The Week in Review

Middle East

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has ramped up efforts to reconcile with Hamas. Abbas met with Hamas rivals in the West Bank on Saturday, for the first time in a year, after announcing the previous week that he is willing to go to the Gaza Strip to meet with Hamas leaders and discuss Palestinian unity. One of his aides, Azzam Ahmed, said Abbas would even be willing to pass up hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid if it meant making a Palestinian unity deal. The momentum for Palestinian unity is part of a greater strategy in the PA’s bid for international recognition, which may come before the United Nations General Assembly in September. The Fatah-led government realizes that its case for statehood is weak unless it reconciles with its Palestinian enemy. Palestinian unity, however, would soon put Hamas in the Palestinian driver’s seat in the West Bank—something the Trumpet has expected for years.

A feature-length documentary film produced by a top adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims that the current unrest in the Middle East is a signal that the Mahdi—or Islamic messiah—is about to appear. The film was screened a few weeks ago by Ahmadinejad’s office and is soon to be distributed to Islamic audiences across the Middle East. One of the “signs” of the Mahdi’s return, according to the narrator in the film, will be Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah leading Islamic armies to conquer Jerusalem. The leaders of Iran believe that the current violence and turmoil in the Middle East are signs of the imminent triumph of their version of Islam. This belief will no doubt make Iran much bolder in its attempts to violently wrench Jerusalem away from Israeli control.

In Syria, President Bashar Al-Assad on Thursday finally outlined some steps toward reform in his country, including lifting emergency law and granting rights to Kurds. The proposals—which are likely little more than token gestures in any case—are unlikely to satisfy protesters demanding an end to the regime. In a speech to parliament the previous day, Assad remained defiant, saying the public unrest was largely the result of “the plots that [have been] hatched against our country.” Sporadic anti-government demonstrations have occurred throughout Syria since late January. Two weeks ago, the unrest reached critical mass when government security forces used live ammunition to disperse a crowd of demonstrators in Daraa, an impoverished city in southern Syria. This inspired more angry Syrians to hit the streets in protest in cities across the country, including the capital, Damascus. Assad responded by dispatching security and military forces throughout Syria, shutting down electronic communications and getting tougher with protesters. Amid the crackdowns, thousands have been arrested, hundreds injured and more than 100 killed. To this point, Assad has managed to maintain control of the unrest. He knows his regime is of vital strategic importance to Iran and Hezbollah and is confident both will continue to stand by his side. Bible prophecy, however, reveals that a split between Iran and Syria will occur. To learn more about this pivotal prophecy, outlined in Psalm 83, read Gerald Flurry’s upcoming editorial.

In Libya, Muammar Qadhafi’s troops have regained some of the ground taken by rebel forces since air strikes began. It is evident that the rebels are having trouble advancing—even with air support—in the face of any significant resistance on the ground. Still, they were given reason to cheer when Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa defected to Britain on Wednesday, and Libyan Ambassador to the United Nations Ali Abdel-Salam al-Treki defected the following day. There have been no further high-level defections from the military, however, since February, indicating that with the loyalty of the army Qadhafi may have the support to hold on to power for some time.

Europe

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union (cdu), lost control of a pivotal state on Monday in an embarrassing electoral reversal that signals broad disapproval of her leadership. For almost 60 years, the conservatives have maintained control of Baden-Württemberg, but concern over Japan’s nuclear crisis prompted voters there to provide enough support to the Green Party to give it control of a state government for the first time. Earlier this month, Merkel abruptly decided to abandon her previous pro-nuclear policy and close down seven of Germany’s 17 nuclear reactor plants, but it was not enough to shift her back into the favor of the Baden-Württemberg populace. “It’s a deep wound in the history of Baden-Württemberg and also in the history of the cdu,” Merkel told reporters on Monday. “The pain from this loss won’t go away in just one day. We’ll have to work for a long time to overcome the pain from this defeat.” There can be no doubt that the elections in Baden-Württemberg, like those in Hamburg last month, reflect significant changes in the mood of the electorate in Germany. As Merkel’s Christian Democrats nurse the wounds they sustained in Baden-Württemberg, we should watch for Germany’s dissatisfaction with its current leadership to intensify.

Silvio Berlusconi claimed that he is “the most accused man in history and the universe” as he appeared in court on March 27 for the first time in eight years. He has previously said: “I am the Jesus Christ of politics. I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone,” and claimed to be “the best political leader in Europe and in the world,” as well as “absolutely the most persecuted by the judiciary in all of the history of the entire world.” The billionaire media mogul and politician is accused of underage prostitution, among other things. The trials could cause Berlusconi to step down, but he has survived many scandals before.

