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

15 years ago

December 8, 2011

Geoffrey Grider

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

(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

Comments

Donald Trump

Iran Unveils Massive Tehran Billboard Showing Donald Trump In A Coffin As The Regime Sends A Chilling Message Of Defiance And Mockery To America

Published

20 hours ago

July 16, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

Iran Puts Trump In A Coffin Before The Watching World As Tehran Escalates Its War Of Threats, Propaganda And Open Hostility Toward The United States

This is not merely a protest sign, this is a death threat stretched across the skyline of Tehran. Iran has taken the image of an American president, laid him inside a coffin, and turned the spectacle into a massive public billboard for the entire world to see. The message is designed to be unmistakable. Tehran wants America to know that the conflict is personal, the hatred is deep, and the regime is not backing away. He doesn’t want to do it, but Donald Trump now has no choice but to send in ground troops to finish this war he started 138 days ago. The “peace talks” just died.

“The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.” Psalm 37:13 (KJB)

What makes the image so provocative is its deliberate theatrical cruelty. Trump is not shown defeated at a negotiating table or removed from office—he is shown dead, displayed and mocked, while hostile graffiti covers the coffin beneath him. This is psychological warfare dressed up as street art, meant to humiliate Trump, energize Iran’s hardliners and project defiance after months of military confrontation. It also exposes the fantasy that Iran has been permanently subdued. A government that feels crushed does not erect a billboard like this in the center of its capital. This is the imagery of a regime that believes it survived, absorbed the attack and emerged more determined to confront the United States. Tehran is telling Washington that the war of threats, symbols and retaliation is far from over.

Not only is Iran not afraid of the United States, now the regime is openly and directly taunting President Donald J. Trump with a huuuuugggeee billboard in downtown Tehran showing him in a coffin. This is what happens when you don’t finish the war you started. #taco pic.twitter.com/ngDUVEdK9r

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) July 16, 2026

America may view it as propaganda, but Iran intends it as a warning. They have not forgotten the strikes, the sanctions, the assassinations or the threats of regime change. The coffin billboard declares that Iran is no longer simply answering Trump’s words with words—it is publicly imagining his death and inviting an entire nation, and the world, to stare at it. Talk about your bold moves, this one incredible especially when you consider that it comes after 4 nights of air strikes and bombing from the United States.

For Donald Trump, the image is intensely personal. Iran has taken the man who built his political image around strength, dominance and intimidation and portrayed him motionless, powerless and dead. It is an attempt to reverse the psychological balance—to transform the man who threatened Tehran into the object of Tehran’s threat. The regime is telling him that every strike, every sanction and every promise of regime change has been entered into a ledger that Iran believes must eventually be paid in blood. But the warning extends far beyond one man. Trump may be the face inside the coffin, but the target of the message is the United States itself. Iran is declaring that American power does not frighten it into silence and that the cycle of strike, retaliation, escalation and revenge remains very much alive. The billboard is a weapon of psychological warfare, a recruiting poster for hardliners and a warning to Washington that Tehran is willing to keep this confrontation personal, public and dangerous.

This is what the world is looking at in central Tehran, not peace, not reconciliation and not a defeated enemy—but a regime raising the image of an American president’s death over its capital like a banner of unfinished business. The coffin is supposed to contain Trump, but the greater truth is that it contains the remains of every claim that Iran has been permanently broken. No one in the Trump administration seems to understand the first thing about the radical Muslim mindset, and until they do, victory for America, sad to say, will remain out of reach.

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

China

THE PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST: Just Like Japan In WWII, Communist China Is Furiously Rehearsing For All-Out War With Taiwan And The United States

Published

2 days ago

July 15, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

China Rehearses For All-Out War As Satellite Images Reveal Mock US Warships, Fighter Jets, Naval Bases And Taiwanese Government Buildings Built For Target Practice

In 1941, Imperial Japan did not attack Pearl Harbor on a whim. Its pilots trained, its engineers modified torpedoes to operate in the harbor’s shallow water, and its commanders studied how to cripple the United States Pacific Fleet in one overwhelming blow. The strategic objective was simple: knock America backward long enough for Japan to seize territory, establish a defensive perimeter and present Washington with a completed conquest. Pearl Harbor was not intended to conquer America – it was intended to remove America from the battlefield at the decisive opening moment. Here in 2026, China appears to be quite busy doing the exact same thing.

