MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Revelation 6:2-8, “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering … And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another … and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand… And I looked, and behold a [χλωρός – “green“] horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts [θηρίον – “savage, brutal, bestial men”] of the earth…”

“It’s not surprising that the Middle East is constantly at war. It’s only a wonder that the fighting ever stops.” What is happening in the Middle East today is but an epitomized recapitulation of Islamic history itself …

By Daniel Greenfield, FrontPage Mag – “Saudi Arabia and Qatar aren’t talking to each other. Syria and Turkey are shooting at each other. Not only are the Shiites and Sunnis killing each other in Syria, but the Sunni groups have been killing each other for some time now. There are even two or three Al Qaedas fighting each other over which of them is the real Al Qaeda.

There’s something about Syria that splits down everything and everyone. Even Hamas had to split between its political and military wings when choosing between Iran’s weapons and Qatar’s money. Doing the logical thing, the military wing took the weapons and the political wing took the money so that the military wing of Hamas supported Assad and its political wing supported the Sunni opposition.

It’s not however money and weapons that splits Muslims over Syria. Money and weapons are only the symbols. What they represent is Islam. And what Islam represents is the intersection between identity and power.

A modern state derives its power from its identity. The Japanese and the Russians were willing to die in large numbers for their homeland during WW2. Both countries had undergone rapid de-feudalization turning peasants into citizens. Japan and Russia however had historic identities to draw on. The rapid de-feudalization in the Arab world had messier results because countries such as Jordan and Syria were Frankenstein’s monsters made out of bits and pieces of assembled parts of history stuck together with crazy glue.

The Middle East is full of flags, but most are minor variations on the same red, green, black and white theme. The difference between the Palestinian flag and the Jordanian flag is a tiny asterisk on the chevron representing the unity of the Arab peoples. The Iraqi flag was originally the same as the Jordanian and Palestinian flags. So are most of the flags in the region which are based on the Arab Revolt flag which was in turn based on the colors of the Caliphates.

Every time you see the Al Qaeda ‘black flag’ of Jihad, it’s already represented in the black stripes on the flags of every Arab nation. What Al Qaeda has done is Read more…

Matthew 10:22, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

By Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute – “As happens at Christmas every year throughout the Muslim world, Christians and their churches were especially targeted — from jihadi terror strikes killing worshippers, to measures by Muslim authorities restricting Christmas celebrations.

In Denmark, Christmas Eve witnessed Islamic demonstrations and cries of ‘Allahu Akbar’ (‘Allah is greater,’ meaning: than anything.).

In Iraq, according to the Associated Press [AP], ‘Militants targeted Christians in three separate Christmas Day bombings in Baghdad, killing at least 37 people, officials said Wednesday. In one attack, a car bomb went off near a church in the capital’s southern Dora neighborhood, killing at least 26 people and wounding 38, a police officer said. Earlier, two bombs ripped through a nearby outdoor market simultaneously in the Christian section of Athorien, killing 11 people and wounding 21.’

In Iran, five Muslim converts to Christianity were arrested in a house-church during a Christmas celebration. Plainclothes Iranian security authorities raided a house where, according to Mohabat News, ‘a group of Christians had gathered to celebrate Christmas on Tuesday, December 24.’ Before arresting the five apostates, authorities ‘insulted and searched those in attendance, and seized all Christian books, CDs, and laptops they found. They also took the Satellite TV receiver.’

In Indonesia, Muslims in the Aceh province protested against Christmas and New Year celebrations and called on authorities to ban them. Days earlier, an influential Islamic clerical organization, the Ulema Consultative Assembly, issued a fatwa, or opinion, ‘prohibiting Muslims from offering Christmas wishes or celebrating on New Year’s Eve,’ the AP reported.

In Kenya, ‘Youths threw petrol bombs at two Kenyan churches on Christmas day … in the latest bout of violence against Christians on the country’s predominantly Muslim coast,’ according to Reuters. The attacks occurred ‘in the early hours of December 25 after churchgoers held services to usher in Christmas.’ One church was ‘completely destroyed.’

In Somalia, the ‘moderate’ government — as it is often portrayed in comparison to the Al Shabaab (‘The Youth’) opposition — banned Christmas celebrations. Hours before Christmas day, the Ministry of Justice and Religious Affairs released a directive banning any Christian festivities. In the words of one ministry official: ‘We alert fellow Muslims in Somalia that some festivities to mark Christian Days will take place around the world in this week. It is prohibited to celebrate those days in this country.’ All security and law enforcement agencies were instructed to quash any Christian celebrations.

