MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“WASHINGTON – The gap between the United States and its ally Israel and other countries, especially Muslim nations, is widening as the Palestinian Authority prepares to raise the issue of Palestinian statehood before the United Nations this week, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

A possible outcome is the further isolation of Israel in the Middle East and a heated-up atmosphere if the U.S. Congress follows through on a plan to cut funds to the Palestinian Authority.

Bilateral negotiations between the PA and Israel began in September 2010 but stalled after a few months. The Palestinians cut off discussions and blamed it on Israeli resumption of settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, two areas the Palestinians want to be part of their state.

Now, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has declared that there is no further basis for discussion, and he has decided to take to the U.N. the issue of statehood, knowing that the U.S. will veto the proposal if taken to the U.N. Security Council.

A U.S. veto promises to throw U.S. relations in the Middle East into greater turmoil and further undermine American influence to reach any kind of peace accord between the Israelis and Palestinians and, indeed, relations with other countries in the region.

Faced with a certain veto in the Security Council, Abbas believes his chances of statehood recognition are better in the U.N. General Assembly.

Daniel Rubinstein, the U.S. consul general in Jerusalem, recently told Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator, that the U.S. ‘will take punitive measures’ against the PA if it seeks to upgrade its position at the General Assembly.” Read more.

Dr. Mike Evans: ‘This was created by Obama’ … The Palestianians are following Obama’s lead – “This is the perfect storm.  The dilemma is the following:  The moment this is approved by the United Nations for statehood there cannot be a peace process any more. There can’t be negotiations.  It’s going to be war.  It’s going to be war. Hamas, Hezbollah — all the rest of them — are going to unite against the state of Israel.  It’s going to be war.  What’s going on fundamentally with Gulf oil states is the following: They’re scared to death of the ‘Arab Spring’.  Now, in order to avoid an ‘Arab Spring’ they’ve got to create another crisis greater than the ‘Arab Spring’. They’re doing that right now.  They’re buying into this in spades and they’re gonna fuel it and feed it to deter the focus on them and move it on the State of Israel.” Listen to entire interview.

Palestinian Leader: PA to Proceed with Full UN Membership Bid Because President Obama Endorsed Palestinian State – “‘I’m going to the UN in order to demand our legitimate rights and secure full membership for the state of Palestine,’ the Palestinian president said in Ramallah. ‘We hope to secure full membership.’ … Abbas said the Palestinians will be aiming to ‘secure independence in the 1967 borders and its holy capital, Jerusalem.’ … Abbas added that the Palestinians are proceeding with their United Nations statehood bid in September because US President Barack Obama said previously he wanted to see a Palestinian state.” Read more.

I’m shocked!  C’est pas vrai! …

NY Post – “PARIS — Hundreds of Muslims defied a French ban on outdoor prayer — which came into force Friday –and took to the streets and sidewalks of Paris to pray.

The French government announced Thursday it was banning praying outside, with officials pledging to enforce the ban from Friday.

But 200 Muslims ignored the ban and prayed on the streets in the neighborhood of La Goutte d’Or, Le Parisien newspaper reported.

French interior minister Claude Gueant said he had nothing against Islam but wanted it out of the public eye because France was a secular state.

He added, ‘Street prayers must stop because they hurt the feelings of many of our compatriots who are shocked by the occupation of the public space for a religious practice.’

Although officials would persuade people to pray in mosques, Muslims who continued to pray in the street would be arrested, Gueant warned.

The ban angered French Muslim leaders who said Muslims only prayed outdoors because of a lack of space in mosques in France.” Read more.

Au Revoir: Islam Set to Become Dominant Religion in France – “New research suggests there are now more practising Muslims in France than practising Catholics. While 64 percent of French people describe themselves as Roman Catholic, only 2.9 percent of the population actually practice the Catholic faith. That compares to 3.8 percent of the population who practice the Muslim faith. The research was carried out by the French Institute of Public Opinion on behalf of the Catholic newspaper La Croix. More worrying for Islamic authorities in France is the finding that only 41 percent of the country’s 6 million Muslims actually describe themselves as ‘practising,’ although 75 percent are happy to label themselves ‘believers.’” Read more.

“MALE, September 17 (HNS) – Maldives Criminalizes Preaching Any Religion But Islam

President’s Office has gazetted the controversial Religious Unity Regulation, declaring it an offence to preach a religion except Islam in the Maldives.

The 12-clause regulation makes it mandatory for preachers of Islam, both locals and foreigners, to have a first degree in a field of Islamic education from a ministry-approved college, university or centre.

A list of 36 worldwide institutes recognized by the ministry has been published in the gazette. The Maldives National University and local colleges and institutes are not included in the list.

The Islamic ministry is authorized under the regulation to license experienced persons who do not possess the educational qualification required.

The regulation, which instructs scholars to consider the social harmony, states practices that should be avoided in preaching Islam in the Maldives, including the practice of making comments in contradiction with prophetic traditions and majority view of the scholars.

