Folks, there is a lot of craziness going on in the world today. All the threatening situations, the uncertainty, the violence, the oppression, the unrest… yet in the middle of all that is happening GOD is doing some amazing things. We are seeing things in our day that believers throughout history would have given anything to see. GOD’s hand is everywhere to those with eyes to see. I hope that what you view here today will give you renewed faith and hope for the coming days. I would love to tell you that everything is going to be rosy… but I would be lying. We are in for really rough days, but there is no reason to fear or to be anxious. JUST KNOW THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL.
Today we are looking at what has been going on in Saudi Arabia in reference to their plans for the City of the Future/NEOM.
There are some very interesting developments and some breathtaking images for you to see.
Our focus today is what is happening in SAUDI ARABIA. Most especially around GOD’s Mountain! And, the CITY OF THE FUTURE – NEOM.
Many people are not aware that the consensus now is in agreement that the Mountain of GOD, where Moses encountered the Burning Bush and GOD met with the Israelites to present them with His 10 Commandments, is not in Egypt as it has been claimed but is in Saudi Arabia, in the land of Midian.
There has been a great deal of activity in and around that area of late, for multiple reasons. The following should shed some light on recent developments.
According to the Rabbis as appearing in the Jerusalem Post, they believe that the TRUE Mt. Sinai is NOT in SAUDIA ARABIA. And CANNOT BE.
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Mount Sinai has been located
The exact spot of the giving of the Torah has been subject to controversy for generations.
According to the biblical story, the Torah was revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. People have mythologized this mountain. Many act as if it doesn’t really exist. But Judaism is a religion grounded in history and the Jewish tradition is very specific about where this mountain is, what it looks like and what happened when the Children of Israel camped at its base some 3,500 years ago. So if it exists, where is it? According to most scholars, Mount Sinai is in the Sinai Peninsula. The Sinai Peninsula does not have an infinite number of mountains in it. It’s a finite number. So, in theory, armed with the right criteria, we should be able to identify it. And people have tried.
Over the years, many candidates for Mount Sinai have been put forward. These include: Jebel Musa, the “traditional” site in Sinai, favored by Christians since the time of Queen Helena in the fourth century; Jebel Sinn Bishr, favored by Prof. Menashe Har-El and Prof. David Faiman; Helal, a mountain in northern Sinai; Jebel Serbal, a mountain in southern Sinai; Mount Karkom, in Israel, favored by Prof. Emmanuel Anati and Jebel al-Lawz, in Saudi Arabia, a favorite with Evangelical Christians and Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review.
The problem with the various Mount Sinai theories is that – for the most part – they ignore the biblical criteria. If we ignore these criteria, any mountain can be the mountain of God.
According to the prophets, idolatry was practiced on all the “high places” (II Kings 12:3). So it would not be surprising to find archaeology related to worship on many mountain tops. Put simply, there were many “holy mountains,” holy to various people. Just because a mountain was a cultic site does not make it Mount Sinai. To be Mount Sinai, a mountain has to conform to the criteria given in the Torah. This immediately rules out all the mountains in Saudi Arabia.
MOUNT SINAI has to be 11 days from Kadesh Barnea (Deuteronomy 1:2). Scholars generally agree that Kadesh Barnea is Ein El-Qudeirat.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that a mass of refugees can move no more than 15 km. a day. If this is the case, Mount Sinai can be no more than 165 km. from Kadesh Barnea/Ein El-Qudeirat.
This rules out Jebel Musa, Jebel Sinn Bishr and many other candidates which are out of range.
But there are other criteria. For example, the mountain has to be 14 days from the biblical Elim. How do we get to 14 days? By simply reconstructing the biblical itinerary.
The itinerary states that the revelation at Mount Sinai happened 50 days after the start of the Exodus. This tradition is still celebrated by Jews around the world with the counting of the Omer. Every day, beginning on the first day after Passover eve, is counted with a blessing until we reach 50, at which point Shavuot is celebrated.
According to the biblical itinerary and rabbinic tradition, the tribes of Israel reached Mount Sinai on the first day of the Hebrew month of Sivan, and received the Torah on 6 Sivan.
The Torah also tells us that the children of Israel reached the Wilderness of Sin (or Tsin or Zin) on 15 Iyar i.e., 30 days after they left Egypt (Exodus 16:1). Additionally, it makes clear that the wilderness begins just beyond Elim. In other words, it took the Israelites from 15 Iyar to the first of Sivan to get from the area of Elim to Mount Sinai (i.e., 14 days).
Biblical Elim has been identified by Prof. Menashe Har-El with the modern oasis of Ayun Musa. Scholars agree that even if he’s wrong about the precise location, he is right about the general area. This gives us a second biblical coordinate. Again, if we use UNHCR criteria for the mass movement of refugees, Mount Sinai has to be 210 km. from the area of Ayun Musa.
This rules out Prof. Anati’s Mount Karkom in the Negev desert. Put simply, if we accept the timetable of Exodus 16:1 and 19:1 we cannot reconcile it with Mount Karkom.
The third geographical criterion provided by the Torah is that Mount Sinai has to be within sheep grazing distance from a Midianite camp. After all, Moses’ encounter with the Burning Bush happens when he is grazing his Midianite father-in-law’s Jethro’s flock (Exodus 3:1-22). That episode occurs on Mount Sinai.
During the encounter with the bush, God says to Moses: “All of you will then become God’s servants on this mountain” (Exodus 3:12). The Torah is quite clear: “Moses tended the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, sheikh of Midian. He led the flock to the edge of the desert, and he came to God’s Mountain, in the Horeb area” (Exodus 3:1).
ACCORDING TO the Talmud, Jethro was an outcast from Midian (Exodus Raba l.c). The Midianites were located in modern Saudi Arabia. So the question is: Were there any Midianite camps in the Sinai Peninsula? An archeological survey of Sinai found no Midianite presence on the Peninsula. There was one exception, however, modern-day Timna.
