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PropheZine Newsletter #135
December 15, 2001
Bob Lally Publisher/Senior Editor

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PART 2 of a 2 part newsletter

As you see, scripture tells us EXACTLY where the Antichrist arises. Is there
any doubt in your mind? How can so many be convinced that the Antichrist
comes from Europe? In all my years of studying this prophecy, I can't find
any scripture that locates him in Europe!

How could the Stone Kingdom fall on the Feet Kingdom, and crush to
smithereens all of the Kingdoms of the great image, and destroy Europe?
Europe was not described in any of the Kingdoms represented by that image.
Only a portion of the image, the legs, turned out to be the Roman Empire,
but then the image goes on to develop another empire that came after Rome,
the feet empire, namely, the Moslem Empire, out of which the toes grow. The
Stone Kingdom <stoneappl.html> falls on the Moslem Empire, part of which was
once ruled by Rome, and destroys the territory that once grew out of
Babylon. Europe has nothing to do with it.

The misinformation centers on the ten kings that gather together at the end
time; they come out of the territory once occupied by the Old Roman Empire.
The little Horn rises from among THEM. But, modern day prophecy preachers
leave out the feet kingdom on the great image of Nebuchadnezzar, and jump
from the legs directly to the toes.

The reality of the succession of the lands that come out of Babylon is that
after the Roman Empire, depicted by the legs of iron, comes the feet, out of
which grow the toes. The feet kingdom succeeds the iron leg kingdom, and in
history it becomes the Moslem Empire. The Moslem Empire was short lived, as
it broke in two within a year of the death of Mohammed. The feet are made of
iron and clay, and are described as partly strong and partly weak which the
empire was.
The kingdom growing up out of the feet kingdom, the Moslem Empire, will be
Antichrist's kingdom <smallmaps.html>, as it will be the eighth kingdom
which grows out of the land of the feet kingdom - the Moslem Empire.

The prophecy that shows where this kingdom is located is the ten horn
prophecy of Daniel 7. Those horns, which are kings growing out of the
territory ruled by the Roman Empire, but Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar's great
image, shows us that the territory out of which that kingdom grows is the
feet kingdom, or the Moslem Empire.

So, it's the Roman area of the Moslem Empire that is depicted. That area is
also the Seleucid portion of the old Grecian Empire. So the combination of
the two prophecies shows that Antichrist will rule a kingdom that was once
the Roman area, that was once the Seleucid Portion of the Grecian Empire,
that is now within the Moslem Empire.

The toes are made of iron and clay and are described as partly strong and
partly broken, as this kingdom will be.

Now, with this telescopic view of Daniel, we see a significant detail
concerning Antichrist; we see EXACTLY where he arises!

Having established that, let's return to Daniel 9.

As you recall, Daniel had read in Jeremiah where God had prophesied that the
bondage was for 70 years. Daniel was praying about this when an angel
(Gabriel, according to the Jewish scholars) appeared. The angel told Daniel
that he would tell him not only about the 70 years, but also about 70 weeks
of years. That is 490 years of prophecy concerning Daniel's people, the
Jews, as well as his holy city, Jerusalem.

The angel speaks to Daniel about the Jews and Jerusalem. He makes no
reference to the Church. This prophecy covers 490 years of strictly Jewish
years. These 490 years are divided into three parts, all of which will be
the time required to: 1. Finish the transgression, making an end of sins 2.
Make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness
and 3. Anoint the most Holy (holy place). That would all be accomplished in
the 490 years which would begin with the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem.

That command was issued during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah during the
reign of the Medo-Persians. Meanwhile, Daniel was to seal the prophecy and
the vision until the time of the end.
The prophecy is broken up into three parts. The first part is a period of
seven weeks or forty-nine years, to build the city. The end of this period
is also the end of the Old Testament. To me, that is a more significant
event than the completion of the city. But that's another story.
The second part is a period of sixty-two weeks or four hundred thirty-four
years until the Messiah is cut off, but not for himself. However, since the
Jews rejected the Messiah, this is a Christian belief. The Messiah died for
the sins of man; it was the redemptive act of God.
Thus, we have forty-nine years to rebuild the city and come to the end of
the Old Testament. Then four hundred thirty-four years later the Messiah
will be killed. That totals four hundred eighty-three years. We are about to
enter the GAP.

Look carefully at verse 26. Interestingly, the King James has a colon after
this first phrase. It is at this point that Isaiah 61:1-2 places the
conjunction "AND." It is also at this same point that Jesus stops reading
Is. 61 and closes the book. (Luke 4:18). You may recall that Jesus said that
what he had just read was fulfilled that very day.

What we see, moving through scripture, is that Isaiah could not distinguish
between the pre and post gap times. Daniel made a clearer distinction with
his use of a colon and establishing independent clauses. However, Jesus left
no room for doubt when he distinguished the times by closing the book.

