Shalom from a reeling Israel! It has been a very difficult couple of days in my country. Yesterday, two bombs went off at bus stops near entrances to Jerusalem. The shrapnel-filled explosives were strapped to bicycles, left at the stops, then detonated by cell phone. In the first blast, 18 people were injured. One of them, 16-year-old Aryeh Schupak, an orthodox teen on his way to yeshiva, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Approximately a half hour later, the second explosion took place, injuring five more.
In response to the terror attacks, many Palestinians celebrated, even passing out candies to passing motorists. While Hamas stopped short of taking credit for the attacks, they did join the celebration. Mohammad Hamada, a spokesman for the terrorist organization stated, “The action conveyed the message to the occupation by saying that our people will stand firm on their land and cling to the path of resistance.”
In a separate incident in Jenin, West Bank, Tiran Ferro, an 18-year-old Israeli Druze, was driving with his 17-year-old friend when they were involved in a serious car accident and were severely injured. While Ferro was surrounded by family in the hospital, a group of 20 Palestinian gunmen stormed the room, disconnected him from his life-sustaining machinery and medications, and carried him away. He died soon after he was kidnapped. The young man’s uncle, who was at his bedside, identified the armed men as members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It wasn’t until today that the young man’s body was finally returned to his family.
While blame for the incidents rests squarely with the evil perpetrators, it is the weakness of the Israeli administration that has opened the door for these kinds of horrific events to occur. We are ready for Benjamin Netanyahu to step back into his strong leadership role, but it takes time to arrange a coalition of parties. Hopefully, it will happen very soon. In the meantime, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi is cutting his trip to the US short in order to return to Israel to address these attacks. Expect the response to be very forceful.
Despite these attacks, we know that God still has His eyes on His special land and on His holy city. Please pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for the safety of His chosen people. And pray for our Lord’s swift return for His church, which will set the countdown clock ticking toward the time when God will make all things new once again.
Psalm 122:6-7 KJV – “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.”
Russia’s War Against Ukrainian Civilians
It seems, in war, that it is always the innocent who suffer the most. This is particularly true when they are specifically targeted by a warring force, as the Ukrainians are by the Russian leadership.
General Sergey Surovikin, Russia’s top commander in Ukraine, has been methodically dismantling the country’s electrical power grid and has done an exceptional job at damaging or destroying almost all its thermal power plants, hydroelectric power plants, and substations.
In addition, all three nuclear power plants still controlled by Ukraine were shut down in attacks yesterday. As a result, more than 10 million Ukrainians are without electricity, resulting in no heat and, for many, no running water. The capital city of Kyiv has been especially hard hit of late. Said the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, “We may have to evacuate parts of the city. Kyiv may be on its way to the worst winter since World War II. This is the worst-case scenario.”
This type of warfare is pure evil, and it is amazing that Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose parents endured the horrific deprivations of the siege of Leningrad and who lost an older brother, three uncles, and a grandmother in civilian-directed warfare, would choose to go down this path.
On the conventional warfare side of things, Russia is preparing for a new round of military drafts in the next few months. This will greatly lower the fighting level of the soldiers, but the Russian military has always been more about quantity than quality.
Finally, the Russian forces have used up all of their Iranian-made suicide drones, so Moscow and Tehran have agreed to a partnership for new drone manufacturing in Russia.
Deaths Mount as Iran Nears 70 Days of Protests
It has been well over two months since Mahsa Amini was killed by Iran’s morality police while in custody for improperly wearing her hijab, and the protests that were sparked by her murder have grown to a nation-wide wildfire.
On Friday, the ancestral home of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, was set aflame by protestors. At the World Cup, Iranian football fans chanted “Death to Khameini”, referring to the country’s current supreme leader. As the protests intensify, so does the military response. The latest figures show that in the 1059 demonstrations that have occurred in 155 cities, 419 Iranian civilians have been killed by authorities, and over 17,000 have been arrested. Much of the violence against the protestors is taking place in Kurdish areas, and include the wholesale slaughter of men, women, and children.
