And to think that it was our own Jimmy Carter that set us up for this debacle.

However, I suspect that civil war will happen before war with Israel.

We’ll see.

Israel-Egypt peace appears to be nearing its end

Tuesday, January 03, 2012 | Ryan Jones

Egypt’s new dominant political force, the Muslim Brotherhood, vowed this week to increase Cairo’s hostility toward Israel and possibly even cancel the Camp David Accords.

This was contrary to all the grand statements by Egyptian, Israeli and Western diplomats that the Camp David Accords were in no danger, but comes as absolutely no surprise to observers viewing the situation through the lens of reality.

In an interview with the Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat published on Sunday, Muslim Brotherhood deputy leader Dr. Rashad Bayoumi insisted that his group will never recognize Israel or its right to exist “under any circumstance.”

When reminded that the Camp David Accords obligate Egypt’s government to recognize and have peaceful relations with Israel, Bayoumi said he doesn’t care.

“This is not an option, whatever the circumstances, we do not recognize Israel at all,” said Bayoumi, adding, “The Brotherhood respects international conventions, but we will take legal action against the peace treaty with the Zionist entity.”

Bayoumi’s remarks followed the first two rounds of voting in Egypt’s first parliamentary election since the fall of former dictator Hosni Mubarak. The Muslim Brotherhood is on track to control 40 percent of the parliament by the time the third round of voting is completed this week. Allied Islamist party al-Nour will come in second place by winning around 30 percent of the vote.

Western leaders have tried to downplay the fact that Egypt’s next government will be controlled by Islamist parties with ties to Hamas and other terror groups. But for anyone listening to Egypt’s new leaders themselves, it is clear that Egypt is going in the direction of Iran and that the days of the Camp David Accords are numbered.

Read the rest of the article, here.

It defies logic. It truly does.

The lies that am referring to claim that Israel is culpable in the origin and suffering of the Palestinian refugees – when the truth originates in precisely the opposite direction. The Arabs are the source of the refugee problem, just as they are the source of their suffering as well.

I have argued this point about the Palestinian refugees for two decades, and few seem able to absorb the point.

If the world truly wants to help Palestinian refugees, they first need to stop lying about them.

Here is an awesome video that you should pass on to as many people as you know:

Israel is not the source or the cause of the refugee problem.

Good.

We’re off to the second part in a literally earth-shaking quadrad of chapters in Ezekiel. We did 36 yesterday. We’re doing 37 today, and 38 and 39 are for Monday and Tuesday.

Didya’ notice how Tuesday is spelled T-u-e-s-d-a-y, instead of T-e-u-s-d-a-y, or T-e-w-s-d-a-y?

I wonder why.

I think that I’m on too much Methylprednisolone.

Where were we?  Oh, right.

This chapter is ominous sounding, and most people get it wrong. Let’s see if we can see a way to get it right.

Ezekiel 37

1 The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.

2 And he caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou knowest.

The word picture here is powerful. Dry, sterile death. Hopelessness. Utter and absolute destruction, except for one thing…

There are at least bones. The remains of what once was, still continues on. And God is going to use what is there (those dry bones) to build again.

4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah.

5 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

God is going to take what is almost destroyed, almost eliminated and make something new. God is going to reanimate what was lifeless and scattered. And, He speaks to the lifeless, even though they cannot hear.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

8 And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.

Now, after Ezekiel speaks, we see the bones transformed. They are now recognizable as people. They are no longer dry and sterile. If we were looking out through Ezekiel’s eyes, they’d probably seem to be asleep.

9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

I don’t think that it’s an accident that the word for wind (ru-ach, ach like Bach) is the same word for spirit. God tells Ezekiel to tell el ruach to come from the four winds and give life to the bodies.

El ruach? God (el) of spirit (ruach)? Or, is el another way to say the. I mean, that is kinda how it’s used in other parts of the bible, also. So… it’s probably the. Because, if it isn’t the, we’re into Holy Spirit territory, and that could be bad.

Really bad.

Just sayin’.

(For those of you who didn’t understand any of that, see me after class.)

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.

12 Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people.

14 And I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it, saith Jehovah.

So, what are these graves?

Are they real, honest-to-goodness graves?

No.

They cannot possibly be real graves with dead people in them. This is a metaphor, one of many, many metaphors in the bible.

Let me make it more clear: God is not going to bring the Jews back to their land, only to kill them so that He can bring them back to life again. Nowhere else in the bible do we see God killing a bunch of people and bringing them back to life again just to prove how big a dude He is.

And, it doesn’t make sense, in context with what Chapter 36 says here:

36:24 For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

36:25 And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

36:27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them.

36:28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

So, when God brings the Jews back to Israel, they will all get rained on and have open-heart surgery?

Right.

The fact is, the ‘Vision of the Dry Bones’ is a retelling of what happens in verses 24-28 of the previous chapter – except, in this case, God is emphasizing the CHARACTER of Israel’s exile.

These graves are Israel’s exile. And, God sent Israel into exile because they were given a choice between death and life, and they chose death.

But, they get a second chance.

Let’s continue with the rest of chapter 37:

15 The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying,

16 And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

17 and join them for thee one to another into one stick, that they may become one in thy hand.

