U.S. embassy drama in Jerusalem evokes ‘end-of times’

by WorldTribune Staff, May 14, 2018

“On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.” – Zechariah 12:3

Palestinians at the Gaza-Israel border on May 14. / AFP

Amid the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, at least 52 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and nearly 2,000 others were wounded after thousands opposed to the embassy’s move from Tel Aviv converged on the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that the terror organization Hamas was “leading a terrorist operation under the cover of masses of people,” adding that “firebombs and explosive devices” were being thrown toward the barrier.

“For Bible, readers, it’s almost beginning to look a bit like the assembling of the nations out there – an end-of-times moment, if there ever was one,” columnist Cheryl K. Chumley wrote in a May 14 analysis for The Washington Times. “And note to non-Bible readers: The aggressors don’t win.”

Chumley cited a Haaretz story reporting on the protests “was peppered with such dire-sounding sentences as ‘Thousands march toward Gaza border’ and ‘Hezbollah: Jerusalem embassy move worthless’ and ‘Palestinians in West Bank, Jerusalem urged to ‘clash with the occupation,’ the Muslim world’s term of endearment for Israelis.”
But amid all this – the opening ceremonies for the new embassy went on.

“And at the heart, standing strong,” were U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “two men who will surely go down in history for their friendly foreign affairs relationship that’s led to this momentous and monumental embassy-moving event,” Chumley wrote.

Netanyahu said “Move your embassies to Jerusalem because it advances peace, and that’s because you can’t base peace on a foundation of lies. Now, you know how to recognize real leadership? It’s when others follow, and others are following in President Trump’s footsteps.”

On May 13, Al Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had urged Muslims to carry out jihad against the United States as it prepared for the embassy move, AFP reported.

Trump “was clear and explicit, and he revealed the true face of the modern Crusade, where standing down and appeasement does not work with them, but only resistance through the call and jihad,” Zawahiri said in a five-minute video entitled “Tel Aviv is Also a Land of Muslims”, according to a transcript provided by the SITE monitoring agency.

Zawahiri added that former Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden had declared the U.S. “the first enemy of the Muslims”, and swore that “it will not dream of security until it is lived in reality in Palestine, and until all the armies of disbelief leave the land of Muhammad.”

In a five-minute video entitled “Tel Aviv is Also a Land of Muslims,” Zawahiri said America’s decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem was evidence that negotiations and “appeasement” have failed Palestinians.

Meanwhile, the Arab League announced it will hold emergency talks on May 16 to discuss “ways of countering the illegal decision by the United States to move the embassy to Jerusalem,” the organization’s deputy secretary general for Palestinian Arab affairs, Saeed Abu Ali, said.


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