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.” Jeremiah 25:32 (KJB)

On this episode of the Prophecy News Podcast, satellite imagery reveals today that Beijing is building replicas of American aircraft carriers, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, fighter aircraft, airfields and critical Taiwanese government buildings. These are not monuments to military history. They are targets. China is constructing physical representations of the enemy it expects to face, then using them to refine missile accuracy, surveillance systems, autonomous weapons and the ability to recognize and destroy specific American and Taiwanese assets. The modern Chinese equivalent of Pearl Harbor would not necessarily begin with Japanese-style aircraft appearing over Hawaii. It could begin with coordinated missile strikes against American bases in Guam, Japan and the western Pacific; cyberattacks against communications, satellites and infrastructure; strikes against U.S. carriers and destroyers; and a blockade or massive assault around Taiwan. The objective would be to blind, stun and paralyze the United States while Chinese forces move against the island. Just as Japan sought to remove the Pacific Fleet before advancing through Southeast Asia, China must remove—or intimidate—the American military presence that could prevent it from taking Taiwan. China is building American ships to destroy, American aircraft to target and Taiwanese buildings to assault. The rehearsal area is a warning written in steel, concrete and sand. Beijing is studying how to fight the United States because conquering Taiwan may require defeating America first. Don’t think that’s possible? Today’s Podcast is here to awaken you.

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

Study Helps And Links For Today’s Podcast

We Are Broadcasting Live Four Days A Week

The BIBLE BELIEVERS Sunday Service

Every Sunday morning, from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EST, we invite you to join us live and in-person at the Bible Believers Church here inside the Bible Believers Bookstore in Palatka where we lift up the Lord Jesus Christ in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and preach a message from the pages of the King James Authorized Version Holy Bible. If you’ve been looking for a First Century house church, you’ve found it.

OUR MOST RECENT SUNDAY SERVICE VIDEO: I Stand With The Jews

• The RIGHTLY DIVIDING Radio Bible Study

Every Sunday evening from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, we offer an in-depth rightly dividing and dispensationally correct rocket ride through the preserved word of God as found within the pages of the King James Holy Bible.

SUNDAY NIGHT: Our original Sunday Night Radio Bible Study, it’s from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, and we have praise, singing, testimony and of 90-minute King James Bible study. All our King James bible study programs are archived here.

• The NTEB PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST Hour

Every Monday Wednesday and Friday afternoons from Noon to 1:30 PM EST, we examine breaking news and current events in light of bible prophecy.

The Prophecy News Podcast: Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Noon EST, we review all the latest news and events related to bible prophecy, and examine what is happening in light of what is written. If you miss the live show, all of our Prophecy News Podcast programs are archived here.

Your Generous Donations Make These Live King James Radio Bible Studies & Prophecy News Podcasts Possible!

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

Listen to What Our Donation Angels Have to Say About the Ministry of Now The End Begins

“You are truly an end time ministry and I appreciate how our Precious Lord is using you to educate his very own flock. There is a lot of confusion , but your ministry is putting scripture in the right prospective. Thank-you so so much Geoffrey S Grider for standing firm and putting in a lot of hours of your time. God Bless You , also your Ministry and your family. IN JESUS MIGHT NAME.” T. Muto
“Jesus. I am now 64 years old and never in all the years I’ve been a Christian was I able to grow in the Lord as much as I have in the last past year. All because of our blessed brother’s work Geoffrey Grider who as the bravery of standing fast forward without fear of claiming the truth of God by the power of his love in Jesus Christ. May God bless you abundantly to the end my dear brother… ROMANS: 8: 36,37,38” Mireille Anderson
“I met you at the car dealership earlier this year. We spoke briefly, then you handed me a card and told me to check out the website. You left. A few minutes later, you returned to tell me not to forget to look up the website. I told you…” I already did. I already subscribed.” In that short time we spoke, I experienced from you…a total stranger…peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, compassion, and love. I am convinced that God sent you to share the Good News that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. For that, and for the work you are doing for the Kingdom of God, I say…Thank you and God Bless You.” Sonia Merced
“I really enjoy the emails and Bible studies! I haven’t found a church and enjoy your services very much! Be blessed brother!” Marcia Mann
“You and your organization are on the front lines in the Battle For Truth…. current events, end times, and trying to awaken a sleeping Laodicean Church. Thank you brother for fighting for us and all your teaching and insight God bless…” Daniel Cartrette
I just want to thank you for the teachings you give every Sunday night on radio. You are such a blessing to me. I absolutely love your way of teaching the scriptures. I don’t have a church where I can have fellowship and teaching, so you have been my teacher for many months now. Thanks God you are there for all of us who have no church to go to. I pray that the Lord will bless you abundantly in your ministry, and your loved ones too. You are such a blessing to me, and many others, in these last days before the rapture. Thank you so much Geoffrey, from the bottom of my heart. May the Lord keep you, until He comes back for us. You are in my prayers.” Donald Godin
“Thank you for the work you are doing brother. Your page and your testimony were a blessing to me this morning as I came across it for the first time. Thank you for the reality of your testimony and what God has done for you in introducing you to Jesus our Lord. God has brought me, in salvation, to Himself as well, through His love and mercy and grace in salvation. How can we praise Him enough? How can we not share this good news!? I pray this day for God’s blessing on your ministry that He may save many souls through the work He has called you to. Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)” Mark and Melissa
“Love the Sunday night bible study. I want to support someone who has the passion for the lost like Geoffrey does and rightly divides the word of God. God bless you.” Teresa Carey
“I give because not many news outlets are brave enough or Godly enough to tell these stories from a Christian’s point of view. I see stories here that will not be seen anywhere else.” William Grayshaw
“It’s hard to find solid biblical teaching in America these days. It’s a blessing to be able to take part in a ministry financially without being concerned about false teaching. All glory to God! God bless!” Maximilian Swan
“I donate because you are reporting the truth about the increasing wickedness of our time, as God’s word foretold. In so doing we are reminded to “Keep looking up” as we wait in joyful hope for the Lord’s coming, Maranatha! ” Anthony Sloane
“Geoffrey has the best End Times News out there. I have been receiving his emails for years now and always enjoy his Sunday night messages although I don’t always think exactly as he thinks. We are all in this “boat of life” together and as I come to the end of my life’s journey here, I am more aware of Jesus’s call for us to be one as He and the Father are One.” Deborah Cleaveland

