t appear unless this Temple is built and the Devil is worshiped there.”

He further taught that at the “end of time,” Muslims will seek out and destroy Jews wherever they are, and that Jews will be forced to change their plans to build the Temple inside the structure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and will have to build it outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The children of Israel will all be exterminated, the Anti-Christ will be killed and the Muslims will live in comfort for a long time.

Mughrabi’s statements do not align with Biblical Scripture from the Christian viewpoint, even though there are a few parallel themes such as the rise of the Anti-Christ, his prominent role in Israel and his eventual claim to be God in the rebuilt Temple.

The Biblical accounts state, in part that, before its final glory, Jerusalem will experience trouble and will be burdensome, just as we are seeing today:

And it shall come to pass on that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples; all who bear it shall be gashed, and all the nations of the earth shall gather against it.” (Zechariah 12:3)

The Jerusalem conflict, the Temple Mount controversies and increasing international concern and involvement, all point to Jerusalem’s rapid transformation into the prophesied “burdensome stone for all peoples” in these last days.

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday that Washington is interested in tightening its defense ties with Israel in light of the security challenges in the Middle East, adding that "the defense relationship with Israel is stronger than ever."  During an appearance with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon in Washington, he also said "Israel is a cornerstone of our strategy in the Middle East, and its security is a top priority for America, for our military, and President Obama and me personally."
Carter and Yaalon are due to visit the Naval Air Station in Maryland on Wednesday for a demonstration of the F-35 joint strike fighter. The United States has said it will deliver the F-35 to Israel next year, making it the only country in the Middle East to have the top-flight aircraft.
 

In a speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) called for the formation of a special body to protect Palestinians, alleging Israel is engaging in "extrajudicial killings." He claimed that if the situation deteriorates it would "kill the last shred of hope for the two-state-solution-based peace."
Image result for Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and three of his deputies will participate in the next round of multilateral talks on the future of Syria, reports said. It is the first time that Iran, which supports the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has been invited to international discussions on finding a way to end the civil war. Zarif and his delegation will join representatives from the US, Russia, France, the EU, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, the UAE and Lebanon at the talks on Thursday in Vienna. 

 

David Cohen, deputy head of the CIA, paid a lightning visit to Beirut several days ago. During the visit that only lasted several hours, he met with Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, above, the head of Lebanon's intelligence services Abbas Ibrahim and chief of staff Jean Kahwaji to discuss ways of dealing with radical militants. In another meeting with Lebanese intelligence officials he discussed the operational needs of the country's security and intelligence services. 
 

Basel Ghattas, above, of the United Arab List was blasted by fellow parliamentarians from right and left for sneaking past police guards to visit Temple Mount Wednesday. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that his request to all Knesset members, Arabs and Jews alike, to avoid visiting the holy compound for now had contributed to the abating of violence, which was alleged to have sparked the current wave of Palestinian terror. Ghattas’ action was a provocation and could only cause needless bloodshed, said Public Security Minister Gilead Erdan.
Image result for Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami

The deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tuesday that his forces in Syria would strengthen the country's regime because it is "on the front facing the American and Israeli enemies," adding that the IRGC's presence and its assistance to the Syrian army are strategically important. Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, above, added that Iran is assisting Syrian President Bashar Assad in four ways: strategic assistance, including aid to the Syrian army; operational support in the war against rebel groups; tactical assistance, such as deployment of Iranian troops; and logistical, technical and organizational support. Salami also said that recent Iranian television footage showing tunnels containing launchers and long-range missiles was filmed some time ago, and that Iran's newest underground facilities have yet to be revealed.  


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