Iraq, the Road Map and America’s Future | VOL. 46 * NEWSLETTER * SEPT./OCT. 2003 |
Dear Friends of Israel and “Or Tzion”,
Grace to you and shalom from G-d our Father and the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach. May the peace of G-d, which surpasses understanding, keep your heart and mind steadfast in these perilous times.
My apologies for not writing a bi-monthly letter. I have been away from home for three months, and returned to extreme pressure. But the time has come that I must write another newsletter because of the significance of the news I have gleaned from various sources.
In my newsletter # 45 I shared the Lord’s warning about the – then planned – war in Iraq. The war ended May 1st following the dazzling display of America’s military might. Stirred to patriotic pride and seeing only victory most of the nation got lulled into confidence. The strong warning was soon forgotten, perhaps even regarded as just another prophetic “gobble-dy-gooks”.While the war in Iraq was still in force, the Holy Spirit moved upon me in great power to pray for the American troops. I felt touched as by flames of fire, and my forehead was hit as by a fireball, causing me to enter into deep, heavy intercession with loud cries, groans and weeping. The Spirit directed me toward the North of Iraq where apparently MORTAL DANGER was lurking, as it seemed underground around Kirkuk and Mozul 1.
Prompted by the Holy Spirit I sent out a prayer alert of intense warning, which hit the Internet AP list into virtually every state. The warning was confirmed by many tens of people, and tens if not hundreds of thousands engaged in intense intercession for our troops in Iraq.
The war is over for 4 months now, but not the dying of AMERICAN troops!!!
The prophetic Internet publication “Lampholder” placed on their site two “prophetic pictures” resembling the closest the vision Shirley Ann Miller, Sr. Editor, had of the mortal threat emanating from below the earth.
Suicide bombers, ambushes, shooting and stabbing from behind kills troops almost daily in the same manner Israelis have been suffering for decades, and more frequently for the last 3 years. It is a strategy particular to Arabs whose forebears would engage in raids upon the unsuspecting and defenseless to kill, loot and destroy. Because Amalek fell upon the weak and defenseless in the days of the Exodus G-d wanted the very memory of him wiped out from under heaven.
Amalek is Abraham’s great-grandson by Esau, and Ishmael Abraham’s son by Hagar. The descendants of Ishmael, Esau and Amalek hate Israel and Jews everywhere with malice of heart and never-ending enmity, as well as true Christians and all who love liberty and justice.
1Kirkuk and Mozul are major oil-producing centers where Saddam is most likely to have set up a trap. Mozul has been the central arena of violent mass demonstrations with masked men in the garbs of suicide bombers swearing death to the American “occupiers.” The rally of hundreds of thousands of America haters was identical to the rallies organized by Hamas in Gaza. From Saddam to Shi’ite Islam
page 2 Now Al-Quaida (adherents of the most radical form of Islam, Wahibism) is pouring into Iraq like a flood, linking up with the Shi’ite Moslems who have been stirred to new heights of hating Jews and Americans alike by their cleric returned from exile (like a “deja vu” of the Iranian Shi’ite cleric, Ayatolla Khomeini, who incited the Iranian Shi’ites against America upon his return from exile). Hizbullah, Hamas and Islamic Yihad (all of them Shi’ite Moslems), the organizations (besides the PLO) sworn to destroy Israel, are joining the “struggle” against the American “occupation” – for it is no longer seen as a war of liberation from evil Saddam – with manpower, weapons supply and strategies of terror.At the root of American troops getting to “share” in the Israeli experience of terror is the “Road Map.” It stipulates to divide up G-d’s OWN Land [which is the land of Israel]2 to create on it a terror state of a people who have no historical roots [a], and to make of East-Jerusalem the capital of Palestine [see what “moving Jerusalem” entails]3.
President George W. Bush prayed in the Washington D.C. Cathedral for G-d’s favor in America’s fight against terrorism. Yet he rewards the arch-terrorist Arafat [b] with Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem for the murder and mutilation of hundreds of Israeli civilians and of soldiers ambushed and kidnapped. He tells Israel to exercise restraint in her pursuit of the murderers of her people while he ordered the months-long ruthless bombing in Afghanistan – was there a hidden agenda behind this? He condemns Israel’s painstaking military campaign against terror so close to her cities but justifies the invasion of Iraq and bombing of Baghdad many thousands of miles removed from U.S. borders. Is this not the height of hypocrisy in the eyes of G-d and truth-loving men?
What their commander in chief has sowed the innocent troops are reaping: terror and death by the very forces who seek to “wipe Israel off the map”4 and annihilate its citizens.
The events of September 11, the Columbia shuttle disaster, the terrible natural catastrophes, and the quicksand of the Iraqi situation are powerful messages of warning from the Almighty not to touch the apple of His eye5.
Therefore let prayers be made for President Bush and his administration to be visited by the fear and dread of the Holy One of Israel, so that they will recant the dividing up of G-d’s covenanted land and His city Jerusalem.