STREET-TESTED NTEB GOSPEL TRACTS:

This is the official gospel tract of NTEB, used here on the streets of Saint Augustine and sent around the world as they are purchased through our website. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting the work of Now The End Begins by purchasing a box of these full-color, high-quality gospel tracts. Thank you in advance!

street-preaching-kjv-gospel-tracts-nteb-now-the-end-begins-saint-augustine-florida

CLICK IMAGE TO ORDER YOUR BOX OF NTEB GOSPEL TRACTS

“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

WARNING: The Pentagon’s NDAA Section 219 Will Create A Permanent Integration Between The United States And Israel Of Military Technology Systems

Published

3 days ago

July 14, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

NDAA Section 219 Will Embed Israeli Technology Deep Inside The Pentagon’s Weapons, Intelligence, Cyber And Artificial Intelligence Systems

NDAA Section 219 is a proposed Pentagon-wide mechanism for permanently integrating the American and Israeli defense-technology systems. It would appoint a Department of Defense executive agent to accelerate the development, testing, procurement and deployment of Israeli-origin and jointly developed military technologies inside official U.S. weapons programs. It reaches across artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons, cyberwarfare, missile defense, surveillance, advanced sensors, data fusion, biotechnology, drones and defense manufacturing, while creating joint ventures, licensing agreements, co-production arrangements, training exercises and information-sharing channels with Israel. In practical terms, Section 219 is designed to move the U.S.–Israel alliance beyond ordinary aid and occasional weapons projects and embed Israeli technology, companies and strategic cooperation directly into the Pentagon’s permanent acquisition, industrial and operational infrastructure.

“There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.” Psalm 33:16 (KJB)

The most disturbing aspect of the U.S.–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative is that it represents something far deeper than military friendship or foreign aid. It lays the foundation for a quiet technological merger between the Pentagon and the Israeli defense establishment. Israel does not need to command American troops if Israeli-designed systems increasingly control what those troops see, how threats are identified, which targets are selected and how American weapons respond. In modern warfare, the nation that controls the software, sensors, intelligence networks and artificial-intelligence systems can exercise enormous power without ever issuing a direct order.

This is how national sovereignty can be surrendered without a treaty, an invasion or a public announcement. Israeli technology enters the American military as a solution—missile defense, cybersecurity, drones, surveillance, data fusion and autonomous targeting—but once embedded inside official Pentagon programs, it becomes part of America’s military nervous system. Shared patents, proprietary software, classified algorithms, joint factories and interconnected supply chains could make the United States progressively dependent upon a foreign government and its defense contractors. Washington would remain sovereign on paper while losing the practical ability to operate independently.

Former congressman Dennis Kucinich on the US-Israel Defense Tech Cooperation Initiative contained in NDAA Section 219. “You could almost say this is a takeover. Netanyahu will have the ability to direct the US Military (through technology). This is totally unprecedented” pic.twitter.com/V5yGrTiRO4

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) July 14, 2026

The deeper danger is political capture. Once billions of dollars, congressional districts, defense contractors, military departments and Israeli corporations become attached to these joint programs, the machinery begins protecting itself. Every new contract creates another lobbyist, another factory, another government office and another reason that the relationship cannot be questioned. A future president might discover that challenging Israel would not simply cause a diplomatic dispute—it could interrupt weapons production, intelligence sharing, cyber defenses and critical military systems. At that point, Israel would not need formal authority over the United States military because America’s defense establishment would already be structured around preserving the relationship.

The real transfer of power would not happen through command—it would happen through dependency. And by the time the American people recognized how deeply the two systems had been joined together, separating them might no longer be possible.

The darkest interpretation is that Section 219 is building the architecture of an undeclared joint military operating system: Israeli battlefield technology and intelligence fused with American money, manufacturing capacity and global military reach. The American flag would still fly over the Pentagon, American generals would still stand before the cameras, and the chain of command would still appear unchanged. But behind the visible structure, the machines, networks and algorithms through which American power operates could become inseparable from Israeli technology and Israeli strategic interests. We support the nation of Israel, but this would be a catastrophic mistake.