This establishes a gap in the fulfillment of the allotted time for the Jews.
The age of the Gentiles begins with their receiving the Messiah and ends
with the rapture of the Church. At this point, the remaining final week or
final seven years for the Jews resumes countdown.
Returning to Daniel 9:26, we see where the final week begins. "And the
people of the prince that shall come (referring to Antichrist) shall destroy
the city, etc.

Verse 27 And he (Who's he? He is the prince that shall come; he is
Antichrist, empowered by the Prince of Grecia from out of the pit) shall
confirm "A" (not "the" as in the KJV) covenant with many for one week (seven
years): and in the midst of the week (three and a half years) he
(Antichrist) will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the
overspreading of abominations he (Antichrist) shall make it desolate, even
until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured out upon the
desolate.

In verse 27, at the beginning of the final week a person known as a prince
(Daniel's little horn and Revelation's man on the white horse) is going to
confirm a covenant with many.
In order to complete their return to the land, the Jews need a means of
atoning for their sins. They need the temple for sacrifices. The Jews do
resume the sacrifices for we see in verse 27 that after three and a half
years, the Antichrist breaks the covenant and stops their sacrifices.

It is evident that the covenant confirmed by many must contain the provision
to resume the sacrifice. Why? The sacrifices had not resumed before the
covenant, yet, three and a half years into the covenant, they are stopped.
Antichrist breaks the covenant and causes them to stop the sacrifices.

According to Daniel, the Little Horn is a king out of the Seleucid portion
of the Old Grecian Empire. He arrives on the scene with authority granted by
a loose confederacy of ten kings from a region of the Old Roman Empire
within the Moslem Empire. Also depicted as a man on the white horse in
Revelation 6, he will be one who finally brings peace to the region. He wins
his own kingdom by flatteries.

Now, if this little horn is already a king who rises among ten kings from
the area, why is he given his kingdom? Why does he need to win it by
flattery? What does he confirm in the covenant? How are the Jews able to
resume sacrifices?

While the answers to these questions have remained a mystery to us, let's
consider Daniel 12:4. It is the defining verse of all end time prophecies.
It contains the command to Daniel to seal up the word and the book until the
time of the end. At that time, when the seal is broken, there will be much
new knowledge.

This means that when we can see the events of the 70th week approaching,
then the prophecy has been unsealed. No longer a mystery, it is spilling out
onto the stage of history. And, when we can see it, much knowledge will be
available about it. We will know from the history given us, not only where
the players in the prophecy come from but also what they are doing on the
stage.
So, when we can answer the questions posed above, we are in the end times.
We can see it on stage, and now we know what to expect before the first seal
is opened and the Great Tribulation gets underway.

This is important to us as the Church, members of the Body of Christ. We
have the promise of being caught away before that first seal is opened. We
are not subject to wrath, but rather to salvation by Our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ.

Having watched the stage for a long time (over 20 years at this writing),
let us examine history and see how this has come to be the time of the end.
First, we must find on the stage of history a person filling the role of the
Little Horn character. If he is not here yet, then we must keep watching for
his appearance. He is the key player in the scene.

The Little Horn will have to be a king or ruler. He must be of a small
people. His kingdom must be from the Seleucid portion of the Old Grecian
Empire, which is also the Roman portion of the Moslem Empire. Also, he must
be deeply involved in the covenant that brings resolution to the Jews temple
and sacrifice dilemma.

Besides that, the scene must be set with a warrior as the Egyptian King.
This king of the south will be at odds with the Little Horn and his kingdom
at the end time. However, the King of Israel must be a dove, in order to
make peace. (Hawks are not known to want peace.)
Since the Temple Mount is in Jerusalem, that has to be the center of
conflict. The confirmed covenant will usher in peace and security. The man
on the white horse indicates this, but later the tribulation will begin.

There must be ten kings from the territory of the Moslem Empire that meet,
form a loose confederacy, and give authority to one other King. This king
will uproot three of the ten and the other seven will give him power.

Finally, the Little Horn must have a kingdom given to him in honor.
According to Daniel, this is the required stage setting. This must all be in
place prior to the events that begin the final seven years of the Jews
destiny.

With this in mind, let us examine today's stage of history. We will use
scripture to determine whether or not these really are the end times. We
will see if we are at the very edge of time, rather than some 50 years or
more away from that part of the time.

First, if this little horn is already a king, that rises among ten kings
from the area, why is he given his kingdom, and why does he need to win it
by flattery?

To answer this question, we must first locate the Little Horn. Is there such
a person on today's scene that comes from the Seleucid portion of the Old
Grecian Empire?
Yes, there is. Let me introduce you to him.

