Sunday, February 6, 2011

UPDATES: The Middle East

Whats new there? Updates in the Middle East? Its almost like some prophetically related things are happening in that part of the world. Just today:

Egyptian VP, opposition meet to discuss blueprint for reform

Representatives from a wide range of Egypt's major opposition groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, met Sunday with Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman to discuss a blueprint for reforms to put the country on a path toward greater democracy.

The opposition groups represented included the youthful supporters of leading democracy advocate Mohamed ElBaradei, who are one of the main forces behind nearly two weeks of mass protests demanding the immediate ouster of longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.


It is surprising that even the Jerusalem Post has fallen into the MSM trap of declaring ElBaradei as a "leading democracy advocate". Rest assured, if ElBaradei assumes power, we'll see the Muslim Brotherhood as the leading force in Egypt and Sharia Law will follow close behind. It will be anything but a democracy.

Prior to talks, senior Brotherhood leader Mohammed Mursi said the group was sticking to the protesters' main condition that Mubarak step down.

The talks marked the first known discussions between the government and the Brotherhood in years, suggesting the group could be allowed an open political role in the post-Mubarak era.


That takes us to the next article:

Muslim Brotherhood Comes Closer to Power as Israel's Neighbor

The radical Muslim Brotherhood, technically an illegal party in Egypt, took a giant step towards becoming a powerful force on Israel’s southern border as it joins negotiations with newly-appointed vice president Omar Suleiman.


Exactly. And we all know what that means:

The prospect of Lebanon’s being a puppet government for Hizbullah, Egypt coming under the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Yemen ceding power to radical Islamic groups has made problems for U.S. counterterrorism efforts, according to the Associated Press.


Not to mention Israel.

Mubarak continues in his position as president after withstanding enormous pressure from unprecedented street demonstrations against him

He refused to resign despite awkward pressure by the Obama administration, which said it was not telling Egypt what to do but made it clear that immediate change is necessary.


Dangerously underestimating the Muslim Brotherhood

The article starts by reminding us of how quickly the Middle East has fallen into the hands of radical Islamic groups:

The precedents are fresh and obvious. Yet the US government seems intent on ignoring them.

In Iran in 1979, leftist and other secular forces, central to the rising pressure that ousted the Shah, were duped and then outflanked by Islamist supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini, who took power and have cemented it for 32 years since. The Islamists achieved this despite having constituted only the most marginal of forces just a couple of years earlier.

In the Palestinian territories in 2006, the US insisted on pressing ahead with elections that, in part because of Fatah’s corruption and disorganization, saw the underestimated Islamist Hamas terror group gain a parliamentary majority, which it then exploited to violently take over the Gaza Strip a year later.

In Lebanon over the past few weeks, the Iranianinspired, controlled and financed Hizbullah outmaneuvered the hapless prime minister Saad Hariri, to complete what amounts to a gradual, highly sophisticated takeover of the country.

In Turkey in recent years, confidence that such secular bulwarks as the army and the judiciary would prevent growing Islamic domination of the national agenda has proved increasingly misplaced, again via the subtle and protracted marginalization of these former establishment pillars. Turkey, champion of Hamas, nemesis of Israel, is now drifting inexorably out of the western orbit.


Egypt is on the verge of following in these ominous footsteps, despite what the MSM is telling us:

In addition, numerous “experts” in both the US print and electronic media over the past week have been concertedly representing the Muslim Brotherhood as benign, hapless, not particularly popular, or all three of the above.

Far from benign, the Brotherhood is committed to death-cult jihad in the cause of widened Islamist rule, was the progenitor of Hamas and central to Islamist radicalization among the Palestinians. And its popularity was evident in that impressive 2005 parliamentary performance, achieved, it should be stressed, despite the Mubarak-orchestrated unfavorable circumstances.


And what the MSM fails to realize is this important fact:

Experiences elsewhere have demonstrated the patience that Islamist organizations can exercise, building and gaining power and influence over years, over decades.

Yet the absence of the Brotherhood from the protest frontlines for a matter of mere days – an astute tactic to ensure the watching world was not alienated and to maximize domestic support for the uprising – was apparently widely misread as proof of its irrelevance.

A much-cited – though not always accurately – Pew Research Center of Muslim attitudes, published only two months ago, indicates how frighteningly fertile the ground is for the Islamists in Egypt:

82% of Egyptian Muslims favor stoning people who commit adultery; 77% favor whipping/ cutting off of hands for theft and robbery; and 84% favor the death penalty for people who leave the Muslim religion, it found. By way of comparison, the comparable percentages in Turkey, even as it submits to growing Islamist influence, were just 16%, 13% and 5% respectively.

The same survey found that among Egyptian Muslims who see a struggle between those who want to modernize their country and Islamic fundamentalists, a striking 59% side with the fundamentalists and only 27% with the modernizers.

Mohamed Morsy, who in the course of the conversation on Thursday refused to commit his movement to maintenance of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty or to recognition of Israel, and stressed its opposition to Zionism...


In a similar article, we see this:

Ben-Eliezer: Americans Don't Realize What They've Done

Ben-Eliezer does not agree that he is being too pessimistic: “We learn from history. We remember what was said when Carter proposed that the Shah of Iran give up nicely and allow Khomeini to take his place. In Gaza, too, when the Americans came in, they supervised the democratic elections [via which Hamas came into power]. If there are elections in Egypt the way the Americans want, I will be surprised if the Muslim Brotherhood does not win… This will be a new Middle East – radical, Islamic and extremist.”


That is worth repeating. "This will be a new Middle East - radical, Islamic and extremist."

Isn't this exactly what we would expect, as we await the final, epic battles as foretold by the ancient prophets?

Its needless to say, but if the MIddle East was dominated by thriving, democratic, Christian nations - favorable to Israel - then we certainly wouldn't be on the verge of seeing these last wars fought, which occur either just before or early in the Tribulation.

But the fact is - we are seeing these events lining up exactly as one would predict based upon a literal view of biblical prophecy.

What a magnificent God we serve. A God we will be seeing soon - in His place - and away from this growing carnage. That's our glorious hope and our source of encouragement to each other. We know what awaits us - the signs are all abundantly clear as we approach the final countdown.

"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.'
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people.
Amen"


Revelation 22:20-21

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