18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?

19 say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.

20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes.

21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

22 and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;

23 neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

Does this sound like God bringing the Jews to Israel to die?

No.

God is telling us that there will never again be a division among the Jews. They won’t know if they are of the tribe of Judah, Benjamin or Dan – although, it would make sense for some to know that they were of the tribe of Levi. (Certainly everyone with the last name Cohen, or Levi, would understand this.)

24 And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.

And, I reall, REALLY like this part.

Who is this David?

Messiah! (Mashiach)

Remember when I said yesterday that my Jewish friends and I will understand who was right, and who was wrong? Well, that’s what this is.

And yes, that’s Jesus.

And no, THIS IS NOT THE MILLENIUM!

This is an allegory towards a spiritual transformation in which the Mashiach, ben David (son of David) leads Israel.

Stop jumping into this ‘millenium’ stuff every time something looks a little different. Stay focused.

Ahem!

25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, for ever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.

Let me take a moment to speak to my Jewish friends:

Riddle me this. How can a man, David, be the Prince of Israel forever?

We’re talking about Mashiach here, right?

He lives for ever?

So… we’re saying that Mashiach is not just a man, right?

Or, that he’s something more than a man.

And, Jesus was different from this in what way?

Just askin’.

26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

28 And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah that sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Amen! Amen!

I love these chapters in Ezekiel because they are filled with such good news about the future. It shows us that God loves His people and is bringing them back. And, it shows us that one day, the Jews and the Christians will once again be one people.

That’s right.

When we get to this point in time, we’ll both know who’s right. If the Christians are proven wrong, we’ll all become Jews, and if the Christians are proven right, we’ll all be Christian.

Anybody want to venture a guess as to how I think that one will turn out?

No?

There’s a saying that goes something like this: When things are bad, a Jew cries. When they get even worse, a Jew cries more. And when they even get worse, a Jew laughs. As indelicate as this may seem, the current situation makes me want to laugh.

I’m not sure that I could have said it better. Actually, I’m not sure that I could have said it at all, being that I’m not Jewish myself. My own thieving Scottish ancestors weren’t nearly as educated, long suffering or even erudite. (Of course, Clan Little was writ large in the annals of history as some of the best light cavalry in Europe – which is what happens when you make a habit of stealing horses.)

The situation is so bad, so ludicrously bad, you have to laugh. And no, I’m not talking about my ridiculous Scottish ancestors. (They were undoubtedly superb at stealing sheep.)

Our response to our current situation is so awful that laughing is the only option. The alternative is a self-loathing so profound that we’d all need therapy and heavy sedation – that is, if a miracle happened and we all woke up to reality and discovered the mess we’d made.

Trust me. It’s better to laugh. Reality is overrated.

Here’s the first part of his article as it appeared in Pajamas Media:

The Middle East Today: Ha, Ha, Ha! Stop! It’s Too Funny! I Can’t Take It Any More!

October 15, 2011 – 9:20 pm – by Barry Rubin

There’s a saying that goes something like this: When things are bad, a Jew cries. When they get even worse, a Jew cries more. And when they even get worse, a Jew laughs. As indelicate as this may seem, the current situation makes me want to laugh.

That’s so because things are more ridiculous than they are scary. As the advice and claims of others get increasingly absurd, you have no desire to listen to them. You just have to do what you know is right and stop having any doubts about it precisely because the arguments on the other side are just so historically inaccurate, factually false, and illogical.

For those joining the story late–a group that seems to include Western politicians, media and academic “experts”–here’s a little background. In 1993, Israel made an agreement with the PLO to try to achieve peace. It turned over the Gaza Strip and much of the West Bank to a Palestinian government. Israel accepted the establishment of large security forces, the supply of guns, and the transfer of billions of dollars of aid.

Israel made major offers of territory and concessions to Syria and the Palestinian Authority in 2000, after almost a decade of negotiation. The other side rejected those compromise solutions. The Palestinian leadership instead launched a five-year-long war of terrorism. They lost. Then Israel was attacked by Hizballah. The world intervened and made promises to Israel. These were broken. Then Israel was attacked by Hamas. It defended itself. Again it won, but the world rushed in to save Hamas and to condemn Israel.

Read the rest of his article, here.

If the world and/or civilization last long enough, Europe and America will be the laughingstock of history. Just as we lampoon Neville Chamberlain‘s “Peace in our time”, they will lampoon us for out ‘enlightened’ treatment of the Nazis of our day.

Lets just hope that we all survive long enough to satirize our mistakes.

(I do admit to being a looney.)

What I’m NOT used to is Mr. Condell laying into the Palestinians like this. Until recently, he’s been quite critical of Israel. I wonder what made him change his mind?

This video isn’t quite as musingly ironic as his others are, but it does lay the hammer down on the core issue. And, I’m not sure that I’ve seen anyone quite put it all together this well.

You don’t want to miss it.

Here it is:

Have a good weekend everyone!

For my Jewish readers, may you have (had) a meaningful fast. (Most of you won’t get this until AFTER Yom Kippur. Sorry.)

For the rest of you, read my latest on Omega Shock:

Economic Apocalypse in Less Than 21 Days?

We’re in trouble, folks!