Although someone will divide up the land of Israel, pray that it will NOT BE AMERICA!!! For as the space shuttle Columbia broke into pieces before our very eyes over “Palestine”, Texas – the home state of President George W. Bush – so would “Columbia’s” Union break apart6/[c over the state “Palestine” President Bush tries to force on Israel.
In my newsletter # 41, on page 17 I share that the Lord had ordained one last “season of mercy and grace;” a “window of opportunity” for America to undo some of the harsh judgments decreed against her, and to render less severe some others. The Lord spoke of that season lasting three years (will come to an end by December 2003), yet the Presidential term is for four.
Hence, continue your prayers for our President, and your vigil for the troops that they will be spared the punishment President Bush incurs with his actions against the land and people of Israel, thereby challenging G-d’s oath and covenant.
2 see Joel 3 and Psalm 83; Ezekiel35:10-13; 36:5-7 3 Zech.12:2-3 4 Ps 83:4, LB 5 Zech. 2:8 6 see https://www.ortzion.org/images/Columbia1_trgdy.html 7 https://www.ortzion.org/images/news41_1.html The American Aliyah Revolution – Jewish Immigration to Israel
page 3The American “Aliyah Revolution” has begun! The leading Rabbis of the three major denominations of American Jewry (Orthodox, Conservative and Reform) have issued a united appeal calling for “Mass Aliyah” (Jewish immigration to Israel) from the United States. Leading Rabbis of Yeshivot8 strongly urge every Jew to seriously consider making Aliyah: “We believe that a massive return to our eternal home will contribute greatly to an alleviation of all demographic, economic and religious problems in Israel today.”
“We urge the entire Jewish Diaspora, particular the younger generation, to begin viewing Aliyah as a goal rather than an option.”
“Nefesh b’Nefesh”, and “Kumah” [Americans Return to Zion] are grass root organizations dedicated to encourage and facilitate Aliyah to Israel by ALL Jews of the exile by removing the financial, professional and logistical obstacles preventing many Jews (including Messianic ones) from fulfilling the biblical injunction of Aliyah. Especially “Kumah” continues to stir up “Aliyah” fervor across North American campuses with their “Exodus Shabbat Program.”
There has never been a greater time for the “engrafted fellow-citizens and co-heirs” to support this biblical mandate, especially helping their Jewish brethren in Yeshua with their Return. With great joy and happiness I can announce – at last! – that our family is fully assembled in the Land of Israel (except for my aged mother living in Germany): my daughter and four grandchildren arrived on Aliyah on September 4th. Those of you who have been part of the Or Tzion family for a long time know how we have prayed and waited for this. The Lord has done it!And you can help making their Aliyah a glorious success and testimony of the faithfulness and goodness of the Lord by ministering to their daily needs with your love gifts. My daughter is still in need of the down payment for the shipment of her household, which is $ 4,500, and of such essentials as a stove, a refrigerator, wash machine and dryer, and at least one computer for the children’s school work (all of which are to be bought here). Or Tzion also is in need of your continued faithful support, as we purchased for her and the children some furniture ($ 4,000.00) in place of the worn out one not worth shipping.
If you want more information on how to do that, see https://www.ortzion.org/images/MessianicAliyah1.html and/or this footnote9.
These leading Rabbis, heads of Yeshivot and the founders of “Nefesh b’Nefesh” and “Kumah” seem to have “heard”, as it were, the bidding of the divine Voice, saying,
“Come out of her, My people10,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and G-d has remembered her iniquities.
Render to her as she herself has rendered,
And repay her double for her deeds;
Mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.
As she glorified herself and played the wanton,
So give her a like measure of torment and mourning.
Since in her heart she says, ‘A queen I sit,
I am no widow, mourning I shall never see,’
So shall her plagues come in a single day,
Pestilence [biological/chemical warfare] and mourning and famine,
And she shall be burned with fire;
For mighty is the Lord G-d who judges her.”11The call for “mass Aliyah” is a first in American Jewish history, and a signal of dire consequences descending upon America for dividing up the Jews’ own land. G-d warns that He will ‘requite her according to her deeds, and do to her according to all that she has done’ — “for she has proudly defied the L-RD, the Holy One of Israel, and strove against the L-RD.”12
G-d’s Word is living and active and continues to produce that which it declares. What was true and fulfilled thousands of years ago is still true today and will again see a fulfillment. Well known and respected American Christian leaders such as Pat Robertson, David Wilkerson and Dutch Sheets have seen a vision of disasters of unimaginable proportions striking America for her dealings with Israel and for her gross sins. Reading Jeremiah, chapters 50 and 51, the similarity between the leading nation and city of Jeremiah’s days – Babylon – and the one of our days – the United States of America and New York city – is striking and inescapable.
One must willfully close one’s eyes and ears in order not to see and hear G-d’s loud and clear warnings!
