Middle East Update Transcription - January 2014
By Lance Lambert.. This is Lance Lambert speaking, and this is my January 2014 Update. 2014 is a year of crisis for the Middle East, and for Israel in particular. I will seek to cover a number of matters in this Update. The events of the last months have been important and vital for those who intercede for Israel and the Middle East. These are the matters and events I will seek to cover: The passing of Ariel Sharon; secondly, the total disarray of Israel’s neighbors; thirdly, the incredible failure of the Middle East foreign policy of the United States; fourthly, the so‐called “Peace process” between Israel and the PA [Palestinian Authority]; fifthly, the interim agreement, between the five‐plus‐one nations, and Iran; sixthly, the growing paganization of the Western nations and the results; seventhly, the return of the tribe of Manasseh. Firstly, the passing of Ariel Sharon. Ariel Sharon passed away a few days ago, after lying in a coma for eight years. He was 85 years of age and his life spanned the whole of Israel’s modern history. He was one of Israel’s founding fathers, and a monumental figure in Israel’s modern history. Whatever we may feel about him – and there is much controversy over him – his place in Israel’s history cannot be denied.
His name, Ariel – Lion of God – was surely prophetic. He was a lion in every way. He was of course a controversial figure, as I’ve said, but no one can deny his love for the Jewish people, and the enormous contribution he made to Israeli security. He lived to make Israel safe. Indeed, Israelis felt safe when Sharon was in charge of Israel’s protection and safety. His expertise in dealing with terrorists was proverbial. It was, however, with his last nine or ten years that we have the problem, when after an enormous landslide election victory, he suddenly made a 180 degree turn and gave back the Gaza Strip, to the Palestinians, pulling out every settler, and bulldozing their homes and the farms. His action was hailed by many national leaders in the West as a courageous about‐turn, and a gesture of a willingness to make peace with the Palestinians. Even at his funeral, many such leaders sought to pressure Netanyahu to have courage and make concessions to the Palestinian Authority, like Sharon. It was summed up with Vice President of the United States Biden, when he tried to manipulate Bibi Netanyahu. He said that he wondered whether Netanyahu would “rise to the greatness of Ariel Sharon.”
This occasioned the Defense Minister of Israel, Moshe Ya’alon to make some comments, not publicly, but privately. But those comments caused that “spat” as it were – caused quite a “hoo-ha” [great concern] here in Israel, and elsewhere. The extraordinary thing is, the Americans speak all the time about democracy and being free to say what you think, but when it comes that a Defense Minister says what Kerry is trying to do is not worth the paper it’s written on. I would have thought a Defense Minister – who by the way, is a good one – and generally respected, would what he has to say, would be taken into account. It has not. Kerry called it “stupidity” ‐ that he was not ready to consider. What led Sharon to this? After a lifetime spent in fighting for Israel’s security and a settlement policy, which he powerfully pioneered to resettle the whole of the Promised Land, we shall never know. It led, however, to a divine and total removal of Sharon from his position of power and authority. For eight years to his death, he lay impotent. We should of course say, that this evacuation of Gaza, has led to nothing but rockets and missiles from Gaza, on Israel proper. It is worth reporting that the same thing has happened to Yitzhak Rabin with the Oslo Accords, with Menachim Begin, with the withdrawal from the Sinai, and the evacuation of Yamit – the forcible evacuation of Yamit – and of course, Sharon, himself.
Wherever we look, I might say now – the second thing I want to mention – is wherever we look in the Arab world, there is a total disarray. The Arab Spring leading to an Arab Summer, or so it was thought, has become, in fact, an Arab Autumn, leading to an Arab Winter – Syria, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and the Lebanon, as al Qaeda is making a powerful comeback in Syria, Iraq and the Yemen, with possible dire consequences for the Arab world, and even for Israel. Sectarian divisions are leading to countless deaths and every day we hear of suicide bombs, assassinations and much else. The divisions – age‐old – between Sunnis and Shiites, resulted in large numbers of people being killed. The Lord had prophesied to Hagar, all those thousands of years ago, prophesied to Hagar over her son, Ishmael, that his hand will be against every man, concerning his seed, it was prophesied – that his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. That’s in Genesis 16, verse 12.
Zechariah had also prophesied some 2,400 years ago, that anyone interfering with the divine purpose centered in Jerusalem would be judged. God said, “I will make Jerusalem a cup – or goblet – of reeling, unto all the peoples round about. That’s Zechariah, chapter 12, verse 2.
It seems that what is happening in the whole Arab world, is a precise fulfillment of that prophecy. They are all insistent that east Jerusalem should be the capital of a Palestinian state, and indeed, that the Palestinian state should include the whole of what they call “Palestine.” For this we have to thank so many Western national leaders who have supported and buttressed the Arabs in this view. For example, Bush, Kerry, Hague, Ashton, to name but a few. It is also noteworthy that the Lord said through Zechariah, the prophet, “I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it, shall be sore wounded, and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.” That is Zechariah, chapter 12, verse 3.
This is a warning to all the nations, however powerful or small they may be. Meddling with God’s order and purpose has enormous and terrible results. The paganization of these nations ‐ the Western nations, in particular – or superpowers, is leading them to disregard the word of God, His purpose and His covenants. If such nations are negating biblical principles, which are laid at the heart of their national constitutions – their national life, and their greatness, quite obviously they do not believe that God’s word is worthy of attention. It is irrelevant in their minds, and attitude – to 21st ‐century life, they will discover, bitterly, just how relevant God’s word is. That leads me to the third matter I want to cover – the incredible failure of American Middle East foreign policy. The situation in our Arab neighbors, has not been helped by the present foreign policy of the Obama administration. US – United States State Department’s handling of their Middle East policy is frankly unbelievable. For officials who are supposed to have studied Arab history and to understand the modern Arab ethos and character, it is appalling. Firstly, supporting strong, if autocratic, even dictatorial Arab leaders, in every way, then backing their removal and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which movement was bound in nearly every Arab nation, because of the violence, its totalitarianism and its disrespect for minorities, is a policy which is bound to fail. To claim that supporting the Muslim Brotherhood is to support democracy, is rather like saying we should have supported Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, because he used democracy to win an initial election. Hitler then went on to destroy democracy and to impose Nazi totalitarianism.
The aim of the Muslim Brotherhood is to set up an Islamic Caliphate – to impose Sharia law on a whole nation and to reduce minorities such as Christians – Copts or otherwise, Jews and others, to a political impotency. When for example, the Egyptian army saw what Mohammed Morsi was planning to do – the totalitarian powers he was taking to himself, it stepped in and deposed Morsi, arresting him, and indicting him for murder, violence, and other crimes against the state.
No comments:
Post a Comment