"Title" - CONSERVATOR'S!
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IN THIS ISSUE:
This
month's editorial is taken wholly from an article written by William Bennet,
Jack Kemp and Jeanne Kilpatrick, and is submitted here - without edit - for
your understanding, comprehension, benefit and prayerful consideration:.
1. EDITORIAL:
TWENTY IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST
Thanks goes to www.israelinsider.com and Empower America for posting this excellent outline of the Middle East situation and its history in the past century. This article is also posted now on www.watch.org and a number of other websites and will be very helpful to those of you who want a concise summary of the subject.
The world's attention has been focused on the Middle East. We are confronted daily with scenes of carnage and destruction. Can we understand such violence? Yes, but only if we come to the situation with a solid grounding in the facts of the matter - facts that too often are forgotten, if ever they were learned. Below are twenty facts that we think are useful in understanding the current situation, how we arrived here and how we might eventually arrive at a solution.
Roots of the Conflict:
1) When the United Nations proposed the establishment of two states in the region—one Jewish, one Arab—the Jews accepted the proposal and declared their independence in 1948. The Jewish state constituted only 1/6 of one percent of what was known as "the Arab world." The Arab states, however, rejected the UN plan and since then have waged war against Israel repeatedly, both all-out wars and wars of terrorism and attrition. In 1948, five Arab armies invaded Israel in an effort to eradicate it. Jamal Husseini of the Arab Higher Committee spoke for many in vowing to soak "the soil of our beloved country with the last drop of our blood."
2) The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964—three years before Israel controlled the West Bank and Gaza. The PLO’s declared purpose was to eliminate the State of Israel by means of armed struggle. To this day, the Web site of Yasir Arafat’s Palestinian Authority (PA) claims that the entirety of Israel is "occupied" territory.* It is impossible to square this with the PLO and PA assertions to Western audiences that the root of the conflict is Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
3) The West Bank and Gaza (controlled by Jordan and Egypt from 1948 to 1967) came under Israeli control during the Six Day War of 1967 that started when Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran and Arab armies amassed on Israel’s borders to invade and liquidate the state. It is important to note that during their 19-year rule, neither Jordan nor Egypt had made any effort to establish a Palestinian state on those lands. Just before the Arab nations launched their war of aggression against the State of Israel in 1967, Syrian Defense Minister (later President) Hafez Assad stated, "Our forces are now entirely ready . . . to initiate the act of liberation itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland . . . the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation." On the brink of the 1967 war, Egyptian President Gamal Nassar declared, "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel."
4) Because of their animus against Jews, many leaders of the Palestinian cause have long supported our enemies. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem allied himself with Adolph Hitler during WWII. Yasir Arafat, chairman of the PLO and president of the PA, has repeatedly targeted and killed Americans. In 1973, Arafat ordered the execution of Cleo Noel, the American ambassador to the Sudan. Arafat was very closely aligned with the Soviet Union and other enemies of the United States throughout the Cold War. In 1991, during the Gulf War, Arafat aligned himself with Saddam Hussein, whom he praised as "the defender of the Arab nation, of Muslims, and of free men everywhere."
5) Israel has, in fact, returned most of the land that it captured during the 1967 war and right after that war offered to return all of it in exchange for peace and normal relations; the offer was rejected. As a result of the 1978 Camp David accords—in which Egypt recognized the right of Israel to exist and normal relations were established between the two countries—Israel returned the Sinai desert, a territory three times the size of Israel and 91 percent of the territory Israel took control of in the 1967 war.
6) In 2000, as part of negotiations for a comprehensive and durable peace, Israel offered to turn over all but the smallest portion of the remaining territories to Yasir Arafat. But Israel was rebuffed when Arafat walked out of Camp David and launched the current intifada.
7) Yasir Arafat has never been less than clear about his goals—at least not in Arabic. On the very day that he signed the Oslo accords in 1993—in which he promised to renounce terrorism and recognize Israel—he addressed the Palestinian people on Jordanian television and declared that he had taken the first step "in the 1974 plan." This was a thinly-veiled reference to the "phased plan," according to which any territorial gain was acceptable as a means toward the ultimate goal of Israel’s destruction.
8) The recently deceased Faisal al-Husseini, a leading Palestinian spokesman, made the same point in 2001 when he declared that the West Bank and Gaza represented only "22 percent of Palestine" and that the Oslo process was a "Trojan horse." He explained, "When we are asking all the Palestinian forces and factions to look at the Oslo Agreement and at other agreements as ‘temporary’ procedures, or phased goals, this means that we are ambushing the Israelis and cheating them." The goal, he continued, was "the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea," i.e., the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea—all of Israel.