Interestingly, there are depictions of grazing flock on rock art in Timna. This is our only candidate for the area of Jethro’s camp, and it is, as the Torah states, close to the “edge of the desert.” When I consulted with Beduin in the Timna area about the distance they travel from their camps in order to graze their flocks, they told me that they travel a maximum of 15-25 km., unless there is a drought, in which case they might wander as far as 60 km.
If we use the three geographical coordinates provided by the Torah, namely: Kadesh Barnea, Elim and the only Midianite site in the Sinai desert, we are suddenly left with only one possible candidate for the Biblical Mount Sinai – a mountain called Hashem el-Tarif by the Beduin of the desert.
We can now ask the question: Does Hashem el-Tarif conform to other traditions surrounding Mount Sinai? Rabbinic sources hold that Mount Sinai is the lowest of the mountains in its region.
Hashem el-Tarif is the lowest mountain in its region. It is 874 meters high and has ancient steps carved into its side. An 80-year-old man, like Moses at the time of the revelation on Mount Sinai, could easily climb to its flat top.
The Torah writes that Mount Sinai was able to accommodate hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Israelites (Exodus 12:37). In other words, the mountain needs a huge plateau around it, so as to accommodate a very large number of people.
Hashem el-Tarif has a huge plateau around it.
According to the Torah, Moses was asked to create a barrier – “set a boundary” – between the mountain and the people (Exodus 19:12). Hashem el-Tarif is surrounded by a stone demarcation that is visible to this day.
Also according to the Torah, Moses destroyed the golden calf, ground it “and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain” (Exodus 32:20 and Deuteronomy 9:21). Hashem el-Tarif has evidence of travertine on top of the mountain. you can readily pick up huge pieces of travertine to this day. Travertine is created by fresh flowing water.
It is written in the Torah that Moses carved the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:4).
It’s clear that Moses wasn’t working with hammer and chisel. Travertine is a soft stone. It also conforms to the talmudic tradition that it was transparent.
When you put travertine up to the light you can see through it. Engravings would be seen from both sides. This conforms to the rabbinic tradition.
The Torah reports that Moses spoke to the people from on top of the mountain (Exodus 19:7). Hashem el-Tarif has a natural stage and is close by a natural amphitheater creating perfect acoustics and the ability to speak to the people below from the mountain above.
The prominent cleft in which Moses hid is mentioned it the Torah. It says that there he was protected from the glory of God (Exodus 33:22). The natural stage at the end of the mountain is separated from the mountain itself by a very prominent natural cleft.
The mountain was considered holy prior to the Exodus (Exodus 3:1). Hashem el-Tarif has the highest concentration of open-air sanctuaries in Sinai.
According to the Torah, Mount Sinai is close to Mount Seir (Deuteronomy 1:2 and 33:2). To this day, the extension of Hashem el-Tarif is called “Seira.”
It is clear from the Torah that Israelites did not engage in professional mountain climbing to get to the plateau surrounding the mountain. They just stopped en route. Also, when Aaron meets Moses, it seems to be that the mountain is located close to the main roads, easily accessible to men, women, children, and the elderly (Exodus 4:27).
Hashem el-Tarif sits on the main Sinai highway routes.
Put simply, Hashem el-Tarif conforms to every one of the Biblical criteria.
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HOWEVER, there is clear evidence first discovered by RON WYATT, that the TRUE MT SINAI IS, INFACT, LOCATED IN SAUDI ARABIA.
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This website was created by agreeing with the relatively recent but well-supported argument that the Mountain Sinai previously known to exist in Egypt is not the Mountain Sinai the Bible describes, but the Mountain Al-Lawz (Gebel el-Lawz) in Arabia. Despite strict monitoring by the Saudi government, many archaeological research endeavors were undertaken. Since 1984, Ron Wyatt proved by his archaeological excavation that the Mountain Sinai in Saudi Arabia was indeed the one described in the Bible. This effort was followed by Dr. Bob Cornuke who, upon exploring this matter in depth, published two books titled The Mountain of God and Relic Quest. He had been accompanied by Larry Williams, who also published The Gold of Exodus. Not as scholars but as heroic explorers, Caldwells couple wrote The God of the Mountain. Though previously an engineer, Dr. Glen Fritz switched to the Geography major, even pursued a Ph.D., and spent long 20 years, looking for geographical, archaeological, and historical evidence for this issue and finally authored “The Exodus Mysteries of Median, Sinai & Jabal al-Lawz” and “The Lost Sea of the Exodus.” Also, Dr. Sung Hak Kim, a personal physician to the Saudi royal prince who lived in the royal palace for 16 years, explored the true Mountain Sinai in Saudi for 12 years, and he published in Korean “Tulgi Namu (The Burning Bush).” Aside from these scholars and explorers, there are numerous researchers who believe that the Mountain in Saudi is the Mountain Sinai the Bible refers to, and ‘Semapo Hodos stands in the same position.
We recognize that the debates have not been over among archaeologists. We did not create this website for those who argue that Mountain Sinai is in Egypt. Rather, we created this website for those who believe that Mountain Sinai is the one described in the Bible or those who suspect that this might be true. You have the complete freedom to leave this website if you disagree. People have the freedom to believe what they believe and act how they want to according to their beliefs as long as they do not infringe upon others’ freedom.
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If you have not viewed any of the following related posts, check them out.
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Making Way in the Desert for the NEW KING OF THE MOUNTAIN??
NEOM – Welcome to the FUTURE!
NEOM – The Breakdown
NEOM – THE EVEN DEEPER TRUTH
NEOM and Mt Sinai
NEOM UPDATE
NEOM MEGA PROJECT OPENS 2024
Things to know – COP27 Summit – Final Days
A Light in the DESERT? Or Just a Mirage?
BACK TO THE ROOT
WHOSE NEW WORLD ORDER IS IT, ANYWAY?
THEY ALL WANT TO DISCREDIT RON or Usurp Him
IS THIS A BEGINNING? OR IS THIS THE END!?!?