Thus far, we have seen that there are seven kingdoms involved in the scene,
five of them will grow out of Babylon. In the first century when John was
writing Revelation, one of the kingdoms was in existence. Rome. Five had
already fallen: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Grecia. The seventh
was yet to come. Out of it, the eighth or Antichrist Kingdom would emerge.
Keep referring to the map of Daniel at a glance. <smallmaps.html>

Since the gap began, and after the end of the Roman Empire, only one other
Empire has sprung up on that same land. It is the Moslem Empire. Mohammed,
the prophet of Allah, built it and ruled from the Hashemite Kingdom there.

Where was this Hashemite Kingdom? Please refer to the maps that I have
provided for this class. On the present day map <smallmaps.html>, I have
outlined the Seleucid portion of the Old Grecian Empire in white. Within
it's borders, outlined in black, is the Hashemite Kingdom. That is also the
same territory that Rome occupied when she defeated that territory.

The capital of the Hashemite Kingdom is Baghdad. Studying the history of the
Hashemite Kingdom, you will find that Mohammed and his descendants have
occupied that throne ever since - over 1400 years. Certainly, there will
always be a Hashemite King because the descendancy passes along that direct
line from father to son. The ruler of the seventh Kingdom to arise on that
land once known as Babylon sits on today's stage.

However, in 1958 the United Arab Republic (UAR) usurped the Hashemite ruler.
Abdul Nasser, then the king (ruler) of Egypt, founded that federation. It
was the king of the south, still fighting with the king of the north.

Fisal II, the Hashemite King of that day, and his family were murdered. As
the 42nd descendant of Mohammed, Jordan's King Hussein fell heir to the
Hashemite throne. But, an outside power had overtaken the kingdom.

Prior to the assassination of the Hashemite family, Fisal II and King
Hussein formed a federation in defense of the UAR. Shortly after the
murders, King Hussein vowed to replace Hashemite rule back into His Kingdom.

His Kingdom? What about Jordan? Isn't that his Kingdom? Only politically. In
1921, the British Mandate of Palestine awarded the land of Jordan (then part
of Syria, known as Palestine) to King Hussein's grandfather, Abdullah. This,
the Palestinian's homeland, was made forever a hereditary Emirate in the
family of Abdullah. That is the reason King Hussein was the king of Jordan.
Because he is the Hashemite King, the British recognized the Emirate of
Jordan as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. However, his true kingdom is the
Hashemite Kingdom located today in Iraq. Another thing the 1921 mandate did
was split out the care of the Holy Shrines of the Moslems, Mecca and Medina,
and gave control over them to the Saudi's, after they had been in the
control of the descendants of Mohammed for over 1400 years.

Therefore, the only one who Scripturally qualifies as far as birth and
heredity are concerned to be the little horn of Daniel that is on the scene
today was King Hussein of Jordan. He was the Hashemite King. He was the 42nd
descendant of the prophet Mohammed of the Moslem Empire.
But, the question remains: If King Hussein already has a kingdom, why must
he be given the kingdom that he wins by flattery? The answer is that the
kingdom he has is not really his. The kingdom that really is his, has been
usurped.

Now, in the history of it, King Hussein, who was the leader of the Mideast's
long road to Peace, after 46 years of rulership, has died, and passed on the
scepter of rulership to his eldest son Abdullah. The new Hashemite King is
King Abdullah II . That's no more significant than the death of
Nebuchadnezzar, and the ascendance of his son Belshazzar to the throne. It's
all part of the history of God's plan. Each did his part in the movement of
the landscape through history.

Next comes the question regarding the covenant. But, first, let us consider
the reason King Abdullah II is in position to be a confirming factor in the
covenant.

If you recall, it's the little horn that comes riding out on the white horse
in Revelation. So, the covenant is a peace covenant. Therefore, our little
horn on today's stage must be, by virtue of Revelation 6, very involved in
the peace pact.

Was King Hussein very involved in the peace pact? Well, if you had been
following the Mideast trail, you know that he was the single most important
individual involved in the Peace. I could go on for days telling you how
this is true, but the facts are all carefully recorded in history that dates
back some 18 years.

King Hussein personally saved the peace and kept it moving forward on two
separate occasions. In both instances peace appeared to have gone by the
wayside, and war was inevitable. His son, King Abdullah II has vowed to
continue in his fathers footsteps.

Next comes the question: How is the Little Horn character connected to the
resumption of the sacrifice?

First, our man on stage is now King Abdullah II. Because of his heritage, he
virtually holds the keys to all the Holy Shrines of the Moslems. That
includes Temple Mount in Jerusalem. That is a word honored by all in the
region, including the Palestinians. It is included in the Washington
Declaration and in paragraph 9 of the peace treaty between Jordan and
Israel.
On January 10, 1996, the headlines of the Jerusalem Post read: "Israelis
Hail Jordan's King as Peacemaker!". About one year later, King Hussein was
named "Prince of Peace" by the Israeli people.