8 Jewish academies for the study of the Bible and Talmud 11 Revelation 18:4-8 12 Jeremiah 50:24, 29 The Restoration of the Tabernacle of David
page 4Another first in modern Jewish history is that, according to the latest figures, there are 5.4 million Jews living in Israel compared to 5.2 million in the United States. For the first time in 2000 years, since the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE (AD), the world’s largest Jewish community lives again in the Land of Israel. Hallelujah!
Still another first is the restoration of the Succah (Tabernacle) of David as regards both his family and the divine worship. For while through Yeshua the House of David is perpetuated, several significant factors imperative for His Return have been overlooked: without the two
houses of David on earth and their genealogical records intact, and without His people back in sovereignty in their own land, He cannot come and claim the throne and rule over His people from Jerusalem.
But the House of David has continued on earth in fulfillment of G-d’s covenant with and promise to David which He swore to Him13, saying: “My steadfast love I will keep for him for ever, and My covenant will stand firm for him. I will establish his line forever, and his throne as the days of the heavens. If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my ordinances, if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with scourges; but I will NOT remove from him my steadfast love, or be false to my faithfulness. I will NOT violate my covenant, or alter the word that went forth from my lips: Once for all have I sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His line shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before Me; Like the moon it shall be established for ever; it shall stand firm while the skies endure.”14
“For what Thou, O L-RD hast blessed is blessed forever.”15
And so, some 14 years ago the Lord said, “As I have kept the Dead Sea scrolls so have I kept
the book of the Wise Stock of Solomon [the record of the royal lineage] of the house of David.”16 In the fall of 2002 one hundred envelopes were discovered in a container stored in the vault of a bank in Brussels, Belgium, just as the scrolls were unearthed in a container found in a cave. G-d has preserved the genealogical record of Yeshua’s legal claim to the throne of David through the lineage over Solomon, and will have preserved as well the natural lineage over Nathan, full brother of Solomon.
Zechariah 12:7-8, 12 shows both houses of David returned to the Land. For they must and will be back in the Land before our Lord Yeshua, the King of Israel, can and will return.
For it is written in Isaiah 16:5 that “a throne will be established in steadfast love and on it will sit in faithfulness IN THE TENT [OHEL] OF DAVID one Who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness.”
Without the TENT being set up first no throne can be established in it, nor can He Who judges and seeks justice sit on it. First comes the “succah/tabernacle” turned “ohel/tent”, then the throne and then He Who holds the rightful claim to it as well as the record of Davidic descent that bypasses the curse. Because of the curse upon Jeconiah17 of the royal lineage of David no descendant of the Solomonic lineage can succeed upon the throne of David unless — such a descendant can claim two Davidic lineages!
Only Yeshua of Nazareth can make such a claim, being both the Son of David over Solomon the son of David and Bathsheba18 – which establishes his legal right to the throne – as well as
over Nathan, son of David and Batsheba19, the lineage through which the divine promise shall be fulfilled.
Another phenomenon is the restoration of the Davidic divine worship as ordained by G-d Himself20. The restoration is still in its beginning stages but the awakening to it and the vision and desire for it are evident. It is this type of music, of worship and praise that shall precede Messiah’s immediate Return, broadcasting it at hand21.
The unearthing of these Davidic/Messianic records as well as the other above mentioned occurrences are all unmistakable biblical/prophetic signs that the time of the end is at hand and the Return of the Lord.
Let all of us who have ears to hear and eyes to see leap for joy, for His kingdom is near!
Yours in Yeshua,
13 Samuel 7:15-16, 25-29; 1 Chronicles 17:17, 23-24, 27; 2 Chr. 21:7 14 Psalm 89:4-4, 28-37 [44-46, 49 – see Amos 9:11]; 132:11-12 15 1 Chronicles 17:27 16 see https://www.ortzion.org/images/praise.html 17 Jeremiah 22:28-30 21 see https://www.ortzion.org/images/news37_1.html A Japanese View of the Palestinians; and Who is Occupying the Holy Land?
page 5END NOTES – Newsletter # 46
a An article posted by “Women in Green” on Friday, February 14, 2003: A Japanese View of the Palestinians If you are so sure that “Palestine, the country, goes back through most of recorded history”, I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine:
by Yashiko Sagamori (pen name)When was it founded and by whom?
What were its borders?
What was its capital?
What were its major cities?
What constituted the basis of its economy?
What was its form of government?
Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?
Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?
What was the language of the country of Palestine?
What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine?
What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date.
And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?
You are lamenting the “low sinking” of a “once proud” nation. Please tell me, when exactly was that “nation” proud and what was it so proud of?
And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call “Palestinians” are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over — or thrown out of — the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?
I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day “Palestinians” to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history won’t work here.
The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it “the Palestinian people” and installed it in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the “West Bank” and Gaza, respectively?