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The Saudi Arabian Prince, made a very strong declaration regarding the land where the TRUE MOUNTAIN OF GOD is believed to be located. He plans to BULLDOZE it and build is CITY of the FUTURE in it’s place.
Bible site where ‘God met Moses’ to be BULLDOZED for ‘super city’ by Saudi Arabia
A BIBLICAL site where God is claimed to have met Moses is set to bulldozed by Saudi Arabia to make away for a super city, it is feared.
VIDEO: CENSORED OR REMOVEDMOUNT SINAI: EXPERT CLAIMS MOUNTAIN OF MOSES IS IN SAUDI ARABIA
The site is a 8,460 foot peak known as the “mountain of almonds”, located in north east Saudi Arabia near the border with Jordan.
Moses leads the Israelites to the mountain which is enveloped by fire, smoke and thunder, according to the Book of Exodus in the Bible.
The prophet then ascends Mount Sinai where he convenes with God to receive the Ten Commandments.
Experts from the Doubting Thomas Research Foundation have backed the location of Sinai, and also pointed out the fact it lies right in the footprint of proposed Saudi mega city Neom.
Neom is a project proposed by Riyadh that would cover 10,200 square miles – 33 times the size of New York – and would end up covering the suspected Holy site from the Bible.
Security analyst Ryan Mauro and the Doubting Thomas Research Foundation released a documentary with detailing their evidence of Sinai in Saudi Arabia.
It is claimed there is proof of the Israelites encampment at the foot of the mountain, which also has a blackened peak as if it was set on fire.
Historians and Biblical scholars remained divided on the location of the real Sinai in the Middle East.
However, the researchers and explorers fear its location could never be found if the Neom project bulldozes the area.
In the documentary titled Finding The Mountain of Moses: The Real Mount Sinai in Saudia Arabia, they lay out their case for Sinai and highlight the risk posed by Neom.
Mauro said: “The Saudis are constructing a super city that is planned to be 33 times the size of New York.
“If all of us don’t take action, Saudi construction in the area may destroy key evidence and prevent excavation for the foreseeable future.”
The Sinai In Arabia project has been set up in bid to rally the Saudi authorities to preserve the sites for further investigation.
Neom was announced by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2017 as part of a massive investment programme to reinvent Saudi Arabia.
The $500 billion project was hoped to have its first sections completed in 2025 and the city would extend 286 miles along the coast of the Red Sea.
Much of the investment was hoped to come from state oil firm Saudi Aramco, with there being plans for the city to be heavily automated using robots – and the name even means future and new in Greek and Arabic.
Plans for the city have stalled however after the Saudi state were suspected in orchestrating the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi – with the crown prince admitting the “no one will invest in years”.
Doubting Thomas Research Foundation experts claim evidence around Jabal al-Lawz includes cave paintings of calves – matching up the with the Bible story of the golden idol.
It is also claimed there is a “massive ancient graveyard” near the mountain, where the calf worshippers would have been buried after they were executed in the Bible.
Ruined ancient structures on the site have also been claimed to be evidence of the Israelites time at the foot of Sinai, including what may have been the “12 pillars” described in the Bible.
Fences have been set up around the mountain by the Saudi authorities marking it as an archaeological site, but their own experts dismissed claims Jabal al-Lawz is Mount Sinai.
Jabal al Lawz has previously been suggested as a candidate for the original Mount Sinai, and this claim been criticised by other historians.
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Israelis Respond to Christian Warning that Saudis Might Destroy Mount Sinai
Israeli news portal picks up on story claiming Mt. Sinai really in Saudi Arabia, and runs poll to see what Israelis think
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Saudi Arabia:
ADAM ELIYAHU BERKOWITZIslamists responded to a Christian investigator’s claims to have found Mount Sinai with death threats, claiming the search for the Biblical mountain was part of a Jewish-U.S. plot to conquer Saudi Arabia. An expert whose own searches for Biblical artifacts have attracted controversy commented, emphasizing that Biblical archaeology should bind all of mankind, Jew Christian and Muslim, together in peace.
Location identified?
Ryan Mauro, National Security Analyst for the Clarion Project, produced a documentary Finding the Mountain of Moses: The Real Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia that has garnered over 1.6 million views in the last six months. His theory focuses on Jabal al Lawz (Mountain of Almonds) in the remote and desolate northwest corner of Saudi Arabia near the border with Jordan.
Researchers have proposed about 20 different locations for Mt. Sinai and there is no consensus of opinion but the veracity of Mauro’s claim is not the only controversy surrounding his candidate for the location of the Biblical mountain. The site is highly restricted by the Saudi government and Mauro had to go to great efforts including a bit of subterfuge to arrive at the location.
The conspiracy
But the controversy is far more explosive than that. In a recently released video, Mauro claims that propaganda outlets linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Iranian regime, Houthi rebels, and other violent elements are threatening him, claiming that whether or not his theory is accurate, his film is part of a Jewish-U.S. plot to conquer Saudi Arabia.
One such group is Zahra, a French-Algerian Islamist group led by Yahia Gouasmi, who had a slightly different twist on this conspiracy. In a video series, they claim that NEOM, a Saudi plan to build a mega-city that will cover Jabal al Lawz, is a Saudi-U.S.-Israeli plot to take control of Mount Sinai in order to pave the way for Al-Masih ad-Dajjal, the Islamic version of the Anti-Christ.
“They view this as the fulfillment of end-times apocalyptic prophecy,” Mauro said in his video.
Showing appreciation
But Mauro was not entirely anti-Muslim regarding Mount Sinai.
“We thank the Saudis for preserving the evidence this long,” Mauro said. “If Western businesses controlled the area, we would have ruined it. We believe this territory belongs to Saudi Arabia and we would oppose any effort to conquer the area. We are concerned about the site being harmed because there is a history of even Islamic archaeological sites being damaged.”
Mauro’s concern is well-founded. The Islamic State has destroyed sites that are significant to many religions including the archaeological wonders at Palmyra Syria, Syrian churches, and the Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan.
