AWLITLD Interview: Bill Salus Psalm 83 What IT IS and What IT IS NOT

Tell us a little about yourself and your background. Have you always been interested in Biblical Prophecy?

Thanks for asking; please refer to my bio linked here.

Most people have heard of The War of Gog and Magog that is chronicled in Ezekiel 38-39, but one of the prophecies that people know you from is the exhaustive research you’ve done and published on the lesser known Psalm 83 War that precedes the War of Gog and Magog. Can you remember at what point you first began researching the Psalm 83 War and what were your first impressions of your investigations?

My first exposure to Psalm 83 was through Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum’s book called the “Footsteps of the Messiah.” I had been studying Arnold’s works for about a decade prior. I purchased most all of his tape cassette studies and listened to them all from start to finish.  I then purchased two of his books, The Footsteps of the Messiah, and Israelology.  It was while reading the Footsteps book that Psalm 83 interested me.

You might say I subsequently became obsessed, and I started reading most every Bible verse that mentioned each member of the ten member Psalm 83 confederacy.  Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, etc. Then I started realizing that some of these verse references were prophetic and remained unfulfilled. So I started taking extensive study notes about the passages that seemed to discuss pending prophecies.

Then when the Twin Towers toppled on September 11th, those study notes came alive to me. Americans had questions, and I felt the Bible had the answers. What happened that infamous day was about terrorism, and terror is the ugly by-product of the Arab – Israeli conflict. And, that conflict is exactly what Psalm 83 describes.

Ultimately, I became friends with Dr. Fruchtenbaum and he encouraged me to turn my study notes into chapters, and those chapters into a book. That book was published in the summer of 2008, and is called Isralestine, The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East.

At your website and on our website, we have very in depth articles about the events of what is known as The Psalm 83 War, but for those who haven’t heard of it, could you briefly describe what it is and what it is not?

What it is - Psalm 83 appears to be a 3000-year old prophecy that awaits an imminent fulfillment. The Psalm presages the coming of a climactic, concluding Arab – Israeli war. It involves the nations displayed below. The image identifies the confederates by their ancient names alongside their modern-day equivalents.

Asaph, the Psalm’s author, informs us that this conglomerate of nations and terrorist populations confederate and form a cunning strategy to wipe the Jewish state off the map. Their goal is to dispossess Israel of its Promised Land. If the event were to happen in the near future it would most likely manifest into a massive Arab war against Israel in an attempt to form one last Arab state called Palestine.

What it is not - Some scholars believe the Psalm is merely an imprecatory prayer, but it appears to be much, much more. It involves ten specific populations that are contemporaries of each other. It is more than a basic list of Israel’s historical enemies like some suggest. Israel had more enemies than those included in Psalm 83:6-8, but the prophet omitted many of them. This suggests that those Arab groups he included are the actual participants of the confederacy.

Some other proofs evidencing that the Psalm is prophetic, rather than a simple prayer of lament for Israel are listed below.

• Asaph was a Hebrew prophet. The Bible says that Asaph served Israel in a dual capacity: he was a worship leader, and a prophet.

Worship Leader - 1 Chronicles 16:4-5 points out that he was the chief Levite priest appointed by King David "to minister before the Ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel.” Seer (Prophet) - 2 Chronicles 29:30 informs that Asaph was a “seer.” The Hebrew word used for seer in this verse is “chozeh,” and it can be translated as a beholder of vision; a prophet. 1 Chronicles 25:2 further evidences Asaph’s prophetic office by saying that he prophesied under the order of King David. Moreover, all together Asaph wrote at least 12 of the 150 Psalms. He authored Psalms 50, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, and 83. Although some of the other eleven Psalms present intrinsic prophetic inferences, Psalm 83 is clearly the most prophetic of the group.

• Psalm 83 involves an actual confederacy with specific participants. This point was made earlier, but is worth repeating. A confederacy involves a contemporary group that allies together for a common purpose. This means the ten populations must come together at some specific point in time. Arguably, they have not.

If Asaph describes a contemporary confederacy this means he is not alluding to a chronological assortment of some of Israel’s historical enemies that existed at various interludes of time. This is yet another reason that the Psalm can safely be considered more than an imprecatory prayer of lament.

• The Arab confederacy has specific characteristics. In addition to coming together with one consent (Ps. 83:5), forming a crafty plan with a mandate against Israel (Ps. 83:3-4), and having an apparent motive to take the Promised Land (Ps. 83:12), the Arab coalition of ten have specific characteristics that prove it must be a contemporary confederacy.

Two of the ten populations are described as living in specific conditions at the time the confederacy comes together. Esau’s descendant Edomites are dwelling in “tents,” and those from Tyre are simply “inhabitants.” Additionally, two other populations are apparently in need of military support when the confederacy forms; Moab and Ammon enlist help from Assyria.

The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah (Psalm 83:6-8, nkjv; emphasis added).

• The tents of Edom

Observe that Edom, Moab, and Ammon occupied the southern, central, and northern portions respectively, of what is today called modern-day Jordan. Throughout most of ancient history these three co-existed in their own distinct territories. This was certainly the case approximately 3000-years ago when Asaph authored Psalm 83. Why did Asaph single the Edomites out as tent-dwellers from this group?