A cyberattack on the European Parliament’s networks was uncovered on March 24, and continued for several days. “This is not a couple of teenage boys hacking into the [EU] institutions,” an anonymous EU official said. This is the latest in a series of attacks on the EU. The European Commission and the European External Action Service (the EU’s foreign ministry) came under attack just two days earlier. In February, the French government came under cyberattack as someone searched for information about the G-20 summit held in Paris that month. Unnamed internal sources have speculated that China was behind that attack as some of the files were directed to Chinese sites. Expect Europe to respond by beefing up both its offensive and defensive cybersecurity.

EU officials put off a decision to conclude plans for a future permanent rescue mechanism for the eurozone at a meeting that concluded on March 25. Eurozone leaders agreed to expand the lending capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility, but the final decision won’t come till June. In Finland, True Finns, a Euroskeptic party, is on target to come second in elections scheduled for April 17. Rather than risk fueling the anti-Europe fire, the eurozone is waiting until the Finish election is over before moving forward.

After following the Federal Reserve’s lead in matters of fiscal policy for over a decade, the European Central Bank (ecb) is poised to launch a series of interest rate hikes before the U.S. central bank for the first time in its history. This “decoupling” of Fed and ecb policies shows that the eurozone now has the economic strength and political will to go it alone if it feels the situation warrants it. “I think we are in a new world where global interest rate cycles are not initiated by the Fed,” said Jens Søndergaard, senior European economist at Nomura. “There has been a lot of import price inflation pushing up euro area inflation … and a lot of this is related to above-trend growth in Asia.” Watch for Europe and Asia to grow in economic strength as America declines. Soon the world’s reserve currency may be the euro.

Members of the European Parliament offered to support amendments in the Parliament in return for cash, according to an ongoing scandal. An investigation by the Sunday Times found four meps introduced legislative changes in return for promises of money. On March 30, the Parliament’s president gave permission for the EU’s anti-fraud office, olaf, to conduct an investigation, but it still is not allowed to search meps’ offices. It was also instructed not to conduct a criminal investigation. Two of the implicated meps have resigned. The scandal illustrates the corruption that is rife within the EU, an undemocratic institution.

Asia

Around 1,000 bodies of victims from Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami have not been recovered within a 20-kilometer radius surrounding the compromised Fuksuhima-1 reactor because of radiation concerns, Japanese police said on Thursday. Authorities said the corpses had been “exposed to high levels of radiation after death,” and have not yet announced how they will be collected. The matter is complicated because authorities do not want police, medical personnel or families of the victims to risk exposure to radiation from the bodies. The death toll from the tandem of catastrophes has reached 11,232, according to data provided by the Kyodo news agency on Wednesday. Over 16,000 others are considered to be missing, and Japan is still shaking from regular aftershocks. Relief work continues and the threat of major nuclear leaks remains.

The U.S. levied sanctions on Belorussian oil company Belarusneft on Wednesday, saying the firm drew up a $500 million contract with Iran back in 2007. Washington has outlawed such contacts with Iran because of Tehran’s suspicious nuclear program, and this marks the second time Washington has imposed sanctions on a foreign company for conducting business with Iran. Belarusneft will retain some limited access to the U.S. market, but will not be allowed to take part in the U.S. government’s tenders or be permitted to apply for American bank credits of more than $10 million. Washington’s sanctions against Belarusneft and several other Belorussian companies stem from U.S. disapproval of Minsk’s policies, but U.S. Congressman Howard Berman pointed out that, in the latest move, Washington “imposed sanctions on a company that doesn’t do any business in the U.S., so the sanction has no more than symbolic impact.” He cautioned that the U.S. is “sending Iran a signal more of weakness than of strength, and we’re having no impact on their economy.”

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan visited China from Monday to Wednesday to meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao about ramping up economic and trade cooperation. During the meetings, Beijing reiterated its desire to restart the six-party talks, which involve the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the U.S. The discussions have been stalled since late 2008 because of North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests. We can expect visits and meetings between Asian powers to become more frequent and more significant in the months ahead.

Africa/Latin America

A former South African rugby player was accused this week of murdering at least three people with an axe after his daughter was gang-raped. Over a period of at least four evenings last week, the former Blue Bulls player is said to have stalked one of the impoverished townships near his home and launched axe-attacks, apparently at random, at men returning home from work. He allegedly told a group of witnesses that he would “kill 100 men if he could.” Since the end of the apartheid regime in 1994, the South African murder rate has skyrocketed from 5,100 to an astounding 43,000 people per year. One quarter of South African women can expect to be raped at least once in their lifetime. Sadly, South Africa has reverted to a nation without law.