9) To this day, the Fatah wing of the PLO (the "moderate" wing that was founded and is controlled by Arafat himself) has as its official emblem the entire state of Israel covered by two rifles and a hand grenade—another fact that belies the claim that Arafat desires nothing more than the West Bank and Gaza.
10) While criticism of Israel is not necessarily the same as "anti-Semitism," it must be remembered that the Middle East press is, in fact, rife with anti-Semitism. More than fifteen years ago the eminent scholar Bernard Lewis could point out that "The demonization of Jews [in Arabic literature] goes further than it had ever done in Western literature, with the exception of Germany during the period of Nazi rule." Since then, and through all the years of the "peace process," things have become much worse. Depictions of Jews in Arab and Muslim media are akin to those of Nazi Germany, and medieval blood libels—including claims that Jews use Christian and Muslim blood in preparing their holiday foods—have become prominent and routine. One example is a sermon broadcast on PA television where Sheik Ahmad Halabaya stated, "They [the Jews] must be butchered and killed, as Allah the Almighty said: ‘Fight them: Allah will torture them at your hands.’ Have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are, in any country. Fight them, wherever you are. Wherever you meet them, kill them."
11) Over three-quarters of Palestinians approve of suicide bombings—an appalling statistic but, in light of the above facts, an unsurprising one.
Thanks goes to www.israelinsider.com and Empower America for posting this excellent outline of the Middle East situation and its history in the past century. This article is also posted now on www.watch.org and a number of other websites and will be very helpful to those of you who want a concise summary of the subject.
The world's attention has been focused on the Middle East. We are confronted daily with scenes of carnage and destruction. Can we understand such violence? Yes, but only if we come to the situation with a solid grounding in the facts of the matter - facts that too often are forgotten, if ever they were learned. Below are twenty facts that we think are useful in understanding the current situation, how we arrived here and how we might eventually arrive at a solution.
Roots of the Conflict:
1) When the United Nations proposed the establishment of two states in the region—one Jewish, one Arab—the Jews accepted the proposal and declared their independence in 1948. The Jewish state constituted only 1/6 of one percent of what was known as "the Arab world." The Arab states, however, rejected the UN plan and since then have waged war against Israel repeatedly, both all-out wars and wars of terrorism and attrition. In 1948, five Arab armies invaded Israel in an effort to eradicate it. Jamal Husseini of the Arab Higher Committee spoke for many in vowing to soak "the soil of our beloved country with the last drop of our blood."
2) The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964—three years before Israel controlled the West Bank and Gaza. The PLO’s declared purpose was to eliminate the State of Israel by means of armed struggle. To this day, the Web site of Yasir Arafat’s Palestinian Authority (PA) claims that the entirety of Israel is "occupied" territory.* It is impossible to square this with the PLO and PA assertions to Western audiences that the root of the conflict is Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
3) The West Bank and Gaza (controlled by Jordan and Egypt from 1948 to 1967) came under Israeli control during the Six Day War of 1967 that started when Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran and Arab armies amassed on Israel’s borders to invade and liquidate the state. It is important to note that during their 19-year rule, neither Jordan nor Egypt had made any effort to establish a Palestinian state on those lands. Just before the Arab nations launched their war of aggression against the State of Israel in 1967, Syrian Defense Minister (later President) Hafez Assad stated, "Our forces are now entirely ready . . . to initiate the act of liberation itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland . . . the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation." On the brink of the 1967 war, Egyptian President Gamal Nassar declared, "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel."
4) Because of their animus against Jews, many leaders of the Palestinian cause have long supported our enemies. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem allied himself with Adolph Hitler during WWII. Yasir Arafat, chairman of the PLO and president of the PA, has repeatedly targeted and killed Americans. In 1973, Arafat ordered the execution of Cleo Noel, the American ambassador to the Sudan. Arafat was very closely aligned with the Soviet Union and other enemies of the United States throughout the Cold War. In 1991, during the Gulf War, Arafat aligned himself with Saddam Hussein, whom he praised as "the defender of the Arab nation, of Muslims, and of free men everywhere."