Biblical references to populations residing in “tents of” conditions often identify either refugee conditions or military encampments; as in Zechariah 12:7 and Daniel 11:45. Today, there are Edomite descendants within the ranks of the Palestinian refugees, and the Palestinians have been involved in several military conflicts with the modern-day Jewish state. These facts suggest that Asaph was identifying today’s Palestinian refugees as the “tents of Edom.”

Additionally, the tents of Edom are listed first among all the confederates. Generally when a group is listed first amongst others in the Bible, it implies that group is the key participant of the prophecy. If so, this suggests that their present refugee plight has something to do with formation of the Arab confederacy. Today, all of the Psalm 83 modern-day Arab equivalents are extremely pro-Palestinian. They all seek the formation of a Palestinian state inside the Promised Land.

• The inhabitants of Tyre

Furthermore, why is Philistia listed alongside the “inhabitants of Tyre” in these same passages? Presently, the Hamas terrorist organization turned political party hails from the area of ancient Philistia, i.e., the Gaza. And, the Hezbollah terrorist organization has a strong presence inside the city Tyre. Hezbollah does not possess its own country; rather they are “inhabitants” within the country of Lebanon, and Tyre is an important city within Lebanon. By describing those involved from Tyre as inhabitants, is Asaph perhaps identifying Hezbollah as a non-nation terrorist member inside the Arab confederacy, alongside Lebanon? Both Gebal and Tyre identify the modern-day country of Lebanon in Psalm 83. Asaph didn’t classify Gebal with inhabitants.

• Assyria has helped the children of Lot (Moab and Ammon) 

The above passages also inform that Moab and Ammon, “the children of Lot,” need assistance in Psalm 83. Moab and Ammon represent modern-day Jordan as a member of the Arab confederacy, and Assyria likely identifies Syrian and Iraqi participation in the Psalm.  Interestingly, the Jordanian Armed Forces of today are the second-weakest world-ranked army among all of the Psalm 83 countries. The list of rankings is: Egypt (#16), Saudi Arabia (#26), Syria (#35), Iraq (#36), Jordan (#43), and Lebanon (#52). Lebanon is stronger than its ranking suggests because the rating does not include the military might of the Hezbollah. Therefore, Jordan is probably the weakest of all the Psalm 83 members. Since their bitter defeats in the wars against Israel in 1948, 1967, and 1973, the Jordanian Armed Forces primarily function today to protect the existence of the minority ruling Hashemite Kingdom. They are not necessarily prepared to fight alone in a major regional war. If in the near future they get drawn into a regional war of the scope described in Psalm 83, they would likely need assistance from Syria to the north and Iraq to the east.

• Asaph’s petition presents further proof in the prophetic pudding – Psalm 83:9-11 petitions the Lord to empower the Jews to a military victory formatted in the historical precedent of past Israelite wars against the Midianites and the Canaanites. These past wars are detailed in Judges 4 – 8. The fact that these were specific battles, suggests that Psalm 83 will likewise be a specific war.

Moreover, Psalm 83:13-17 pictures descriptive metaphors that imply Asaph is petitioning for a military victory over the Arab confederacy.

• The miraculous timely discovery of Psalm 83 in Ireland – An extra-biblical matter worthy of mentioning, is that during the midpoint of the 34-day Israel – Hezbollah conflict in the summer of 2006, Psalm 83 was miraculously discovered in Ireland. In what was heralded as the “Irish Dead Sea Scroll Discovery,” the Psalm was found opened in place in Irish bog soil. Apparently against all odds, the antiquities’ parchment had survived intact from being buried for approximately 1200-years.

Considering Psalm 83 is the only place within the entire book of Psalms that Israel and Tyre appear together, this is an amazing discovery. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were engaged in a war with the “inhabitants of Tyre.” Some might consider this timely discovery coincidental, but I believe it was providential. The Bible contains 66-books 1189-chapters, 150-Psalms, and approximately 31,200-verses, and the odds of discovering a chapter buried for centuries in a bog, and opened in place to a prophetic war involving the IDF and Hezbollah are astronomical. Some who believe that the Psalm is not prophetic, argue that position because they suggest no other prophets make mention of this war, and that since Psalm 83 doesn’t specify a time for the war like Ezekiel 38:8 does, then the Psalm should probably be discarded as a prophecy.
I disagree that no other prophets reference this war. Many of the populations in Psalm 83:6-8 show up in unfulfilled prophetic conflicts, like the examples below;

• Edom – Ezekiel 25:14, Jeremiah 49:10, and Obadiah 1:18,
• Ammon – Jeremiah 49:2, Zephaniah 2:9, Isaiah 11:14,
• Moab – Zephaniah 2:9, Isaiah 11:14,
• Philistia – Ezekiel 25:15-17, Isaiah 11:14,
• Saudi Arabia – Ezekiel 25:13
• Egypt – Isaiah 19:16-18

These are just a few examples. In my book Revelation Road Hope Beyond the Horizon, I give many more related instances. I would also mention that it doesn’t appear that any other prophets speak about the prophecy of Ezekiel 38; so does that imply that we should discard Ezekiel 38 from being a prophecy?The argument that Psalm 83 doesn’t give a specific timing doesn’t disqualify it from being a bonafide prophecy either. There are several prophecies that don’t present us with specific time periods of fulfillment. A perfect example concerns the prophecies regarding the four Gentile empires in the book of Daniel. Daniel never declared when the Persians would defeat the Babylonians, or the Greeks would defeat the Persians, or the Romans would defeat the Greeks. Does this mean Daniel’s Gentile empire prophecies also should be considered mere prayers of lament?

