Drowning in water and tears

WITH THE Crescent City -- New Orleans -- and the U.S. Gulf Coast drowning in water and tears and, the not-so-remote possibility of martial law being declared to protect the American fuel resources, the world now is extremely tentative concerning the future.
Between outright terror, in such places as London and Madrid and the shocking memories of 9/11 in New York City and Washington, D.C., could there be more disasters, either natural, such as America's Tsunami, or man-made tragedies in the near future?
As the former Middle East Bureau chief for a major news-gathering organization, based in Jerusalem, I have seen close up the terror that can paralyze that part of the globe. It was, and still is, the type of fear that grips the heart and soul of any human being.
Veteran Washington newsman Bill Koenig has outlined a Biblical connection between the disengagement process which affected thousands of Israeli settlers in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and Hurricane Katrina.
As he related, on Monday, August 22, 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 menora, then boarded armored buses and left.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas spoke by phone and expressed their commitmnt to peace -- the first conversation between the two since the pullout started. The leaders spoke for about five minutes, with Abbas telling Sharon, "We are your partners for peace."
The next day, August 23, the day after the Gaza excauation, the government of the Bahamas issued a tropical storm warning for central and northwestern Bahamas. (Putting this storm into perspective, many of the tropical storms begin off the western coact of Africa and typically take 10 days to two weeks before affecting the Bahamas, the Caribbean and/or the U.S. coastline. Not Katrina.)
By Wednesday, August 24 at 11 a.m., the newly formed tropical depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Katrina; and by Thursday, August 25 at 5 p.m., Katrina became a hurricane. In a period of only 72 hours, tropical depression 11 developed and hit southeast Florida (the only area untouched by the past six hurricanes) as a hurricane.
Then Katrina swung towards the Gulf, forcing oil workers to evacuate rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, stopping the production of 600,000 barrels of oil a day and closing seven oil refineries and a major oil import terminal. Then it side swiped the Big East and ripped the heart out of the Gulf Coast.
New Orleans appeared to be saved. However, the levees broke and water poured into the streets, sometimes as high 20 feet or more in height. The fires, the agonizing deaths made it hell on earth. And it continues even today -- another Black Friday.
However, what is the connection between the displacement of Israel settlers, who believed they had a right, in fact, a God-given right -- to the Land, including Gaza and the West Bank, and not their bitter enemies -- the Palestinians?
Koenig, in his book, 'Eye to Eye -- Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel' believes there at less eight major 'Acts of God' that coincides with the timing of U.S. pressure on Israel to give the Land (Israel).
Here are those eight, in Koenig's words:
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" and became a book and later a movie. There were 100-foot waves and pounded the New England coast, causing heavy damage to President Bush's home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
August 23, 1992 -- The Madrid Conference moves to Washington, D.C. and the peace talks resume, last four days. On that same day, Hurricane Andrew -- then the worst natural disaster ever to hit America produces an estimate $30 billion in damage and leaves 180,000 homeless in Florida.
January 16, 1994 -- President Clinton meets with Syria's President Hafez el-Assas in Geneva. They talk about a peace agreement with Israel that includes giving up the Golan Heights. Less than 24 hours later, the powerful Northridge earthquake rocked southern California. It was the second most most destructive natural disaster to hit the U.S. behind Hurricane Andrew.
March 1 to April 1997 -- The combination of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat touring America; Clinton rebuking Israel for not giving away her land for peace; and pro-abortion activity coincide with some of the worst tornadoes and flooding in U.S. history. On the very day Arafat lands in America, powerful tornadoes devastate huge sections of the nation, ripping across Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee. Arafat's American tour also coincides with the storms in the Dakotas, which result in the worst flooding of this century, in addition to weeks of major storms throughout the Midwest. Arafat finishes his tour and leaves the U.S. and the storms stop.
January 21, 1998 -- Netanyahu meets with President Clinton at the White House and is coldly received. Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright refuse to have lunch with him. Shortly afterwards that day, the Monica Lewinsky scandal breaks into the mass media and begins to occupy a major portion of Clinton's time.
September 27-28, 1998 -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright works on the final details of an agreement in which Israel will give up 13 percent of the West Bank. The same day Hurricane Georges slams into the Gulf Coast with 110 m.p.h winds and gusts up to 175. The hurricane hits the coast and stalls. On September 28, Clinton meets with Arafat and Netanyahu at the White House to finalize the land deal. Later, Arafat addresses the United Nations about declaring an independent Palestinian state by May 1999, while Hurricane Georges pounds the Gulf Coast causing $1 billion in damage. At the exact time Arafat departs the U.S. the storm begins to dissipate.
October 15-22, 1998 -- On October 15, 1998, Yasser Arafat and Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the Wye River Plantation in Maryland, to continue the talks, which ended on September 28. The talks are scheduled to last five days with the focus on Israel giving up 13 percent of the West Bank. The talks are extended and conclude on October 23. On October 17, awesome rains and tornadoes hit southern Texas. The San Antonio area is deluged with 20 inches of rain in one day. The rains and floods in Texas continue until October 22 and then subside. The floods ravage 25 percent of Texas and leave over one billion dollars in damage. On October 21, Clinton declares this section of Texas a major disaster area.
May 3, 1999 -- This is the same day in Israel that Yasser Arafat is scheduled to declare a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital. The declaration is postponed to December 1999 at the request of President Clinton, whose letter to Arafat encourages him for his "aspirations for his own land." He also writes that the Palestinians have a right to "determine their own future on their own land, " and that they deserve to "live free, today, tomorrow and forever." That same day, starting at 4:47 p.m. CDT, the most powerful tornado storm system ever to hit the United States sweeps across Oklahoma and Kansas. The winds are clocked at 316 mph. the fastest wind speed ever recorded.
These are a few examples of the many "Act of God" events that coincide with the timing of America's pressure on Israel to give up her land for peace. The Land that God gave to Israel as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is documented by covenant in The Holy Bible, according to Koenig.
Then fast forward to late August, 2005 and the destruction of New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf Coast.
When Gaza was placed under a state of emergency, some 8,000 residents were evacuated, now New Orleans has been given a mandatory evacuation of 500,000 people. And while many Israeli Jews from Gaza were put in temporary refugees camps and tent cities, upwards of a million "refugees" from Louisiana and Mississppi will be housed in temporary camps.
It seems that the U.S. and Israel are joined together by some measure of tragedy.