The fact is, Arabs populating Gaza, Judea, and Samaria have much less claim to nationhood than that Indian tribe that successfully emerged in Connecticut with the purpose of starting a tax-exempt casino: at least that tribe had a constructive goal that motivated them. The so called “Palestinians” have only one motivation: the destruction of Israel, and in my book that is not sufficient to consider them a nation” — or anything else except what they really are: a terrorist organization that will one day be dismantled.
In fact, there is only one way to achieve peace in the Middle East. Arab countries must acknowledge and accept their defeat in their war against Israel and, as the losing side should, pay Israel reparations for the more than 50 years of devastation they have visited on it. The most appropriate form of such reparations would be the removal of their terrorist organization from the land of Israel and accepting Israel’s ancient sovereignty over Gaza, Judea, and Samaria.
That will mark the end of the Palestinian people. What are you saying again was its beginning?
=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:michael@womeningreen.org http://www.womeningreen.org
To contribute: https://host5.apollohosting.com/womeningreen/donation.html
b Jerusalem, May 6, 2002
WHO IS OCCUPYING THE HOLY LAND?
Ruth Matar’s (founder and president of “Women in Green”) interview with Joseph Farah on IsraelNationalNews.com, April 24, 2002.
RM: Just about two weeks ago, the UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION in Geneva endorsed a 1982 UN Resolution affirming the legitimacy of using “all available means, including armed struggle” against Israel’s “occupation of Arab lands”. Forty of the fifty-three nations on the commission approved it, including six European members: Austria, Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. And how did the United States vote? You might be surprised to learn that the United States is not a member of the UN Human Rights Commission, having been kicked off by a coalition of European and Arab countries.
The key words here are “occupation of Arab lands”. The UN Human Rights Commission says it is okay to use armed struggle-that is terrorism-against Israel’s “occupation of Arab lands”. Unfortunately, not only the Arab states, and the European Union, and pretty much the rest of the countries of the world use these terms, but our own country-I am an American citizen-uses these terms as well.
On November 19, 2001, in Louisville, Kentucky, the United States Secretary of State, Colin Powell, called for “an end of Israeli occupation” and a “Palestinian state”. And President George W. Bush on October 6, 2001, made a shocking statement. On behalf of the United States, he officially endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state. He said, and these are his exact words: “A Palestinian state has always been part of the United States ‘vision’.”
This statement prompted me to do a radio program on Yasser Arafat vis-a-vis the United States. In this program, I posed a very pertinent question: Has a Palestinian state really always been a part of the United States vision?
Was a Palestinian state part of the vision of the United States when Yasser Arafat supplied the weapons used by the terrorists who killed two hundred forty-one American Marines in Beirut in 1983?
Was a Palestinian state part of the vision of the United States when Yasser Arafat was involved in the planning of the first World Trade Center bombing in New York in February 1993, which killed six people and injured thousands? These are just a few examples of terror perpetrated against the United States and her citizens in which Arafat played a major role.
However, what really inspired me to delve into this question of Yasser Arafat vis-a-vis the United States was an op-ed article in the Jerusalem Post, about how US Ambassador Cleo Noel and his assistant G. Curtis Moore, were machined gunned in Khartoum, Sudan in February of 1973, on the direct orders of Yasser Arafat; and how an audio tape of Arafat’s voice ordering this murder has mysteriously disappeared, and has been hidden by the US State Department and others for twenty-nine years!
The author of this article was Joseph Farah. And since reading Mr. Farah’s article, I am an unabashed admirer of his. I read every article of Mr. Farah that I can get my hands on. The Women for Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green) are honored to have Mr. Farah as our guest on tonight’s program.
Who is Mr. Farah? Professionally, Mr. Farah is the Editor and Chief Executive Officer of WorldNetDaily.com, which is the leading independent news site on the worldwide web. He writes a daily column in WorldNetDaily.com called “Between the Lines”, as well as commentary for the Jerusalem Post.
He is a journalist who is not afraid to go against the current; he is not afraid to be deemed politically incorrect. As I am a Jewish-American, with very little admiration of the media’s treatment of Israel, I find the writings of Mr. Farah refreshing and courageous, especially since Mr. Farah is an Arab- American.
RM: Mr. Farah, a few minutes before this show I received a phone call from Susie Dym, the spokesperson for Cities for Israel, a Zionist non-government association. She informed me that former President George Bush Senior gave a letter of guarantee to then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, which included the following sentence: “In accordance with US traditional policy, we do not support the creation of an independent Palestinian state.” Susie Dym checked with Mr. Yossi Ben Aharon, who was Yitzhak Shamir’s Bureau Chief. He was and still is Yitzhak Shamir’s closest confidant. Mr. Ben Aharon confirmed that there was such a letter of guarantee given by George Bush Senior to then Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and that the above sentence was part of this letter.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, when questioned, said that this letter was secret, and they could not divulge its contents. However, a copy of this letter has been obtained from the archives of the French newspaper Le Monde.