Lastly, some say that the Psalms are not prophetic, but Psalm 22 and others seem to refute that theory. Some say Psalm 83 is nothing more than a type of a Psalm 2. However, Psalm 2 doesn’t give a specific list of Israel’s enemies like Psalm 83:6-8 does.

There are many more reasons than these listed above that argue strongly for a prophetic interpretation of Psalm 83 and they are contained in my books called Isralestine and Revelation Road.

It seems like the Middle East is about to erupt in a military conflict at any moment. Do you think there could be a war involving Israel and its Islamic neighbors that does NOT result in the fulfillment of the Psalm 83 War prophecy? In other words, could fairly significant military actions take place in the Middle East that would not escalate into the Psalm 83 War or do you think that the boiling point is so high that even the smallest of skirmishes would escalate into the Psalm 83 War?

Smaller conflicts could still precede the climactic concluding Psalm 83 war; there is precedent for that, like Operation Cast Lead in 2009, and the Israel – Hezbollah war of 2006. However, the stakes have risen dramatically due to the high-tech arsenals the Arabs have amassed, and the regional instability brought about by the Arab Spring of 2011.

My personal view is that Psalm 83 is merely an Arab missile launch away from igniting the granddaddy of all Mideast wars to date. I believe anything that happens of a warlike nature in the Fertile Crescent will lend itself to the commencement of Psalm 83. In my book Revelation Road, Hope Beyond the Horizon, I hypothesize a very possible scenario for how the Psalm war could be triggered.

As you know, the West (the U.S. and U.K.) is only briefly mentioned in the scriptures surrounding the War of Gog and Magog and only in the context that they ask Russia and Iran why they’re marching to war against Israel. They do nothing to help Israel. And neither America nor Britain is mentioned at all in the Psalm 83 War. As of this writing, in the third week of February 2012, America and Britain have left Iraq, freeing up many military troops and America is stationing its war ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Do you think that America/U.K. will be involved in the Psalm 83 War and if not, how would these two countries explain themselves to its people by not coming to the aid of one of their closest allies, Israel? What circumstances do you see that would prevent America and Britain from helping Israel?

Your question presumes that the Merchants of Tarshish and all their young lions of Ezekiel 38:13 represents the UK and US. I tend to agree with this possibility; however there are others who believe it could represent Spain, and Central and South America. Presuming that it speaks of America, then your question is reasonable considering the fact that America has historically been a staunch ally of Israel.

First, I have no reason to believe that any other nations ally alongside Israel’s in Psalm 83. The prophetic text doesn’t support a coalition with Israel at the helm. The Judges examples alluded to earlier pictured Israel going it alone against the Midianites and the Canaanites. For the most part, many of Israel’s past wars were fought single-handedly.

Second, if the war were to happen under the reign of the Obama administration, and it very well could, a plethora of excuses could be levied. Among them, is the fact that the country is virtually bankrupt and can’t afford to engage in another Mideast war. The US is withdrawing troops from the region rather than deploying them. Additionally, America can take the position that Israel acted unilaterally without US consent, and therefore; America will only be responsible for protecting its own interests at home and abroad.

Third, the rapture could occur before or during the Psalm 83 war and that would mitigate against America’s ability to engage in a major war. 

Let’s talk about timing. How long would you anticipate the Psalm 83 War could last? What amount of time do you think might pass between the end of the Psalm 83 War and the beginning of the War of Gog and Magog? For both of these questions, do you foresee days, weeks, months or even longer?

Israel’s history evidences that the nation doesn’t fight long drawn-out protracted wars. One example of this was the six-day war in June of 1967. The present geo-political scenario suggests that approximately 200,000 missiles are aimed at Israel, including Scud D’s, and other varieties that can carry a chemical payload. This is why Israel has equipped millions of its residents with gas masks; and why the nation conducts frequent “Turning Point,” civilian defense drills.

The Psalm 83 war will most likely be a short war, because the Lord will honor Asaph’s petition to empower today’s IDF like was the case when Gideon fought the Midianites, and General Barak fought the Canaanites. Also, Israel will have to act decisively and expeditiously in order to save Israeli lives. I suspect that the IDF will spare no fire power in this war, and that could imply a nuclear war.

Concerning the time-lapse between Psalm 83 and Gog of Magog; I don’t suspect more than one to five years will separate these two wars of epic biblical proportion. I can’t imagine it being merely a period of a few days or weeks, because Israel will need some time to mop up the war mess, and process the POW’s. The nation will also need to do all that it takes to dwell securely without walls, bars, and gates. Moreover, the country will need to acquire the wealth that entices Russia to form its formidable coalition to invade Israel to capture its great plunder. All of the above will require some time.

However, on the flip side, Russia will want to harness the Islamic hatred that will be spreading rampantly within Iran, Turkey, Libya, and all the other Muslim nations of the coalition in the aftermath of Psalm 83.

The wild card that might dictate the time-lapse window is the rapture. Should this miraculous event occur shortly after Psalm 83 concludes; then Russia will have license to move without further restriction. This is because all of the Muslim hordes of its coalition will be kept intact, but the western armies will undoubtedly be reeling from loss of significant troops. 