In Pakistan, during Christmas Eve services, ‘Heavy contingents of police were deployed around the churches to thwart any untoward incident.’ In some regions, ‘prayer service at major churches focused on remembering the Pakistani Christians who lost their lives in terror attacks.’ Three months earlier, for instance, Islamic suicide bombers entered the All Saints Church compound in Peshawar after Sunday mass and blew themselves amidst approximately 550 congregants. They killed 130 worshippers, including

“The sword is the key of heaven and hell; a drop of blood shed in the cause of Allah, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting or prayer: whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven …” – Spoken by the “prophet” Mohammed as he beheaded hundreds of Jewish males of the Beni Quraiza tribe

If it was good for the “prophet” of Islam to personally behead hundreds, then all good Islamists are encouraged to mimic his perfect example  …

Qur’an Sura 33:21, “Indeed in Allah’s Messenger (Mohammad) you have an excellent example to follow for him who hopes in (meeting with) Allah and the Last Day …”

Shoebat – “Shoebat.com has just received a message from our Middle East contact Sister Hatune Dogan, an Eastern Orthodox nun we partnered with to rescue Christians in Syria and Iraq. In this correspondence she has described horrific details on what Muslims are currently committing against Christians, which she has received from surviving Christians who have fled the torrent of violence in Syria.

While ttending to persecuted Christians from Syria Sister Dogan received a story from one Christian survivor named Abd Alluhud, who has become psychologically ruined from seeing such cruelty, in which Muslims beheaded hundreds of victims, and left their corpses to be consumed by dogs. She wrote to us:

The story of the man Abd Alluhud is etched in my mind. He is now locked up in a room. He was so traumatized by what he’d seed that he broke his hand by striking out in emotional pain.

Alluhud is a wreck. He seems to only get worse. He has three daughters and a little son of about five years. The daughters are older, but not older than 15 years. His wife was a teacher. He owned much land near Aleppo in Syria. The family has seen a lot of suffering and persecution, and much misery. He reported that hundreds of people killed by fanatics; they were beheaded. Dogs would feed on the victims. Again and again he imagines what he and his children had to witness. The horror is deeply imprinted on his soul. Now he lives in southeastern Turkey.

As Shoebat.com has written in a previous article, Alluhud, from seeing such immense amounts of slaughter and decapitations, has become so emotionally unstable that he continued to slam his hand until it was injured:

Alluhud’s hand in a cast, from continuously slamming his hand from nervous breakdowns

Sister Dogan, in her trip in Turkey, also met a women who extremely disturbed, because [her] husband was butchered by Muslims. Why? Simply for the reason that he was wearing a Cross:

There is another family I visited that was marked by misfortune. The father was killed because he was wearing a cross around his neck. His wife, who told me about it, suffers tremendously.

These are just two of the countless stories of murder, torture, and extremely brutal violence Read more…

Were they beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam? Most likely. Here’s an update on this story …

Qur’an Sura 8:12b, “… terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Qur’an.”

Revelation 20:4b, “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

Barnabas Fund – “The population of a Christian town in north-west Syria was forced to flee when it was besieged by Islamist rebels; 80 people were killed, at least 13 of whom were beheaded, churches desecrated and homes looted.

Militants from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, Sham al-Islam and Ansar al-Sham attacked Kessab on the Turkish border early on Friday 21 March.

Around 3,000 Armenian Christian residents fled for their lives, taking refuge in neighbouring Latakia and Bassit. Some are staying with relatives and friends, but the rest are sheltering in over-crowded church buildings.

A dozen or so families with members too elderly to leave remained in Kessab and were subsequently taken hostage.

Barnabas Aid partners in Syria have been helping the displaced Christian families, who fled empty-handed. We are providing food, clothing, hygiene materials and other essentials.

Following the Islamist takeover of Kessab, a strategically important town, the Syrian army launched a counter-offensive in an effort to regain control of the territory, and fighting has continued. Kessab was the last border crossing with Turkey still in Syrian government hands. It had previously been relatively peaceful and was full of refugees who had fled violence in other parts of Syria.” Read more.

The “Prophet” Mohammed, Al Bukhari Hadith 2977, “I have been made victorious with terror.”

Flashback: Syria: Rebels Attack Christian Homes, Churches, Many Feared Dead, ‘Convert To Islam Or You Will Be Beheaded’ – “A Maaloula resident said the rebels, many of them sporting beards and shouting [Allahu akbar], attacked Christian homes and churches shortly after moving into the village overnight… Now, Maaloula ‘is a ghost town. Where is President Obama to see what befallen on us?’ asked the man… Another resident, a Christian man, said he saw militants forcing some Christian residents to convert to Islam. ‘I saw the militants grabbing five villagers Wednesday and threatening them (saying): `Either you convert to Islam, or you will be beheaded,’ he said.” Read more.

