Arab Spring
Obama Throws Military Support To Al-Qaeda Connected Syrian Rebels
Jun 14th
Obama begins arming Al-Qaeda in Syria
President B. Hussein Obama today announced that his administration would begin funding and arming the Syrian ‘rebel’ forces who have been battling Assad. Only one little problem, though…the Syrian ‘rebels’ are part of Al-Qaeda Uh-oh.
al-Nusra’s core fighters come from Iraq’s post-war insurgency and have recently pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
From USA Today: BEIRUT — A Syrian rebel group’s pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda’s replacement for Osama bin Laden suggests that the terrorist group’s influence is not waning and that it may take a greater role in the Western-backed fight to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The pledge of allegiance by Syrian Jabhat al Nusra Front chief Abou Mohamad al-Joulani to al-Qaeda leader Sheik Ayman al-Zawahri was coupled with an announcement by the al-Qaeda affiliate in Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq, that it would work with al Nusra as well.
Lebanese Sheik Omar Bakri, a Salafist who says states must be governed by Muslim religious law, says al-Qaeda has assisted al Nusra for some time.
“They provided them early on with technical, military and financial support , especially when it came to setting up networks of foreign jihadis who were brought into Syria,” Bakri says. “There will certainly be greater coordination between the two groups.” source – USA Today
From CBS News: The Obama administration has concluded that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government used chemical weapons against the rebels seeking to overthrow him and, in a major policy shift, President Obama has decided to supply military support to the rebels, the White House announced Thursday.
“The president has made a decision about providing more support to the opposition that will involve providing direct support to the [Supreme Military Council]. That includes military support,” Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communication Ben Rhodes told reporters. source – CBS News
Muslim Attacks On Arab Christians In Middle East Rising
May 26th
And no one came to their aid
This video starts out showing a crowded pedestrian roadway in Egypt, on a beautiful sunny day. Suddenly, the cry of “nasara!” pierces the air. The word “nasara” comes the the Koran and it refers to Arab women who become Christian. A rapidly-growing crowd of Muslim men surround the Arab Christian woman, and thrown her to the ground and proceed to assault her sexually.
What you instantly notice in this video, uploaded last Tuesday to YouTube, is that not one, single Muslim on the street comes to their aid. No one says anything, no one does anything. They just watch as they pass by like they were looking at pigeons on a park bench. Take a good, long, hard look at this video, American Christians. This is exactly what you can expect to happen when Islam is in power like it is in Egypt right now.
Islam is the enemy, and they hate you with all their hearts.
Shocking evidence has emerged from the Mideast about an escalation in the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries. According to a report in Lebanon Today, at least one man was crucified and two others were otherwise executed by the jihadist group Ansar al-Shariah that had taken control of a region in Yemen and imposed Islamic religious law, known as shariah.
History shows that when Muslims are in the vast minority, they keep relatively quiet. But when they come to power, like Hitler, they immediately grow openly cruel and barbaric. When the Muslim Brotherhood took over in Egypt a few years ago, the violence and bloodshed of Arab Christians by Muslims began to skyrocket.
Islam is a religion of death, and it seeks to kill all those who will not submit to it. What you see happening in the Middle East will start happening here if we continue to allow Islam a foothold in America.
Pray for our Arab Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East, they are paying with their lives for their faith in the only Prophet and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
First Chemical Weapon Attack Takes Place In Syria
Mar 19th
DAMASCUS, Syria Syrian state media accused rebels of firing a chemical weapon for the first time on Tuesday in the north of the country, killing at least 15 people in the war-torn Aleppo province. Rebels quickly denied the report and accused regime forces of firing a chemical weapon on a long-range missile.
An image from Syrian state television shows a man being treated in an Aleppo province hospital after an alleged chemical weapons attack, March 19, 2013. / Syrian State TV
Neither of the accusations could immediately be verified, but a photographer for the Reuters news agency did say he had witnessed people come into hospitals with breathing problems after the attack. The Syrian state news agency SANA said “terrorists” had fired a rocket “containing chemical materials” into the area around the village of Khan al-Assal in the northern province of Aleppo. The regime regularly uses the term terrorists to refer to rebels fighting to overthrow authoritarian President Bashar Assad.
“The rocket which was launched from Kafr Da’el in Neirab is a grave escalation,” Syrian information minister Omran al-Zubi said in a televised statement. “The terrorists used a weapon that is banned in accordance with international law.”
“The states which are arming, financing and housing the terrorists should be questioned about this crime,” added al-Zubi.
