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Watch Jerusalem

The pressure is on in the Middle East.

President Bill Clinton is pushing for a peace agreement between Palestinians and Israelis before he leaves office in January.

Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat is under pressure from his followers to declare an independent Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem.

Israel's prime minister, under pressure from his own party to enter a peace agreement, is under intense pressure from others in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, not to yield one inch to the hostile nations around them.

Meanwhile, the pope has called for Jerusalem to be an "international city" with free and open access for all.

Jerusalem has become the focus of the debate. Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have stalled mainly over this issue. Other territorial disputes can probably be settled given time, but the conflict over Jerusalem is seemingly insoluble. Israelis and Palestinians both lay claim to the same small area, the Old City of Jerusalem. The Temple Mount, of biblical importance to devout Jews, is also the site of two of the Islamic world's most important mosques, the Dome of the Rock, from which the prophet Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven upon his horse, and the El-Aqsa.

Christians also want unhindered access to their holy places in Jerusalem's Old City. Frequently cut off from them over the last 2,000 years, they do not want to return to a situation where they are denied access.

Calls for the internationalization of the city are likely to grow because it appears to be the only possible acceptable compromise. In theory, adherents of all three religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) would have equal access to all their respective holy sites. Under such a solution Jerusalem would probably be administered by international peacekeepers.

Prospects for a peace agreement may be more likely in the near future because of an intriguing combination of factors and personalities. Israel's left-leaning prime minister, Ehud Barak, wants to continue the peace process started by assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. Mr. Barak's opposite number, Yasir Arafat, suffers from ill health and seems anxious to deliver on his promises before he dies. President Clinton is anxious to be remembered for solving the insoluble Mideast problem.

We may be headed for the time when two biblical prophecies could soon be fulfilled. Jesus Christ warned His disciples: "... When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near ... For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled" (Luke 21:20-22).

The apostle Paul added these words about the situation before Christ's return: "For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape" (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

From these verses we can see that, when a peace agreement is reached, then will be the time to be most concerned about where events are taking us.

Watch Jerusalem. It's going to be a central focus for world leaders in the time ahead.

Britain's military preparedness under review

"Weapons Out of Date by the Time They Arrive." "British Army Apaches Grounded After Faults." "New Attack Helicopter Cannot Fly." "Soldier's Rifle Failed in Battle." "£80 Million to Build Army's Useless Rifles."

These newspaper headlines underscore British troubles since June of this year. British weaponry may be in its sorriest state since the 1930s, and at a high cost to the taxpayer.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) wrote affectionately of the British-built Martini-Henry rifle, which played an important role in helping establish British imperialism and the winning of international respect. But now some 200,000 infantry rifles will have to be rebuilt at a factory in Germany.

The declining state of British armory reminds one of the words of Ezekiel 7:14: "They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, but no one goes to battle; for [God's] wrath is on all their multitude." (Sources: Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, The Times, Sunday Telegraph [all London].)

A new chapter in Sino-Russian relations

Russian-Chinese relations have blown hot and cold since the end of World War II. At one point during the Nixon administration things got so bad between the two giants that, according to some sources, one even contemplated a preemptive nuclear strike against the other. No more.

Russian president Vladimir Putin's recent visit to China "set a new course for Sino-Russian relations after 50 years of sharp twists and turns" (The Guardian). There is broad agreement on many important issues, including a united front against the United States' proposed new missile-defense shield.

In fact, a renewed military alliance is being forged as confirmed by the news that Russia is readying cruise-missile ships for delivery to China. "The SS-N-22 is the most dangerous anti-ship missile in the Russian, and now the Chinese fleet," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican (The Washington Times). He continued with the assessment that "our Navy admittedly has scant ability to defend against this 200-kiloton nuclear-capable weapon."

American officials are concerned about Russian arms deliveries as a part of China's military-modernization program. Russian technicians have been detected by American intelligence agencies assisting Chinese efforts to build land-attack cruise missiles similar to the U.S. Tomahawk.

Watch Russia and China, not only as individual nations, but together as a potentially powerful alliance. (Sources: The Guardian, The Times [London], The Washington Times.)

Threat to Australian security

Australians are nervous about defending their north shore for the first time since the Vietnam War and the days of Indonesian leader Sukarno (1901-1970). Sukarno is reputed to have vowed to kill every Australian. But lately intensive sectarian and ethnic conflicts are affecting many of the small Pacific islands around Australia's northeastern border.

Recently the decision was finally made to build a new 1,200-mile railway in the Australian outback from Alice Springs to the northern port of Darwin, which is closer to Singapore and Djakarta than to Sydney and Melbourne. The emphasis has been on the economic advantages, but one wonders whether military considerations such as much easier troop and weaponry movements might be a serious background consideration.

Though many of the nation's soldiers are engaged in peacekeeping operations in places like East Timor and Papua New Guinea, troop numbers are likely to fall below 50,000-the lowest in modern history. This is a small force indeed for a nation nearly as large geographically as the United States. Also, Australia's defensive equipment has been allowed to seriously run down during the past 10 years. Defense spending is at its lowest level since 1938. (Sources: The International Herald Tribune, Sunday Telegraph [London].)

A global inferno?

Blazing forests are a serious threat to timber resources, the earth's ecology and endangered species including orangutans. The United States suffered one of its worst wildfire seasons this summer. The year 2000 could be a near-record year for serious forest fires worldwide.

Greece lost more than 180,000 acres of forest to fires during only a few weeks. Indonesia and Sumatra are two hot spots among several others around the world. Fears are that further droughts will produce what has been called "a global bonfire" perhaps within 18 months.

World leaders are being urged to set aside more money for fire prevention rather than just fighting the flames. (Source: The Daily Express.)

Britain sees steep decline in Sunday-school attendance

For more than 200 years Sunday school has been an important part of the early life of British children. A century ago more than half of the nation's young people attended Sunday school. But, as The Independent on Sunday observed, "the traditional Sunday school is in a state of terminal decline, and the Anglican Church is pleading with other Christian denominations to join a last-ditch mission to save it." Some predict that in a few years worship will be all but dead if the march of children away from church congregations is not halted.

One reason for the decline is that few people below 40 take their children to church. Many adults do not attend themselves.

The above-referenced article states that "modern children prefer to spend Sabbath morning at football practice rather than with a teacher and a Bible." Note the use of the word Sabbath when the writer really means Sunday. This is common in Europe. The biblical Sabbath is on the seventh day of the week, Saturday, not the first.

If you would like to learn more about proper Sabbath observance, please request our free booklet Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest. While you're at it, you may wish to send for The Church Jesus Built. These two booklets identify the root of the Sabbath problem. (Source: The Independent on Sunday.)

Record number of Americans on probation or parole

Four and one-half million Americans were on probation or parole in 1999, with 1.86 million more behind bars, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The 6.3 million under some form of correctional supervision set another all-time high in a decade of steadily climbing numbers.

In 1980 slightly more than 1 percent of the American adult population was under correctional supervision. The figure has since tripled to more than 3 percent, or one of every 32 American adults.

Although violent crime decreased during the 1990s, assault arrests increased by 28 percent, and drug-related arrests rose 34 percent. Arrests for embezzlement, forgery and fraud grew by 37 percent.

The largest increase came in the number of people placed on probation. Those convicted of drug-related offenses and such crimes as embezzlement, forgery and fraud are often given probation rather than incarcerated, meaning that the flow of inmates into prisons has largely stabilized.

-- John Ross Schroeder and Melvin Rhodes