5) Israel has, in fact, returned most of the land that it captured during the 1967 war and right after that war offered to return all of it in exchange for peace and normal relations; the offer was rejected. As a result of the 1978 Camp David accords—in which Egypt recognized the right of Israel to exist and normal relations were established between the two countries—Israel returned the Sinai desert, a territory three times the size of Israel and 91 percent of the territory Israel took control of in the 1967 war.
6) In 2000, as part of negotiations for a comprehensive and durable peace, Israel offered to turn over all but the smallest portion of the remaining territories to Yasir Arafat. But Israel was rebuffed when Arafat walked out of Camp David and launched the current intifada.
7) Yasir Arafat has never been less than clear about his goals—at least not in Arabic. On the very day that he signed the Oslo accords in 1993—in which he promised to renounce terrorism and recognize Israel—he addressed the Palestinian people on Jordanian television and declared that he had taken the first step "in the 1974 plan." This was a thinly-veiled reference to the "phased plan," according to which any territorial gain was acceptable as a means toward the ultimate goal of Israel’s destruction.
8) The recently deceased Faisal al-Husseini, a leading Palestinian spokesman, made the same point in 2001 when he declared that the West Bank and Gaza represented only "22 percent of Palestine" and that the Oslo process was a "Trojan horse." He explained, "When we are asking all the Palestinian forces and factions to look at the Oslo Agreement and at other agreements as ‘temporary’ procedures, or phased goals, this means that we are ambushing the Israelis and cheating them." The goal, he continued, was "the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea," i.e., the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea—all of Israel.
9) To this day, the Fatah wing of the PLO (the "moderate" wing that was founded and is controlled by Arafat himself) has as its official emblem the entire state of Israel covered by two rifles and a hand grenade—another fact that belies the claim that Arafat desires nothing more than the West Bank and Gaza.
10) While criticism of Israel is not necessarily the same as "anti-Semitism," it must be remembered that the Middle East press is, in fact, rife with anti-Semitism. More than fifteen years ago the eminent scholar Bernard Lewis could point out that "The demonization of Jews [in Arabic literature] goes further than it had ever done in Western literature, with the exception of Germany during the period of Nazi rule." Since then, and through all the years of the "peace process," things have become much worse. Depictions of Jews in Arab and Muslim media are akin to those of Nazi Germany, and medieval blood libels—including claims that Jews use Christian and Muslim blood in preparing their holiday foods—have become prominent and routine. One example is a sermon broadcast on PA television where Sheik Ahmad Halabaya stated, "They [the Jews] must be butchered and killed, as Allah the Almighty said: ‘Fight them: Allah will torture them at your hands.’ Have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are, in any country. Fight them, wherever you are. Wherever you meet them, kill them."
11) Over three-quarters of Palestinians approve of suicide bombings—an appalling statistic but, in light of the above facts, an unsurprising one.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL:
12) There are 21 Arab countries in the Middle East and only one Jewish state: Israel, which is also the only democracy in the region.
13) Israel is the only country in the region that permits citizens of all faiths to worship freely and openly. Twenty percent of Israeli citizens are not Jewish.
14) While Jews are not permitted to live in many Arab countries, Arabs are granted full citizenship and have the right to vote in Israel. Arabs are also free to become members of the Israeli parliament (the Knesset). In fact, several Arabs have been democratically elected to the Knesset and have been serving there for years. Arabs living in Israel have more rights and are freer than most Arabs living in Arab countries.
15) Israel is smaller than the state of New Hampshire and is surrounded by nations hostile to her existence. Some peace proposals—including the recent Saudi proposal—demand withdrawal from the entire West Bank, which would leave Israel 9 miles wide at its most vulnerable point.
16) The oft-cited UN Resolution 242 (passed in the wake of the 1967 war) does not, in fact, require a complete withdrawal from the West Bank. As legal scholar Eugene Rostow put it, "Resolution 242, which as undersecretary of state for political affairs between 1966 and 1969 I helped produce, calls on the parties to make peace and allows Israel to administer the territories it occupied in 1967 until ‘a just and lasting peace in the Middle East’ is achieved. When such a peace is made, Israel is required to withdraw its armed forces ‘from territories’ it occupied during the Six-Day War—not from ‘the’ territories nor from ‘all’ the territories, but from some of the territories."
17) Israel has, of course, conceded that the Palestinians have legitimate claims to the disputed territories and is willing to engage in negotiations on the matter. As noted above, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered almost all of the territories to Arafat at Camp David in 2000.
18) Despite claims that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are the obstacle to peace, Jews lived there for centuries before being massacred or driven out by invading Arab armies in 1948-49. And contrary to common misperceptions, Israeli settlements—which constitute less than two percent of the territories—almost never displace Palestinians.
