Information Related to "World News & Trends May 2010"
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It was first Britain that was used to help fulfill biblical prophecy by strongly supporting the future state of Israel through the famous Balfour Declaration of 1917.
Then, just after World War II, U.S. President Harry Truman picked up the baton and made possible the reestablishment of a Jewish state after almost 2,000 long years in exile when he recognized the Israeli provisional government on May 14, 1948. American support for Israel has continued virtually unabated ever since.
Side by side, the United States and Britain fought two world wars during the 20th century. The Roosevelt-Churchill special relationship continued with the Reagan-Thatcher alliance and more recently the Bush-Blair partnership. Yet this remarkable triangular relationship has been severely threatened by events over the past several months and more.
Israel's enemies are now rejoicing. The Economist stated: "Palestinians have gleefully watched two of Israel's main allies rebuking it. They have rejoiced, too, as the peacemaking Quartet (the United States, the European Union, Russia and the UN) roundly condemned Israel's building plans in East Jerusalem" ("A Wall of Suspicion," March 17, 2010).
We conveniently forget "that the US had previously expressly agreed with Israel that it would continue building in east Jerusalem while stopping building in the West Bank, an agreement for which it was warmly praised by Hillary Clinton" (Melanie Phillips, "Why Truth Beats Diplomacy," The Jewish Chronicle, March 19, 2010).
We now see regular headlines such as "The Ties That Bind America to Israel Are Beginning to Fray and Break" (The Observer, March 21, 2010). That "wall of suspicion" between the United States and Israel appears to be rapidly forming. The recent White House meeting between President Barak Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended in diplomatic rancor.
Britain's relationship with Israel has also suffered in recent months. Many of Israel's top leaders cannot now enter Britain without fear of arrest. Wrote journalist David Blair: "One of the highest priorities of the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem is to persuade Britain to amend the law that allows our courts to order the arrest of much of their political leadership ... Israeli diplomats are convinced that the real reason lies in a campaign to rob their country of legitimacy in the eyes of British public opinion" ("Shunning Israel Will Not Turn It Into a Moderate Nation, Thirsting for Peace," The Tablet, March 6, 2010, emphasis added throughout).
Earlier in his article he had incisively written: "Many Israelis fear that a global campaign is steadily robbing their country of legitimacy. This is a gradual but insidious process" (ibid.).
A recent Sunday Telegraph report reveals that "a charity praised last week by [British Prime Minister] Gordon Brown and the Prince of Wales [Prince Charles] has channelled hundreds of thousands of pounds to groups linked to Hamas, the banned terrorist organisation, according to security sources" (Andrew Gilligan, "Hamas Link of Charity Praised by Brown," March 28, 2010).
Meanwhile, a Jewish Chronicle articlenotes that "Britain has become a hub for Hamas activities in Europe, including virulently anti-semitic propaganda" ("Britain Now Nerve Centre for Hamas Support," Feb. 26, 2010).
This triangular breakdown threatens the very existence of Israel as a nation. As The Sunday Telegraph put it, "Today Israel faces an Israel-hating Islamist coalition of Iran, Hizbollah and Hamas, which may soon have nuclear weapons-but does so without any certainty about American goodwill and protection" ("America and Israel: The End of a Special Relationship," March 28, 2010).
But it gets worse. The long relationships America and Britain have had with Israel aren't the only ones faltering. Perhaps of even greater concern is the rather sudden decline of the special relationship the United States and Britain have had with each other.
Wrote Tim Shipman, deputy political editor of the British Daily Mail: "Britain no longer has a 'special relationship' with the United States, senior MPs [members of parliament] declared yesterday. The Foreign Affairs Select Committee said the phrase, coined by Sir Winston Churchill, should be ditched because Britain's influence in Washington had declined" ("Our Special Relationship With U.S. Is Dead, Say MPs," March 29, 2010).
Earlier, regarding a speech by President Barak Obama at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, in which he outlined plans for Afghanistan, a Daily Mail reporter observed: "There wasn't a single mention of America's main ally in the region, Britain. Never mind that we have 10,000 troops on active service there" ("Does Obama Have It in for Britain?" Dec. 9, 2009).
In a British Spectator article titled "A Special Form of Disrespect," veteran journalist Con Coughlin observed, "It says much about Britain's rapidly disappearing 'special relationship' with America that when I happened to mention to some of our senior military officers that I was visiting Washington, they begged me to find out what the Obama administration was thinking about Afghanistan" (Nov. 21, 2009).
