Signs of the Times – Part unknown

German Reunification Revives Historic Controversy

With German reunification now almost a foregone conclusion, the question of territorial boundaries is of major concern to Germany’s eastern neighbors, especially Poland. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl was non-committal when asked recently whether a reunified Germany would accept present borders. He insisted that only the new parliament of a reunified Germany could answer that.

Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki asked that Poland be given input to any decisions affecting the border which was in so much dispute before World War II. Since the Potsdam agreement gave Poland territory that Germany had occupied before the war, some Poles are fearful that a new, powerful Germany may not be willing to accept the status quo. Polish leaders seem to be seeking commitments from the present governments that they are apparently reluctant to give.

Israeli Environmentalists Oppose Voice of America

Although Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost (openness) has ended the jamming of radio broadcasts by Radio Free Europe and Voice of America, the United States government is still going ahead with plans to build one of the world’s most powerful short wave transmitters in the Negev area of Israel. In 1987 the Israeli government agreed, without public debate, to permit the station that would provide Voice of America adequate signal strength in central and eastern Asia.

Environmental and health concerns are now being voiced by local residents who used to welcome the project because of the millions of dollars it would bring to the area. Scheduled for completion in 1993, the station is said to consist of 45 antenna towers, some almost 700 feet in height. The strong electromagnetic radiation from the powerful transmitters is considered by many environmentalists to be a health hazard. Scientific opinion is inconclusive.

Critics of the project also insist that with the apparent end of the cold war the project is no longer needed. But a Voice of America spokesman explained that, in addition to the central Asian Republics of the Soviet Union, East African and South Asian countries are in need of “cultural and educational programs that promote democratic values.” Those in opposition are asking why the facility needs to be located on Israeli territory when there are vast areas available in the Sinai Peninsula or Saudi Arabia.

Opponents have enlisted the aid of major U.S. environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth, the Si­erra Club and the Audubon Society, who are reported to be lobbying the U.S. to discontinue its plans.

Spain Gives Religious Rights to Jews and Protestants

The year 1492 is mostly remembered as the year Columbus discovered America in the name of Spanish sovereigns Ferdinand and Isabella. It was also the year these monarchs issued a decree ordering the expulsion or conversion to Catholicism of some 400,000 Jews living in Spain. Now, after 498 years, an accord has been signed that grants both the Jewish and Protestant faiths privileges comparable to those enjoyed by the Roman Catholic Church.

The agreement is an implementation of the Spanish constitution, adopted in 1978, which guarantees freedom of ideology, religion, and worship and the equal status of denominations. There are estimated to be 15,000 practicing Jews and 60,000 active protestants in Spain at the present time.

Arab Group Urges Economic Unity against the U.S.

Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein suggested, at a meeting of the four-nation Arab Cooperation Council, that Arabs use their huge investments in the United States and other Western nations to gain recognition for their cause with the U.S. administration just as Israel uses interest groups to lobby for theirs. He advocates the shifting of Arab wealth from the United States to Eastern Europe now that free markets there are opening up.

Saddam also accused the Soviet Union of giving in to American pressure by allowing the mass exodus of Soviet Jews. He said the Soviets had, fora time, abandoned their role as the prime international defender of the Arabs. The newly-formed Arab Cooperation Council is an alliance of Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and North Yemen.

Moscow Denies Reports of Anti-Semitic Crisis

The Soviet KGB issued a statement recently saying that “no concrete evidence” exists to substantiate rumors of impending pogroms against Soviet Jews. The statement was to allay fears created by Soviet television that the anti-Semitic organization Pamyat had issued threats of pogroms in Moscow and Leningrad. The broadcast also reported attacks on Jewish homes and businesses in Dushanbe, capital of the Moslem republic of Tajikistan in Soviet Central Asia.

Although other instances of violence against Jews were reported in the Soviet press, First Deputy Foreign Minister Yuli Voronstov said they were merely rumors being spread by interest groups wanting to get the Jews to flee the USSR. Some Israeli government spokesmen seemed to agree, saying that some Jews wanting to get to the United States are painting a desperate picture of the situation to influence the U.S. to open up immigration. A differing view was presented to the Knesset by Israel’s Absorption Minister. He said that Soviet Jews were “sitting on a volcano” and should get out to any destination as soon as possible. Per-etz also said that 15,000 Soviet Jews who already have exit visas are waiting to leave and that the number is increasing by thousands each month.