Preserving antiquities
Mauro expressed concern that the NEOM project might damage yet-to-be-discovered archaeological evidence.
“But none of us involved in this research are advocating taking it from Saudi Arabia,” Mauro said. “It doesn’t even make any sense. We feel this is a special area and we want everyone to come see it. Why would we want a war that would destroy the evidence we want to preserve.”
Blasphemy laws in effect
Mauro cites Ron Wyatt, a Christian researcher who, in the 1980s, suggested that Mount Sinai was located in Saudi Arabia. Wyatt was arrested by the Saudi government. Wyatt assured them that the land of Mount Sinai was their domain according to the Bible.
And charge the people as follows: You will be passing through the territory of your kinsmen, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. Though they will be afraid of you, be very careful not to provoke them. For I will not give you of their land so much as a foot can tread on; I have given the hill country of Seir as a possession to Esau.Deuteronomy 2:4-5
Mauro claims the real fear of the Islamists is that the Saudis can use these Biblical holy sites ‘to improve the prospects for peace.”
Fact-finding mission
Harry Moskoff, the award-winning producer of producer and writer of “The ARK Report”, does not agree with Mauro’s theory but supported his efforts to seek the truth as universally beneficial to all religions.
Moskoff’s search for the Ark of the Covenant centers around the Temple Mount, a site that is even more controversial than Saudi Arabia. Yet Moskoff is careful to ensure that his research does not become the source of conflict. Moskoff consulted with Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the chief rabbi of Tzfat (Safed) who advised him.
“The Muftis and Imams consider themselves to be men of God,” Moskoff explained to Breaking Israel News. “We need to present ourselves as men of God to the Muslims. This common Biblical context and archaeology can be a point of connection between us.”
An inclusive effort
“The Third Temple will be a Temple for all nations,” Moskoff explained. “The Torah was given to the world at Mount Sinai, to all religions. Both of these are via the Jews but it is necessary that everyone will take part.”
“In the end of the day, we are all different but all on the same team,” Moskoff said. “Jewish exclusivity is not part of the agenda.”
Keeping politics out of, from a strictly religious perspective, cooperation helps us all. Conversely, conflict in Biblical archaeology hurts us all.”
Case and point
Moskoff gave as an example a recent case in which timbers that had been stored adjacent to the Sha’ar HaRachamim (the Golden Gate) were allowed to rot and some were even destroyed. The Waqf (Muslim Authority) refused to allow the Israeli Antiquities Authority to remove the timbers. A few samples were obtained and testing confirmed that some timbers were from the First and Second Temples, while others were from a Byzantine Church that once stood on the Temple Mount. Still others were from the original Aqsa Mosque.
“You would think the timbers would have archaeological and religious significance to the Muslims,” Moskoff said. “The Muslims should want to preserve them.”
“Saudi Arabia would love to be the host of Mount Sinai and it could even open them up to Christian and Jewish visitors,” Moskoff said. “That should be the ideal driving Biblical archaeology: preserving our common connection.”
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Wonder of Wonders, suddenly there is a change in attitude, and Saudi Arabia begins to allow tours to the land where the Mountain of God is believed to be located. Tourism in that has been forbidden for decades!
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As Saudi Arabia increasingly opens up to tourists, a travel group in the country started offering this week a “first-ever Christian tour of rare sites,” promising participants a close-up look at a controversial location believed to be the real Mount Sinai — the mountain where, according to the Bible, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.
Saudi Arabia, which has been closed for tourism the last several decades and has a dismal record on human rights, decided to give tourist visas on the heels of the second delegation of evangelical leaders from America, hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last year and earlier this year.
“The atmosphere in Saudi Arabia is changing,” said Rhonda Sand, owner of U.S.-based travel company Living Passages. “They are hard at work developing the country for Western tourism.”
Living Passages is taking a group of 25 people this week through “Jethro’s Caves in the land of Midian,” believed to be ancient Midian. The tour will be led by Joel Richardson, the author of “Mount Sinai in Arabia: The True Location Revealed.”
“This portends to be the most significant new archaeological site in modern history,” Richardson told Fox News. “We’re tremendously blessed that the Saudi government is allowing us to visit the kingdom to see some of its rich historical and geographic treasures.”
Richardson, who said this is one of the most faith stirring experiences of his life, explained tourists will be flocking to see the historical mountain and other sites covered in a short documentary, “Finding the Mountain of Moses: The Real Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia,” by Ryan Mauro, who will also be leading a tour in February.
Most notably, the group is visiting the Jebel al-Lawz mountain in the ancient land of Midian. Early Jewish, Christian and Bedouin traditions have long attested this site to be the real Mount Sinai. The controversial theory contests the traditional location in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. On the north-west side of the mountain is the Split Rock of Horeb — a massive stone several stories tall, split down the middle, with evidence of water erosion at its base.
The Split Rock of Horeb in Saudi Arabia, believed to be the rock that Moses struck from which water flowed out of for the Israelites. (Living Passages)
WHEN I SEE MT HOREB, it reminds me of the stones of the TEN COMMANDMENTS.
This week tourists will visit the town that has an ancient well, held to be where Moses met his wife Zipporah, daughter of Jethro, after fleeing Egypt. The group will explore the ruins of Dedan, Wadi Tayyib – along the Red Sea coast – and Tayma, where Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar may have occasionally stayed.
Beyond the historic sites, the kingdom is hoping to increase international tourism with new museums and first-class hotels — and even a smart city in the northwest called Neom, set to be fully functinal by 2025.
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I can’t tell you how it blesses me to see regular people striving to climb the historical, biblical sites and free to do so. It has only recently become possible. When Ron Wyatt and his sons found the TRUE MT SINAI, they risked their lives to do so. They were thrown into a Saudi prison and held for some time, not knowing if they would ever get out. The area has been fenced off and well guarded for what seems like forever. How amazing is it that now there are actual tours to those precious sites?? Praise GOD!
