Day of Rage

Syrians are organizing campaigns on Facebook and Twitter that call for a “day of rage” in Damascus this week, taking inspiration from Egypt and Tunisia.

SyrianSoldier-ARMYRECOG — Hafez el-Assad sent his soldiers to butcher 40,000 Syrians the last time there was a serious revolt in that country.

Like Egypt and Tunisia, Syria suffers from corruption, poverty and unemployment. All three nations have seen subsidy cuts on staples like bread and oil. Syria’s authoritarian president has resisted calls for political freedoms and jailed critics of his regime.

The main Syrian protest page on Facebook is urging people to protest in Damascus on February 4 and 5 for “a day of rage”. It says the goal is to “end the state of emergency in Syria and end corruption”.

The number of people who have joined Facebook and Twitter pages calling for protests on Friday and Saturday is still relatively small, and some are believed to live outside the country.

Social networking sites were integral to rallying protesters in Tunisia and Egypt.

Facebook is banned in Syria, which makes organizing more difficult – even though many Syrians manage to access the social networking site anyway. More than 2,500 people have joined the page calling for protests on February 4-5, with another 850 joining a page in favor of President Bashar Assad.

Assad, a 45-year-old British-trained eye doctor, inherited power from his father, Hafez, in 2000, after three decades of authoritarian rule.

He is seen by many Arabs, however, as one of the few leaders in the region willing to stand up to arch enemy Israel. And his support for Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups opposed to Israel as well as his opposition to the US invasion of Iraq has won him more support among his people than other Arab rulers.

Source; Jordan Times

My comments;

Bashar Assad’s father crushed a revolt by the Moslem Brotherhood in the city of Hama in 1982, ringing the city with tanks and artillery and firing point blank into populated areas, killing as many as 40,000 people.

It is unlikely that the Brothers have forgiven or forgotten.

It is also unlikely that they will try again. This “Day of Rage” on Saturday might produce some fireworks, but there won’t be anything in Syria like there has been in Egypt in the last week.

And there doesn’t have to be.

Syria is already firmly in the camp of Iran, which is an implacable enemy of the Israel and will probably join forces with whatever Islamist government emerges in Egypt, Jordan and the other countries surrounding the Jewish State for the great Gog Magog war prophesied about in Ezekiel 38-39.

Ezekiel 38: 2-5 says;

Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet

The word “Islam” does not appear in this prophecy but as we look at the Middle East today we can clearly see that it is the only thing which unifies all the countries mentioned in this prophecy, who will come against Israel in a massive invasion force from which Israel will have no defense against except to cry out in fear and terror for their God to deliver them.

When they do, He will send His Son, the Lion of Judah, to deliver them.

Hosea 5:14-15;

For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Judah I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver. I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.

Written by NTM Staff

Protesters in Egypt and Lebanon have proclaimed today a “day of rage” with Lebanese Sunnis protesting against the nomination of the new prime minister, and Egyptians protesting against the Mubarak government.

streetproteststhree_afp — Burning tires to protest against political slavery won't save one from burning in Hell.

The situations in Egypt and Lebanon have very, very little in common, if anything at all.

Hezbollah with a backing of Syria engineered a collapse of the Lebanese government. Once the Lebanese government fell apart, premonitions of a return to civil war started making their appearance in the Lebanese media.

In this whole scenario though, Syria and Hezbollah knew that they held the upper hand. If anyone wanted to avoid a bigger conflict, and that includes the Americans, the Saudis, and many of Lebanon’s own factions, then they would have to come to Syria to negotiate on Syrian terms. Those terms meant getting rid of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and also neutralizing the Special Tribunal for Lebanon investigating his father’s murder, and that investigation was putting at risk a number of Hezbollah and Syrian officials.

In Egypt, lots of fear is rising over whether Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will be dealt the same fate as Tunisian President Ben Ali who was overthrown in a popular revolt. In trying to take advantage of the Tunisia situation, a small group of Facebook mobilized protesters, called the April 6 Youth Movement, have mobilized today in this “day of rage.”

This is where we really need to factor in the differences between Egypt and Tunisia, and one the biggest factors to look at is the U.S. The broader strategic interest for the United States right now is to maintain stability within Egypt and to ensure a smooth transition between Mubarak and his successor. Now this is not only vital to the U.S. interest, but also to the Israelis, who do not want to see a crisis erupted in the country that could be exploited by Egypt’s well-organized Islamist movement.

So amidst all of these concerns and these protests it’s very little coincidence that the Egyptian army chief of staff is in Washington right now, with the U.S. getting assurances from the Egyptian army that the army will not abandon Mubarak like the Tunisian army did with Ben Ali.

Source; STRATFOR Intelligence Group

My comments;

To the above story must be added the anti-government protests in Jordan and the political firestorm raging among the Palestinian communities in Gaza, Judea and Samaria (known to most of the world as the West Bank.) There have also been violent street demonstrations in Algeria, Morocco and Albania in recent days.

Before you smile over the misfortune of Israel’s Arab neighbors, remember that chaos on your border is never a good thing. Israel is already hosting almost 40,000 refugees from conflicts in Sudan and Eritrea, and it’s putting a tremendous strain on this country. If Egypt, Lebanon or Jordan fall apart, the resulting humanitarian crises will have a very negative effect on Israel as well, to say nothing of the human tragedy that will ensue.

This is a time to pray, and pray hard, for the nation of Israel and for the Believing Church in these predominantly Moslem countries. Also pray for the innocent people who will get trampled on during these events. And pray that these events be used to turn the hearts of many to Yeshua Ha’Mashiac (Jesus Christ) the only One who can save anyone.

The protesters in these countries are looking for political freedom, but they should be more concerned with spiritual freedom from slavery to the darkness of Islam, which is much worse than political slavery to any earthly dictator.

II Samuel 22:3:

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence.

Written by Aaron

Tag: Day of Rage

Unrest might soon spread to Syria

“Days of rage” rock Egypt, Lebanon