If there is a deal to be made that will allow for sacrifice to resume on
temple mount in Jerusalem, it must be confirmed by the man holding the Keys
to the mount. That is the Hashemite King, now in the person of King Abdullah
II.

I could go further in verifying the description of the Little Horn, but I
believe you see where this is headed. If anyone can show where there is
another person in the world who possesses the characteristics as laid down
in Daniel, as to his origin and role in end times, I am waiting to hear who
it is.

Finally, what does the end time landscape require? God will return His
attention to the Jews to complete the final week of Daniel's prophecy and
the events of Revelation. When He does, He must find the scene exactly where
He left it when He turned away from them during the time of the Gentiles.
That is: They must be in Israel, needing a peace pact with the "Roman
Empire" and a Temple to keep the law.

That is exactly where God has them now. Moreover, the Little Horn character
from Daniel's prophecy has emerged. The peace that he so ardently supports
is in the stage of completion called "Final Status Talks", by the parties
involved.

If this is not Daniel's scenario that is taking place, then we are not in
the end times. If it is, then we are, and we are just that close to the day
of our catching away.

That's what this study of Daniel set out to do, to find out, by watching the
Jews, where the Christian covenant stands. As for myself, I believe, and I
think I have built a very strong case, that this is Daniel's final stage,
and that the Hashemite King is the Little Horn. I believe that our
redemption is even at the door.

Next, my thesis on the Rapture of the Church explains in detail the reason I
believe this is the time. It shows how God is revealing that to us through
Daniel because He locked the timing up in Daniel, only to be known in it's
time.

Well, the evidence is clear and demanding. And, as I have alluded to in the
past, it is like an Astronomer whose trained eye is searching the skies for
the comets or meteors that are headed our way. We rely upon them to report
it to us when a sighting is made.

It takes a trained eye to search the stage of history, watch for the events
to begin to come to pass, and then report to those who eagerly await the
news.



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THE OLD HASHEMITE KINGDOM AND THE PALESTINE WAR
Brother Sal - Voice in the Wilderness Ministries
http://chn-net.com/
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During World War I the Arabs joined the British against the Ottomans. In a
revolt of 1916, in which they were assisted by Colonel T.E. Lawrence, the
Arabs cut the Hejaz railway. In July 1917 the army of Prince Faysal ibn
Husayn (of the Hashemite dynasty) captured al- 'Aqabah, and by October 1918
Amman and Damascus were in Allied hands.

In 1920 the Conference of San Remo (Italy) created two mandates, allotting
the one over Palestine to Great Britain and the one over Syria to France.
This act effectively separated the area now covered by Israel and Jordan
from that of Syria. In November 1920 Abdullah, Faysal's brother, arrived in
Ma'an, then part of the Hejaz, with 2,000 armed supporters intent on raising
the tribes to attack the French, who had forced Faysal to relinquish his
newly founded kingdom in Syria. By April 1921, however, the British had
prevailed upon Abdullah to take over as ruler of what then became known as
Transjordan.

Effectively, Turkish rule in Transjordan was simply replaced by British
rule. The mandate, confirmed by the League of Nations in July 1922, gave the
British virtually a free hand in administering the territory, although in
September 1922 it was explicitly excluded from the clauses regarding the
establishment of "a Jewish national home" and was closed to Jewish
immigration.

The British recognized Transjordan's independence under the rule of Emir
Abdullah on May 25, 1923, codified in a treaty in 1928 (excluding matters of
finance and military and foreign affairs, which remained in the hands of a
British "resident"). In April 1928 a constitution was promulgated. Full
independence was achieved after World War II by a treaty concluded in London
on March 22, 1946, and on May 25 Abdullah proclaimed himself king. A new
constitution was promulgated, and in 1949 the name of the state was changed
to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Throughout the inter-war years Abdullah had been dependent on British
financial support. He also was assisted by them in the formation of an elite
force, the Arab Legion, which was commanded and trained by British officers
but staffed with Bedouin troops, to maintain order and secure the allegiance
of his Bedouin subjects.

On May 15, 1948, the day after the Jewish Agency proclaimed the independent
state of Israel and immediately after the British withdrew from their
Palestine mandate, Transjordan joined its Arab neighbors in the first Arab-
Israeli war. The Arab Legion, commanded by Glubb Pasha (John [later Sir
John] Bagot Glubb), as well as Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese, and Iraqi troops
entered Palestine.

