Headline News

Arab Spring Is Now Targeting Algeria

Algeria’s Islamists, in the political wilderness since their last attempt to win power dissolved into civil war, are now trying again, galvanized by the success of their brethren elsewhere in north Africa in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Published

14 years ago

December 8, 2011

Geoffrey Grider

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(Reuters) – Algeria’s Islamists, in the political wilderness since their last attempt to win power dissolved into civil war, are now trying again, galvanized by the success of their brethren elsewhere in north Africa in the wake of the “Arab Spring”.

Riot policemen clash with university students from marching during a demonstration in which they demand political change in Algiers May 2, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Zohra Bensemra

Most Islamists in Algeria have been excluded from political life since the conflict, but in the past few months they have shown renewed signs of activity, much of it conducted from exile to dodge the attentions of the Algerian state.

They have set up a satellite television station based in Europe, sent delegations to Arab countries that saw revolutions this year, and made tentative forays into anti-government protests.

Their chances of success are slim: they are divided into rival ideological camps, hemmed in by the powerful Algerian security apparatus, and, most importantly, discredited in the eyes of many people by a conflict in which they took part and which killed an estimated 200,000 people.

But they see an opportunity in the upheavals of the “Arab Spring,” which have this year unseated entrenched secularist leaders. In neighboring Tunisia, a previously outlawed Islamist movement has come to power, while in Egypt Islamists have taken a strong early lead in multi-stage parliamentary elections.

“Tunisia was an example and launcher of this (Arab Spring) revolution,” said Abdullah Anas, a London-based member of the leadership council of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which is banned in Algeria.

“It could be a very good example for Algeria.”

LEGACY OF VIOLENCE

Any Islamist revival in Algeria, an OPEC member and supplier of about a fifth of Europe’s imported gas, would have first to shed the burden of the country’s bloody history.

Twenty years ago, FIS was poised to win a legislative election, called after street protests forced the authorities to loosen their grip on power. FIS said it would impose an Islamic state.

The military-backed government stepped in to annul the election. The Islamists took up arms and Algeria slipped into a conflict of horrific violence. Civilians had their throats slit in the street; in the mornings, people woke up to find their towns littered with bodies.

A rump of Islamists, now operating under the banner of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, is still fighting. They periodically ambush security forces in the countryside, kidnap Westerners and stage suicide bombings.

But the violence has subsided considerably. A huge security crackdown has rounded up thousands of insurgents. Others have laid down their arms and been granted an amnesty, in exchange for an undertaking to stay out of politics.

This legacy is the biggest obstacle to any comeback by Algeria’s Islamists.

“Since then (the conflict), the Islamist was no longer seen as a hero who stands up against tyranny,” said Soheib Bencheikh, a theologian who used to be the chief cleric at the mosque in Marseilles, France, where there is a large Algerian community.

“On the contrary, he became, in the eyes of public opinion, accountable for the pain and suffering of the people,” Bencheikh told Reuters.

A fear of a return to violence helps explain why Algeria has this year remained relatively calm while neighboring countries have been convulsed by unrest.

TV STATION

But the Islamists still believe that Algeria is ripe for change, and are beginning to take practical steps.

Starting in November, a group of exiled Islamists with links to FIS set up a Europe-based television station, called Rachad TV. Carried by the Atlantic Bird 7 and Nilesat satellites , the station can be picked up in Algeria, where most homes have a dish.

It broadcasts political and social programs where opposition leaders and activists — most of them harshly critical of the government — are invited to comment on Algeria.

At the top of the station’s homepage on the Internet, there is a link to show viewers “how to free your country”, and a second link to help them “organize and participate in unrest.”

The exiles say they are also building contacts with other countries where “Arab Spring” revolts have propelled Islamists into a position of power.

Rachad says on its website that it sent a delegation to Libya in late September to meet officials in the new government, in which Islamists have a prominent role.

Abdullah Anas, the exiled Islamist in London, said there had also been contacts with Rachid Ghannouchi, the head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party. Since an election in October his party leads Tunisia’s coalition government.

Tunisia’s experience had proved that it is possible to open up the political space in north Africa, said Anas.

“Everyone in Algeria must understand that Algeria has room for all … no matter what opinions you have,” he said, calling for a lifting of political curbs and the possibility of power-sharing between previously antagonistic groups.