19) The area of the West Bank includes some of the most important sites in Jewish history, among them Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jericho. East Jerusalem, often cited as an "Arab city" or "occupied territory," is the site of Judaism’s holiest monument. While under Arab rule (1948-67), this area was entirely closed to Jews. Since Israel took control, it has been open to people of all faiths.
20) Finally, let us consider the demand that certain territories in the Muslim world must be off-limits to Jews. This demand is of a piece with Hitler’s proclamation that German land had to be "Judenrein"
(empty of Jews). Arabs can live freely throughout Israel, and as full citizens. Why should Jews be forbidden to live or to own land in an area like the West Bank simply because the majority of people is Arab?
In sum, a fair and balanced portrayal of the Middle East will reveal that one nation stands far above the others in its commitment to human rights and democracy as well as in its commitment to peace and mutual security. That nation is Israel.
2. FEATURE ARTICLE: CONSERVATOR'S!
Twice in the
past few months, I have had a dream in which a rousing debate was taking
place between a number of factious groups, who were debating the meaning and
intent of the Word of Elohim - as set forth in the Holy Scriptures.
Twice, at the end of each dream, I have been told that Yahshua has
appointed some of His Disciples to be Conservator's of His Truth. And,
to my amazement, the dreams 'suggest' that I am somehow included in this
group of conservators.
While that may
seem to be a rather remarkable and boastful statement, I think it is
vital that I also tell you that when the appointment was being issued, and
the fullness of this matter was being revealed, the Issuer was not in an
especially good mood. As a matter of fact, He was downright angry!
According to
the Random House Webster's College Dictionary, a conservator is, "1.
A person who conserves or preserves; preserver; protector. 2. A
person who repairs, restores, or maintains the condition of objects."
Now we can
easily spend considerable time exploring the depth of that definition, and
how it might apply to His Word or to His Disciples today, but
the key words that leap off the page - and strike me squarely between the
eyes - are the words, "Preserver", "Protector",
"Repairer", "Restorer" and "Maintainer".
Surely,
over the years, we have attempted to preserve the full intent of everything
that we understand the Word of our Master to be saying. And, most
assuredly, over those years, we have stood steadfast in our defense of the
fullness and truth that He has imparted to us. We
have protected that which we knew to be true.
Sadly, this
defense of the truth has come at a cost, because many 'friends and
opportunities have been lost', because we simply will not sway or divert from
that which we know to be true! I strongly suspect that these
losses are just the beginning, and that the "falling away"
that we will soon see will make our past experiences pale... Prepare
your hearts Disciples!
Just as we
have attempted to preserve and protect what we knew to be true, our
most recent Letters clearly show that the Ruach ha Qodesh has also moved
us to Repair and Restore, among other matters, the fullness of the Names of
our Elohim, so that all of His children can once again approach His throne
appropriately, with confidence! And, as many of you already know, this
matter of His Name (s) is not one that we have presented lightly or
whimsically.
Today,
however, as I contemplate the duties and responsibilities of a
conservator, and as I recall the anger in which I am being informed of my
responsibilities and duties as a conservator, I am drawn to
consider the unresolved issues that have been lingering in my heart for
years, and in the consideration of these matters, I find myself lacking in
the sight of my Master.
As I scroll
down through the Concordance at The Letters, there are a number of
"words" that are presented - all with the appropriate Scriptural
references - but none of those "words" have a 'link' back into The
Letters, where the fullness and truth of that word is discussed. In
reflecting back on the original design of the Concordance, it was my intent
to study and discuss these matters - as time and Yahshua permitted - but, to
my dismay, I now discover that our attention has been diverted (sometimes
for the good and sometimes for the bad) and these issues remain unstudied,
unresolved and un-discussed!
I think that
the anger expressed in my dreams has to do with at least one of these
'unlinked' words, because although I have wrestled with this word, and the
notion of obeying the implication of the word for a long time, I have
somehow managed to ignore or sidestep this matter entirely. Until now!
Listed in our Concordance,
but unlinked, are words like, Circumcision, Debt, Fasting and
Sanctification. Another unlinked, unknown and untaught truth though, is
the matter of the Sabbath! Somehow, as His Word stirs in my heart, I
am convinced that the fullness of the matter of the Sabbath must be known
and maintained by His End Time Disciples. Surely, the Sabbath is
a matter of great debate today - but, just what is the truth? What is
the full implication and significance of the Sabbath to be today, in the
lives of the Disciples of Yahshua ha Mashiach?