“I saw mostly women and children,” the Reuters photographer, who was not identified, told his editors. He said after visiting the University of Aleppo hospital and the al-Rajaa hospital — both in state-controlled parts of Aleppo — that victims “said that people were suffocating in the streets and the air smelt strongly of chlorine.”
SANA said at least 16 people, most of them civilians, were killed and almost 90 more wounded. An activist in the area said rebels had recently seized much of the village of Khan al-Assal including a facility that housed a military academy. The opposition Syrian Media Center said 20 people had died from “asphyxia and poisoning after a SCUD missile fired from Damascus struck” Khan al-Assal. source CBS News
Hamas Says ‘Declaration Of War’ If Obama Visits Temple Mount
Mar 12th
WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Hamas is warning that if President Obama visits the Temple Mount it would be a “declaration of war” against the Islamic world. Israel National News reports the terror group made the threat during a protest march at the religious site following riots on Friday.
Obama told them he intends to reiterate the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and to discuss regional concerns – including Syria – with Jordan’s leadership, the White House said.
Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas spokesman, called for a third intifada if Obama visits the contested religious site in Jerusalem’s Old City between Israelis and Muslims.
Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich believes the warning will lead to violence flaring up in the region ahead of the president’s visit.
“The Palestinians have not said the final word yet and we expect that there will be attempts to take advantage of the upcomingevents, like the visit by Barack Obama, in order to continue the violence,” Aharonovich told Israel National News.
White House officials have said Obama doesn’t plan on visiting the Temple Mount during his trip.
Both Israelis and Muslims have claimed sovereignty over the Temple Mount since Israel liberated the site during the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel left the Waqf in charge of the compound.
Obama met with about 10 leaders of Arab American groups on Monday, encouraging the president to deliver a message of hope to the Palestinian people.
“[T]here are opportunities for him to say things that get into the public discourse about America’s commitment to them, about America’s understanding of their situation,” Jim Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, told The Associated Press.
Following the meeting, the White House said Obama told the group that his trip was not meant to resolve a specific policy issue, but that it was an opportunity for Obama to demonstrate U.S. commitment to the Palestinian people. source – CBS Washington
Obama Gives $250 Million To Muslim Brotherhood
Mar 3rd
CAIRO (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday rewarded Egypt for President Mohammed Morsi’s pledges of political and economic reforms by releasing $250 million in American aid to support the country’s “future as a democracy.”
After meeting Morsi and his defense and intelligence chiefs on Sunday, Kerry flew to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and planned later stops in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where his focus is expected to be the crisis in Syria and Iran. source – AP
Obama Trash Talks America To Afghanistan President Karzai At White House
Jan 12th
“The sweetest sound I know is the Muslim call to prayer” – Barack Hussein Obama
In remarks with Afghan president Hamid Karzai at the White House this afternoon, President Barack Obama said the U.S. has fallen “short of the ideal” in Afghanistan:
“So, you know, I think that, have we achieved everything that some might have imagined us achieving in the best of scenarios? Probably not. You know, there’s a human enterprise, and you know, you fall short of the ideal,” said Obama.
Obama loves to trash talk America when in the company of Islamic leaders
The president went on to say that America has achieved some measure of success in Afghanistan, however. “Did we achieve our central goal? And have we been able, I think, to shape a strong relationship with a responsible Afghan government that is willing to cooperate with us to make sure that it is not a launching pad for future attacks against the United States? We have achieved that goal. We are in the process of achieving that goal. And for that, I think we have to thank our extraordinary military, intelligence and diplomatic teams, as well as the cooperation of the Afghan government and the Afghan people.” source – Weekly Standard
‘State Of Palestine’ Now The Official Name Of Israel’s Neighbor
Jan 7th
State of Palestine using new logo
“Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head” Joel 3:4
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — With U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state in his pocket, President Mahmoud Abbas wants official documents to carry a new emblem: “State of Palestine.”
But scrapping the old “Palestinian Authority” logo is as far as Abbas is willing to go in provoking Israel. He is not rushing to change passports and ID cards Palestinians need to pass through Israeli crossings.
The very modesty of Abbas’ move to change official stationery underscores his limited options so long as Israel remains in charge of territories the world says should one day make up that state.
“At the end of the day, the Palestinian Authority won’t cause trouble for its people,” Nour Odeh, a spokeswoman for Abbas’ self-rule government, said of the need for caution.