The regulation does not allow preventing healthcare and education in the name of religion. It further instructs preachers to avoid giving sermons that support gender discrimination, racism or any other form of discrimination.

‘In explaining an issue that has been disputed by scholars, the different views expressed by scholars should be explained. If the scholar favors a certain point of view, evidence to support his view should be made clear,’ the regulation reads.

The regulation also prohibits comments of hatred towards people of other religions, spreading a religion other than Islam and using an object that resembles a sign of a religion other than Islam.

A person who violates the regulation will be sentenced to 2-5 years in prison, banishment or house arrest.” Read more.

By Vikram Dodd and Richard Norton-Taylor – “Counter-terrorism officers have arrested six men, with the authorities fearing a mass-casualty attack on the British mainland was at an ‘advanced stage’ of planning, the Guardian has learned.

The arrests were made in Birmingham, with six young men arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, with a 22-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of failing to disclose information.

Police say the alleged plot, which they believe to be al-Qaida inspired, was thwarted after counter-terrorism officials received or developed intelligence about the men.

The arrests took place from 11.30am on Sunday, with the last suspect detained at around 1am on Monday morning. The raids took place in several deprived areas of the city that have sizeable Muslim populations.

The Liberal Democrat conference, which is taking place in Birmingham, was not a target.

West Midlands police said they had led a ‘major counter-terrorism operation’ which was intelligence-led. The operation involved the domestic security service, MI5, with officers from Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command supporting the Birmingham-based force.

The terrorist threat level for the UK remained at ‘substantial’ after the arrests. It was lowered from the higher level of ‘severe’ in July.

The series of arrests, described as ‘significant’, suggest the intelligence surrounding them is sufficient to meet the standards required for court evidence.

Whitehall sources described it as a ‘major intelligence-led operation’ and added that the latest arrests showed that the threat from extremist Islamist ideology had not evaporated despite the deaths of Bin Laden and other prominent al-Qaida individuals in recent US drone strikes on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.” Read more.

NATO, is this the liberated Libya you fought to build up? …

BBC – “Hundreds of African migrant workers in Libya have been imprisoned by fighters allied to the new interim authorities, accused of being mercenaries for Col Muammar Gaddafi, and there are claims that homes have been looted, and women and girls beaten and raped, as the BBC’s Ian Pannell reports.

It was a visit the Nigerian family had been dreading.

They had been hiding in their tiny slum home in a Tripoli suburb since Col Gaddafi had been swept from power, fearing the knock at the door. Earlier this month 20 rebel fighters came, demanding to be let in, shouting ‘murtazaka’.

It is the word every black African in Libya knows too well. Murtazaka is Arabic for ‘mercenary’, the armed men allegedly employed by the former regime to carry out some of the worst excesses of the conflict.

The fighters forced their way into the Nigerian family’s home. They beat the couple living there. They stole their possessions and money, abducted the father of the house and turned on his 16-year-old daughter. She told us what happened:

‘A group of armed men came to our house. They started knocking, they came in saying ‘murtazaka’. They locked my mother inside a toilet. Six of them raped me. They took our belongings and money. My father tried to stop them but they hit him and carried him away.’

That was nearly three weeks ago and she has not seen or heard of her father since.” Read more.

Obama-backed rebels torture, lynch, even behead Libyan blacks – “There are persistent reports that U.S.-backed Libyan rebels are killing black Libyans in towns and villages near Tripoli, but the Obama administration and many members of the Congressional Black Caucus remain relatively mute about what human rights groups and eye-witnesses call war crimes and genocide, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. The rebels committing the slaughter also have the backing of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, without which they would not have ousted the government of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who remains in hiding amid reports that he is preparing a counter-insurgency campaign against the loosely controlled rebels.” Read more.

Revelation 13:3a, “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed …”

By Sergei Balmasov – “A hundred years after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey is re-emerging on the international arena. Furthermore, it intends to regain the ground lost in the 19th-20th centuries, which is a direct threat to the interests of all the neighboring countries, including Russia.
 Consider the actions of the Turkish leadership during the past weeks that have caused serious concerns in Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran and the EU.

Particularly noteworthy are the frictions of Ankara and Tel Aviv, which raise questions about preservation of the Alliance between the two. The Turkish leadership provides a strong support to the Palestinians, and threatened to appeal to the international authorities with a demand to monitor the Israeli nuclear program and promised to prevent the development of Israeli-rich gas fields in the Mediterranean.

Finally, a serious concern in Israel was caused by the fact that on September 7, Turkey announced its intention to sign an important military agreement with Egypt during a corresponding visit of the Turkish government. Of course, this is a historic day in the history of the entire Middle East. Given the sharp rise in anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey and in Egypt, as well as the ongoing processes of evolution of power in several North African countries, the concerns of Israelis about the activity of Ankara on the Egyptian direction are quite understandable.
” Read more.

