Dear  friends:

In the past few days I have seen two strange reports from the Middle East that may be tell-tale signs that war is on the horizon.

1.  Syria instructed its citizens to leave Lebanon.  This is ominous.
On July 5, 2007, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported that Syrian authorities had instructed all Syrian citizens residing in Lebanon to return to their country by July 15, 2007.(2) The next day, the Israeli Arab daily Al-Sinara similarly reported, on the authority of a Lebanese source close to Damascus, that Syria was planning to remove its citizens from Lebanon.(3) Also on July 5, the Lebanese daily Al-Liwa reported rumors that Syrian workers were leaving Lebanon at the request of the Syrian authorities.(4) In addition, the Syrian government daily Al-Thawra reported that Syrian universities would accept Syrian students who were leaving Lebanon due to the instability there.

2.  Strange quiet and inactivity in the Jordan Valley. 
The below was an e-mail report from a couple in Israel.  It describes a strange scene:

Today we had business to do in Jerusalem, so we left our home at 7 am and traveled down the east side of the Galilee, through Bet Shean and past the check point at Sede Trimot in the Jordan Valley.
 
Once we entered the Jordan Valley as we passed through the Arab agricultural areas we noticed the following which is most unusual;
 
1. There were no people visible working the in the fields.
2. There were no children along the side of the road.
3. There were no tractors or other farm vehicles anywhere to be seen.
4. All of the vegetables had been completely harvested and the fields were 100% empty.
5. No preparation of the fields was evident for the next planting...Plastic was everywhere from the prior crop.
6. The greenhouses had no plants in them.....
7. The vegetable stands that are normally filled to the brim from the harvest were completely vacant.
8. This is the peak season for growing vegetables in the Jordan Valley, yet everything had been harvested and nothing was growing waiting to be harvested or picked.
 
We concluded our business in Jerusalem and got back on the road again about 2:45 pm heading north up the Jordan Valley. Again, no people, no fruit stands, no crops, nothing!
 
Do these Arabs know something is about to happen that we do not know is coming? The 9th of Av is on July 23rd, which is the exact day both Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed hundreds of years apart...

Jim