Most people don't have knowledge of the biblical, historical and ethnic roots undergirding this previously treasured special relationship. These nations' common origins reach back into the book of Genesis to the patriarch Joseph, whose two sons Ephraim and Manasseh were prophesied to be a great nation and a company of nations. This whole fascinating story appears in our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.
Another important aspect here is the fact that the present state of Israel owes its ethnic roots to Joseph's brother Judah. Both brothers are numbered among the 12 tribes of Israel. A somewhat obscure scriptural prophecy highlights the tragic breakdown of this triangular relationship. Speaking figuratively, "Manasseh [the United States] shall devour Ephraim [Britain] and Ephraim Manasseh: Together they shall be against Judah [the modern state of Israel]" (Isaiah 9:21).
The context places the ultimate fulfilment of this prophecy in a time of devastation and ensuing captivity, when all of these peoples will be fighting for their own survival. Nevertheless, the breaking of the bonds that we see going on today between these longtime allies may well be sowing the seeds of the bitter infighting to come when conditions grow dire.
In any case, the present fracturing of these bonds weakens all three nations and massively erodes global stability. If these three key democratic countries continue down their troubled road to nowhere, the whole world will soon find itself in deep trouble indeed.
To fully grasp the purpose and meaning of this whole prophetic scenario, request or download our free booklets You Can Understand Bible Prophecy and The Middle East in Bible Prophecy. (Sources: The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Observer, The Tablet, Daily Mail, The Economist, The Spectator, The Jewish Chronicle [all London], The Truman Library.)
What we see published about unfaithfulness today should alarm us. One magazine cover asked, "Is Anyone Faithful Anymore?" The drophead on the cover read, "The Death of Monogamy-and Why That's No Bad Thing." The title inside is "Yours, Unfaithfully."
The article itself indicated that the average person may not transgress to the literal extent of famous celebrities, "but we are probably less monogamous than we used to be, aren't we?" It goes on to state: "We're perhaps having extended flirtations; serious and not-so-serious dalliances; special, ostensibly platonic lunch dates with people we see more regularly than we'd like our partners to know. We are, at the very least, testing the borders of fidelity" (Polly Vernon, The Observer Magazine, March 7, 2010).
The writer goes on to explain that some therapists tell us marital betrayal "might be exactly what your relationship needs." We also see famous sports and entertainment figures blaming sex addiction for their serial affairs. Too many today follow their poor example by cheating on their own spouses.
The Bible says emphatically, "You shall not commit adultery." It also says, "Flee fornication," as the patriarch Joseph possessed the character to do (Genesis 39:6-13). Amazingly, this great man knew about God's commandments well before the time of Moses. To learn more about what God has to say on the matter and the blessing He intended faithful marriage to be, request or download our free booklet Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension. (Source: The Observer Magazine [London].)
On the surface, March was a very good month for the ambitions of President Barack Obama. First the health-care legislation he called for passed the U.S. Congress, and shortly afterwards a deal to reduce nuclear arsenals was concluded with Russia.
But will cuts in military spending even begin to pay for the enormous costs of his health-care legislation? Will America ultimately have to trim its defenses much more to deal with its incredibly high national debt? Is Washington still on a slippery slope when it comes to lowering its debt level to a reasonable amount?
Bronwen Maddox, chief foreign commentator for The Times of London, summed up the American debt conundrum: "To cut a budget deficit that reached a record of $1.4 trillion in 2009, defence is an obvious target. The share of costs going to military personnel is rising-and that will squeeze the amount free for new equipment. It inevitably undermines any willingness even to contemplate new wars" ("America Counts the Cost of Going to War," The Times, March 29, 2010).
As if to underline a determination to pull back on American military power, on April 6 President Obama announced a dramatic change in U.S. policy, allowing U.S. nuclear retaliation only if America were attacked with nuclear weapons. His new policy forbids U.S. forces from using nuclear weapons to retaliate against non nuclear countries even if the country were to be hit with biological or chemical weapons or crippling cyberattack. At the same time he announced that America would not develop any new nuclear weapons.
