Israel, Lebanon, and China
Saturday, April 4, 2026
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
U.S. Embassy Road Signs Go Up in Jerusalem & More
(Reuters) U.S. Embassy road signs went up in Jerusalem on Monday ahead of next week’s opening of the mission in accordance with President Donald Trump’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital.
Dennis Edwards: Keep your eye on this event. Many eschatology students believe Israel is an important piece in End-time prophecy. The "Holy Covenant" is believed to be some kind of peace agreement over the Jerusalem situation. Some propose that Jerusalem will become an international city. We will see how the Arabs and the rest of the world respond to the opening of the USA embassy on May 15th which is the 70th year birthday of the modern state of Israel.
Israeli Minister Says ‘Lebanon Equals Hezbollah’ After Election
(Reuters) Hezbollah’s gains in the Lebanese election on Sunday show that the state is indistinguishable from the Iranian-backed Shi’ite group and that Israel should not distinguish between them in any future war, an Israeli security cabinet minister said.
Israeli Minister Threatens Assad Over Any Iranian Attacks From Syria
(Reuters) Israel could respond to any Iranian attack on it from Syria by toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, an Israeli security cabinet minister said on Monday, hinting that Assad himself may be targeted for assassination.
Dennis Edwards: Many conservative Orthodox Jews believe that the land God promised to Abraham is rightly theirs. The boundaries of Greater Israel include the Nile River in Egypt and the Euphrates in Iraq. Both Lebanon and Syria would fall within Greater Israel. With this type of belief system you can better understand Israel's political and military position toward these two countries. Some Israelis believe that it is God's will for Israel to rule over the area of Greater Israel. The following link [The Oded Yinon Plan] gives more details about Israel's military plans since 1982 in respect to the future hopes of Israel. If you take time to read the link you will note that Israel has been following this very plan and as a result we see the unstable situation in the area of Israel's dreams - Greater Israel."
PM Orban Vows to Preserve Hungary’s Christian Culture
(Reuters) Viktor Orban said on Monday the main task of his new government will be to preserve Hungary’s security and Christian culture, sticking to his nationalist policy to keep out migrants and fend off what he calls foreign meddling.
Dennis Edwards: In a similar move as the election of Trump, Viktor Orban has been elected. Like the Polish who wish to maintain their Christian culture and Polish ways, the Hungarians feel the same. The very strong European agenda which includes gay-marriages, abortion, gender identity is offensive to many traditionally Christian and Bible believing cultures. Trump gained support from this group in America in spite of his lackluster speaking ability and questionable morals. The Christians knew what Hillary stood for and could not in good conscience vote for her. I believe Trump won in protest to the strongly anti-family agenda of the left. Of course in Hungary, the question of accepting refugee immigrants from the Middle East is another concern. Eastern Europeans want to hold on to their traditional culture and feel threatened by European Union policies on the family and believe accepting thousands of immigrants could further destabilize their culture which is already feeling the pains of entering into the European Union. How the European Central Bank will take to Orban, and whether or not they will give him clear sailing is another question. Watch to see how Hungary's financial situation develops.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Civilians Flee and Soldiers Die in Clashes in Lebanon
By Anne Barnard, NY Times, June 24, 2013
SIDON, Lebanon—Tanks careened through this seaside city, gunfire crackled along near-deserted streets and thick smoke rose from the hilltop neighborhood where followers of a radical Sunni cleric clashed for a second day on Monday with the Lebanese Army, killing at least 12 soldiers. The deaths were the army’s worst losses since the conflict in neighboring Syria began fueling sporadic skirmishes in Lebanon two years ago.
During pauses in the battle, families sped away in packed cars, waving white flags improvised from ripped sheets; one even used a bunch of tissues. Taken by surprise, some residents spent the night pinned down in supermarkets, in their offices, in a KFC chicken franchise.
Though the fighting seemed to have eased by early evening, shaken residents said they feared the clashes—which shut down a religiously mixed city of 200,000, left windows shattered in gleaming downtown malls and pitted the army against a provocative cleric who has played on sectarian tensions—revealed that the country was drifting rudderless toward deepening conflict.
Lebanon’s mainstream political leaders, residents said, appeared powerless or unwilling to rein in the cleric or address his followers’ concerns, leading to a clash they called more dangerous and destabilizing than the perennial battles between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government in the northern city of Tripoli, which have largely been confined to two neighborhoods. In this case, the conflict was rooted in a Lebanese power struggle that resonates throughout the country, a troubling development for a nation that lived through 15 years of sectarian civil war.
In the emergency room of Hamoud Hospital, which received more than 40 wounded soldiers and 10 injured civilians, several stricken-looking surgeons said the fighting felt like the early skirmishes of the civil war in 1975. Asked whether it could be contained, they cast their gaze downward.
"We hope," one said, as the wail of a woman who had lost her son in the fighting echoed through the corridor.
SIDON, Lebanon—Tanks careened through this seaside city, gunfire crackled along near-deserted streets and thick smoke rose from the hilltop neighborhood where followers of a radical Sunni cleric clashed for a second day on Monday with the Lebanese Army, killing at least 12 soldiers. The deaths were the army’s worst losses since the conflict in neighboring Syria began fueling sporadic skirmishes in Lebanon two years ago.
During pauses in the battle, families sped away in packed cars, waving white flags improvised from ripped sheets; one even used a bunch of tissues. Taken by surprise, some residents spent the night pinned down in supermarkets, in their offices, in a KFC chicken franchise.
Though the fighting seemed to have eased by early evening, shaken residents said they feared the clashes—which shut down a religiously mixed city of 200,000, left windows shattered in gleaming downtown malls and pitted the army against a provocative cleric who has played on sectarian tensions—revealed that the country was drifting rudderless toward deepening conflict.
Lebanon’s mainstream political leaders, residents said, appeared powerless or unwilling to rein in the cleric or address his followers’ concerns, leading to a clash they called more dangerous and destabilizing than the perennial battles between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government in the northern city of Tripoli, which have largely been confined to two neighborhoods. In this case, the conflict was rooted in a Lebanese power struggle that resonates throughout the country, a troubling development for a nation that lived through 15 years of sectarian civil war.
In the emergency room of Hamoud Hospital, which received more than 40 wounded soldiers and 10 injured civilians, several stricken-looking surgeons said the fighting felt like the early skirmishes of the civil war in 1975. Asked whether it could be contained, they cast their gaze downward.
"We hope," one said, as the wail of a woman who had lost her son in the fighting echoed through the corridor.