FARAH: I would very much like to see that letter. If I can get my hands on it, I will give it as much publicity as I can here in the states. I believe most Americans simply don’t understand this history at all. This is a very recent phenomenon-the whole notion of a Palestinian state. Even in the eyes of Arabs, it is a very recent phenomenon, and certainly there has been a reversal of US policy, which is inexplicable and incomprehensible. I have been lecturing all over North America on the subject of the Middle East. The number one question is “how do we resolve these problems?”-“how do we achieve peace?” My answer for these questions is that it begins with the de-legitimization of Yasser Arafat as the soul representative and spokesman for the Palestinian people. We will not make any progress in the solution
until Arafat is no longer in the equation. If you look at the last thirty years of conflict between Arabs and Israelis, the one common denominator, the one constant is Yasser Arafat. How many different Prime Ministers have there been? How many governments in Israel have there been? All the Arab leaders have changed in that period; a bunch of American Presidents have come and gone; but the one constant is Yasser Arafat. And its time for people to realize that HE is the one central obstacle to peace.RM: There is another constant that I think is very harmful, and that is everybody seems to have bought the big line that the Jews are occupying Arab land. Do you think we are occupying Arab land? How can we occupy our own country?
FARAH: Not by any conventional definition of the word “occupation” at all, because how did Israel obtain those lands? They obtained those lands because they fought a war of survival, a war of aggression by the Arabs in 1967, and they captured those lands. They didn’t capture them from Yasser Arafat; they didn’t capture them from the Palestinians; they captured them from Egypt and Jordan. Those are the lands we are now talking about turning into a Palestinian state. If indeed they’re worth talking about being turned into a Palestinian state today, why is it that prior to 1967 the Arabs didn’t turn them into a Palestinian state.
RM: That is the question! Golda Meir once said: “There’s no such thing as a Palestinian people.” Do you agree with that?
FARAH: I do agree with it. There is no Palestinian culture. There is no Palestinian language. There’s nothing unique about Palestinian Arabs that would distinguish them in any way from the residents of Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, or any other country. They speak the same language. Even the term “Palestinian”, prior to 1948– what does it mean? When you mentioned the word “Palestinians” or “Palestine” to people at that time, the image that was brought to people’s mind then were “Jews”.
RM: An elderly Jewish lady, Charlotte Wahl, gave me a copy of her passport from that time, and it says “Palestine”.
FARAH: Most of the people we think of today, or refer to, as Palestinians, actually came from other Arab lands, including Yasser Arafat. He was born in Egypt.
RM: When you talk about Jews who settle here in their biblical heartland, Judea and Samaria, those settlements are called “an obstacle to peace”, but when the Egyptian Arafat settles here, he’s not considered and obstacle to peace.
FARAH: Jews are always referred to as “invaders” by the Arabs, but most of the Arabs today that we call Palestinians came from some other place, and most of the people that we refer to as “Palestinian refugees” have never even lived in the land that is referred to as Palestine. They were born elsewhere.
RM: I understand that the real figures of Arabs that left because their leaders told them to go for a short time, then they could come back and get all the Jews possessions after they were conquered-were about 400-600 thousand, and now we have millions who claim they are refugees.
FARAH: The other crazy thing about it is, look at the increasing number of Arabs in Israel over the recent years. If the conditions are so horrible for Arabs in Israel, whether you’re talking about the Palestinian Authority territories or you’re talking about Israel proper, why is it that the Arab population is increasing-and I’m not talking about population birthrate, I’m talking about immigration from Arab lands. Just in recent years, you’re talking about half a million more Arabs who have come from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, from all the surrounding Arab countries. They come to Israel for good reasons. They come there because it’s a freer place to live, even for Arabs. There are more opportunities for them in Israel than there are elsewhere; better medical care-you name it. This is what I discovered as an Arab-American journalist covering the Middle East-Israel was the only country in the Middle East where I was free to do my job without fear of censorship, without fear of death; or, for that matter, just reporting the truth. So, the conventional wisdom about the Middle East is practically one hundred percent erroneous. And that’s the problem. You talk about the big lies. It’s very difficult to counter the big lies. The bigger the lie, the tougher it is to counter it, because it always sounds like you’re exaggerating when you tell the truth. And usually when there’s a debate, the truth may lay somewhere in the middle. It’s not true in the Middle East debate. The truth doesn’t lie in the middle, and if you try to pretend that it lies in the middle, you come to the wrong conclusions about what to do.
RM: One thing I think is a terrible thing, and I think it’s our fault-maybe it’s because we still have the ghetto mentality. We adopt the semantics of this big lie “occupied territory”. We don’t object and ask: “What do you mean “occupied territories”? Its ours!” But we say we want security, that’s what we want. I think this is a great part of the problem.