The Bible seems to indicate that the ‘Hook in the Jaw’ that brings Russia, Iran and other Islamic countries against Israel in the War of Gog and Magog is oil. There are many oil exploration companies working in Israel and off its coast that believe that there are massive oil reserves beneath the land and ocean and they are working as hard as they can to find it. Do you think that oil will be the deciding factor that will make Iran, Russia (and the others) move against Israel, or will oil be only one of the many factors as why they march on Israel?

I cover this scenario in great length in Revelation Road, Hope Beyond the Horizon, and would defer the answer to invite the reader to obtain a copy of this timely and extremely relevant book.

The leaders of Iran have stated publically many times why they want to attack Israel; to cause as much death and destruction as possible which in turn brings about their supposed messiah, The 12th Imam. And the majority of the Islamic countries and terrorist groups that surround Israel either buy into this belief, or just simply hate any non-Muslim group, especially Jews and Christians, so we know why they would attack Israel. But Russia, even given all of that country’s shortcomings, is not rooted in satanically inspired, fanatical, radical Islam, so why would they align themselves with such unadulterated hatred and go to war hand in hand with radical Islam? And secondly, since Russia seems to be rooted more in reality, and the Russian leadership may be crazy, but they’re not stupid, they must know of both the Psalm 83 War and War of Gog and Magog prophecies, so why would they participate in the Gog and Magog one, because they have to know how it ends for them; with their army very, very decimated?

Russia seeks to regain its Cold War super-power status. The countries post Soviet Union attempt at capitalism has failed. Communism is still the modus operandi of the Russian government. The communist country possesses the world’s largest oil reserves, and has recently become the largest exporter of oil. In addition, it is a major supplier of natural gas to Europe and elsewhere. Furthermore, the nation is one of the world’s largest exporters of military weapons and technologies. If any country, or countries can help them achieve their super-power aspirations, they become an immediate ally.

Additionally, Russia has a history of Anti-Semitism; the pogroms of the 1800’s and early 1900’s are clearly a case-in-point. In modern history Russia has been a strong supporter of Israel’s Arab and Persian enemies. The country has supplied Iran with nuclear fuel rods in the summer of 2010, and is about to supply Syria with the S-300 missile defense system and quantities of the nuclear-capable Iskander missiles. Russia has demonstrated a genuine disregard for Israel’s well-being since its rebirth as a nation in 1948.  It is probably for these reasons that the Lord puts hooks in Russia’s Jaws to turn its attention toward Israel great prosperity.

Ezekiel 38:16 – 39:6 evidences that the Lord will personally, and divinely, make a humiliating spectacle of Russia for all of its antagonism toward Israel. Ezekiel 39:7 informs that the Lord chooses the occasion to put the nations of the world on official notice that He is the covenant keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!

It’s questionable as to whether Gog, the Russian leader, knows about Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38 beforehand. If he does, he obviously puts no stock in those prophecies. Being either unaware of, or giving no credence to these prophecies, he allows his greed and quest for power get the best of him.

We know you’re heavily in demand right with your new book and we can’t thank you enough for spending some time with us and our readers. Can you give us your web site and tell us about your upcoming engagements and how people can get in touch with you?

It’s been an honor and privilege to participate in this interview. I really appreciate your website and ministry. I can be reached through my website at www.prophecydepot.com

US Government Promoting Islam in Czech Republic

 by Soeren Kern
April 14, 2014 at 5:00 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4262/islam-czech-republic

Critics say the project's underlying objective is to convert non-Muslim children to Islam by bringing proselytizing messages into public schools under the guise of promoting multiculturalism and fighting "Islamophobia."
The group recently ran an advertisement promising to pay 250 Czech korunas ($13 dollars) to any student aged 15 to 18 years who would attend a two hour presentation about Islam.
More recently, Muslims in the Czech Republic have tried to ban a book they say is Islamophobic, and have filed a ten-page criminal complaint against its formerly-Muslim author.

The Czech government has approved a new project aimed at promoting Islam in public elementary and secondary schools across the country.

The project—Muslims in the Eyes of Czech Schoolchildren—is being spearheaded by a Muslim advocacy group and is being financed by American taxpayers through a grant from the US Embassy in Prague. (The US State Department is also promoting Islam in other European countries.)

The group says the Czech Ministry of Education has authorized it to organize lectures and seminars aimed at "teaching Czech schoolchildren about Islamic beliefs and practices" and at "fighting stereotypes and prejudices about Muslims."

But critics—there are many—say the project's underlying objective is to convert non-Muslim children to Islam by bringing proselytizing messages into public schools under the guise of promoting multiculturalism and fighting "Islamophobia."

Image source: Website of "Muslims in the Eyes of Czech Schoolchildren".

The group's website says the first phase of the project involves "analyzing the accuracy of the information about Islam in Czech textbooks on history, geography and social sciences, and mapping the level of teaching about Islam in Czech grammar schools and other secondary schools."

The second phase of the project involves the implementation of a three-level program that will "acquaint both pupils and teachers with Islam and Muslims" and help them to develop better "critical reception skills" when analyzing supposedly Islamophobic information.

According to the group's website:

"The first level acquaints the reader with the history of Islam, the basic religious concepts of tradition and contemporary issues such as family [Sharia] law, the veiling of women and Islamophobia."
"The second level offers a deeper look at the issues and puts more emphasis on the involvement of the pupils.… Pupils will be divided into three groups within which they will study any of the following topics: the veiling of women, media coverage of Islam and Muslims in the Czech Republic. Each group will be led by an experienced tutor, who will acquaint students with the problems by means of prepared materials and subsequent debate."
"The third level provides schools with artistically oriented projects or discussions with Muslims and professionals dealing with Islam. Artistic activities would involve making a film or taking photographs focused on a day in the life of a Muslim or art workshops and competitions focused on the possibility of integrating Muslims into Czech society."

The group also organizes thematic lectures, workshops and debates for schools or groups of students, many of which are held at the Municipal Library in Prague—and which are more openly geared toward converting Czech youth to Islam.

One such lecture entitled "Paths of Young Czech Women to Islam" answers questions such as: What makes a young Czech woman want to become a Muslim? It is the main motive always falling in love with a Muslim man or are there other reasons? How does one convert to Islam? How can new Muslims cope with non-Muslim relatives?

Another lecture entitled "Koran, Sunna and the Internet: Where to Do Muslims Get Their Information?" answers questions such as: Where can one get information about the Muslim faith? Is the Koran the only source of information about Islam or are there other sources? Where can one find information that is not mentioned directly in the Koran? The lecture is supplemented by providing students with hands-on opportunities to work with various Islamic texts, including the Koran and the Hadiths [sayings of the Prophet Mohammed].

Students wanting to participate in the lectures but lacking previous knowledge of Islam are advised to attend a 15-minute introductory course that "represents the characteristics of Islam and advocates it in the context of Christianity and Judaism." The lectures are "suitable for children from about the age of 15, although it is possible to customize the program for younger pupils."

A statement on the group's website justifies the project this way:

"The Muslim community in the Czech Republic is small, but it raises strong emotions. Issues relating to Muslims or Islam appear almost daily in television news, newspapers and Internet debates. But the topic is discussed only marginally in regular school lessons. This condition leads to acceptance and subsequent consolidation of prejudices and stereotypes that are supported by latent Islamophobia. We would like this project to contribute to improving the situation. We provide information about Islam that is factually accurate. Students will also have the opportunity to meet with Muslims and get to know them before forming an opinion of them."

One of the co-founders of the project, a Czech-Palestinian named Sadi Shanaah, was quoted by the Prague Postas saying, "School lessons do not pay sufficient attention to Islam. Pupils want to learn more about it."

But the group recently ran an advertisement promising to pay 250 Czech korunas ($13 dollars) to any student aged 15 to 18 years who would agree to attend a two-hour presentation about Islam.

The ad—which indicates that the American embassy in Prague was financing the April 2 event—states: "Event will take place at a school in New Butovice (7 minutes' walk from the metro station). You get a brief introduction to Islam through which you can learn more about the veiling of Muslim women, media coverage and Muslims in the Czech Republic. Then you will have the opportunity to meet with Amirah, a Malaysian Muslim who is studying medicine in Prague, and to ask her everything you want about Islam or Muslim life in the Czech Republic."

The Czech Republic is home to a small but rapidly growing Muslim population. Although reliable figures do not exist, it is estimated that the number of Muslims in the country now exceeds 10,000 (some say the figure is closer to 5,000, while others say it exceeds 15,000), up from 3,699 in the 2001 census, and 495 in the 1991 census.

Using 10,000 as the baseline figure, the Muslim population currently comprises around 0.1% of the total Czech population of 10.4 million. This percentage is far lower than most European countries, but the rate of increase is nearly 2,000% since 1991, and 170% since 2001.

Most Muslims in the Czech Republic are immigrants from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria and Turkey. But a study produced for the Czech Interior Ministry in 2007 (it estimated there were a total of 11,235 Muslims in the country in 2005) found that there were also a large number of Czech converts to Islam.

It is estimated that at least 2,000 Czechs have converted to Islam since the end of Communist rule in 1989. Many are women who have married Muslims, but just as many are young males who are "looking to Islam in their search for spirituality," according to Radio Free Europe.

The Interior Ministry report says the majority of Muslims in the Czech Republic are well educated and economically successful. "Muslims who belong to the core of the community are often university-educated people. Among them are doctors, architects, teachers, economists, businessmen and others," the report says.

On the other hand, as the Muslim population grows, so do tensions with the population at large.

In November 2013, two Muslim women threatened to file an anti-discrimination lawsuit against a nursing school in Prague after they were asked to remove their hijab head covering in class.

"The principal summoned me and told me: 'If you want to be in the school, you must not wear the scarf.' I said this was against my religion as I am a Muslim," Nasra, one of the women, told Czech Television.

The school defended itself, saying that although Czech law does not regulate the wearing of headgear, the school's dress code bans the practice. The school also said the women, one from Somalia aged 23, and another from Afghanistan aged 25, disagreed with the compulsory physical education and the conditions of compulsory practice.

More recently, Muslims in the Czech Republic have tried to ban a book about Islam they say is Islamophobic.

The book, Islam and Islamism, was written by Lukas Lhot'an, a former Muslim who is now an apostate from Islam. Released in 2011, the book describes how some Muslims are abusing the ideology of multiculturalism to infiltrate Czech schools.

