ORLANDO, FLORIDA (ANS) — In 1995 God gave Eddie and Alice Smith an instruction to launch “PrayUSA!” which was 40-days of prayer and fasting for revival and spiritual awakening in the U.S. The first PrayUSA! was in 1997. Later, CBN News declared that it was the largest fasting and prayer initiative in history.
In a highly-anticipated and carefully balanced foreign policy speech on the Israeli-Arab conflict on Monday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to re-assert the American role in Middle East peace-making, reiterating the new Bush Administration line that it envisions a Palestinian state down the road, but stressing the first order of business is for the Palestinian Authority to stamp out terror, violence and incitement against Israel.
US special “security” envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni ended his brief regional visit on Sunday saying chances for an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire were improving, despite Israel’s daring seizure of a freighter loaded with weapons bound for the Palestinian Authority. Iran and Hizb’Allah have joined the PA in vigorously denying any connection to the captured vessel, while many Israelis are wondering what possibly more could their leaders want before finally declaring PLO chief Yasser Arafat an enemy.
ZAMBOANGA CITY, PHILIPPINES – The once calm, peaceful and loving people of the City of Zamboanga will never be the same again after 200 heavily armed Muslim rebels held 81 Christian hostages last week and exchanged gunfire with the military forces that left two soldiers, four Muslim rebels and four civilians dead.
Four more Christians are among 20 prisoners who have been freed from prison in Peru after serving long sentences for crimes they did not commit.
Palestinian terrorists were back on the warpath on Friday, as a suicide bomber targeted a crowded Tel Aviv pedestrian mall, wounding 22 Israelis, while rockets slammed into the Erez crossing into northern Gaza.
ISTANBUL, December 3 (Compass) — Five weeks after Islamic extremists gunned down 15 Pakistani Christians in a Sunday morning worship service, church leaders across Pakistan admitted that their congregations remain “tense and fearful” as Christmas approaches.
Ahmad Al-Rab’i, a columnist for the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, recently apologized to his readers for reporting the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) version of the Karine A weapons ship affair. Al-Rab’i called on his readers not to believe the PA’s declarations any longer.
Despite assurances from Muslim and government rulers in northern Nigeria that Sharia law would not be enforced on the Christian population living there, VOM sources in Nigeria report that several incidents point to the fact that this is not taking place.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANS) — Congress has passed a bill to recognize a National Day of Reconciliation. The day will be observed on Tuesday, December 4, 2001.
Anti-American statements are a common component of the Egyptian media, including in the weeks and days prior to September 11, 2001. Following are excerpts of such statements:
Columnists from the government press joined Egypt’s opposition press in celebrating the attacks on the U.S .
Egypt’s government press displayed unconditional support for President Mubarak’s position on the struggle against terrorism, and also leveled criticism at the U.S. for its disregard of Mubarak’s past recommendations regarding terrorism. However, most of the columnists focused on America’s plans for military reprisal. Al-Akhbar daily columnist Ahmad Ragab compared the terror attacks on the U.S. to the expected American military operation: “The U.S. and terrorism suffuse a foul atmosphere throughout the world. The smiles have disappeared from the faces of the peoples, who wait, across the world, for the disaster that either terrorists or the U.S. will visit upon them. The U.S. has become like the terrorists.”(1)
New legislation awaiting agreement by the Kazakhstan authorities looks set to undermine religious freedom.
The Keston Institute reports that if adopted, the law will require all missionaries to be registered and allow unregistered religious groups to be banned.
The massive catastrophe wrought by Muslim suicide terrorists in New York and Washington on September 11 has served as a “wake up” call to the United States and other Western democracies to a lurking global menace, yet few understand the radical Islamic theology that has been spawning hatred, conflicts and human missiles for decades. The American-led effort to eradicate this evil hinges largely on isolating the terrorist support network hiding among the world’s one billion Muslims and preventing it from recruiting others to their ruinous cause – an incredibly tall task at this late stage.
Western leaders and mainstream media share much of the blame for the ignorance of many worldwide as to the ambitions of the ever expanding alliance of Islamic elements bent on conquering the world for their god, Allah. This despite the fact that America has been singled out for repeated attack by Muslim militants ever since the Islamic revolution swept Iran in 1979. The overthrow of the pro-Western Shah of Iran and the triumphal rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini provide a good starting point for reviewing the modern resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism and its holy war against “infidel” nations.
Palestinian Islamist journalist Khalid Amayreh published two articles in the November issue of the London based monthly Palestine Times, titled “Why I Hate America,” and “Jewish Islamophobia – The Most Virulent of All,” in which he articulated his attitude towards the U.S. and Jews. The following are excerpts from the articles:
This is one of the most difficult reports I have ever written. I debated waiting a bit to send it out, due to the deep grieving that is still gripping my native land as decaying bodies are dug up from the rubble of the destroyed World Trade Center, and as people gather for a special national day of prayer. But it was precisely the day of prayer that led me to send this out now, so that it might play a role in some people’s intercession on this mournful day, and during the traumatic ones that lie ahead.
(Compass) – “This especially applies to Sokodé and the areas of mid and northern Togo. I know of four men and four women who keep their Bibles hidden and read them when no one else is around. They told me that since they have been reading the Bible, they have peace in their hearts,” he said.
Three Israelis, including one with dual American citizenship, were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in separate shootings and a school bus was fired upon on Wednesday, as the bullet-riddled ceasefire faltered towards complete collapse over the past 24 hours.
There were steady bouts of Palestinian shooting, mortar and bombing attacks since last Friday, with at least seven Israelis wounded and 13 Palestinians reportedly killed and scores more injured in “work accidents” or Israeli pre-emptive strikes and return fire.
(Ann Arbor, Michigan) – A lawsuit brought by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union (ICLU), on behalf of two plaintiffs, to take down a Ten Commandments monument that has stood in front of the Knox County Courthouse since 1958 was recently dismissed by a federal judge.