Abbas won overwhelming U.N. General Assembly recognition for a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in late November, a rare diplomatic victory over a sidelined Israel. The U.N. nod was important to the Palestinians because it affirmed the borders of their future state in lands Israel captured in 1967.
Recognition, however, has not transformed the day-to-day lives of Palestinians, and some argue that it made things worse. In apparent retaliation for the U.N. bid, Israel in December withheld its monthly $100 million transfer of tax rebates it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, further deepening the Abbas government’s financial crisis.
Since the U.N. recognition, Abbas has maneuvered between avoiding confrontation with Israel and finding small ways to change the situation on the ground.
Last week, his government press office urged journalists to refer to a state of Palestine, instead of the Palestinian Authority, the autonomy government set up two decades ago as part of interim peace deals with Israel.
Palestinian diplomatic missions around the world have been told to use the new names, including those in countries that did not vote “yes” at the General Assembly, said Omar Awadallah, a Palestinian Foreign Ministry official.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev dismissed the name change as pointless but declined comment on whether Israel would retaliate in any way. “Instead of looking for gimmicks, Palestinians should negotiate with Israel to bring about the end of the conflict,” he said. “That will lead to a situation of two states for two peoples.”
Israel objected to Abbas’ U.N. bid, accusing him of trying to bypass negotiations with Israel on the terms of statehood. Such talks have been frozen for more than four years because Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disagree on their parameters. Netanyahu says he is willing to cede land to a Palestinian state but will not withdraw to the 1967 lines or give up any part of east Jerusalem, the Palestinians’ desired capital.
Abbas has said negotiations remain his preferred choice, and that U.N. recognition was meant to improve his leverage with a far more powerful Israel once talks resume. Since the U.N. vote, Abbas has shied away from measures that could close the door to talks by upsetting Israel or the U.S., which also objected to his U.N. bid.
Abbas has not taken practical steps toward seeking membership for Palestine in U.N. agencies, something made possible by the November vote, and his security forces continue to coordinate with Israeli troops in tracking Islamic militants in the West Bank.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland expressed U.S. opposition to using the term “State of Palestine.”
“You can’t create a state by rhetoric and with labels and names,” she told reporters. “You can only create a state, in this context, through bilateral negotiations.” Nuland called Abbas’ decision “provocative, without changing the condition for the Palestinian people.”
She said the U.S. peace envoy for the Mideast, David Hale, was headed to the region and would meet the Palestinian leader on Tuesday.
Some countries, such as Brazil, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, have adopted the new name. Others, like Norway, Sweden and Spain, stick to the Palestinian Authority term even though they supported U.N. recognition.
Analysts said Abbas holds out hope that President Barack Obama will get more involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his second term and — freed from the restraints of seeking re-election — take a tougher stance toward Israel.
“He still hopes to resume peace talks in line with U.S. efforts,” Palestinian analyst Hani al-Masri said of Abbas.
“Therefore, he is making these slight changes because people expect him to make changes after the U.N. recognition.” Still, the gap between the symbolic U.N. nod and the reality on the ground remains wide.
The Palestinian Authority administers some 38 percent of the West Bank, but Israel maintains overall control over the territory. Abbas has no say in east Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in 1967, or in Gaza, seized by his political rival, the Islamic militant group Hamas, in 2007.
The documents and stationery with the new emblem will be ready within two months, said Hassan Alawi, a deputy interior minister in the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli officials declined comment Monday on whether Israel would refuse to deal with documents bearing the “State of Palestine” logo. However, Alawi said his office was informed by Israeli officials after Abbas’ decree that “they will not deal with any new form of passport or ID.”
Saeb Erekat, a senior Abbas aide, said the new emblem will be used in correspondence with countries that have recognized a state of Palestine. He suggested that there would be no change in passports or other documents Palestinians need for movement through Israeli crossings.
“As far as the Israelis are concerned, we are not going to overload the wagon of our people by putting state of Palestine on passports,” he said. “They (Israelis) will not allow them to travel.”
Palestinians must pass through Israeli-run crossings to leave the West Bank and also carry an ID card at all times or risk arrest if stopped at an Israeli military checkpoint inside the territory.
The name change has even less meaning for Palestinians in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Israel withdrew from the coastal strip in 2005 but continues to control access by air, sea and land, with the exception of one Gaza border crossing with Egypt. ”For me, it’s just ink on paper,” said Sharif Hamda, a 44-year-old pharmacist in Gaza City. “I wished they would save the money they will spend on this and use it for helping needy families.” source – Yahoo News
