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“We plan to eliminate the State of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian state.” — Yasser Arafat on Palestine Radio in November 1995.
“We won’t rest until we have Tel Aviv, Haifa, and all of Palestine, and the Jews are back in Poland.” — Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority.
“We do not and will not recognize a state called Israel . . . This land is the property of all Muslims in all parts of the world . . . Let Israel die!” — Mahmoud al-Zahar, senior Hamas leader.
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these are quotes from palesinian 'leadership'. these are the folks we're forcing Israel to deal with in the name of peace.
and today, from debka:
Hamas leaders on arrival in Moscow Friday announce they will not recognize Israel
March 3, 2006, 2:04 PM (GMT+02:00)
The six-man delegation led by Damascus-based politburo chief Khaled Meshaal was receied by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on day one of the three-day visit initiated by President Vladimir Putin. Mohammed Nazzal said: “The issue of recognition is a done issue. Meshaal added: The ball is now in Israel’s court. They have to first recognize the national rights of the Palestinians and then we will determine our position.”
Hamas, which will lead the next Palestinian government, has masterminded some 60 deadly suicide bombings against Israelis. The Islamist terrorist group is willing to consider a long-term ceasefire against unacceptable Israeli concessions but not renounce its vow to destroy the Jewish state.
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and as the iranian's, syrians and palestinians ratchet up their anti-Israel rhetoric.. we see the russians cozying up to all 3 more and more.. setting the stage for the eventual gog-magog invasion of israel..
Ezekiel 38-39 describes a Russian-led invasion of Israel in the"latter days" of history..
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him 3 and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. 5 Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.
7 " 'Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.
10 "
'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land." 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, "Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?" '
14 "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
17 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. 18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man's sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'
interestingly, from a passage writted 2600 years ago, we have the fulfilled prophesy of Israel and the Jews being regathered from the 4 corners of the earth.. we have the specific mention of russia and persia (modern day iran) along with a host of other islamic countries.. we have mention of the indecisive euro's asking 'why would you do such a thing?' -- all of this is in place.
ezekiel 39 goes on:
1 "Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. 4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. 5 You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD.
7 " 'I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel. 8 It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day I have spoken of.
the players are in place... the only odd exclusion is the united states of america. interestingly, the Bible talks about china - the kings of the east w/ a 200,000,000 man army.. russia - gog & magog invasion.. europe - the antichrist and reformed roman empire.. islamic countries - edom & persia, cush, put, etc.. and obviously Israel.. but no mention of the only superpower the world knows right now.. there are several options, the most alluring of which would be the rapture would take out the believers, leaving a nation crippled by the loss of many of it's leaders, military and business people.. the less appealing is a nation left ravaged by the results of terrorist attacks, financial collapse and/or internal moral decay.. nevertheless, all speculation aside, there is no mention of the united states or anything resembling the united states.
...may you live in interesting times.