Flashback: Syria: Young Christian Man Beheaded On The Spot After Islamists Notice Cross Necklace – “Islamist groups have killed and beheaded a young Christian man, seriously wounding another. The incident, which occurred on 8 January, was reported to Fides only now by a priest in the diocese of Homs. The two, Firas Nader (29), and Fadi Matanius Mattah (34), were traveling by car from Homs to the Christian village of Marmarita. A group of five armed jihadists intercepted the vehicle and opened fire on the car. Upon reaching the car, militiamen, noting that Fadi was wearing a cross around his neck, beheaded him. ” Read more.

Flashback: Syria: Entire Christian Family Beheaded By Suspected Islamists In Damascus – “As reported by Fides sources in Damascus, the Christians in the suburbs of Jaramana (south-west of Damascus) and Zamalka (South-East of the city) are under pressure from armed groups jiahdisti and are terrified. Today in Zamalka a family of Armenian Christians was found murdered, and all members of the family horribly decapitated. The execution brings to mind the work of radical Islamist Salafis. These acts, which affect innocent people, have generated anger and confusion in the Christian community.” Read more.

By Raymond Ibrahim, FrontPage Mag – “Far from being repentant of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey, under the leadership of Prime Minister Erdogan, is again targeting Armenians; is again causing their death and dislocation.

In the early morning hours of March 21, al-Qaeda linked Islamic jihadis crossed into Syrian territory from the Turkish border and launched a jihad on the Christian/Armenian town of Kessab. Among other thing, ‘Snipers targeted the civilian population and launched mortar attacks on the town and the surrounding villages.’  Reportedly eighty people were killed.

The jihadis later made a video touring the devastated town; no translation is needed, as the main phrase shouted throughout is Islam’s triumphant war cry, ‘Allahu Akbar’ (or, according to Sen. John McCain’s translation, ‘thank God’).

Eyewitnesses say the jihadis crossed the Turkish border into Syria, ‘openly passing through Turkish military barracks. According to Turkish media reports, the attackers carried their injured back to Turkey for treatment in the town of Yayladagi.’

About two-thousand Armenians were evacuated to safer areas in neighboring Basit and Latakia. Several of these families are currently living inside the churches of these towns. Ten to fifteen families with relations too elderly to flee remained in Kessab, their fate currently unknown.” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey’s Christians Fear Possible Hate Campaign – “A predominantly Muslim nation, Turkey has occasionally seen anti-Christian campaigns, some with tragic consequences. But the scale of protests against New Year’s celebrations this year was unprecedented. Previously, some Islamic media would denounce the festivities as un-Islamic, but never before have we seen acts threatening those who celebrate. As fellow Al-Monitor contributor Pinar Tremblay described, members of Turkey’s tiny Christian minority were already depressed, bemoaning the increasingly subdued fashion of their Christmas celebrations and the ‘long gone memory’ of times past, when Christians and Muslims shared holidays.” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey: Muslims Subjecting More Christians to Discrimination and Attacks, Followers of Christ Vilified in Media, Textbooks – “… Christians in Turkey continue to suffer attacks from private citizens, discrimination by lower-level government officials and vilification in both school textbooks and news media, according to a study by a Protestant group. In its annual ‘Report on Human Rights Violations,’ released in January, the country’s Association of Protestant Churches notes mixed indicators of improvement but states that there is a ‘root of intolerance’ in Turkish society toward adherents of non-Islamic faiths. ‘The removal of this root of intolerance is an urgent problem that still awaits to be dealt with,’ the report states.” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey, Key US Ally, Added to List of Worst Religious Freedom Offenders – “Turkey, considered a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, has been placed on a U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) list of worst religious offenders, alongside countries such as Iran, Iraq and North Korea – once known as the ‘axis of evil,’ a phrase coined by former U.S. President George W. Bush in the wake of 9/11. In the last few years, Turkey was present on USCIRF’s watch-list of countries that might be committing religious suppression, but its latest report, released in March and covering the period between April 1, 2011 and Feb. 29, 2012, has placed the Eastern European nation on its list of ‘countries of particular concern’ category …” Read more.

Reporting the truth of the plight of Christians living all across the Muslim world would destroy the politically correct myth that Islam is a “peaceful” religion and that extremist violence is only practiced by a “tiny minority” of Muslims. Reality is an inconvenient truth for Western Islamists and their leftist enablers. “In 1900, 20% of the Middle East was Christian. Today, less than 2% is” … 

Matthew 24:22, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering …”

Acts 14:22b, “… we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

By Raymond Ibrahim, Islam Translated – “The Torch (Christians United for Israel’s Magazine, Winter 2014)

‘To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace’ — Hebrews 6:6

The United Nations, Western governments, media, universities, and talking heads everywhere insist that Palestinians are suffering tremendous abuses from the state of Israel.  Conversely, the greatest human rights tragedy of our time — radical Muslim persecution of Christians, including in Palestinian controlled areas — is devotedly ignored.