Abdullah's primary purpose, which he had spelled out in secret discussions
with Jewish envoys, was to extend his rule to include the area allotted to
the Palestinian Arabs under the United Nations partition resolution of
November 1947. Accordingly, he engaged his forces in the area of Palestine
popularly known as the West Bank and expelled Jewish forces from East
Jerusalem (the Old City).

When the Jordan- Israel armistice was signed on April 3, 1949, the West Bank
and East Jerusalem- - an area of about 2,100 square miles- - came under
Jordanian rule, and the half- million Transjordanians were joined by almost
half a million more Palestinian Arabs. This territory was formally annexed
by the kingdom in April 1950. Israel and Britain had tacitly agreed to
Abdullah keeping the area, but the Arab countries and most of the world
opposed the king's action, and only Britain and Pakistan recognized the
annexation.

The incorporation of the West Bank, with 400,000 Palestinians, into Jordan,
as well as a large refugee population that, on the whole, was hostile to the
Hashemite regime, brought with them severe economic and political
consequences. On the other hand, Abdullah did gain the Muslim shrines such
as the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City, which compensated for his
father's loss of Mecca and Medina at the hands of Ibn Sa'ud a generation
earlier.
Abdullah was assassinated at the al- Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on July 20,
1951, by a young Palestinian frustrated by the king's hostility to
Palestinian nationalist aspirations. Abdullah's son, Talal, who succeeded
him, was declared unfit to rule by parliament because of mental illness
after only one year (in August 1952). Talal abdicated in favor of his eldest
son, Hussein ibn- Talal, who was crowned king on his 18th birthday, on May
2, 1953.

JORDAN UNDER KING HUSSEIN  SECURING THE THRONE  1953 - 1960

A country poor in resources, Jordan is surrounded by wealthier and more
powerful states. More than 60 percent of its population are Palestinians,
the majority of whom arrived as displaced persons following the Arab-
Israeli wars of 1948 and 1967 and the Persian Gulf War of 1991. Their
presence has added to the economic and political problems of the kingdom.

Jordan has had to depend on outside economic assistance for most of its
history. Before 1948 this came primarily from the United Kingdom. Following
the Six- Day War with Israel in 1967 aid was provided by the United States
and other Western countries (although suspended during the time of the
Persian Gulf War), as well as by Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

The history of Jordan after 1953 was largely shaped by King Hussein's
policies to secure his throne and to retain or regain the West Bank for the
Hashemite dynasty. Jordan's relationship with Israel in the first decade of
the Jewish state's existence, although uneasy, was tolerable, though bloody
raids and acts of terrorism carried out by each side added to the tension.

The kingdom's involvement in the Palestinian question led as much to a
contest with Egypt over Jordan's future as it did to a struggle with Israel.
In particular, it repeatedly forced Jordan to walk a tightrope between
various Arab nations, the Palestinians, and the West and Israel. Thus,
popular demonstrations, especially in the West Bank, and pressure from Egypt
prevented Hussein in 1955 from signing the pro- Western mutual defense
treaty between Great Britain, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq known as the Baghdad
Pact, which he had helped initiate. And in 1956 Hussein- - bowing to popular
pressure and in a show of support for Egyptian efforts at pan- Arab
leadership- - dismissed his British advisers, including Commander in Chief
Glubb, and abrogated the Anglo- Jordanian treaty of 1946.

However, when members of the National Guard, drawn mainly from the West
Bank, attempted a coup d'état in April 1957, the king, supported by loyal
East Bank Bedouins, acted decisively to curb domestic unrest; he purged the
legislature of Palestinian nationalists and extremists, banned political
parties, and set up a royal dictatorship.

After Egypt and Syria merged in February 1958, establishing the United Arab
Republic (UAR; 1958- 61), Hussein was persuaded by his cousin King Faysal II
to join in a federal union with Iraq. In July 1958, however, Faysal and his
family were killed in an army coup coordinated by Gamal Abdel Nasser, then
president of Egypt. Hussein, realizing his regime was under threat, turned
to Great Britain and the United States for assistance.

Washington agreed to provide additional military as well as economic aid.
The British government, eager to see the pro- Western Hussein secure in
Jordan, stationed British paratroops in the country between July and
November 1958. This thwarted a further attempt by anti- Hashemite
Palestinians supported by Nasser to overthrow the monarchy. By the early
1960s the United States was providing about $100 million per year, enabling
economic development, and, despite a number of assassination attempts, the
king's future appeared secure.

THE PLO AND THE JUNE 1967 WAR

The emergence in the late 1960s of the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) and the militant group al- Fatah represented a potential threat to
Jordan's sovereignty on the West Bank as well as to Israel. In early 1965
al- Fatah, supported by the radical Ba'ath Party government in Syria and
encouraged by Egypt, began a series of raids against Israel, generally from
Jordan, inflicting serious casualties and damage. Israel responded with
raids into the West Bank in an effort to force Jordan to quash these
military operations.

