THE MIDDLE EAST: OIL, WAR, AND ISRAEL

 

In order to even begin to understand the Middle East we must understand the difference between Shi’a Islam and Sunni Islam. It is all about who should have been Mohammed’s legal successor when he died in 632 A.D. Those who accepted Abu Bakr, Mohammed’s father in law as successor became known as Sunni. Those who believed that Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, was properly the successor became known as Shi'ites. They've been fighting ever since.

 

Secondly we must understand how each country in the Middle East is divided on this issue. Here is the list:

 

                                                               Shia             Sunni

                                                             Muslim         Muslim

 

                            Bahranin                        70%              30%

                            Egypt                                                     90%

                            Iran                                 90%               9%

                            Iraq                                 63%               34%

                           Jordan                               2%                92%

                           Lebanon                            36%               22%

                           Qatar                                14%                86%

                           Saudi Arabia                     5%                95%

                           Syria                                  13%               74%

                           Turkey                               15%              85%

 

Source: Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life

 

We see in the above numbers that Iran has the largest Shia population of any of the Muslim countries followed by Iraq and Lebanon. Iran is vying to become the leading nation in Islam and backs many terrorist organizations. On the other side Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have large Sunni populations.

 

Syria's Bashar el Assad, in power since June 10, 2000, is one of the Middle East's most ruthless, autocratic, minority rulers in one of the world's most closed societies. Assad also maintains Syria's pivotal role on the Middle East's strategic map: He is an ally of Iran's Shiite theocracy, he supports and arms Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon, all enemies of Israel.

 

Even though Syria is predominately Sunni, Assad is a member of a sect known as the Alawites who follow a branch of the Twelver school of Shia Islam. Hence he is Iran’s ally and Syria is supported by Iran. The Syrian Sunni’s form the rebel cause in Syria. Iran and Russia support Assad against these rebels. The U.S. and Europe support the Sunni rebels because they are fighting against Russia and Iran’s man Assad.

 

Saudi Arabia fears Iran’s Shia leaders and also supports the U.S. against Assad. The Saudi’s are angry with Obama because he did not bomb Assad but relented to Putin’s peaceful chemical weapons solution. Turkey would prefer to see Assad deposed but are taking a careful approach and trying not to become involved.

 

Israel is surrounded by Assad, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon (home of Hezbolla), Gaza (home of Hamas), Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Since Israel is fighting against Iran’s sponsored terrorists in Lebanon and Gaza, Egypt and Saudi Arabia allow Israel to fight against them without interfering for the moment.

 

In addition, Saudi Arabia fears Iran stirring up trouble with the Shia minority who mostly populate the area where Saudi gets their oil. That is why Saudi is afraid of a Shia uprising in nearby Bahrain. As you can see it is quite complicated.

Putin is content to supply Assad in Syria and not get involved militarily at this time. Since Iran and Russia are allies at this time this works out well for Russia. It gives the U.S. a difficult time in the area.

 

The Saudi’s feel the U.S. is not properly protecting the Royal Family’s interests and they are making deals with the Chinese to build a giant oil refinery on the west coast. They are also talking with the Chinese to protect them. China in return is encouraging Saudi Arabia to accept payment for oil in Yuan.

 

When Saudi Arabia announces they will accept payment in currencies other than the U.S. dollar (known as the Petrodollar) the status of U.S dollar as world reserve currency will end. This is an event we should be on alert for. It will be the end of U.S. dominance in world trade and lead to financial collapse of the dollar.

 

Both the Russians and Chinese are playing the Arab world and waiting for the right time to make their moves against the dollar. It is a full blown currency war. If America is forced out of the Middle East by these events Russia, China, and Germany (along with the EU) will become the dominate players in the region. Where does this leave Israel?

 

The United States under the Obama administration has been turning her back on Israel. This has caused Israel to begin to look in other directions for support. Ironically one of those directions is the nation of Germany. The Jewish people have had a long history with Germany--both good and bad.

 

Jews have lived in Germany throughout history. Yiddish is based on the German language. Prior to World War One the German Kaiser encouraged the Zionists who were moving to Palestine to make German the native tongue of what would later become Israel. He even offered to build schools to teach German to the children of these immigrants.

 

The Zionists were looking to restore ancient Hebrew as a modern language that would be spoken in the future nation they envisioned. The Kaiser built the schools when the Jewish settlers agreed that German could be the second language taught.

 

Today there is a huge contingent of Jewish young people living in Berlin. They number well over 15,000. Germany and the Jews have a long history that goes beyond the Holocaust. That past evil is mostly forgotten by today’s younger Jews and Germany is a desirable place for them at the moment. Germany will play a key role, along with the EU, in any future security agreements Israel makes with the west.

 

Israel also has strong ties to Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Russian Jews have immigrated to Israel. In fact, many of the early Zionists were Russian and that is why the kibbutz was the favorite type of settlement in those early days. They were collective farms based on the soviet system.

 

Vladimir Putin once referred to Israel as “a Russian speaking country.” When he was a young boy he credits a young Jewish woman teacher as being instrumental in his grasp of speaking other languages. Israel is 20% Russian populated and 10,000 Russians migrate to Israel each year. More than 600,000 Russian tourists visit Israel each year.

 

Russia has also signed several agreements with Israel to develop the vast natural gas deposits recently discovered off shore. This will be a lucrative deal for Russia and help them to supply southern Europe, Turkey, and Cyprus with natural gas. Israel could become an economic partner with both Russia and Germany. In addition to all that, both Germany and Russia are signing many energy agreements, and a non aggression pact with one another.

 

As the United States begins to back out of the Middle East and Israel both Germany and Russia are waiting on the sidelines to capitalize on U.S. absence. How will the U.S. figure in the new world order? Will they be involved abroad or trying to fix the economic mess that is going to collapse the dollar?


To update, I need to address President Trump's recent visit to Saudi Arabia. During his visit with the Saudi King, Mr. Trump visited the Saudi Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology. This center was promoted as a tool to combat world terrorism. Apparently the NSA will coordinate with the Saudi's by sharing information through this center.


The question is what is defined as "Extremist Ideology"? This center can be used to identify whatever they choose to be "extremist" in nature. Could this center be used in the future to identify Christians who preach the Gospel? Could a time come when Christians are labeled as extremists?


I think we would have to say yes, this center could be used to identify and persecute Christians in the Middle and throughout the world. The Saudi's are very clever. They are one of the world's largest abuser of human rights---are they suddenly going to change?


In light of prophetic world events we need to be alert at all times. Watch and pray.

 

Next: The Current Islamic Threat and War on Terror