Iran Finally Admits to Enriching Uranium to 60%
Iran admitted to enriching uranium at its underground Fordo site to 60% purity. This is just a very short step from reaching the 90% weapons-grade purity level. Earlier in the year, Tehran had admitted to enriching to 20%, which was still over five times higher than they were permitted in the 2015 nuclear agreement.
While the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and countless media outlets were making excuses for the Iranian nuclear program and regurgitating to the public the lies they were being fed, we laid out the scenario of an Iran on the verge of achieving nuclear weapons and the desperate situation into which that places Israel and Saudi Arabia.
When Benjamin Netanyahu takes office as prime minister, this will be his number one priority. He cannot let Iran go nuclear.
It seems that the Biden administration has finally seen the light, too. It is this situation that took IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi to the US, as I mentioned above. A result of his trip is that the two countries are now discussing a joint military exercise to simulate an attack on Iran in order to destroy its nuclear program.
Hezbollah’s Stash of Chemical Weapons
With the help of North Korean experts and an Iranian national, Hezbollah has created over 400 missiles carrying toxic chemical warheads. Originating in Masyaf in western Syria, the rockets have now been transferred, with the help of Unit 2250 of Iran’s IRGC, to a warehouse in Al-Qusayr along the Lebanon-Syria border.
Reports are that soon the weapons will be moved south to the Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, which is just a little more than two miles from Israel’s border. If that is truly what is to happen, the Lebanese government is powerless to do anything about it. All levels of leadership are rife with Hezbollah members or sympathizers. As a result, the government is in shambles, as is evident today by the parliament’s seventh failed attempt to elect a president for the nation.
Turkey Pounds Kurdish Rebels in Northern Iraq
Following the November 13 bombing in Istanbul that killed six people, Turkey has been pounding the Kurdish rebels in northern Syria and Iraq with around 40 airstrikes. Now, it appears that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning a ground assault.
“We have been bearing down on terrorists for a few days with our planes, cannons, and guns,” he said. “[allah] willing, we will root out all of them as soon as possible, together with our tanks, our soldiers.”
Turkey is not the only one hitting the Kurds. Iran’s IRGC is also taking it to the Kurdish rebels located in northern Iraq.
North Korea Fires More Missiles
Kim Jong-un is continuing his policy of “Speak loudly and carry a big missile”. On Friday, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that landed in Japan’s economic waters. This is the second time this month that the country has launched a missile of this type. In response, the US and South Korea held military exercises the next day.
Azerbaijan to Open Embassy in Israel
The parliament in Baku has approved the opening of an Azerbaijani embassy in Israel. Located in Tel Aviv, it will be the first embassy of a majority Shiite nation to open in Israel.
Unrest Continues Over Brazilian Elections
In the latest major story that your media outlets are not telling you about, the protests continue in Brazil over the election results. Tens of thousands are marching while others block major freeways and thoroughfares. Not surprisingly, the government’s response has been violent.
Now, in a frightening twist, the nation’s Justice Inspector, Minister Luis Felipe Salomao, has signed an order authorizing child protective services to remove children from the homes of protesters.
The World Cup and the Celebration of Hypocrisy
Sunday saw the opening of the World Cup in Qatar. This competition is a microcosm of all that is wrong in our world. On one side, there are the protests against the ban by FIFA (the World Cup’s governing organization) of teams wearing rainbow armbands or uniform patches in support of LGBTQ people. The German team chose to make a stand by covering their mouths during a team picture to signify being censored. The team then went on to lose to Japan in a huge upset.
On the other side, Qatar has invited Zakir Naik, a terrorism-sympathizing Islamic preacher who is a fugitive from his homeland of India where he is wanted on charges of money laundering and hate speech, to come and give lectures on Islam at the World Cup.
Additionally, as fans are touring the many mosques, they are being proselytized by the Islamic clerics. And the media is just eating it up, celebrating what a wonderful thing it is as visitors are being converted to Islam. Imagine this being in the US where fans from around the world visit churches where they are being told that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This is the hypocrisy of the media. They celebrate Islam as something beautiful. Then they celebrate the people that Islam hates – the LGBTQ community. They rejoice at the “beauty” of a South American fan converting to Islam in a mosque, then they condemn the Qatari government for banning alcohol at stadiums and pressuring FIFA to ban the rainbow flag.