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Aside from the fact that they are planning to violate GOD’s MOUNTAIN, there are other factors about the Saudi plans to build their City of the Future. Many human rights are being violated as well. Many people are being displaced, rob of their property and their homelands. Many have been arrested and some even executed for protesting this outrage.
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‘It’s being built on our blood’: the true cost of Saudi Arabia’s $500bn megacity
“The future has a new home,” proclaims the website.
“It’s a virgin area that has a lot of beauty,” says the voice over a string section soundtrack as the promotional video tracks colour-tinted panoramic shots of picturesque desert expanses, and deep azure lagoons.
“Better humans, better society,” it boasts extravagantly.
The brainchild of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the new city state of Neom, named from a combination of the Greek word for “new” and the Arabic term for “future”, is intended to cover an area the size of Belgium at the far north of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coastline.
There has been no shortage of outlandish promises for the $500bn (£400bn) city-state. According to strategy documents leaked last year, the project may include a huge artificial moon, glow-in-the-dark beaches, flying drone-powered taxis, robotic butlers to clean the homes of residents and a Jurassic Park-style attraction featuring animatronic lizards.
Advertising materials stressed Neom will be built on “virgin” land, ready to be conquered with futuristic technology. “In 10 years from now we will be looking back and we will say we were the first ones to come here,” declares a Neom staff member featured in the video.
Yet part of the site is the home of the Huwaitat tribe, who have spanned Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Sinai peninsula for generations, tracing their lineage back before the founding of the Saudi state. At least 20,000 members of the tribe now face eviction due to the project, with no information about where they will live in the future.
“For the Huwaitat tribe, Neom is being built on our blood, on our bones,” says Alia Hayel Aboutiyah al-Huwaiti, an outspoken activist and member of the tribe living in London. “It’s definitely not for the people already living there! It’s for tourists, people with money. But not for the original people living there.”
For some Saudis, the Huwaiti tribe among them, Neom, with its parallel legal system reporting directly to the king, represents an elite version of Saudi society, one designed simply to shut them out. Residents and visitors to the site will probably be allowed to drink alcohol and enjoy fine dining in a futuristic version of paradise that is also set to include a vast data-gathering network, including drone and facial-recognition technology covering the entire city-state.
The death of Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti on 13 April highlighted the tension between the tribe and the kingdom’s development plans. A resident of the town of Khuraibat, he had become the face of the tribes’ criticism of their forced eviction, voicing complaints in videos posted to social media, and appearing in others’ videos. One piece of footage showed him confronting a Saudi official who visited the town to speak with residents.
Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti made one of his last videos in mid-April. “They have begun the process of removing people, beginning with surveying homes with the intent of removing people and deporting them from their land,” he said, referring to the security forces in his town. “They arrested anyone who said they’re against deportation, they don’t want to leave, they want to remain [in] their homes, that they don’t want money.
“I would not be surprised if they come to kill me in my house now, and place a weapon next to me,” he added.
Later the same day, he shot a video from his rooftop of the police down below. “See them? The police have come to get me,” he said.
Others from Khuraibat recorded videos of gunfire from outside his house. Later, they recorded footage inside his house, pockmarked with bullet holes. In a statement, the Saudi authorities claimed he’d been killed in a shootout with regional security forces, stating that Abdul Rahim injured two after he shot back.
His supporters have described the shooting as “an extrajudicial killing”. So too have rights groups.
“They killed him to set an example – anyone opening their mouth gets the same treatment,” says Alia al-Huwaiti.
According to the Saudi rights group Al Qst, the authorities have since worked to cover up Abdul Rahim’s killing and placate the tribe. “They are hoping to pull off a major publicity stunt by getting prominent figures among the Huwaitat to publicly disown Abdul Rahim and ‘renew their allegiance’ to the king,” said the group.
This was accompanied by the arrest of eight members of the tribe.
For Alia al-Huwaiti, the killing of Abdul Rahim and the forced displacement of the Huwaitat people highlights the kingdom’s lack of care towards tribal communities long dominated and suppressed by the state. “MBS [Mohammad Bin Salman] began by telling the tribes: ‘We will develop your area, you will make money.’ They believed him at first. By 2019, they said ‘We will empty three villages, and force people to move,’” she says.
“There is nothing called a tribe for Mohammed bin Salman,” she adds. “He doesn’t care about the tribes.”
Alia said she has received death threats for posting about the plight of Abdul Rahim and the tribe on social media, including threats she has reported to the British police.
The public relations team for Neom, as well as executives from the management consulting firm Teneo, hired by Saudi authorities for more than $2m last year to represent the project, did not return requests for comment. The Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington DC did not respond to a request for comment.
But Ali Shihabi, a member of the Neom advisory board, told the Guardian that the displaced members of the tribe would be compensated. “Practice in Saudi has been that people have to accept it, and have usually done so because the government has a tradition of compensating generously.”
He said he did not know how much members of the tribe would be compensated, or when.
“We anticipated there might be problems, especially with as large of a land grab as Neom. It’s inevitable that there would be some kind of forced displacement happening,” says James Suzano, of the European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights. “When the state has done this before, it was accompanied by human rights violations.”
The destruction of communities on the Neom site follows decades of tensions between the House of Saud and the tribes it has ruled over since the creation of the Saudi state in 1932. Exerting control over the land through construction projects or destruction of some heritage sites have marked this rule. In 2017, the UN condemned the kingdom’s forced demolition of the walled city of Awamia, in the eastern Qatif region, as violating human rights.
Karima Bennoune, the UN special rapporteur for cultural rights, said that “historic buildings have been irremediably burned down and damaged by the use of various weapons by the military, forcing residents out of their homes and of the neighbourhood, fleeing for their lives”.
A $10bn King Abdullah financial district in Riyadh, intended as a “special zone,” has sputtered since its inception in 2006, weathering construction delays and confusion over its purpose, even after government attempts at a relaunch in 2016. Critics of Neom say the project risks the same fate.