On another front, an international report strongly indicates that American educational standards are slipping. Said New York Times correspondent Sam Dillon: "One of the world's foremost experts on comparing national systems has told members of the U.S. Congress that many other countries are surpassing the United States in educational attainment, including Canada, where he said 15-year-old students were, on average, more than one school year ahead of American 15-year olds" ("Many Countries Pass US on Education, Global Experts Say," International Herald Tribune, March 11, 2010).
The enormous educational advantage the United States had over other nations after World War II has evaporated with time. Andreas Schleicher, a senior education officer at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), stated, "Among OECD countries, only New Zealand, Spain, Turkey and Mexico now have lower high school completion rates than the U.S." (ibid.).
Foreign policy is another area of serious concern. Jay Solomon and Peter Spiegel focused on some of America's diplomatic difficulties in a Wall Street Journal article written from Moscow. They pointed out that "leaders from Brasilia to Beijing sling arrows at the Obama administration ..."
They also stated that "a string of public rebukes of U.S. foreign policy in recent weeks, from Jerusalem to Red Square, is highlighting how the global goodwill U.S. President Barack Obama enjoyed on taking office last year has often failed to translate into foreign-policy wins ...
"White House diplomatic initiatives aimed at wooing adversaries such as Iran, Syria, and North Korea into renouncing their weapons systems and support of terrorism are also showing little signs of progress" ("Nations Decline to Follow U.S.'s Lead," March 22, 2010). (Sources: The Times [London], The Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune.)
Remember that the Jewish people preserved the Old Testament for us. The apostle Paul asked: "What advantage then has the Jew...? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God" (Romans 3:1-2). Jesus Christ Himself said that "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22).
The book of Acts shows us that the first Christian Church was Jewish. Christianity can only be truly understood, undergirded and supported by the Hebrew Bible (see 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). One third of the New Testament is composed of direct quotes, paraphrases and allusions to the Old Testament Scriptures.
Why, then, do we see this growing global anti-Semitism and a persistent quest to rob the state of Israel of its legitimacy? It is totally unconscionable and can only come from one source (see Revelation 12:9), which must be actively resisted in a godly manner. The Christian world has a serious obligation to oppose hostility toward the Jewish people. God is watching!
A third of euro-deputies have signed an appeal urging the European Commission to include work-free Sundays into an upcoming review of EU rules on working time, with the responsible commissioner pledging to 'take into account' these views in his proposals due this autumn.
"'Currently, it is up to member states to define Sunday as their weekly resting day, and in doing so, by taking into consideration cultural, ethnic and religious diversity,' EU employment commissioner Laszlo Andor told MEPs [members of the European Parliament] during a conference organized by the parliament's centre-right group in support of work-free Sundays" (Valentina Pop, "Commission Pressed to Protect Work-Free Sundays," EUObserver.com, March 26, 2010).
Andor also said that others argue against work-free Sundays, especially such a mandate being regulated by Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union (EU). Your Bible foretells a time when a powerful alliance between church and state will transform Europe and ruthlessly suppress those who refuse to follow its dictates (Revelation 13). We know from tragic episodes such as the Inquisition and the Crusades how dangerous church power backed by the state can be to those with different religious beliefs-including those who worship on the biblical seventh-day Sabbath rather than Sunday.
Could this be an early step in a process through which the state will impose its religious requirements on others? To learn more, download or request your free copies of Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest and The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Source: EUObserver.com)
Arab militants in the Gaza Strip, located on Israel's southwestern border, have again been striking at the Jewish state, spurring Israeli retaliation.
This poses a threat to the position of Gaza's Hamas rulers, so they indicated on April 2 that "they were trying to keep attacks on Israel in check, in an apparent attempt to keep a recent spate of violence from spiraling into open conflict" (Rizek Abdel Jawad, "Hamas Tries to Keep Attacks on Israel in Check," Associated Press, April 2, 2010).
Both Israel and the Hamas governments would benefit by maintaining the peace. Israel's southern communities would benefit since they live so close to the border where terrorists have lobbed their rockets. The Hamas government would benefit since 80 percent of the population relies on United Nations food handouts to survive.
Israel holds Hamas accountable for maintaining peace in the Gaza Strip. Yet will they really be able to keep cool many hot-headed extremists who ache for an all-out war with Israel-especially when they are extremists themselves? (Source: Associated Press.)
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Origin of article "World News & Trends May 2010"
Keywords: U.S. and Britain Britain and the U.S. U.S. and Israel Israel and the U.S. marrital infidelity U.S. problems Sunday and Europe Gaza
Marriage, failures: