Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid Of Gustav

OFTEN THE MOST significant stories are ignored in the world press; and there certainly was one on Monday from Jerusalem.
Even for someone, who had been based in the Israeli capital, I believed the “hidden” meaning of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s recent visit as just another courtesy call to the Middle East.
However, I have had to backtrack from my lethargic attitude because what she indicated could dramatically change the course of world history.
I know that could be misconstrued as just being overly dramatic, but Rice’s sole purpose for being in Israel was to get a document signed by the end of the year, which would divide Jerusalem and offer the Palestinians a state as well as a huge stake in Israel’s capital city. In addition, the Jews’ most hated enemies would not only control a portion of Jerusalem, but have a major foothold in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It would appear the United States at the insistence of its president George W. Bush are determined to follow this course of action before either Barack Obama or John McCain assumes the presidency.
In addition to a portion of Jerusalem being given away, the Palestinians are known to covet the Temple Mount area, which happens to be Judaism’s “holiest site.”
While there have been strong denials from Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert’s office, there seems to be handwriting on the wall that it will happen and soon.
While the world press was following the Obama ascension to the Democratic throne in Denver, the Jerusalem blockbuster was largely ignored. It came to the forefront on the World Net Daily website, which I had worked for as Middle East bureau chief (1997-2000) and based in Jerusalem.
It might have been downplayed by even me, except for the haunting words, written by veteran Washington newsman Bill Koenig. He had earlier outlined at least eight major ‘Acts of God’ that coincided with the timing of U.S. pressure on Israel to give up The Land (Israel).
In his book, ‘Eye to Eye – Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel’ – Koenig wrote about those eight “acts.” In brief, they are:
October 30, 1991: President George Bush opens the Madrid Conference with an initiative for a Middle East peace plan involving Israel’s land. On the same day, an extremely rare storm forms off the coast of Nova Scotia. It was tagged “The Perfect Storm,” which became a book and later a movie. Along the New England coast, there were 100-foot waves, causing heavy damage to the elder Bush’s home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
August 23, 1992 – The Madrid Conference moves to Washington, D.C. On the same day, Hurricane Andrew causes $30 billion in damages and leaves 180,000 homeless in Florida.
January 16, 1994 – President Clinton and Syria’s Hafez el-Assas meet in Geneva about Israel giving up the Golan Heights. Less than 24 hours later, the powerful Northridge earthquake rocked southern California.
March 1 to April 1997 – Palestinian Authority Chairman Arafat tours the U.S while Clinton rebukes Israel for not giving up her land for peace. Powerful tornadoes rip the central U.S. When Arafat leaves, the storms stop.
January 21, 1998 – Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Clinton and is coldly received. Shortly afterwards that day, the Monica Lewinsky scandal breaks.
September 27-28, 1998 – Then Secretary of State Albright was working on a final agreement in which Israel would give up 13 per cent of the West Bank. As Clinton, Arafat and Netanyahu met to finalize the land deal, Hurricane Georges battered the Gulf Coast. Later, Arafat spoke at the U.N. about declaring an independent Palestinian state by May 1999.
October 15-22, 1998 – As Arafat and Netanyahu meet in Maryland, there is massive flooding in Texas. Clinton declares a section of Texas a major disaster area.
May 3, 1999 – This is the same day in Israel that Arafat was scheduled to declare a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital. It was postponed until December 1999 at Clinton’s request. That same day, the most powerful storm system ever to hit the U.S. swept through Oklahoma and Kansas. Winds were clocked at 316 mph.
The Biblical connection apparently continued to Monday, August 22, 2005 when the last Jewish settlement in Gaza was evacuated – wrapping up Israel’s historic pullout from the coastal strip after settlers held a farewell march behind Torah scrolls and a massive menorah, then boarded armoured buses and left.
Ariel Sharon, then the vibrant Israeli prime minister now comatose, and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas spoke by phone and expressed their comitment to peace – the first conversation between the two since the pullout started.
Then according to my notes, the next day, August 23, the day after the Gaza evacuation, the Bahamas issued a tropical storm warning for some of the islands and by Wednesday, August 24 at 11 a.m. it became Tropical Storm Katrina and at 5 p.m. Thursday, August 25, it had become a hurricane and smacked into southeast Florida.
Then it changed directions, lashing at the Gulf Coast and its bevy of oil rigs and into New Orleans. And the rest is a continuing nightmare.
So three years later, on August 25, it was learned that Rice and U.S. president Bush were planning to split Jerusalem between the Jews and their bitter enemies and today Gustav looms like the shadow of death over the U.S. Gulf Coast and the seemingly plagued city of New Orleans.