The factious
groups of my dreams are loudly debating every minute detail of
whatever issue might cause contention, but the Ruach ha Qodesh is quietly
whispering beneath the bellowing of Babylon, and is directing His
servant to truly investigate a matter of significance.
Please pray
for us, beloved, that as we undertake a new series of studies, that the
Ruach ha Qodesh will open our ears to His whispering, and guide our hearts,
minds and souls to the fullness of His Truth. Also, please ask that
as He reveals the Truth of His Word to us, that He also
impart the ability to completely and faithfully teach and
"Maintain" the fullness of our Father's will...
A conservator
must do these things!
3. PRAYER REQUESTS:
Say is seeking prayer for his unsaved Mother - who is experiencing a very threatening illness! May our Father in heaven be gracious and merciful and touch our brother's Mother with healing to her heart, soul and body.
Sandee is
seeking our Father's provision to fulfill a need for a security deposit on
an apartment! $660.00 is needed, and we are praying for our Father's
provision, or - at the very least - that the landlord will permit her to
move in, and make installment payments on this deposit.
We have been
asked to pray for Tim and John, brothers who have been diagnosed with
cancer, and for Ben and Angie, Tim's son and wife... May the power of
our Father's healing hand touch these bodies, hearts and souls - for the
glory of Yahshua our Messiah.
We are
praising our Father for touching Roger following an accident. The
initial prognosis was that our brother would never walk again, but now -
Abba has heard the prayers and requests of His children, and has lovingly
provided that Roger will experience a complete recovery. We are now
praying for Roger's rapid healing.
Mary has asked
that we pray for her granddaughter, Sarah, who, as a gymnast, is
experiencing difficulty with a pulled hamstring. Sarah is eligible to
have a college scholarship in gymnastics, but the pulled hamstring may
interfere with these possibilities, unless our Father mercifully intervenes.
Jan is still
seeking prayer for her Mom, who is diagnosed with cancer. Although
currently in remission, the doctor's still are only giving a 20% chance of
complete recovery. Surely, our Father can easily prove the doctor's
wrong, and fully restore the health of Jan's Mom!
Jan is also
seeking prayer for herself. It appears as if Jan is experiencing
tremendous aches and pains in her joints and bones, especially in her hips
and neck. Oh, Abba, remove the stiffness and the pain, and restore our
sister's health, so that she may go, be and do according to Your most
perfect will!
Sunny is
seeking prayer for her body as well. Sunny is also experiencing pain
throughout her body, but on top of the pain, she is also - always, tired.
It seems that no amount of sleep helps! We pray that our Father will
touch our sister, and not only remove the pain, but restore her stamina as
well.
We continue to
pray for Mary and Bud, and seek for our Father's touch upon Mary as she
continues her therapy following all of the chemo therapy, etc.
And finally, I
ask for your prayers for Charlie, who has been experiencing loss of
dexterity - and pain - on the left side of her body. She had a brain
MRI at 10:15 PM last night, and we should have the results sometime Monday,
just before we leave for our vacation...
Furthermore, I
am also asking that you pray for traveling mercies for Charlie, our
Granddaughter, Brittany and myself, as we travel to Ohio and Georgia.
We will be leaving in a few days on a mission of love and ministry unto our
Master and Messiah, and are praying for His protection and provision as we
go and meet with His children.
We are leaving
the MRI and all behind, knowing that we are fully in our Father's arms, and
will leave all of these matters at the foot of His throne, in Yahshua's
Name, Amen and Amen!!!
4.
CONTACT: larry vosen
If you have any questions about the Bible, Elohim
(God), Yahshua
Mashiach (Jesus Christ), The Qodesh
Ruach (Holy Spirit), the
Gospel, Faith or any pressing
spiritual matter, please feel free to contact me. While I may not
possess the answers personally, I
know Who Does! Every effort will be made to answer your questions in a
timely and Scripturally supported
manner.
Do you have a prayer request? Please
share your needs with us... We will post your needs in our
"Prayer Request" sections, so that we can approach the
Throne of God in a united front on your behalf.
We can be reached via email at:
Contact
larry
Or, please feel free to mail your thoughts
or requests to:
Larry Vosen
2600 E. Seltice Way, #203
Post Falls, ID 83854
Larry Vosen
2600 E. Seltice Way, #203
Post Falls, ID 83854
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