Relations between Jordan and Syria and Egypt and between the Palestinians
and Amman deteriorated. Privately, Hussein had been seeking an understanding
with Israel over an approach to the external and internal dangers facing the
two countries. In late 1966 the Israeli army made a devastating raid into
the West Bank village of as- Samu south of Hebron, destroying many of its
houses. Hussein responded by attempting to stop the passage of Syrian- based
Palestinian guerrillas through Jordan into Israel, eventually breaking off
diplomatic ties with Syria (May 23, 1967).

However, as tension mounted between Israel and Egypt and Syria in the spring
of 1967, Jordan reversed its position and on May 30 signed a defense pact
with Egypt and Syria, placing Jordanian forces under Egyptian command.
Despite assurances from Israel that Jordan would not be attacked if it
remained neutral, Israeli and Jordanian forces clashed in East Jerusalem,
and King Hussein joined Egypt and Syria in the third Arab- Israel war in
June 1967.

The June 1967 war was a watershed in the modern history of Jordan. Within 48
hours Israeli forces had overrun the entire territory west of the Jordan
River, capturing Bethlehem, Hebron, Jericho, Nablus, Ram Allah, Janin, and
the city of Jerusalem. Jordan suffered heavy casualties and lost one- third
of its most fertile land, and its already overburdened economy was faced
with supporting some 200,000 new refugees. Hussein had regarded entering the
war as the lesser of two evils; he believed that, if he had not joined Egypt
and Syria, they would have supported the Palestinians in overthrowing his
regime. The loss of the West Bank and Jerusalem, devastating as it was, was
preferable to the loss of his kingdom.

FROM 1967 TO CIVIL WAR

Following the June war Hussein faced three major problems: how to recover
from the economic losses caused by the war, how to live with Israel's
occupation of the West Bank and the annexation of East Jerusalem, and how to
preserve the Hashemite throne against a considerably augmented and
increasingly hostile Palestinian population. The war reversed the progress
made in Jordan's economy prior to June 1967, even though Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, and Libya provided the kingdom with foreign aid. Yet within a short
period both the United States and Great Britain resumed economic and
military aid. In 1971 arrangements also were made with Israel enabling
Jordanian cultivation in the Jordan Valley.

Despite the fact that an Arab summit meeting held in Khartoum in August 1967
passed the "three no's" resolution- - no peace with Israel, no recognition
of Israel, and no negotiations with Israel- - King Hussein resumed his
secret negotiations with Israel over the disposition of the West Bank and
East Jerusalem.

Relations with Israel were thus inseparably linked to the future of the
Palestinians. Somewhat unrealistically, Hussein sought the return of all the
territory lost to Jordanian rule, but, while willing privately to recognize
Israel and to cooperate with it across a wide range of issues, he was not
prepared to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state. The two nations were
thus no longer enemies and cooperated against PLO terrorism, but there was
little progress toward a lasting peace.

Hussein's relations with the PLO, which under the chairmanship of Yasir
'Arafat openly challenged the king's control in East Jordan, reached a
crisis in September 1970. The radical Marxist Palestinian group, the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), hijacked four international
airliners and blew up three of them in Dawson's Field, a deserted airstrip
in the Jordanian desert. On September 16 the king declared martial law and
called in loyal troops, and civil war (later remembered as Black September)
erupted. When 250 Syrian tanks entered northern Jordan in support of the
PLO, Hussein was forced not only to call upon military assistance from the
United States and Great Britain but also to allow Israeli military over
flights to attack the Syrian forces. The Syrian forces were defeated, and a
peace agreement, in which Hussein made concessions to the PLO, was signed by
King Hussein and 'Arafat in Cairo on Sept. 27, 1970. By July 1971, however,
Hussein had forced the PLO guerrillas out of Jordan.

FROM 1973 TO THE INTIFADA

King Hussein chose not to join Egypt and Syria in their surprise attack on
Israel in the war of October

1973, although he did make a symbolic gesture by sending tanks to assist
Syria in the Golan Heights. In negotiations immediately following the war,
Hussein once again demanded the return of the West Bank and East Jerusalem
from Israel. He was bitter that Israel- - in response to pressure from U.S.

Secretary of State Henry Kissinger- - proposed a withdrawal of its forces
from Israeli- occupied Egyptian territory but made no such overtures to
Jordan, the neighbor that had stayed out of the war.

Yet by August 1974 discussions were under way with Israel over
"disengagement accords" that included the recognition of Jordan as speaking
for the Palestinians, regional economic cooperation, and tactical
cooperation, especially in relation to the threat posed by Palestinian
guerrilla groups.

