Yesterday, November 21, 2006; 3:30 in the afternoon, Beirut: Pierre Jumayel is traveling home from church after a condolence visit. A jeep land rover pulls up along side his car. Three assassins with rifles equipped with silencers open fire. Twenty-six (26) bullets rip through the driver's window. The driver is killed instantly. The security guard in the back seat is wounded critically. Jumayel receives two bullets to the head and one to the stomach. He is pronounced dead by the time he reaches the hospital.

Pierre Jumayel, 34, Lebanese cabinet and parliament member, was one of the up and coming leaders of the pro-Lebanese, "Christian" parties. His is the SIXTH (6) such assassination in the last TWO (2) years! The others included national leader Raphik Hariri, parliament member Basel Felihan, journalist Samir Kasir, communist party leader George Havai, and journalist/parliament member Jebran Tavini. And that does not include the failed assassination attempts on cabinet member Maruan Hamadah and popular news broadcaster May Shidiak.

What did all these people have in common? They were opponents of the Hizballa and Syrian takeover of their beloved Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora cried out for Jumayel, "Prince Pierre, your blood has not been spilled in vain," and referred to those who backed his assassination as – "They know nothing but the language of evil and murder." Saad Hariri (Rafik's son and current leader of the majority party in the Lebanese government) accused the Syrians, saying, "They are killing everyone who stands up for freedom."

Lebanon has been a jewel of the Middle East, a bastion of freedom, a thriving cosmopolitan culture and economy, and the only Arab Christian nation in the world – until this generation, that is. The country has been usurped and destroyed by three different Muslim forces: the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Iranian backed Shiite Hizballa terrorists, and the Syrian militia and secret police.

[Note: the PLO was started in 1964 by Yasser Arafat. The PLO called then for the liberation of Palestine. However, at that time ALL the so-called Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza were in Arab hands. So what did they mean by "liberating Palestine"? – Obviously they meant destroying all of Israel in the pre-1967 borders. In 1967, the PLO, along with many Palestinians, fled to Jordan during the Six Day War.  Their actions in Jordan were so reprehensible that King Hussein could not bear them, and in the famous "Black September" attack in 1970, he turned the Jordanian army against them, massacring many, and forcing the PLO leaders to flee to Lebanon. In the early 1970's, the PLO set up its training camps in southern Lebanon, invented the modern concept of terrorism and exported it all over the world.]

The influx of these foreign Muslim forces caused a civil war in the late 1970's which ripped the country of Lebanon apart. Pierre Jumayel's grandfather (of the same name) founded the Christian Lebanese Phalanges to fight off the Muslim invasion. His sons, Amin and Bashir, both became Prime Ministers. Bashir (the younger Pierre's uncle) was also assassinated by the Muslim terrorists in 1983!

Simply put, this is the tactic of the Muslim-Syrian-Iranian-Hizballa rape of Lebanon: murder anyone who stands in the way, anyone who criticizes, anyone who is a Christian leader, anyone who opposes Islamic takeover. This is the tactic of Islamic Jihad the world over. May the Lord grant us the grace that the world might wake up and recognize this evil danger.

Particular prayer is needed for Lebanon this week, as potentially millions of people may be taking to the streets in protest on both sides. This is a turning point in history. Your prayers can make a difference.