Construction is ploughing ahead despite the challenges of the pandemic and the historic drop in the price of oil, Saudi’s primary export. The project is part of the crown prince’s flagship Vision 2030 project, intended to diversify the economy away from oil, which has sustained the kingdom since the early 20th century. Yet the funds required to see Neom realised will inevitably require oil wealth.
“It’s quite revealing that [Neom] is more of a vanity project targeting the domestic elite and an international audience in terms of a new Saudi, one that’s open and economically or socially liberal,” says Josh Cooper, of Al Qst. “But at the same time, not allowing the involvement of local actors or interests in these decision-making processes.”
For Cooper, Neom is less a shining vision of the future than a grim symbol of Saudi human rights violations, underscored by the treatment of the Huwaitat tribe.
“It shows the lack of platforms people have to express their opinions, even on less contentious matters than civil or political rights,” he says.
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In November of 2022, we clearly see that at least some Jews/Rabbis have accepted Jabal al-Lawz Saudi Arabia as the TRUE MT SINAI.
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COP27: Will God deliver 10 Commandments for climate change?
The UN Climate Change Conference, in proximity to Mount Sinai, could be the prime time for the force of religion to speak climate truth to dirty power. For the world, and especially Israel!
Speaking prophetic truth to power, the youth-led climate march down Rehov Hanevi’im (Prophets Street) in Tel Aviv. (photo credit: Yosef Israel Abramowitz)
“Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for Adonai had come down upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. The blare of the horn grew louder and louder. As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder.”
Exodus 19:19-20
Shazam! The idea struck me like a bolt of lightning.
But will God appear at COP27 in Sinai – and is there anything we can do to summon divine intervention?
Then you shall go with the elders of Israel to the king of Egypt and you shall say to him, the God of the Hebrews became manifest to us. Now therefore, let us go a distance of three days into the wilderness to sacrifice to our God (Exodus 3:18).
Pharaoh famously turned down the Israelites’ request for a prayer service in the desert, so we don’t have a good track record going in with today’s Egyptian leaders for the Sinai climate prayer plan request.
“Feelings of duty and honor have long driven humanity to do great things,” said Sternlicht. “Our mission is to solve coordination failures at scale, and we see this Sinai activation as a stepping stone to a global coordination system, where religion and science and eventually politics can work together to guide humanity toward a brighter future.”
Sternlicht and his partners approached the military governor of Sinai to request permission for an interfaith repentance ceremony for Mother Earth on Mount Sinai on Sunday, November 13, the halfway point in the UN conference, when negotiations were expected to stall and when the usual civil society demonstrations would be banned in Sharm.
The request was forwarded to government offices in Cairo. “Not now,” came back the response as The Jerusalem Report went to print. And then the tour operators and hotels canceled the reservations for the event, essentially drowning the endeavor.
During the advance trip, we understood better that Egypt was on the brink of a severe economic downspin, that political tensions would be rising drastically, and our vision to bring 10 climate commandments from religious leaders down from Mount Sinai would be fraught with challenges. Yet the religious leaders of the Elijah Interfaith Institute had prepared inspiring and powerful action calls to humanity. Could we still get them out to the world?
We knew it would be tough going, so I turned heavenward to get some guidance. At the foot of the mountain on that cloudless and balmy summer day, I looked up to the sky to pose the question to the Creator, knowing that the average August rainfall there over the past 50 years was zero.
“Creator of the Universe, send us a sign that we should proceed with the climate covenant, the 10 climate commandments, here at Mount Sinai during COP27.”
A personal prayer
“Creator of the Universe, send us a sign that we should proceed with the climate covenant, the 10 climate commandments, here at Mount Sinai during COP27,” I prayed, with my eyes and hands pointed up with hope and in fear. I waited four seconds.
And, at that very moment – Shazam! – the skies opened up, heavy rain pelted us, and thunder bolted an unequivocal answer from Above – all captured on 49 seconds of video. Thank God for Plan B. Stay tuned! ■
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COP27
Things to know – COP27 Summit – Final Days
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that Israel is at the cusp of a “dramatic breakthrough”: a historic peace deal between his country and Saudi Arabia.
“Such a peace will go a long way in ending Arab-Israeli conflict and will encourage other Arab States to normalize their relations with Israel,” he said, adding that it will also enhance prospects of peace with the Palestinians.
The agreement, he emphasized will “encourage a broader reconciliation between Judaism and Islam, between Jerusalem and Mecca, between the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael.”
‘Genuine peace’ with Palestinians
Peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia will truly create a new Middle East, the Prime Minster continued, noting that as the circle of peace expands, a real path towards “genuine peace” with Palestinians can finally be achieved.
However, there is a caveat: Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas “must stop spreading the horrible anti-Semitic conspiracies” against the Jewish people, and that the Palestinian Authority must stop supporting and glorifying terrorists.
A ‘visionary corridor’
In his address, Prime Minister Netanyahu also said that a corridor stretching across the Arabian Peninsula and Israel, connecting India with Europe was announced by US President Biden, Indian Prime Minister Modi and European and Arab leaders at the recently held G20 Summit.
The “visionary corridor” would facilitate trade, communication and energy connectivity for the benefit of over two billion people, he said.
For centuries, Israel was invaded by empires passing through it in their campaigns of plunder and conquest elsewhere, “but today, as we tear down the walls of enmity, Israel can become a bridge of peace and prosperity between these continents,” Mr. Netanyahu added.
Fly in the ointment
The Israeli Prime Minister went on to note that there is a “fly in the ointment … the fanatics ruling Iran will do everything they can to thwart this historic peace.”
He denounced Iran for its terrorist acts, including through proxies, threatening international shipping, holding foreign nationals as hostages, killing and arresting many of its own citizens, and supplying drones and missiles that “bring death and destruction to innocent people in the Ukraine.”
“Yet the regime’s aggression is largely met by indifference in the international community,” he said, stressing: “To stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions. This policy must change. Sanctions must be snapped back.”