Report: Erdogan plans to visit Iran – “Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he plans to pay a visit to Iran in the near future, according to Turkish media. Erdogan made the announcement in an interview with reporters in Tunisia on Thursday. Erdogan’s visit to Tehran will be important because Turkey has agreed to host an early warning radar as part of NATO’s missile defense system, which is ostensibly meant to counter an alleged ballistic missile threat from Iran. Tehran has expressed disapproval of the decision.” Read more.

Iran FM: Arab Spring heralds emergence of Islamic Middle East – “Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Salehi on Sunday told a conference in Tehran that the Arab Spring is heralding the emergence of an Islamic Middle East, PressTV reported. Speaking at a conference on ‘Islamic Awakening,’ the Iranian foreign minister attributed the developments in the Arab world to ‘the unhealthy and oppressive relations between certain governments and their nations’ in recent decades.” Read more.

Turkey Predicts Alliance With Egypt as Regional Anchors – “A newly assertive Turkey offered on Sunday a vision of a starkly realigned Middle East, where the country’s former allies in Syria and Israel fall into deeper isolation, and a burgeoning alliance with Egypt underpins a new order in a region roiled by revolt and revolution. The portrait was described by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey in an hourlong interview before he was to leave for the United Nations, where a contentious debate was expected this week over a Palestinian bid for recognition as a state.” Read more.

By David Kerr – “New research suggests there are now more practising Muslims in France than practising Catholics.

While 64 percent of French people describe themselves as Roman Catholic, only 2.9 percent of the population actually practice the Catholic faith. That compares to 3.8 percent of the population who practice the Muslim faith. The research was carried out by the French Institute of Public Opinion on behalf of the Catholic newspaper La Croix.

More worrying for Islamic authorities in France is the finding that only 41 percent of the country’s 6 million Muslims actually describe themselves as ‘practising,’ although 75 percent are happy to label themselves ‘believers.’ Seventy-percent also claim to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Most French Muslims hail from the country’s former colonies in North and sub-Saharan Africa.

There is also further evidence that mosques are being erected at a much faster rate than Catholic churches. Mohammed Moussaoui, President of the Muslim Council of France, last month estimated that 150 new mosques are currently under construction across the country.

By contrast, the Catholic Church in France has built only 20 new churches during the past decade, and has formally closed more than 60 churches. Many of these are now destined to become mosques, according to La Croix.

Research in 2009 by the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research suggested that nearly 500 new mosques were built between 2001 and 2006, taking the present total to over 2,000. Many of these new buildings, however, were erected to re-accommodate local Islamic communities who had previously been using temporary accommodation – the so-called ‘Islam of the basements.’

One of France’s most prominent Muslim leaders, Dalil Boubakeur, who is the head of the Grand Mosque of Paris, recently called for the number of mosques in the country to be doubled again – to 4,000 – to meet growing demand.” Read more.

By Henry Samuel – “Claude Guéant said that ban could later be extended to the rest of France, in particular to the Mediterranean cities of Nice and Marseilles, where ‘the problem persists’.

He promised the new legislation would be followed to the letter as it ‘hurts the sensitivities of many of our fellow citizens’.

‘My vigilance will be unflinching for the law to be applied. Praying in the street is not dignified for religious practice and violates the principles of secularism,’ the minister told Le Figaro newspaper.

‘All Muslim leaders are in agreement,’ he insisted.

In December when Marine Le Pen, then leader-in-waiting of the far-Right National Front, sparked outrage by likening the practice to the Nazi occupation of Paris in the Second World War ‘without the tanks or soldiers’. She said it was a ‘political act of fundamentalists’.

More than half of right-wing sympathisers in France agreed with Marine Le Pen, at least one poll suggested.

Nicolas Sarkozy’s party denounced the comments, but the President called for a debate on Islam and secularism and went on to say that multiculturalism had failed in France.

Following the debate, Mr Guéant promised a countrywide ban ‘within months’, saying the ‘street is for driving in, not praying’.

In April, a ban on wearing the full Islamic veil came into force. Holland today became the third European country to ban the burka, after Belgium, despite the fact fewer than 100 Dutch women are thought to wear the face-covering Islamic dress.

Yesterday, Mr Guéant said the prayer problem was limited to two roads in the Goutte d’Or district of Paris’s eastern 19th arrondissement, where ‘more than a thousand’ people blocked the street every Friday.

However, a stroll through several districts in Paris on a Friday suggests that Muslims spill into the streets outside many mosques.” Read more.

Flashback: In France, far right seizes on Muslim street prayers – “A call to prayer goes up from a loudspeaker perched on the hood of a car, and all at once hundreds of Muslim worshippers touch their foreheads to the ground, forming a sea of backs down the road. The scene is taking place not in downtown Cairo, but on a busy market street in northern Paris, a short walk from the Sacre Coeur basilica. To locals, it’s old news: some have been praying on the street, rain or shine, for decades. But for Marine Le Pen — tipped to take over from her father this weekend as leader of the far-right National Front party — it is proof that Muslims are taking over France and becoming an occupying force, according to remarks she made last month.” Read more.