News and Prophecy Staff

“French lawmakers voted in favour of recognizing Palestine as a state on Tuesday, a symbolic move that will not immediately affect France’s diplomatic stance but demonstrates growing European impatience with a stalled peace process. The motion... echoes similar votes in Britain, Spain and Ireland…” (Haaretz, December 2, 2014).

Recently in Strasbourg “Pope Francis addressed the European Parliament with a strong message for the European Union (EU) to work together and be aware of its own identity” (Deutsche Welle, November 25, 2014). Building on the EU motto “United in Diversity,” he exhorted EU leaders to appreciate their religious roots, embracing them as the foundation that will make Europe “immune to the many forms of extremism spreading in the world” (ibid.).

In a recent interview with Al-Ahram, Egyptian president al-Sisi commented “We are ready to send military forces into a Palestinian state… We would help the local police and reassure the Israelis through our role as guarantor. Not forever, of course but for the time necessary to re-establish confidence. But first a Palestinian state must exist where troops can be sent to” (Israel National News, November 24, 2014).

“The riots in Cologne at the end of October show there is a new danger on Germany’s extremist right. Neo-Nazis and football hooligans have teamed up to go after Islamist Salafists”—right under the noses of the German government and law enforcement (Der Spiegel, November 4, 2014).

“Germany, it appears, is the most respected country in the world. According to the Nation Brands Index, Germany deposed the hitherto reigning champion [for five years], the Unites (sic) States” (Reuters, November 17, 2014). “People around the world now have more positive perceptions of Germany than of 49 other developed and developing countries, according to the annual NBI^SM study.