The AI revolution
In his address, Prime Minister Netanyahu also highlighted the development of artificial intelligence (AI), noting that while it offered immense benefits for humanity, it also posed grave dangers.
The world’s leading nations, however competitive, must address these dangers collectively and quickly, he urged, emphasizing that “we must ensure that the promise of an AI utopia does not turn into an AI dystopia.”
He also noted his country’s role, “just as Israel’s technological revolution provided the world with breathtaking innovations, I’m confident that AI developed by Israel will once again help all humanity.”
Blessings of a new Middle East
Prime Minister Netanyahu concluded his remarks, stating “bring forth the blessings of a new Middle East that will transform lands once written with conflict and chaos, into fields of prosperity and peace.”
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated Israel is now at “war” with militant group Hamas after a massive show of force that caught Israel off-guard on a major holiday. (Oct. 7)
JERUSALEM (AP) — Backed by a barrage of rockets, Hamas militants stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns, killing dozens and abducting others in an unprecedented surprise attack during a major Jewish holiday Saturday. A stunned Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza, with its prime minister saying the country is now at war with Hamas and vowing to inflict an “unprecedented price.”
In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen rolled into as many as 22 locations outside the Gaza Strip, including towns and other communities as far as 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the Gaza border. In some places they gunned down civilians and soldiers as Israel’s military scrambled to muster a response.
Gunbattles continued well after nightfall, and militants held hostages in standoffs in two towns. Militants occupied a police station in a third town, where Israeli forces struggled until Sunday morning to finally reclaim the building.
Before daybreak Sunday, militants fired more rockets from Gaza, hitting a hospital in the Israeli coastal town of Ashkelon. The hospital sustained damage, said senior hospital official Tal Bergman. Video provided by Barzilai Medical Center showed a large hole punched into a wall and chunks of debris scattered on the ground of what appeared to an empty rooms and a hallway. There was no report of casualties.
Israeli media, citing rescue service officials, said at least 250 people were killed and 1,500 wounded in Saturday’s attack, making it the deadliest in Israel in decades. At least 232 people in the Gaza Strip were killed and 1,700 wounded in Israeli strikes, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Hamas fighters took an unknown number of civilians and soldiers captive into Gaza.
The conflict threatened to escalate with Israel’s vows of retaliation. Previous conflicts between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers brought widespread death and destruction in Gaza and days of rocket fire on Israeli towns. The situation is potentially more volatile now, with Israel’s far-right government stung by the security breach and with Palestinians in despair over a never-ending occupation in the West Bank and suffocating blockade of Gaza.
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks with Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S., at the Al-Salam Royal Palace in Jeddah on July 15, 2022. Photo:
DAVOS, Switzerland — The Saudi ambassador to the U.S. said at the World Economic Forum on Thursday that any potential normalization agreement with Israel would be conditioned on a ceasefire in Gaza and the creation of an “irrevocable” pathway towards a Palestinian state.
Why it matters: Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud echoed what the Biden administration has recently said publicly and privately to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that the Biden administration’s strategy for post-war Gaza is to link normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia to the creation of a political horizon for the Palestinians.
- Biden administration officials say the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are fully aligned on making that link.
What they’re saying: Without a ceasefire in Gaza, it’s impossible to talk about what happens after the war, Princess Reema said at the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos.
- She said that Saudi Arabia has extended its hand for peace with Israel, but it also has a responsibility for the Palestinians.
- “The Palestinian people deserve a state…they deserve a pathway that is irrevocable…We recognize the need for Israel to feel safe but it can’t be at the expense of the Palestinian people,” she added.
- Princess Reema also said the kingdom recognizes that the Hamas Oct. 7 attack was “horrible and vile,” but there is trauma and pain on both sides “[W]hat we can do is ceasefire now.”
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Low and behold, Saudi Arabia’s planned City of the FUTURE, which was to demolish the holy site of the giving of the LAW/10 Commandments, has been brought to naught.
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By Published: 10/04/2024 – 21:39 Updated: 11/04/2024
Workers on the landmark project have previously called it “untethered from reality” as it struggles to hit key deadlines
The ambitious project, named the Line, forms part of the kingdom’s lucrative Neom infrastructure project – which had been slated to cost up to $1.5trillion.
But issues with contractors have stunted the growth of the Line; one firm has already laid off workers as goals have shifted to sorting out the construction of three short segments of the project – amounting to 1.5 miles in total – by 2030.
While planners had always circled 2045 as the target to finish the entire metropolis’ construction, developers had abandoned long-term necessities like excavations and underground work in favour of getting the first 1.5 miles ready, according to reports.
GB News
This is just the latest in a line of setbacks for the Line – a 2026 launch had originally been tabled, but with this news, the chances of hitting such a deadline appear slim.
It has also been hindered by Prime Minister Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s changing ideas for the project, significant overspends and ongoing staff turnover issues – some who have worked on the project have called it “untethered from reality”.
While critics from outside Saudi Arabia have long questioned the feasibility of executing its original vision – not least due to the fact it’s meant to house millions in a glass-edged megastructure in the Arabian desert.
In 2045, when it’s due to be completed, the Line should be home to nine million people – but expectations have been lowered from a target population of 1.5 million to 300,000 in 2030, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Getty/Neom
Just a few hundred metres wide, but hundreds of miles long, the Line had been promoted as a revolutionary futuristic vision of city planning, with amenities for residents within walking distance from offices and accommodation – all connected via high speed train.
Press releases from Neom have described the Line as a “spectacular” and “cognitive” and a “civilisation revolution”.
While Prince Mohammed had said the project would be “tackling the challenges facing humanity in urban life today” and would “shine a light on alternative ways to live”.
Ali Shihabi, who sits on Neom’s advisory board, decried reports that the cut-back on the Line represented a backtrack by by developers.
Shihabi said: “Early on, the Line was planned in modules each 800 metres long with an initial core of three modules, and the rest to be built according to demand – so this is not new or recent news.”
