MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

As pivotal as 2011 has been with developments throughout the Islamic world, even more significant events could be just over the horizon in 2012 …

By YAAKOV KATZ – “Hezbollah and Hamas are just some of the challenges Israel could face in the coming year of 2012. With Iran continuing what appears to be an unstoppable race towards obtaining nuclear weapons, 2012 appears to be turning into the year which might be the last chance to stop the Ayatollahs from obtaining the bomb.

Hezbollah, Israel believes, has obtained 50,000 rockets and missiles of various sizes and ranges that encompass the entire State of Israel and could be fired in a future war. This is in comparison to the 15,000 rockets it had just five years ago during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

With predictions that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s days are numbered, concern is growing in Israel over the possibility that in the twilight days of his regime, Assad will attack Israel, possibly with his long-range Scud missiles.

And then there is the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Middle East – the American pullout from Iraq, the future withdrawal from Afghanistan, the revolution in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya – all of which can impact Israel’s security… 2012 is shaping up into one of the most important years in Israel’s existence.” Read more.

Flashback: Israel National News: Will 2012 See The Beginning of Gog-Magog? – “In Israel, we find ourselves in foreboding circumstances today, in Spring 2011. The State of Israel seems to have lost a major measure of its support in the non-Jewish world and is being stampeded into abandoning large parts of the Land of Israel to the tender mercies of sworn enemies who have no peaceful intentions at all – the Palestinians. These are Arabs who constitute a ‘national entity’ invented recently of whole cloth and which never existed in world history. Their wish is to destroy the State of Israel and kill as many Jews as possible in the process. Prime Minister Netanyahu is being pushed into formulating a plan of further concessions, beyond those already granted… The Palestinian enemy fully expects this scenario to materialize and so, steadfastly refuses to negotiate. Since the ‘World’, lead by US President Barack Hussein Obama whose father was a practicing Moslem, does not punish them in any way for not negotiating, they feel vindicated in this assessment.” Read more.

Flashback: Why Iran’s Top Leaders Believe That the End of Days Has Come – “… Iranian leaders may, in fact, have a motive to accelerate direct attacks on the U.S.: Shia Islamic eschatology, or ‘End Times’ theology. Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are convinced that the End of Days has come. They believe the Shia messiah known as the ‘Twelfth Imam’ or the ‘Mahdi’ will appear soon to establish a global Islamic kingdom known as the caliphate. What’s more, they believe the way to hasten the coming of the Twelfth Imam is to annihilate Israel …” Read more.

Flashback: Jews Familiar With Yalkut Shimoni Believe Iran and Saudi Arabia May Soon Fulfill Ancient Messiah Prophecy – “Jews familiar with an ancient compilation of Aggadic exegesis called Yalkut Shimoni noticed in recent weeks that current tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia matches a prophecy it contains regarding the year in which the Messiah – the King who redeems Israel and the world – is to appear. In particular, the recently revealed Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S. and subsequent reports that the Arab nations are pressuring the West to attack Iran, appear to fit the sequence of events predicted in the Yalkut Shimoni. In to the part of the book dealing with the Book of Isaiah, the following passage appears:” Read more.

Flashback:  Jewish Rabbi Reveals the Name of the Messiah (Video):

In this case, the truth will not be what sets anyone free.  Instead, the truth is becoming a stark reminder of the depths to which tyranny and suppression remain deeply embedded in the fabric of Islamic society. It is now, finally, becoming unmistakably clear to an increasing number of observers within the “mainstream” media that in the absence of a so-called secular autocrat wielding an iron fist ready to crush any and all hint of insurrection, its replacement in the aftermath of the Arab Spring is an iron fist of a different kind — a theocratic master that, although patient, is all too ready to exercise its own form of tyranny and suppression.  The only difference this time is that, with the camouflage of a “justice” and “freedom” backdrop, it doesn’t need to take it’s power by force.  It is willingly handed over by the sand of the sea …

By JOHN R BRADLEY – “Stripped above the waist — save for her bright blue bra — the protester lies in a street just off Cairo’s Tahrir Square, seconds before a soldier stamps on her naked torso.

She has been dragged around by her arms and beaten by frenzied soldiers wielding metal batons, but still they won’t let her escape to safety.

This brutal scene from Egypt has sent new shockwaves around the West in the past three days, as the military regime has become ever more brutal towards pro-democracy protesters. Ten people have been killed and more than 400 wounded.

For the ‘girl in the blue bra’, as she has been dubbed by outraged bloggers across the globe, it is a gross violation of human rights — as well as contradicting conventional wisdom about Arab respect for female dignity and modesty.

For the watching world, it encapsulates the reality that Egypt is rapidly sliding back into brutal tyranny. The overthrow of President Mubarak’s despotic regime in February is already a distant memory, and hopes for a new era of freedom following the Arab Spring have turned to dust…

There has been little condemnation from the Islamist political parties, led by the Muslim Brotherhood.

That is because the Islamists, no allies of the pro-democracy movement, are playing the long game. Ultimately, what they aim to construct is a Muslim state run according to strict, fundamentalist Sharia law. And they are well on their way to that goal.

In the first round of the recent Parliamentary elections last month, they emerged as the dominant force.

In the second round, currently underway, it looks as though the Muslim Brotherhood, and the even more extreme Salafi Muslim parties, will again win around 70  per cent of the vote — compared with just over 10 per cent for the parties set up by revolutionaries.

As they march along this road towards a Muslim theocracy, the Islamists are happy for the time being to let the military establishment remain in charge.” Read more.

It is still surprising to me the extent of support that an even more extreme Islamist party, Salafi al-Nour, is receiving at the polls in Egypt.  Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Hamas and Hezbollah did pretty much the same thing …

By Elad Benari – “Egypt’s two leading Islamist parties said on Sunday their parties have secured about three-quarters of votes cast in the second round of a parliamentary election, Reuters reported.

A source from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) told Reuters the party was on track to win about 40 percent of votes for party lists, based on results from most districts.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the ultra-conservative Salafi al-Nour Party told the news agency its list received about 35 percent of votes.

The second round of the voting in Egypt was held last Thursday in Giza, Luxor, Aswan and Ismaila.

In last month’s first poll, the Muslim Brotherhood claimed victory, winning about 40 percent of the ballots.

The once-outlawed Islamists’ Freedom and Justice party had won 34 seats in runoff elections, while Al Nour garnered another five seats, according to the group’s website.

While an official breakdown of results for the list vote has yet to be announced, Reuters noted that both parties’ predictions after the first round were broadly accurate.” Read more.

Egypt: New Islamist Fatwa Forbids Women From Wearing High Heels Outside Home, Forbids Muslims from Voting for Christians – “The recent emergence of the hardline Salafi trend in Egypt after the January 25 revolution has given way to a series of controversial fatwas that mainly focused on women, Copts, culture and democracy. Preacher Mustafa al-Adawi issued a fatwa prohibiting Muslim women from wearing high heels because they are a source of seduction for men. ‘A woman can only wear high heels for her husband but she is not to do so outside her house,’ he said. Another cleric, Sheikh Mahmoud Amer, had issued a fatwa prohibiting Muslims from voting for Coptic candidates or their Muslim counterparts who do not pray on regular basis. ‘It is forbidden by Islam to vote for them and whoever does that will be committing a grave sin,’ he said.” Read more.