Israel’s Yitzhak Shamir, however, decried the statements about immigration by Israeli cabinet ministers. Shamir gave the ministers seven pages of quotes from the Arab media in which statements by Israeli leaders were exploited to emphasize the threat that Jewish immigration to Israel poses to the Arab world.

Arab efforts to block the immigration intensified when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, on a visit to Moscow, asked the Soviets to place further restrictions on the exodus.

Iraqi Missile Power Escalates Mideast Arms Race

Iraq has given a new turn to the arms race in the Middle East with the successful launch of a three stage, 48-ton missile, capable of carrying satellites into space. Israel last year launched an intelligence satellite, the Ofek 1, into orbit and some analysts see the most recent launch as the Arab world’s answer to that development.

Iraq, recognized as the most advanced Arab state in weapons technology, has continued to invest heavily in missile research begun during the gulf war with Iran. Iraq’s firing of surface to surface missiles into Iranian cities is credited with bringing about a cease fire in that war and Iraq has continued to increase its range and load carrying capability for that class of weapons. Although Iraq has capable scientists of its own, technological assistance has also been provided by France, West Germany and Austria.

Although Israel considers herself a possible target for Iraqi missiles, Syria is probably a more immediate enemy. The Soviet Union had been arming Syria with intermediate-range missiles for defense against either Iraq or Israel but this has now been prohibited by the missile treaty with the United States. China has been rumored to be a possible new source of weapons for Syria but China emphatically denies the charge.

Since Iraq has not replaced the nuclear plant at Osirak, destroyed by Israel in 1981, it is thought that chemical weapons, rather than nuclear ones may be Iraq’s choice to counter Israel’s nuclear capability. Israel, on the theory that thorough preparation will make a poison gas attack less likely, has made gas masks available to the population and provided training in survival techniques.

Egypt and Syria to Resume Ties

Egypt and Syria are expected to end the break in diplomatic relations that began 12 years ago when Egypt held peace talks with Israel. When the resumption of ties takes place it will end the Arab leagues decade-long boycott of Egypt that started when Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel.

For over a month Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khadam has been meeting with Egyptian officials to prepare for the meeting between President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and President Hafez Assad of Syria to conclude the pact. Egypt, the largest Arab nation, made peace with Israel in 1979 and received back the Sinai and other Egyptian territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 war.

Palestinian State Urged by Tutu

When Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa visited Israel over the Christmas holidays he called for the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. He also called for Israel’s “independence and territorial integrity and the security due to an independent state.” Although the visit was a private one, Israeli officials described it as an attempt to stir debate over Israel’s handling of the two-year Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories.

Israel’s chief rabbis finally decided to meet with Tutu after a period of hesitancy because of past statements that were considered anti-Is­rael and which at times, bordered on anti-Semitism. Tutu also met with both Christian and Moslem religious leaders and visited the Western Wall where he was greeted by Rabbi Yehuda Getz, the rabbi of the wall.

Events Focus World Attention on Europe

With the Eastern Bloc’s rejection of communism and instability in the Soviet Union, Europe, for the foreseeable future, will be the center of world attention. As euphoria over the miraculous events of the past few months wears off and a process of adjustment begins, a period of uncertainty for both sides of the iron curtain is inevitable according to experts.

Most observers see the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev and a stable Soviet Union as requisites to a smooth transition, but these conditions are by no means assured. If the leadership of the Soviet Union should falter, Western Europe and West Germany, the strongest economic power in the region, might be drawn to fill the vacuum. Although east and west alike oppose reunification of Germany, some analysts see it as a possibility if a power vacuum should develop in the East.

If restructuring develops in an orderly fashion and the cold war winds down as expected, a reduction of armaments will be possible. The slow but steady dismantling of the U.S. and Soviet military arsenals should be taken up at a June summit meeting in the United States. Cuts in both nuclear and conventional forces in Europe are on the agenda. Although Gorbachev has declared the cold war to be over, the U.S. intends to move with caution, resisting reckless defense cuts.

Desirable as cuts in defense spending maybe, they will not come about without dislocations of their own. Both in this country and abroad, local areas whose economies are tied to defense contracts will, no doubt, be hurt. But other areas of the economy will benefit as the money saved is reinvested.

Those who view recent events from the standpoint of Bible prophecy watch with keen interest to see where they fit in the events leading to Christ’s return. The value of observing world events from the prophetic viewpoint is not only in being able to foretell events, but to put them in perspective and be convinced, as was Nebuchadnezzar of old that “the Most High rules in the kingdoms of men.”