However, on Oct. 28, 1974, 20 leaders of the Arab League at an Arab summit
meeting in Rabat, Morocco, declared that the Palestinian people, under the
leadership of the PLO ("their sole legitimate representative"), had the
right to establish a national independent authority in liberated Palestine.
On Nov. 4, 1974, Hussein announced that Jordan would exclude the West Bank
from Jordan and that a federation between Jordan and a Palestinian state was
"totally inconceivable," as such a step would inevitably give the
Palestinian population a majority and bring about the loss of his kingdom.

Faced with American reluctance to supply arms and an Egyptian- Israeli Sinai
accord, Jordan and Syria, in an effort to control PLO activities, agreed in
August 1975 to a joint "supreme command" to coordinate their foreign and
military policies. On March 9, 1977, Hussein met with 'Arafat in Cairo,
their first meeting since Black September 1970. In July 1977 Hussein,
Egyptian President Anwar el- Sadat, and U.S. President Jimmy Carter once
again floated the idea of a link between Jordan and a Palestinian "entity,"
but in August the idea was denounced by the PLO.

The election of the right- wing Likud bloc with Menachem Begin as Israeli
prime minister in May 1977 brought relations between Jordan and Israel to a
low ebb. Jordan was faced with Begin's determination to annex and retain all
of the West Bank, which Israel now called Judaea and Samaria. Begin greatly
accelerated the program of constructing Jewish settlements in the West Bank
and Gaza. Although Israel was committed to granting autonomy to the
Palestinians and to negotiating the future status of the occupied
territories under the terms of the Israeli- Egyptian agreement hammered out
at Camp David in 1978, Hussein condemned the agreement. He completely broke
off the 15- year secret negotiations with Israel. From late 1977 until 1984
Jordanian contacts with Israel came to a virtual halt. Hussein became
increasingly alarmed at the rise in popularity in Israel of the view that
Jordan was, in fact, the Palestinian state and that the conflict between
Israel and the Palestinians would end only when the artificial entity- -
Jordan- - officially became the Palestinian state. Israel's invasion of
Lebanon in 1982 fueled fears in Amman that this was the first step in the
process of transferring Palestinians to the East Bank.

In the early 1980s Hussein sought an accommodation with 'Arafat and the PLO.
The king realized that 'Arafat, following his expulsion from Lebanon and the
destruction of his bases, was almost entirely friendless and in need of his
support. The two men reached a temporary if somewhat uneasy alliance. In
order to strengthen his legitimacy in the eyes of Palestinians, Hussein, in
1984, allowed the Palestine National Council (a virtual parliament of the
Palestinians) to meet in Amman, and in February 1985 he signed the "Hussein-
'Arafat" agreement pledging cooperation with the PLO and coordination of a
joint peace initiative. Hussein believed that 'Arafat would accept a
confederation of the West and East Banks with autonomy for the Palestinians
of the West Bank under Jordanian sovereignty. 'Arafat, however, although
agreeable to an eventual confederation between a future Palestinian state
and Jordan, had not given up hope of an independent Palestinian state in the
West Bank. In January 1984 Hussein reconvened parliament for the first time
since 1974, appointing seven new West Bank representatives and allowing by-
elections to be held in March for eight East Bank vacancies in the 60-
member House of Representatives. Women were included in the electorate for
the first time.

In February 1986 Hussein, frustrated by 'Arafat's ambiguity regarding the
PLO's recognition of Israel and the renunciation of terrorism, which in turn
confirmed Israeli intransigence, repudiated the Amman agreement with 'Arafat
and broke off negotiations with the PLO. Although the king was careful not
to expel the PLO from Jordan entirely, despite an increase in guerrilla
violence in the West Bank, he did order the closure of the PLO offices in
Amman in March 1986.

In a complete turnaround in the Jordanian policy that had been followed
since the Arab Rabat summit of 1974, he declared that he would now be
responsible for the economic welfare of the West Bank Palestinians and that
the West Bank would be included in the new five- year plan for Jordan to be
announced in August. The king also approved an increase in the number of
Palestinian seats (to about half) in an enlarged National Assembly. His goal
was to create a Jordanian- Palestinian- Israeli administration that would
make the West Bank independent of the PLO and enable him to reach a
settlement with Israel in which he would regain at least partial sovereignty
of the area.