Pope Benedict xvi called this week for greater Roman Catholic efforts to protect traditional family values in Latin America. In a message to bishops meeting from March 28 to April 1 in Bogotá, Colombia, the pope said no effort should be spared in defending marriage as an institution founded on the indissoluble union of a man and a woman, in which human life is welcomed and protected from its very beginning. To this end, he said, it was necessary to strengthen the church’s evangelization efforts. The Vatican already has deep roots entrenched throughout Latin America and it is looking to extend them. The day is soon coming when Rome’s control over both European and Latin American affairs will extend far beyond pastoral programs on family rights.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last Tuesday to receive a prize for promoting popular communication. Argentine opposition figures are already branding the choice of Chávez for this reward as the worst attack on press freedom since the end of Argentina’s military dictatorship. This prize was awarded to Chávez despite his longstanding record of rescinding the licenses of media sources hostile to his regime. Yet, Chávez is a key regional ally of Argentine President Cristina Fernández. Argentina is adopting more and more of Venezuela’s anti-democratic, anti-American outlook on the world.

Anglo-America

United States President Barack Obama gave a speech to the nation this Monday to define America’s objectives in the war against Muammar Qadhafi’s Libyan regime. This speech, however, was not nearly as revealing as statements made in London the next evening by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. At a meeting with diplomats from 30 countries, Clinton raised the possibility of arming Libya’s anti-Qadhafi rebels. After raising this possibility, she admitted that she really had no idea as to what organizations were behind the rebels. Actually, there are strong indications that al Qaeda is backing many of the rebels the Obama administration is also supporting. On a per capita basis, no country has sent more Islamic extremists into Iraq to kill Americans than Libya—and almost all of these extremists came from eastern Libya, the center of the anti-Qadhafi rebellion. The result of this war will undoubtedly be the same as the result of America’s attack against Saddam Hussein: The ruling regime will be weakened to the point where Islamic radicals and Iranian subversives are free to start working unhindered.

Over 250,000 protesters marched in London on March 26 in Britain’s biggest protest since the Iraq war, with violent elements causing thousands of pounds’ worth of damage. Both the peaceful and violent protesters shared the same target: the rich. The have nots being jealous of the haves is not new, but the rage against the rich is surging in Britain. Violent protesters targeted the Ritz—a symbol of opulent living—and the shops around it, smashing windows and throwing paint. Some protesters took to the awning of Fortnum & Mason, a high-class store, where you can reportedly spend £25,000 on a picnic hamper. The protest, titled “March for the Alternative,” was aimed at promoting “an alternative in which rich individuals and big companies have to pay all their tax, that the banks pay a Robin Hood tax.” The focus was on making the rich pay. The British tax and welfare system have created a situation where a lot of people get a lot of money from the government. They feel entitled to it. Now, as the coalition moves slightly in the direction of austerity, they have come out on the streets, angry, demanding the rich pay for the benefits or jobs they think they’re entitled to. But, Britain isn’t even cutting its debts. The debts are getting bigger, albeit at a slightly slower rate. That means these problems are not over. The cuts will continue, and so will the protests and division.

The last publicly traded British port operator, Forth Ports, was sold for £754 million to Arcus Infrastructure Partners, a fund manager focusing on European infrastructure, on March 22. Forth Ports owns Tilbory Ports, which it describes as “London’s major port,” as well as several Scottish ports. Alex Brummer describes the significance of the sale in the Daily Mail. “As a great maritime and trading nation, Britain ought to treasure the ports that have been built up over centuries around our shores,” he writes. “Yet despite their vital importance to our economic and military security, barely a murmur of protest has been heard as the great publicly-quoted companies that own them have been sold to foreign-based firms one by one. … At a time when other maritime nations, such as China and the United Arab Emirates, are jealously guarding their own trading hubs and snapping up ports across the world—from Sri Lanka to Africa—Britain has effectively sold off the nation’s family silver” (March 23). Britain had already sold Heathrow Airport and four of its six biggest energy companies, and lost control of the next generation of its nuclear power stations. Britain’s willingness to give up its strategic assets makes it vulnerable. For more, see our April 2010 Trumpet article “Surrendering the Lock and Key of the Kingdom.”

The amount of money Britain contributed to the EU nearly doubled in 2010, according to an article published in the Daily Telegraph on March 31. In 2009, Britain paid £5.3 billion, which jumped to £9.2 billion the following year, said the article, citing data from the Office of National Statistics. The article claimed that former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s decision to reduce the rebate Britain received from Europe, and the fact that the pound is now weaker than the euro, have caused this increase. Each taxpayer is now paying £300 annually to Europe. This is yet another cause for the EU to be unpopular in Britain.