Eastern Europe’s “Wonderful Year”

The year 1989 has indeed been an eventful one in the politics of Eastern Europe. The speed with which changes have taken place has not only amazed but alarmed many observers. When Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev initiated his plan to restructure his nation’s politics and economy five years ago, he certainly did not intend to dismantle the Soviet empire. Driven by an urgent need to improve living conditions in the Soviet Union, he initiated many reforms that have spread with a domino-effect through the satellite states of Eastern Europe.

Perhaps the most dramatic and symbolic event was the opening of the Berlin wall that has stood for 28 years as a symbol of the Iron curtain that has divided Europe. The amazing thing is the almost complete lack of violence with which the “revolution” has come about. That it came about at all is perhaps due to the Soviet leader’s announcement in advance that each nation would have to deal with the crisis in its own way and without military intervention from the Soviet Union.

With the fall of the Berlin wall, there is speculation about the reunification of Germany, an outcome that the Soviet Union has said is totally unacceptable for the foreseeable future. Observers in the West see unification as bad for the new European Community as well, so it does not appear to be an immediate prospect. The crucial question facing the newly liberated nations now is whether living conditions can be improved soon enough to avoid the disillusionment with the newly-won democracy.

In the introduction to his monumental work, Elpis Israel, John Thomas quoted the phrase “Annus Mira­bilis” or “Wonderful Year” to describe the year 1848, a year of historical significance for Europe in much the same way that 1989 has been. He credits the events of prophetic significance that he saw then taking place with inspiring his beginning in earnest the dissemination of the truth of the scriptures that he brought to light. It was his efforts at that time and in the years that followed that brought us the faith of the apostles as we have it today. Surely the eventful year 1989 is a prelude to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Soviet Leader at the Vatican

On the way to the Malta Summit Mikhail Gorbachev stopped off for a historic meeting in Rome with Pope John Paul II. This first ever meeting between a Soviet head of state and the Roman pontiff was the first step toward establishing diplomatic ties. The two leaders spoke briefly in Russian and then with interpreters for an hour and a half, 40 minutes longer than scheduled, and reached several important tentative agreements.

In addition to establishing diplomatic relations, Gorbachev assured John Paul II that the Ukrainian Catholic Church would be legalized once the Soviet Parliament passes a freedom-of-conscience bill which is expected in the next few months. Already the Communist officials in the Ukraine have agreed to register congregations of the previously banned Catholic Church in the face of opposition from the Russian Orthodox Church which opposes the legalization of the Catholics. The two factions have been at odds for the past 400 years and current efforts toward reconciliation have not been effective.

The pope was invited to visit the Soviet Union but is expected to delay the visit until the freedom-of-conscience bill is passed because of his belief in the importance of establishing the legal right to religious freedom. The pontiff also bestowed a blessing on the Soviet peristroika program, declaring his support for the process of renewal that had been initiated by secretary Gorbachev.

Although the Soviet leader did not literally approach the pope on bended knee, in a major speech on the eve of the meeting, Gorbachev, a baptized Christian, obliquely apologized for his nation’s persecution of religion over the last 70 years. “We have changed our attitude on some matters, such as religion,” he said. “Now we proceed on the assumption that no one should interfere in matters of the individual conscience, and we also say that the moral values that religion embodied for centuries can help in the work of renewal of our country.”

This rapprochement between Communism and the Catholic Church is something students of Bible prophecy have looked for over the years. Only time will tell what will come of this historic meeting but perhaps there is more truth than was realized in the words of John Paul II as he replied to President Gorbachev ‘s allusion to his Slavic origin, “Yes, I’m the first Slavic pope, but I’m sure providence prepared the way for this meeting with Mr. Gorbachev – and Mrs. Gorbachev as well.”

Increased Jewish Emigration from Soviet Union Seen

With the worsening economic conditions in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe many Jews fear renewed antisemitism. A correspondent for the Jerusalem Post who has just completed a three-week visit to Jewish communities in the USSR reports that many Jews there are about to emigrate to Israel not only because of dissatisfaction with present conditions but also fear for the future if conditions get worse. From past experience they realize that when economic conditions are bad the Jews get blamed. They fear that if a mili­tary overthrow of President Gorbachev should occur the freedom to emigrate might be ended and they might become trapped and vulnerable to certain regional nationalist groups that have been on the rise recently. There is concern also that, with the U.S. closed off, Israel might put limits on the number she will take if more emigrate than she can handle. Already some of those desiring to emigrate are having to wait as much as a year for permission to enter Israel.