Lhot'an, who spent 12 years among Muslims in Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic, says Muslim institutions in the country are now headed by Islamists who dominate the entire Islamic community. He accuses Muslim extremists of giving lectures aimed at recruiting converts and new jihad fighters, and alleges that Czech mosques are being controlled by Saudi Arabia.

The Islamic Center of Prague has filed a ten-page criminal complaint against Lhot'an, accusing him of promoting hatred, while the head of the Muslim community in Brno, Muneeb Hassan Alrawi has this to say about Lhot'an: "He is a hyperactive idiot, but also an unhappy man. He makes his living from doing harm. The police investigation will only provide publicity to him. He desires nothing but this."

But others say the objective of the criminal complaint is obvious: Its aim to prevent Lhot'an from disseminating his view of Islam. According to Týden, the book describes extremist tendencies inside the Czech Muslim community and tries to highlight their contempt for democracy and women's rights and their justification of suicide bombers.

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4262/islam-czech-republic

Island Of Safety Becomes A Death Trap

Between 10,000 and 40,000 ethnic Yazidis are trapped in the Sinjar Mountains after fleeing attacks by fighters from the Islamic State (IS). The 4,400-foot-high Sinjar range is venerated by the Yazidis. They believe it to be the place where Noah’s ark settled after the biblical flood. The Sinjar Mountains are a barren ridge — four miles wide, 25 miles long and devoid of plant life, water or shade. Read related story.

Sources: UNOCHA, Google Earth. Loveday Morris and Richard Johnson/The Washington Post. Published on August 8, 2014, 10:12 p.m

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/island-of-safety-becomes-a-death-trap/2014/08/08/fdf548a0-1f69-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_graphic.html

Holy War Arrives In Germany

by Soeren Kern
August 10, 2014 at 5:00 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4590/germany-jihad

"Anyone who thought the civil war in Syria or the barbarity of the Islamic State in Iraq does not affect us, you are wrong." — Editorial, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
"IS, Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Boko Haram—these four groups are the linchpins of the attempt to bomb an unstoppable modernity back into the Middle Ages." — Editorial,Westfalen-Blatt.
"The religions of the world are increasingly being misused for ideological struggles and excesses of violence between people of different faiths. Religions are never violent per se, but the market criers of violence are using them to promote their own interests." — Editorial, Neue Westfälische.

Supporters of the jihadist group "Islamic State" [IS] have clashed with Kurdish Yazidis in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state with the largest Muslim population in Germany.

The violence—which comes amid threats by a German jihadist to blow up an American nuclear weapons storage facility in Germany—has counter-terrorism officials concerned that radical Muslims are deliberately exploiting the ethnic and religious tensions in the Middle East to stir up trouble on the streets of Europe.

Police say the Muslim-Yazidi clash was triggered after six Islamists stormed a restaurant in the eastern Westphalian town of Herford at around 4 pm on August 7. The Muslims were attempting forcibly to remove a poster inviting people to join a demonstration in support of the Yazidis in Iraq.

Thousands of Yazidis, an ethnic Kurdish non-Muslim minority, were forced to flee their homes in northern Iraq in early August to escape advancing Islamic State fighters, who are forcing the Yazidis to convert to Islam or be killed.

The 30-year-old owner of the restaurant in Herford and two others, all Yazidis, were injured in the brawl, which police say was fought with knives and bottles.

Several hours after the restaurant attack, between 300 and 500 Yazidis gathered in the Herford town center, where they clashed with a large group of hooded Salafists.

More than 100 police reinforcements from across eastern Westphalia were called in to restore order. Police, who used pepper spray to disperse the two groups, confiscated makeshift weapons and one firearm, and questioned 86 people.

In the final tally, police arrested six individuals involved in the attack on the Yazidi restaurant: Five ethnic Chechen Salafists and one German convert to Islam. According to German media, two of the individuals are leading Salafist operatives who were already being monitored by German intelligence.

A German intelligence official was quoted as saying that one of the Chechens is a trained fighter who participated in guerrilla warfare against Russian troops and who is considered to be "highly dangerous."

German authorities have long warned of the threat posed by Salafism, a radically anti-Western ideology that seeks to impose Islamic sharia law in Germany and other parts of Europe.

Membership in Islamic extremist groups in Germany rose to 43,185 in 2013, up from 42,550 in 2012, according to German intelligence estimates. The number of Salafists in Germany rose to 5,500 in 2013, up from 4,500 in 2012, and 3,800 in 2011.

Although Salafists make up only a fraction of the estimated 4.3 million Muslims in Germany, authorities are increasingly concerned that most of those attracted to Salafi ideology are impressionable young Muslims who are susceptible to perpetrating terrorist acts in the name of Islam.

North Rhine-Westphalia is home to the largest concentration (about 1,500) of Salafists in Germany. The region is also home to most of the estimated 60,000 Yazidis who live in Germany.

The area around Herford has long been a magnet for Salafists, and mosques in the town are known to convert young people to Salafism. "Even the operator of a fitness center is suspected of wanting to inspire young Germans, under the guise of sports, for Salafism," an intelligence official was quoted as saying.

More than a dozen men from the Herford area have joined IS in Syria and Iraq, and at least one, a 22-year-old German convert to Islam, is known to have been killed in the fighting.