FARAH: My number one argument against the Palestinian state is NOT Israel’s security, even though I think that’s a very legitimate argument to make. But my number one argument against it as an Arab American is that it’s the wrong thing to do for Arabs. There are opponents of Arafat living in Israel who have tried desperately to avoid coming under his control. I’m trying to think of the man’s name who was circulating a petition in East Jerusalem several months ago and gathered about ten thousand signatures of the Arabs—
RM: I want to tell you something interesting. This was years ago during the Rabin days. We had a demonstration in the middle of Jerusalem at Zion Square. Two Arabs came up to us, and they said: “We want to join your organization.” And we thought they were just putting us on. That sounded fishy to us. But, they persisted and explained they were Jerusalem Arabs and that if Arafat took over then their lifestyle would change completely and they would be totally at his mercy (we did not let them join). In any case, that was very interesting to us.
FARAH: That’s why the problem really begins with Arafat. As long as he is recognized, not only as a leader of Palestinians, but the soul legitimate leader-which in effect what the US and Israel has done over the years with the OSLO accords-we’re never going to get anywhere. Because Arafat’s ultimate goal is the destruction of Israel. The interim goal is the establishment of yet another totalitarian Arab police state in the Middle East.
Why would anyone want to do that? I had a debate with Pat Buchanan on the radio last week, and I said: “Pat, I just don’t understand why you are promoting this idea of a Palestinian state. There never has been the idea of a Palestinian state in the history of the world. Why would we want to create one now? And he said: “There never was an Iraq either, until the colonial powers established one.” And I said: “Precisely my point! Why would we want to make that mistake again?” There’s lots of us who are wishing there was no Iraq right now, and why would we want to create another one?
RM: Before we leave that whole question of the settlements being an obstacle to peace, I was very interested to see in one of your articles that the Arabs have built many more settlements in Judea and Samaria since 1967 than the Jews have.
FARAH: That’s right and we never hear about those settlements. We constantly hear about Israeli settlements, which I think is another term that is misguiding in adopting that term which is obviously chosen by the Arafat crowd-these are not settlements, they are communities. I visited dozens of them. In American terms, we would call them suburbs. They’re not exactly militarized zones. They’re just places where ordinary people live and want to live in peace.
RM: You heard that Colin Powell thinks that the UN fact-finders are going to give Israel a fair deal. I doubt that very much.
FARAH: The UN has tremendous biases against the US and Israel, and they demonstrate those biases every chance they get. I can certainly understand Ariel Sharon’s reluctance to give the UN carte blanche to come in there. Who knows who they will have to investigate this? So many of the UN members are human rights violators themselves. They have axes to grind. Terry Larsen is an example.
RM: There was an article on the front page of the Jerusalem Post newspaper recently. Shimon Peres runs an organization called the Peres Center for Peace. The article reported that the Peres Center for Peace gave Terry Larsen one hundred thousand dollars.
FARAH: Since 1948, the UN has not done anything in Israel’s best interest. Since the creation of the State of Israel, the UN has been biased against it. I would be very cautious about accepting whoever the UN would assign to this kind of investigation in Jenin. I think Israel would be more open to US investigators, but the US is not on that committee.
RM: I was shocked to learn that the US is not on the UN Human Rights Commission. They were kicked off. We have people like Iran, Syria, etc, but not the US. Those are the judges of human rights violations. I wonder when the fact-finding committee comes here, if they will investigate the fact that the Arabs used a ten-year old boy as a suicide bomber. I think that is the ugliest, the most immoral thing that I can think of -to use a child for such a thing.
FARAH: Exactly, and its one of the least understood stories about how some of those Israeli soldiers were killed. Israeli soldiers, much like US soldiers, would be very reluctant, even in the most trying circumstances, to shoot a ten-year old boy. We don’t know that he was ten, but he looked about ten as we understand it. Strapped with bombs-its and unconscionable kind of activity that’s going on, and its not very well understood here. Benyamin Netanyahu made the point on a television program-I repeated in a column I wrote, and I’ve been questioned about the sources ever since. Yet, I guess it is widely known in Israel.
RM: It is definitely widely known. On the day after the thirteen soldiers were killed in that ambush, I spoke to David Parsens at the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, and he told me about this. He said that it was a child–unfortunately that the remains after being blown up, how do they know that it was ten. Now it has been confirmed from several quarters, not just Netanyahu.
FARAH: This is what Israel has to put up with. They have to put up with suicide bombers who are children. They have to put up with the booby traps in the homes in Jenin. I believe that Israel went out of its way in the Jenin campaign to assure that there were minimal civilian casualties. Meanwhile, the United States is bombing in Afghanistan from 30,000 feet. There are certainly going to be civilian casualties in that kind of a campaign. And the US has certainly done all it can do under trying circumstances to avoid civilian casualties. But, they happen in wars, and they happen in particular when terrorists hide behind civilians as they did in Jenin.
RM: And this little boy is not the only child suicide bomber. In fact, they were interviewing on Channel Two a boy about fourteen who said he doesn’t want to die. He wants to go home. And there was a little girl who said that her uncle insisted that she be a suicide bomber, and he also wanted her to recruit her friends in her class. It breaks your heart.
FARAH: Something like this breaks your heart as a serious American. And this is why I believe the establishment of a Palestinian state is in the worst interest of the Arabs. That’s the case that I’m trying to make here in the US to people. And I have to tell you that it’s beginning to resonate among other Arab Americans. I’m not alone any more. I’m not the only one saying this. There’s a rising chorus of opinion on the subject that supports what I’m saying from Arabs and Arab Americans.
RM: It’s difficult to understand how Arafat, who has done such cruel immoral murders, like ordering the execution of the US diplomats, and hijacking and killing American citizens-
FARAH: That’s right-innocent civilians. Not only Israelis. That’s another point I’m trying to bring home here in the States. A few weeks ago I put together a list of American civilians who have been killed at the hands of Arafat, and it numbered close to a hundred. That doesn’t include the Marine barracks bombing and some of the things you mentioned earlier. But, just innocent civilians, including the two diplomats that you mentioned. How on earth the United States can just wipe that slate clean and forget about it, and literally that’s what they’re trying to get the American people to do is to forget about it. There’s a great reluctance to let Americans know the horrors that this man has perpetrated on Americans because despite all of that-despite all the misinformation the government has been spreading-Americans still broadly support Israel, I’m happy to say, and have a better understanding of it than our own State Department seems to do.
RM: Yes, and they are hanging onto their own prejudices. I don’t expect anything better from them. But you know, nonetheless, it’s amazing how Arafat is successful and that he survives. He’s even promoted by the US and the international community.
FARAH: He survives because the same kind of terrorism that he perpetrates against Israelis and Americans, he perpetrates against his own people. Look at the so-called collaborators who are summarily lynched publicly now. This is how he maintains power. When you have absolute power at your disposal, and you have no inhibitions about using it, you can last a long time.
RM: Okay, that’s with his own people, right? He terrorizes them, and they are afraid to stand up to him. So, I think by this time they are effectively brainwashed. But, 80% of the Arabs on the West Bank support suicide bombings. That ought to tell you something. But, I’m asking something more, Mr. Farah. Why is he still promoted by the United States and the international elite as the head of state of a new nation?
FARAH: I think there are a couple of reasons. One reason is, clearly the United States made a mistake a long time ago. Obviously, as far back as 1973, when they covered up the murders of the diplomats, in a systematic campaign that has gone on from administration to administration. They made a mistake. Governments never like to admit it made mistakes. That’s number one. Why did they make the mistake in the first place, and why did they continue to cover it up? I think the easiest answer-it may not be the only one-but the simplest answer, and I think the one that is becoming increasingly apparent is Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is the primary sponsor of Yasser Arafat financially, and the Saudis have a great influence in the United States because of their vast oil wealth, and they use their clout very very effectively.
RUTH: Isn’t that sad! Somebody called Saudi Arabia an “oil company with a flag”.
FARAH: But, it’s worse than that. When President Bush was conducting his campaign a couple of months ago in Afghanistan, he talked about the horrors of the Taliban. How this was one of the worst regimes in the history of the world which is certainly true. It was modeled after Saudi Arabia. The Saudis sponsored the Taliban. The kind of government that we saw from the Taliban is EXACTLY the same kind of government that is in place in Saudi Arabia today.
RM: Then, why is our government still coddling them?
FARAH: Because of the oil wealth. Sadly, I think if the Taliban had that kind of oil wealth, they might have been dealt with differently. It’s a very immoral decision. It’s wrong.
RM: Mr. Farah: A final question, and a very personal one. I am asking this question as a Jewish- American of an Arab-American. Ever since today’s program with you as my guest was advertised in Friday’s Jerusalem Post, I have had several emails, including from the United States as well, asking: what makes this guy, Joseph Farah, tick? Isn’t he afraid to be targeted by Arab extremists?
FARAH: Well, I have been threatened. There’s certainly been a lot of intimidation. What makes me tick, Ruth, is very simple. Two things about me that you have to know-one is that I’m a Christian; I’m a man of faith. I believe very strongly in the Bible and in G-d. That’s the central motivating force in my life.
RM: I really think that believing Christians are going to be part of the salvation of Israel. I really believe that.
FARAH: Well, as Christians we’re taught to seek the truth, and that the truth will set us free. How can we do anything other than that? The other thing about me is that I’m a journalist. I’ve always been a journalist. 25 years I’ve spent in daily news gathering, and that is part of my profession-the seeking of truth. I went to the Middle East as a correspondent and had many of the same misconceptions about the conflict that other journalists had. But when you look, and you actively seek out the truth, and you find it, you’ve got to report what you see.
RM: One final request: Please tell our listeners how they can access your writings on the net, for fair coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict!
FARAH: Our news site is called WorldNetDaily.com, or a simpler way is wnd.com. I write a daily column for World Net Daily, as well as the weekly Jerusalem Post column, and it’s becoming increasingly popular in Israel.