Further promotional material reads: “No roads, cars or emissions, [the Line] will run on 100 per cent renewable energy and 95 per cent of land will be preserved for nature. People’s health and wellbeing will be prioritized over transportation and infrastructure, unlike traditional cities.”
But critics have flagged the fact that a number of the technologies Neom have been pushing do not exist, while the project has already cost human lives.
Several members of the local Howeitat tribe who had protested the plans which would see construction on their ancestral lands were executed, according to reports.
Why Saudi Arabia is scaling back plans for its mega desert project Neom
According to Saudi authorities, the city — stretching from the Red City to the city of Tabuk — would be entirely car-less. Instead, a high-speed rail system would tie it from one end to another. Image Courtesy: @NEOM/Facebook
But why the scale back?
There are a multitude of reasons why Saudi Arabia is scaling back its ambition over The Line.
The main reason seems to be the economics of it all. The overall Neom budget for 2024 has yet to be approved by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund amid declining cash reserves. According to academics who study it, the wealth fund — known as the Public Investment Fund — could need hundreds of billions of dollars more from the Saudi state.
As Tim Callen, a visiting fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute think tank in Washington told Wall Street Journal, “It’s mind-boggling the amount of stuff that’s trying to be done here. He estimates the government may need to contribute another $270 billion to PIF by 2030.
And as spending rises, oil revenues have levelled off. The IMF estimated oil prices would need to be above $86 a barrel in 2023 and $80 a barrel this year to balance the government’s budget. Currently, oil prices are drifting at the $81-mark for the past one year.
Another reason, as per a Bloomberg report, is Prince Mohammed’s changing vision for the project. Moreover, several people involved in the project keep changing, describing it as “untethered from reality”.
For instance, when the project was announced and images were released, many had questioned the reality of it. Architect and urban planner Etienne Bou-Abdo had told the Daily Mail, “The 3D images presented are not classical 3D architecture images”, and the designers of the project “have rather called upon video game designers”.
He had further stated that the plan includes “a lot of technology that we don’t have today”. In fact, a number of The Line’s key features related to energy and transport don’t even exist today.
A relief for some?
While the news of the project being scaled back may be embarrassing for Saudi officials, it would serve as relief for environmentalists and human rights activists. This is because The Line, along with NEOM, is believed to have a negative environmental impact.
Environmentalists have said that the megaproject is one of the 15 most pressing issues to watch out for in 2024. In fact, experts stated that the mirrored surfaces of the buildings would be a “death trap” for millions of birds migrating between Europe and Africa. “Birds flying into tall windows is a serious problem, and this is a building that is 500-metre-high going across Saudi Arabia, with windmills on top,” Professor William Sutherland, director of research in Cambridge University’s zoology department, told The Times.
“It’s also kind of like a mirror so you don’t really see it,” Sutherland, who led the study, added. “So unless they do something about it, there’s a serious risk that there could be lots of damage to migratory birds.”
Others have also stated that the project is an attempt at greenwashing — making grand promises about the environment to distract from reality.
Apart from environmentalists, even human rights activists would be heaving a sigh of relief. This is because they allege that the Saudi government has forcibly displaced members of the Howeitat tribe, who have lived for centuries in the Tabuk province in northwest Saudi Arabia, to make way for the project. In fact, at least 47 members of the tribe have been either arrested or detained for resisting eviction, including five who have been sentenced to death, according to a report by the UK-based Alqst rights group.
With inputs from agencies
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I have NEWS FOR EVERYONE, GOD IS IN CONTROL!! HE PROTECTS HIS OWN. MT SINAI is GOD’s MOUNTAIN and NOTHING will happen there unless HE allows it. Quite frankly, when I heard that they were planning to mock God with their 10 Commandments for Climate Change, I expected the land would open up and swallow them when they did. Turns out, they never got to complete their plans the way they intended. GOD saw tp that. They still tried, but on a much smaller scale. GOD DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CLIMATE AGENDA!
When Saudi Arabia announced they were going to bulldoze the area around the Mountain of GOD… I expected to see them squashed like bugs. But, once again, GOD just did not allow their plans to come to fruition.
All this craziness that is going on, is just helping to bring truth to light. ONE THING IS FOR CERTAIN… GOD IS IN CONTROL And that should bring FAITH and COMFORT to all who BELIEVE.
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Israeli media on Tuesday picked up on the recent claim by Christian researchers that the real Mount Sinai is in Saudi Arabia, and that the Saudi authorities might soon bulldoze the holy mountain to prevent what they call “idolatrous” attention.
The Doubting Thomas Research Foundation has for years been trying to prove that the biblical Red Sea crossing took place between the Sinai Peninsula and what is now Saudi Arabia, and that the real Mount Sinai is located in the oil-rich kingdom at a site known as Jabal al-Lawz.
In a recently-published video clip (see below), the group’s director, Ryan Mauro, is seen secretly visiting Jabal al-Lawz before being chased away by locals.
Mauro claims that the Saudi regime knows that the mountain in question is the biblical Mount Sinai, and is doing all it can to keep that fact from going public. A local jihadi who he interviewed in the video seemed to agree.
“When I was in the jihad world we all knew that the Mount Sinai was in Saudi Arabia,” the jihadi says while speaking through a voice changer with his face hidden. “The people on the outside had no idea that it was there,” he added. “We fighters didn’t want anyone to know about it, and we knew the Saudi government hid it and protected it with security and we all agreed with it.”
Should those efforts to keep the location of what he insists is the real Mount Sinai fail, Mauro worries that Saudi Arabia could demolish one of the Bible’s most well-known holy sites.
Reactions to the story on the Israeli news portal Walla! ranged from outrage that these Christians thought they knew better than Jewish sources, to disdain for all who think the Exodus as recorded in the Bible is even real.
A poll posted at the end of the Walla! article found that 83 percent of respondents believe the Exodus from Egypt really happened, though some aren’t sure it happened how it’s recorded in the Bible. Eleven percent of respondents to the poll said the Exodus is a fairytale, which was the position taken by what appeared to be a majority of those who bothered to leave a comment.