On August 7, a German jihadist from the Westphalian city of Essen, who is believed to be fighting in Syria,threatened to bomb the American nuclear weapons storage facility situated near the city of Koblenz. The 27-year-old convert to Islam, who is known as Silvio K., also threatened to attack churches, government agencies and transport networks across Germany.

The German known as Silvio K., shown here in a jihadist recruitment video, last week threatened to bomb an American nuclear weapons storage facility located in Germany.

A German Interior Ministry spokesperson said that although "the threat is abstract, it may become real at any time." He said it proves that Germany "is still the focus of jihadist terrorism," especially from jihadists returning from Syria with combat experience and contacts to jihadist groups.

German commentators have reacted to the events in Herford with a sense of foreboding, with some saying that the war in Syria and Iraq has now arrived on Germany's doorstep.

In an editorial entitled, "The Madness Reaches Eastern Westphalia," the newspaper Westfalen-Blatt states:

"The Yazidis deserve our sympathy and support as do any other oppressed people in the world. The call for participation in a demonstration against genocide, which triggered the events in Herford, is perfectly legitimate in a democracy. It is to be hoped that many German flags will be flown at the rally to protest the misuse of religion for political purposes. Hopefully Herford is not the beginning of an escalation that could reach further levels of violence over the next few days….
"And this is frightening: Never before have the sympathizers of Islamic terror appeared so openly in Germany. These are the circles in which European fighters are recruited for jihad. This is also the milieu in which the Salafist ultra-radicals develop when they are back in Europe again. Therefore, police and secret service are required to monitor the scene closely.
"And no, we did not know that Chechen Muslims are such vehement supporters of the IS-terrorists in Iraq. The Chechens in the southern Russian Caucasus are themselves victims of repression and human rights violations.
"IS, Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Boko Haram—these four groups are the linchpins of the attempt to bomb an unstoppable modernity back into the Middle Ages. The means to this end are Sharia, hatred and glorification of a supposedly "holy" war—what madness!"

The newspaper Neue Westfälische stated:

"When—if as now in Herford—the Kurdish Yazidi religious community and the radicalized Islamist ideology of the Salafists collide, then a city in eastern Westphalia is in danger of going up in flames.
"The conflict between the Yazidis and Salafists has arrived at our front door because it is part of a global conflict. The religions of the world are increasingly being misused for ideological struggles and excesses of violence between people of different faiths. Religions are never violent per se, but the agents of violence are using them to promote their own interests.
"We should not be surprised by the tumult of Wednesday, as German intelligence has long warned that Herford is a center of Salafism. The Islamists, among them Russian Chechens, who have nothing to lose and are mainly driven by poverty and hopelessness, are in our midst. And the citizens react in disbelief and resignation... a silent horror."

In an editorial entitled, "No Battleground for Radicals," the newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"Herford is not Mosul and North Rhine-Westphalia is not Iraq. Germany must not become an arena for clashes that take place beyond our borders, but that nevertheless are close to home, just because many people from the different ethnic groups involved live permanently among us.
"The clashes in eastern Westphalia are a warning that radical tendencies are directed not only against 'infidels,' but also against the entire Western liberal democratic order. There are indications that the attack on a Yazidi restaurant in Herford by supporters of the Islamic State was specifically planned. Perhaps it was to serve as a blueprint for a wave of hate attacks that may soon occur elsewhere. Islamic jihadists are ready for anything. This was already proved by the attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels, with four victims."

In another editorial entitled, "Looking the Other Way Will No Longer Work," the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungsummed it up this way:

"Anyone who thought the civil war in Syria or the barbarity of the Islamic State in Iraq does not affect us, you are now wrong. No matter how far away Qaraqosh [Iraq's largest Christian city] and Sinjar [home to the Yazidis in Iraq] may be: What happens there also affects us here in Germany. Sympathizers of the Islamic State have attacked the Yazidi in Herford, which means that Qaraqosh, Sinjar and Herford are now inseparable.
"For far too long, Germany's political leaders, and especially the leaders of German Muslim organizations, have sat by and idly watched the proliferation of the Salafist-jihadist hatred culture, in the purported belief that it poses no danger. It is absolutely outrageous that local politicians have played down the risk of Islamism, while the capabilities of the security authorities are increasingly being overstretched by the need to deal with this threat.
"Muslim organizations should hang their heads in shame. Rather than bluntly stating that the barbarians in northern Iraq are 'not Muslims,' they whistle away to say that Islam is 'only peace.' In the future, this kind of obfuscation will no longer suffice, especially if German Muslims, who are subject to the German legal system, wish to avoid being held accountable for the killings in the name of Islam.
"The Islamic State under its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may not last very long; but the propaganda from his jihad certainly will survive him. This is because the seeds of hatred that 'Caliph' Baghdadi has sown are far more toxic than those of Osama Bin Laden. For disaffected youth, the Islamic State exerts great appeal, and not only in Herford."

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebookand on Twitter.

Hamas tells Gazans over Facebook: Stop Exposing Terrorist Deaths

Hamas has posted a Facebook message urging Gazans to stop publishing photos of terrorists killed by IDF forces. The post appeared yesterday (Aug. 5) on the official page of Hamas’ Ministry of the Interior and National Security. It instructs Palestinians to “refrain from disseminating photographs of martyrs of the resistance” in Gaza.