The facts speak for themselves. Reliable estimates indicate that anywhere from 100-200 million Christians are persecuted every year; one Christian is martyred every five minutes. Approximately 85% of this persecution occurs in Muslim majority nations. In 1900, 20% of the Middle East was Christian. Today, less than 2% is.

In one week in Egypt alone, where my Christian family emigrated, the Muslim Brotherhood launched akristallnacht—attacking, destroying, and/or torching some 82 Christian churches (some of which were built in the 5th century, when Egypt was still a Christian-majority nation before the Islamic conquests).  Al-Qaeda’s black flag has been raised atop churches.  Christians — including priests, women and children — have been attacked, beheaded, and killed.

Nor is such persecution of Christians limited to Egypt.   From Morocco in the west to Indonesia in the east and from Central Asia to the north to sub-Saharan Africa to the south; across thousands of miles of lands inhabited by peoples who do not share the same races, languages, cultures, and/or socio-economic conditions, millions of Christians are being persecuted and in the same exact patterns.

Muslim converts to Christianity and Christian evangelists are attacked, imprisoned, and sometimes beheaded; countless churches across the Islamic world are being banned or bombed; Christian women and children are being abducted, enslaved, raped, and/or forced to renounce their faith.

Far from helping these Christian victims, U.S. policies are actually exacerbating their sufferings.  Whether in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, or Syria, and under the guise of the U.S.-supported ‘Arab Spring,’ things have gotten dramatically worse for Christians.  Indeed, during a recent U.S. congressional hearing, it was revealed that thousands of traumatized Syrian Christians — who, like Iraqi Christians before them are undergoing a mass exodus from their homeland — were asking ‘Why is America at war with us?’

The answer is that very few Americans have any clue concerning what is happening to their coreligionists.

Read more…

For peaceful purposes …

Qur’an Sura 4:76a, “Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah …”

Hadith, Al Bukhari 2:24, “Allah’s Apostle said: ‘I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle …”

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The Armenian Weekly – “A delegation of priest from the Catholicosate of Cilicia who had visited Latakia to assess the needs of Kessab Armenians and express solidarity returned to Antelias after the Sunday Badarak.

According to the delegation, the local Armenian community, the International Red Cross, and the Red Crescent are providing assistance to those who have sought refuge in the city. An estimated 2,000 Kessab Armenians are currently in Latakia.

‘Many Armenian families are staying with relatives and friends, while others have sought refuge in the Armenian Church and the church’s hall,’ said Syrian Armenian community activist Nerses Sarkissian during a phone interview with Weekly editor Khatchig Mouradian.

‘The Aleppo Armenian Prelacy as well as the Red Crescent are providing relief and assistance to these families in Latakia,’ Sarkissian added.

Extremist fighters engage in robbery and desecration

The fighters, mostly from the extremist Nusra Front, who have entered Kessab are desecrating churches, pillaging houses, and destroying government buildings, Sarkissian told the Weekly. A few Syrian Armenians have been unable to leave Kessab, and their fate is unclear, he added.

Sarkissian underlined that the fighters came from the Turkish side of the border and are receiving support from the Turkish military. He noted that the injured among them are being transported back to Turkey to receive medical attention…

Perched in the northwestern corner of Syria, near the border with Turkey, Kessab had, until very recently, evaded major battles between the army and rebels. Many Syrians had taken refuge there because of the relative calm in the area over the past three years.” Read more.

Flashback: Again: Syria’s Christians Threatened To ‘Convert, Submit To Islam Or Face The Sword’ – “Convert. Submit to Islam. Or face the sword.’ In recent days, the besieged Christian community in Raqqa – a city in northern Syria – has faced those three stark alternatives. The terrorist group known as ISIS – the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – made their demands after seizing control of the region. They required the local Christians to renounce their faith and embrace Islam, assent to extreme subjugation, or face death.” Read more.

Flashback: Syria: Jihadists Impose Islamic-Sanctioned Extortion Upon Local Christians, Threaten Death For Noncompliance – “A jihadist group linked to al -Qaeda has released a set of rules of submission for Christians of Raqqa. These include a protection fee, the order to practice their faith in the privacy of their homes and a ban on wearing any obvious sign of Christianity. The rules (termed ‘Agreement’) were drawn up and are being imposed by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a group linked to al- Qaeda in Iraq and which aims to create a single caliphate that spans the Middle East, North Africa, Andalusia and southern Italy, the ancient Arab and Islamic lands.” Read more.