France: the war of Ishmael and Edom begins

On Friday, November 13, 2015, radical Jihadists inflicted on  France the deadliest violence that nation has seen since World War Two (Greg Keller and Jamey Keaten, “Eiffel Tower goes dark as France mourns 129 dead”, Associated Press, November 14, 2015). The attacks appear to have been coordinated (Ingrid Melander and Marine Pennetier, “France in shock after Islamist attacks kill 129”, reuters, November 15, 2015).

French officials say eight assailants (“French security services' nightmare comes true”, afp, November 14, 2015) organized into three teams of gunmen and suicide bombers. Simultaneously, they attacked restaurants, a concert hall and the national soccer stadium on a busy Parisian Friday evening (“France in shock…”, ibid).  So far, there are 129 dead and more than 350 wounded (“Eiffel Tower…”, ibid). It was a bloodbath (afp, ibid). 

Recoiling in horror, French President Francois Hollande called these attacks an ‘act of war’ by the Islamic State (“France in shock…”, ibid). He ordered army troops into the streets. He declared a state of emergency. The French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, called for IS to be ‘annihilated’ (Ben Ariel, “French PM: We need to annihilate ISIS”, Arutz Sheva, November 15, 2015).

Initial reports suggest that the terrorists came from multiple Muslim communities. These include the Middle East, Belgium and possibly Germany and France itself (“France…”, ibid).

Certainly, Muslim migrants who have been flooding into Europe will be scrutinized. There will be two reasons for this scrutiny.

First, back in January-February, 2015, reports began to circulate that ISIS planned to send 500,000 fighters into the EU, to wait for the moment to bring down Europe (Hannah Roberts, “ISIS threatens to send 500,000 migrants to Europe as a 'psychological weapon' in chilling echo of Gaddafi's prophecy that the Mediterranean 'will become a sea of chaos'”, Daily Mail, February 10, 2015). At the time, the claim seemed fantastic. But intelligence officers know that the Islamic State has been exploiting the Mediterranean refugee emergency--to sneak fighters into Europe (“Countdown to Zero Hour:’ ISIS Supporters on Twitter Post Italy Threats”, kataebg.org, May 18, 2015).

Second, the United Nations has reported that, while more women and children are entering Europe as migrants (as of November, 2015), their numbers are still less than 50 per of current arrivals (“U.N.: "More children join migrant ranks'”, reuters video, November 05, 2015). With more than a million migrants now in Europe, that means that as many as 600,000 migrants are men—and most of those are considered to be of military age. It’s no longer a fantasy to suggest that ISIS has 500,000 fighters embedded in Europe, waiting to strike.

France is in shock. Europe is in shock. No one knows what tomorrow will bring.

But we do know this: our Jewish Heritage suggests Ishmael and Edom will turn on each other. We learn that Edom (the Christianized West) will create a coalition of nations (“instigating other nations”) to attack Israel (ArtScroll commentary to Yechezkel, 38:5, in Yechezkel, ArtScroll, 2012, p 582). Islam will play a major role in this attack (ibid, note on 38:6, p. 584).

That’s exactly what’s happening. Ishmael attacks Israel. Edom attacks Israel. Both work with other nations to criminalize Israel.

In the end, those who join together to attack Israel will turn on each other (note on 38:21), ibid, p 590). We don’t know exactly how that’ll happen. Our Heritage doesn’t ‘do’ historic detail. It gives an outline-in-metaphor. We only see details when events actually happen.

They’re happening now in France. The EU (a major Edomite player) has officially singled out Israel for an economic attack (the EU boycott). Potentially, it’s the greatest boycott vote ever made against Israel. It was approved last week.

Now, Ishmael (ISIS) attacks France. Why France? We don’t know (ISIS announced it was revenge for French attacks in Syria).

The attack was ‘an act of war’ (”France in shock”, ibid). But that act of war will pale beside the greater war that will engulf Edom and Ishmael. That greater war will be a world-confrontation we will call the ‘third world Jihad’ (Tuvia Brodie, “Israel and the third Jihad,” tuviabrodieblog, November 13, 2015).

Perhaps this ‘third Jihad’ begins now in earnest—in France. As Ishmael and Edom seek to criminalize Israel, they will end up confronting one another (Ari Soffer, “Western leaders ignore 'apocalyptic Islam' at their peril”, Arutz Sheva, November 15, 2015). Certainly, if France does attempt to ‘annihilate’ ISIS (Arutz Sheva, above), Edom will be attempting to devour at least part of Ishmael.

But then, we know how Ishmael thinks: an attack against my brother is an attack against me. Strike him and I will strike you.

Our Tanach outlines the plan. Human history will unwind. Israel will stand at stage-centre.

Stay tuned.