The message appears to have several purposes. In order to support Hamas’ claims of victory in battle, it seeks to hide the organization’s significant losses against Israel. The IDF killed over 750 terrorists in Operation Protective Edge, delivering a severe blow to Hamas’ capabilities.

The post also aims to support Hamas’ exaggerated claims of civilian casualties. By hiding evidence of terrorist deaths, Hamas can report higher numbers of civilian deaths in Gaza.

Human shields gather on the roof of Hamas terrorist.

In addition, the message seeks to prevent the world from seeing where Hamas’ fighters operate. In violation of international law, Hamas’ terrorists attack Israel from within urban areas. Photographs of terrorists in civilian areas would confirm that Hamas uses these sites for military purposes.

http://www.idfblog.com/blog/2014/08/06/hamas-tells-gazans-facebook-stop-exposing-terrorist-deaths/

ISIS is beheading children, and Obama drops two bombs by Allen West

regarding the current situation in Iraq. What immediately struck me was that Obama spent more time talking about what he did not want to do than really defining what needed to be done.

Everyone is talking about an F/A-18 aircraft striking an ISIS artillery piece — hardly a strategic objective. This does back up what Obama so narrowly defined last night as his intent – address the threat to Americans in Irbil and Baghdad. I am pleased that we took the action to provide humanitarian relief.

The president was very careful in his words, and they were mostly political – not practical. But Obama was more adamant in declaring what he is not going to do — meaning the enemy has been provided a gap to exploit.

However, why was Barack Hussein Obama in such a rush to provide U.S. military resources in Libya supporting Islamist forces? We were told it was a humanitarian crisis, but it seems now hardly so. And please, don’t tell me it was just NATO — America is NATO. And now Americans know Libya as the place where an ambassador and three other Americans were killed in a terrorist attack, our embassy has been evacuated, and as we reported here, the same Islamists we supported have established a caliphate in eastern Libya.

Last night, President Obama had the chance to define a clear and present evil in our time. ISIS represents the Nazis of this century. There is no clearer portrayal of 7th century barbarism than this movement which we have allowed to gain strength, momentum and victory. Its blitz across Syria and Iraq can easily be compared to that of the 20th century blitzkrieg of Hitler. And the savagery being inflicted is beyond belief — consider the marking of Christian homes — history does repeat itself.

President Obama hid behind the excuse of Iraqi government reconciliation — destroying ISIS is not linked to the success or failure of Iraq’s governance. The destruction of ISIS is a global imperative — and someone has to lead. President Obama referred last night to opening discussions with other partners, the UN (who backs Hamas), and I suppose he will chat with a local Kiwanis Club and the Boy Scouts. Last night was a moment where Barack Hussein Obama could have shown Churchill-like leadership — instead he took the cautious path of Neville Chamberlain. And again, why was he so anxious in Libya and not now?

There is a quote, sometimes attributed to Sir Edmund Burke: “all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” In the grander scheme, bombing some artillery pieces is doing nothing. If I were Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi listening to Obama last night — and trust me he was – he isn’t threatened. Evil has knocked on Barack Obama’s door on his watch. You can’t just turn up the volume on the TV inside and attempt to ignore it. Frankly, it’s like Obama turned on the sprinkler system to try and scare it away.

Would you like more detail on the evil we face? How about the fact that ISIS is actually beheading children.

In the interview with CNN’s Jonathan Mann, Chaldean-American businessman Mark Arabo said that the “world hasn’t seen an evil like this for generations.” “There is a park in Mosul, where [ISIS] they actually beheaded children and put their heads on a stick and have them in the park,” he explained. “More children are getting beheaded, mothers are getting raped and killed, and fathers are being hung.”

Last night Obama could have made the case for that evil – but he did not. We hear that compassion means allowing illegals to invade America. We condemn Israel for defending itself against a declared Islamic terrorist organization that exists to destroy it — and will dig tunnels under Israeli kindergartens to do it. In ISIS we have the embodiment of evil and we have a tongued-tied President Obama who just will not say it is so.

ISIS is not something that just appeared over night. This monstrosity has festered over almost a year — and the Obama administration has watched. I’ve been on the battlefields of the 21st Century. The enemy only understands one language: the language of strength. Unfortunately that was not spoken last night by President Barack Hussein Obama.

All you needed to say last night, Mr. President, was this:

“I must apologize for allowing this evil to be born and grow. I ran as a president who wanted to end wars. I now realize my campaign promises and personal desires are not of any consideration, because the enemy also has a vote.

The Islamic State represents the most reprehensible evil the world has seen since that of Nazi Germany — and the world did nothing then. I shall not allow this on my watch. America will lead and we shall destroy this 7th century barbarism. Tonight, I am committing American military power to kill ISIS, wherever it is. If America sees the black flag we shall kill those who raise it.

First however, we will rescue the Yazidi and Christians trapped in the Sinjar mountains — and we shall kill any ISIS forces impeding that objective. Then in concert with our Kurdish allies, we will begin a committed offensive operation to ensure that Islamic totalitarianism and jihadism is defeated. God bless liberty and freedom. God bless America….and God curse ISIS.”

Sadly, that was not said, and the situation is even more confused than ever.

Read more at http://allenbwest.com/2014/08/isis-beheading-children-obama-drops-two-bombs/#0BYvFzXh37pX47m5.99

http://allenbwest.com/2014/08/isis-beheading-children-obama-drops-two-bombs/