SALAFISTS STIRRING

Inside Algeria, the most influential Islamist force are the Salafists, followers of an ultra-purist interpretation of Islam. Unlike the FIS, they are tolerated by the Algerian state because their creed forbids participation in politics.

When Algeria was shaken at the beginning of this year by protests sparked by a spike in food prices, the spiritual leader of the Algerian Salafists, Abdelmalek Ramdani, who lives in Saudi Arabia, issued a religious decree.

It said: “As long as the commander of the nation is a Muslim, you must obey and listen to him. Those who are against him are just seeking to replace him, and this is not licit.”

Nevertheless, there are stirrings of political activity by some Salafist preachers.

Sheikh Abdelfateh Zeraoui, a former FIS member and now a well-known Salafist preacher in the Algerian capital, issued a declaration in October saying the government had to enact urgent reforms.

“Political reforms allowing us to have free political activity are key to the stability of the country. Without reforms the country may explode,” the declaration stated.

The preacher has also tried to organize protest marches in the capital, but these have been blocked by the security forces. “We have been barred from politics,” he told Reuters.

The fact that Algerian Islamists are divided dilutes their ability to stage a comeback, said Mohamed Mouloudi, an editor and specialist on Islam.

“They are no longer speaking with one voice,” Mouloudi told Reuters.

“You have the Salafists, the Muslim brotherhood, and the Djaz’airists,(who give priority to Algerian religious traditions) among others,” he said. “You have those who are for a political action, and those who consider political action as illicit.”

SUCCESSION DEBATE

Even so, a debate is now under way in earnest within the Algerian ruling elite, for the first time since the conflict began 20 years ago, about giving Islamists a role in politics.

The focus for that debate — which, like much of Algerian politics, is conducted behind closed doors — is the question of who will succeed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika when his final term ends in 2014.

One camp within the elite is backing Abdelaziz Belkhadem, a former prime minister and secretary general of the ruling FLN party. He is a secularist but is trusted by the Islamists. Opposing him is a camp of hardline secularists who have backing from the powerful security forces.

Friction spilled out into the open when a group of Belkhadem opponents inside the FLN launched a campaign to have him removed from the party leadership.

“It will be wise to promote a man like Abdelaziz Belkhadem who has good ties with Islamists as well as with decision makers inside the regime,” said Mohamed Lagab, a secularist academic at Algiers university.

“Decision makers should take into account that North Africa will be ruled by Islamists ,” said Lagab. source – Reuters

Related Topics:Algeria arab Islamists spring

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Donald Trump

Trump Finds Out That A 15% Tariff On The Whole World, Plans To Reveal ‘The Truth’ About Aliens And All-Out War With Iran Still Doesn’t Quash The Epstein Files

Published

2 days ago

February 21, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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Donald Trump is watching his presidency implode as he threatens war with Iran, the ‘truth’ about space aliens and a 15% tax on the entire world to distract from the Epstein Files

What we are watching now with sitting president Donald Trump is truly historic, something the American people have not witnessed under any other president. A 15% tariff on the whole world. Promises to unveil the truth about aliens. Escalating rhetoric toward a soon all-out war with Iran. And yet none of it is enough to silence the growing storm surrounding the Epstein files. The more power that is flexed, the less control appears to exist.

“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” Psalm 146:3 (KJB)

The American Right once crowned Donald Trump as the bulwark against cultural decay, global corruption, and deep-state tyranny. He was framed as the man who would save a nation drifting from God. But now, the façade has cracked, and what we see is not triumph—but a prophetic unraveling of the world’s most-powerful nation in the last days.

One of the most glaring examples of this unraveling is Trump’s Board of Peace — a self-styled global governance body that was supposed to be his legacy-defining achievement on the world stage. Instead, it is revealing strategic confusion, lack of coherent accomplishment, and diplomatic rejection. Trump’s Board of Peace was formally established with much fanfare as an international peace and reconstruction mechanism for war-torn Gaza and beyond. It has a charter and ambitious goals to restore stability, lawful governance, and peace in conflict zones. But the reality on the ground tells a far different story.

President Trump banging a ‘fool’s gold’ gavel to end the Board of Peace meeting as the gay anthem “YMCA” begins to play. This whole thing is so deeply fraudulent and on so many levels. Truly the work of the Devil. pic.twitter.com/vQkJp3yOFd

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) February 20, 2026

On paper, Trump and his allies claimed billions in pledges and troop commitments to rebuild Gaza. In reality, despite announcements of $5-10 billion in pledges to rebuild, no reconstruction has yet begun. Gaza remains devastated, crushed under rubble and suffering without meaningful relief or transformation. Even the Vatican refused to join the Board, citing concern that it undermines the role of the United Nations — leaving Trump’s vision isolated on the world stage.

We have global tariffs slapped on the world economy — a geopolitical sledgehammer masquerading as economic policy. We have proclamations about revealing “alien truths” — a grand narrative diversion. We have escalating rhetoric toward confrontation with Iran — keeping the world on edge. And yet even these theatrics cannot bury the Epstein files, cannot stabilize Gaza, and cannot salvage Trump’s political momentum.

Donald Trump is not the Antichrist, but what he is is a political and religious deceiver sent to confuse and mislead the biblically-illiterate inhabitants of the last days Laodicean Church. pic.twitter.com/fw05IUpsyY

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) February 17, 2026

Is the presidency collapsing? Politically speaking, yes — Trump’s political capital and credibility are eroding under the weight of lies, contradictions and unmet promises. But what is truly collapsing is the myth that the next election, the next president, or the next political savior will save America. That belief has been shattered on the rocks of reality. America is lost, and there is none to save her. Donald Trump has become the Swamp and the Deep State embodied in a single person.

In the three weeks since the last release of the Epstein Files, a staggering amount of damage has been done. Hyatt Hotels heir Thomas Pritzker on Monday resigned his post as the executive chairman of the hotel company. Kathy Ruemmler announced last week that she was stepping down as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at the investment bank Goldman Sachs, effective June 30. DP World Limited, one of the largest logistics companies in the world, announced last week that its chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, had resigned, effective immediately. Peter Mandelson, a member of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, stepped down from the Labour Party earlier this month, after his name appeared in the newly released documents multiple times. And former prince of England Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on his 66th birthday. Haverford College students and alumni are calling on the school to remove Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s name from its library after revelations about Lutnick’s ties to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. All this is just the tip of the iceberg, something that the Trump Department of Justice seems to have absolutely zero interest in investigating. That by itself tells you everything you need to know.

The longer it goes on, the closer it all gets to Trump, and at some point he will realize that, short of starting WWIII, he is powerless to do anything about it. Everything about his presidency is fake, all of it illusion, and the house of cards he has built is about to meet the storm that can’t be stopped. Q drop that.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Headline News

I Am Watching In Shock As Baptist Churches Are Now ‘Observing The Season Of Lent’ That Comes Directly From The Roman Catholic Counterfeit Church

Published

3 days ago

February 20, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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There is no doctrine of Lent found anywhere in the Bible, it is purely a creation of the Roman Catholic counterfeit church

Every year, as winter fades into spring, millions of professing Roman Catholics line up to receive ashes on their foreheads and begin a 40-day religious observance called Lent. They fast, they abstain, they “give something up,” and they prepare for Easter through ritual and self-denial. But here is the question every Bible believer must ask: Where is Lent found in the King James Bible?

“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,” Colossians 2:18 (KJB)

Historically, Lent developed centuries after the apostles were dead. It grew within the Roman Catholic system as biblical Christianity was merged with imperial power and pagan culture. The 40-day structure was patterned after Christ’s temptation in the wilderness — yet that event occurred before His earthly ministry began, not as preparation for celebrating His resurrection.

There is no biblical instruction to imitate Christ’s 40-day fast annually. Furthermore, Ash Wednesday — the ceremonial marking of foreheads — is nowhere commanded in the New Testament. It is ritualized symbolism borrowed from Old Testament mourning practices and institutionalized by Rome. The Roman Catholic Church would have you to believe that Lent is about fasting and repentance, but is really the pagan rite of Weeping for Tammuz.

Bible believers do not borrow doctrine from a system that:

Teaches sacramental salvation
Maintains a priesthood distinct from the believer
Claims authority equal to Scripture
Persecutes Bible believers throughout history

We are not Protestants protesting Rome. We are Bible believers standing on the Book. At least, that’s what we’re supposed to be doing, but it’s not stopping Baptist churches like First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, from jumping on the Lent bandwagon. In a recent YouTube video entitled ‘Why Lent Matters’, they had this to say about Lent.

“Lent is a season that invites us to slow down and recalibrate our hearts before Easter. It reminds us of a hard but necessary truth—we are dust: finite, sinful, and deeply in need of God’s grace. Yet this season does not leave us in sorrow; it leads us to the cross, where we see both the seriousness of our sin and the overwhelming love of Christ, who bore judgment so we could receive mercy. As we reflect, repent, and turn back to God, Lent trains us to live in hope, fixing our eyes on the resurrection. From dust to glory, it tells the whole gospel story and prepares us to rejoice in the victory of Jesus.”

First of all, Christians should not be celebrating the pagan Easter holiday, another Roman Catholic invention plucked from ancient Babylon. Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on the third day according to the scripture, that’s our focus. Secondly, to say that “Lent is a season that invites us to…” is pure surrender to the Roman Catholic Church, the inventors of Lent. I am not accepting any invitations to pray to the saints, eat the Eucharist, burn incense, put an ash cross on my forehead or get in the box with a priest. Please have me excused from all of it.

On the surface to the average person, Lent appears harmless. It feels ‘spiritual’. It creates community, and it carries emotional weight. But so does every religious tradition that replaces Bible authority with institutional custom. The early Church did not observe Lent, the apostles did not command Lent, Paul did not teach Lent. Rome developed it at the Council of Nicea, their tradition preserved it, Pope Gregory I added the ashes, and many evangelicals and Baptists now imitate it. Bible believers should reject it across the board.

If a Christian chooses to fast privately before the Lord, that is between them and God, as it should be. But submitting to a Roman system of seasonal ritual complete with ashes, imposed abstinence, and church calendar obligation is not New Testament Christianity. We are not called to ritual, we are called to a risen Saviour, Jesus the Christ.

“And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:” Colossians 2:10 (KJB)

Complete means complete, and Bible believers do not need a Roman Catholic Lent to finish what Jesus Christ has already finished.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Free Bible Program

Chaplain Farwell Of The Elmira Correctional Facility In Upstate New York Writes To Tell Us Of The ‘Desperate Need’ Of Their Inmates For Copies Of The Word Of God

Published

4 days ago

February 19, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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The Elmira Correctional Facility in update New York has an urgent need for hundreds of copies of God’s preserved word

Elmira Correctional is a maximum ‘A facility’ in upstate NY, writes Chap Farwell. He says “We house between 1500 – 1600 incarcerated men. Approximately 600 are in our Reception Center either as parole violators, recidivists, or first time offenders awaiting classification that will send them to another correctional facility to serve their sentences and to be enrolled into a program designed to correct their behavior. Most don’t have any faith life at all even though their families may have. However, when the reality of being incarcerated hits them they reach out in desperation, which is where we as chaplains come in.” Chaplain Farwell is serving on the front lines, and Bibles Behind Bars is keeping his supply lines open.

“But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Genesis 39:21 (KJB)

Chap went on to say “Most ask for Bibles and for many it is their first one. As chaplains, we direct them to scripture and let them know that God loves them and quite possibly this is God’s plan for them. This is where they can encounter God, but they have to come to know God and the Bible helps them to do their part. We give these Bibles freely in the hope that they will give God a chance to speak to them and they can speak to God. We are constantly seeking Bibles and if you can be a source to provide them we would be most grateful. We especially need large print. Whatever you can do would be most appreciated. God bless you for your work.” Christian, God has called us to stand in the gap for the ‘least of these’ and to give them a copy of God’s preserved word. Come help us to do that, we need you!

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

If God has prospered you, please take a moment to click on the donate button to help us in this monumental task of providing King James Bibles, New Testaments, scripture portions, gospel tracts as well as Spanish Bibles to inmates in jails and prisons from Florida to Alaska, and every state in between. We need your prayers, we need your generous financial support, and we need you to stand with us in the closing days of the Church Age. Thank you so very much, TO THE FIGHT!!!

NOTE: If you need a 501 C3 Letter of Donation for tax purposes, please send your donation to:

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