RM: It certainly is. Everybody knows right away who you are.
RM: This is exactly what Israel needs: an ambassador of truth like Mr. Farah. Too bad that not everyone is willing to give Joseph Farah a platform. For instance, in today’s Jerusalem Post, there is an article about Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and Rabbi Stander of Temple Rodef Shalom in Waco, Texas. They have invited Crown Prince Abdullah Abdul Bin Azziz to stop by for a tete-a-tete with Jewish leaders after his meeting with President Bush at his ranch.
In a letter sent to the Crown Prince last week, Rabbi Yoffie and Rabbi Stander wrote that the meeting “would be an opportunity for us to learn more about your people and your religious faith, and for you, in turn, to gain a better understanding of the American Jewish community, its religious faith, its devotion to dialogue among the major religious traditions, and its deep commitment to peace.”
I despair when I read about some of my co-religionists being so utterly divorced from reality. Here is the dictator of Saudi Arabia, who supports the most radical form of Islam, Wahibism. Fifteen of the nineteen suicide bombers on September 11 were Saudi nationals. The state controlled Saudi newspaper writes articles about Jews using human blood for the baking of pastries during the Jewish festival of Purim. Saudi Arabia supports worldwide terror financially, including stipends for the families of suicide bombers. And the head of the Union of American Hebrew Reform Congregations, and a Texas Rabbi wants Crown Prince Abdullah to speak in the Waco, Texas synagogue. Have these rabbis lost it completely?
On the other hand, Representative Tom DeLay, a Republican of Texas, who is the House Majority Whip, suggested yesterday, as reported in USA Today, that Israel should not withdraw from territory captured in the 1967 War, and he equated Israel’s struggle against the Palestinians with the US war on terrorism. In his speech yesterday, DeLay called Israel “the lone fountain of liberty” in the Middle East, and said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s administration is “nothing more than a holding company for terrorist subsidiaries”.
He pointedly changed the phrase “West Bank” in the text of his speech to “Judea and Samaria”, terms used by those who claim these Biblical Jewish territories should remain part of the modern Jewish state. He said: “I have toured Judea and Samaria, and stood on the Golan Heights. I didn’t see occupied territory. I saw Israel.”
And US Senator, Jim Inhofe, Republican from Oklahoma, made a speech on the Senate floor, where he gave seven reasons that Israel has the right to its land:
1. The first reason is that Israel has the right to the land because of all of the archaeological evidence.
2. The second proof of Israel’s right to the land is the historic right.
3. The third reason that the land belongs to Israel is the practical value of the Israelis being there.
4. The fourth reason I believe Israel has the right to the land is on the grounds of humanitarian concern.
5. The fifth reason Israel ought to have their land is that she is a strategic ally of the United States.
6. The sixth reason is that Israel is a roadblock to terrorism.
7. The seventh reason: I believe very strongly that the US ought to support Israel; that it has a right to the land. This is the most important reason: Because G-d said so!What we desperately need at this time is for each of us to become an ambassador of truth like Joseph Farah, Tom DeLay and Senator Inhofe.
c An e-mail letter I received on Saturday, 08 Feb 2003:
Dear Annelore, Nancy just forwarded your email and I have just viewed your site. You have heard correctly.
On Sat.morning, my son Jon was outside watching for the shuttle’s return. He called me on his cell and he was crying and shouting at the same time. He said, “I’m watching the shuttle break up over my head! Oh, mother! God is giving us a serious warning! Columbia is going down! He then said the same as y’all that Columbia is another name for America…one of our favorite anthems is “Columbia the Gem of the Ocean.” I hurried and turned on the TV, while Jon was still on the phone, and watched the shuttle breaking into brilliant pieces. I told Jon I thought it was a serious omen and no accident that it was coming down over Texas, Bush’s home state. We both began praying that the astronauts had not suffered. I knew that several of them were men of deep faith. I felt the most grief for Ramon, as Israel has had so much sorrow and grief and this would have given them some joy. But God does His will and purpose and as you said, the astronauts were not being punished but only being used for His Purpose.
Indeed, I thought of Isa. 57:1…the righteous are taken from the evil to come!
Every time I hear Bush pushing for war, Proverbs comes to my spirit: Pride goes before a fall and a haughty spirit before destruction. I think Saddam may have a real ace up his sleeve and if this war begins it will unleash horrors this world has never before seen! We know God’s timing is as important as His truth (I loved that you used the same example that I always do, the angels in the Euphrates) and we also know that Satan tries to spoil God’s time table (as if he could!) and if it is NOT the time for war right now, God will give warning and it had better be heeded.
I long for Yeshua’s return and yet I feel a great sadness for all the suffering that will take place before it happens.(did you get the story I sent you that I was led to write? THE RETURN)
You have created a wonderful website (I love the mountains!) and are giving sincere warning. It will be heeded with those who have ears to hear.
Shalom, J.H. (the signed person is known to me)