By April 1987 Hussein and Shimon Peres, Israel's foreign minister, agreed to
a UN- sponsored conference involving all parties to the conflict to seek a
comprehensive peace. The Palestinian representatives would be part of a
Jordanian- Palestinian delegation. Although the proposal was endorsed by
U.S. President Ronald Reagan, the Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir
wanted a conference with only Jordan and resisted American pressure for a
comprehensive peace conference. King Hussein scored a diplomatic triumph
with the staging of an Arab League summit meeting in Amman in November 1987.
During this meeting Arab League members agreed to reestablish diplomatic
relations with Egypt. More importantly for the king, the Palestinian issue
was not the main topic: the Iran- Iraq War, then in its eighth year, took
precedence.
The situation changed dramatically in December 1987 with the outbreak of the
intifada, a Palestinian uprising on the West Bank. King Hussein quickly
realized that the uprising was directed against his rule as well as that of
the Israelis. His immediate response was to support the intifada publicly
and to offer aid to families of victims of Israeli reprisals in an effort to
deflect hostility to his regime. But the intifada leaders (known as the
Unified Command) renounced the king's overtures. 'Arafat quickly assumed the
role of spokesman for the revolt. The intifada brought to a halt Jordanian
and Israeli plans for an economic path to peace. Hussein canceled the five-
year plan for the West Bank.

RENOUNCING CLAIMS TO THE WEST BANK

An emergency meeting of the Arab League in June 1988 gave the PLO financial
control of support for the Palestinians, thereby virtually acknowledging
'Arafat as their spokesman. In response, Hussein, on July 31, renounced all
Jordanian claim to the West Bank, allowing the PLO to assume full
responsibility. He dissolved the Jordanian parliament (half of whose members
were West Bank representatives), ceased salary payments of 21,000 West Bank
civil servants, and ordered that West Bank Palestinian passports be
converted to two- year travel documents. When the Palestine National Council
recognized the PLO as the sole legal representative of the Palestinian
people and proclaimed the independence of a purely national Palestine on
Nov. 15, 1988, Hussein immediately extended recognition to the Palestinian
entity.

In November 1989 Jordan held its first parliamentary elections in 22 years.
Opposition groups, particularly the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood,
gained more seats than the pro- government candidates, and the newly elected
prime minister, Mudar Badran, promised to lift the martial law in place
since 1967- - a promise not fully kept until July 1991.

FROM THE PERSIAN GULF WAR TO PEACE WITH ISRAEL

Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and the subsequent 44- day Persian
Gulf War in January- February 1991 forced Hussein to choose between two
allies, the United States and Iraq.

The king leaned heavily toward the "Arab Patriot" Saddam Hussein, who also
received a zealous and vocal groundswell of support from the Jordanian
people. In addition, trade with Iraq represented 40 percent of the kingdom's
gross domestic product.

Kuwait's allies immediately cut off all aid to Jordan, imposed an air and
sea blockade, and condemned King Hussein's actions. To make matters worse,
200,000 to 300,000 refugees from Kuwait were expelled or fled (back) to
Jordan. However, by the end of 1991 the United States and Israel were again
seeking Hussein's support for an American- Israeli peace initiative. It was
later unintentionally released that Hussein had been acting as a double
agent for the United States during the war. This led Saddam to place a
bounty on the head of the king. However, he once again took up the challenge
and became and agent for peace in the region. A peace that his kingdom needs
as desperately as the Israelis.

The first multiparty general election since 1956 was scheduled for November
1993. In August the king dissolved the 80- member House of Representatives
(the lower house of the bicameral National Assembly) and announced that the
election would be conducted on a one- person- one- vote system rather than
on the old "slate" system that allowed voters to cast as many votes as there
were representatives in their constituency. In the election the number of
anti- Zionist Islamic militants- - who made up the Islamic Action Front
(IAF), a coalition of Islamic groupings and the largest of the 20 political
parties- - was reduced from 36 to 16, giving the king the support he had
sought for his policy.

King Hussein expressed public reservations over a PLO- Israeli accord, the
Declaration of Principles on Interim Self- Government Arrangements in the
occupied territories signed on Sept. 13, 1993, but he stated his willingness
to support the Palestinian people. He was concerned over issues relating to
Jordan's economic links with the West Bank and the future status of
Palestinians in Jordan. About one year later, on Oct. 26, 1994, Jordan and
Israel signed a full peace treaty, in which King Hussein was recognized as
the custodian of the Muslim holy sites in East Jerusalem.

THE PRINCE OF PEACE

On January 10, 1997, the Israeli’s hailed Jordan’s King Hussein as The
Peacemaker! One year later, they gave him the title, "Prince of Peace"! King
Hussein, the 42nd descendant of the prophet Mohammed, died of cancer, at the
age of 64, on February 7, 1999, never having seen his dream of Hashemite
rule returned to Iraq and peace in the Middle East come to pass. He had
ruled Jordan for 46 years. He named his eldest son, Abdullah as his
successor. Abdullah II, 43rd descendant of the prophet Mohammed, ascended
the throne and was crowned King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on
February 8, 1999. He has vowed to continue in the footsteps of his father.

(NOTE:  This concludes our teaching on Daniel.  Please visit brother Sal's
web site  http://chn-net.com/  for other great teachings.)


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