Romans 10:14 “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?”

Matthew 9:37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

Luke 10:2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).

… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)

Matthew 24:21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.

The term “birth pangs,” in terms of Bible prophecy, refers to certain convulsive geopolitical, geophysical, astrophysical, and worldwide socioeconomic events and issues scheduled to occur in the time leading up to Jesus Christ’s Second Advent (Second Coming). These are likened to the contractions experienced by a woman about to give birth, with those episodes increasing with frequency and intensity. Jesus’ foretelling of these birth pangs uses the word “sorrows” in His Olivet Discourse on end-time things to come. The Beast, NEOM Babylon, False Prophet-Mystery Religion, The ‘MARK.’ Plus MORE.

‘7’ Paul Rolland, Night Watchman, Night Watchman Ministries;

Revelation 6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Commentary; the rider is the ‘beast’ or ‘antichrist’. His being clothed in white suggests ‘3’ false righteousness, false peace and false authority. He has a bow, but no arrows. He rules with lies and threats, but no military or arms. He conquers and subjugates, not with force but with ‘5’ lies, deception, false covenants and false agreements and false promises. He is the world’s greatest ‘political’ leader and deceiver. He is the one who ‘confirms the false covenant of seven years with Jacob’ which starts the tribulation. You should know now of who I speak. His ‘crown’ represents authority, rulership and position. It even literally represents his ‘position’ as Crown Prince, once the tribulation begins. My discernment is that the ‘white horse upon which he sits’ is symbolically a white Arabian stallion.

Revelation 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and POWER was ‘GIVEN’ him (Prince, Beast, Antichrist) over ALL kindreds, and tongues, and NATIONS.

The One World Government Leader Has Power OVER ALL THE NATIONS of the EARTH.

WHO is the Abraham Accords ‘Confirmer,’ the BEAST, the Eighth (8^th) King, the ‘ONE-WORLD GOVERNMENT LEADER’, the FIRST RIDER OF THE APOCALYPSE who goes to Perdition (Utter Destruction), The LAST CAESAR, PHARAOH or ANTICHRIST?

Revelation 13:2-4

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon [Satan, Allah, Prince of the Power of the Air] which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast [Antichrist, Man-by-Satan ‘MbS’], saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? (Emphasis mine. Discernment mine.)

Five (5) references to ‘beast.’ 5 denotes satanic influence over evil men.

Jesus Identified the Sign of the Antichrist: He is NOT Macron, Biden, Obama, Trump, Putin, Jinping, Gates, Pope Francis or Klaus Schwab. The ‘Beast’ has been identified NOW, and his role changes to the Antichrist 3.5 years into the Tribulation.

Revelation 17:8-11 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

‘Seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.’ = NEOM Babylon sits on the seven (7) tallest mountains in the Midian Mountain range in the Tabuk region of Saudi Arabia. Tallest mountain is Mount Sinai. These mountains are scarlet and purple colored due to volcanic origin and related minerals deposited in rock. NEOM is a $500 (5) billion technological/hedonistic paradise. No mention or acceptance of Christ.

The seven and eight kings are in reference to the genetic lineage (bottomless pit of evil) of the House of Saud. These are ALL the modern kings since the foundation of modern Saudi Arabia.

Proof of the ‘line of’ of the 8 kings.

Kings of Saudi Arabia (1932–present)

 1.        King Ibn Saud. 9/22/1932 – 11/9/1953. Kingdom founded by conquest. Had six (6) sons that became Kings of the Kingdom. Six (6) is the number of evil man/men. The ground work for this kingdom was being created at the same time as the ground work for the State of Israel. Satan started establishing his ‘chosen people’ (those who worship the dragon and beast) at the same time God was re-establishing his ‘chosen people’ (the Jews) over the 1930’s to late 1940’s. 1 of the 5 ‘fallen/dead’ kings.

2.         King Saud. 11/9/1953 – 11/2/1964. 2 of the 5 ‘fallen/dead’ kings.

3.         King Faisal. 11/2/1964 – 3/25/1975. 3 of the 5 ‘fallen/dead’ kings.

4.         King Khalid. 3/25/1975 – 6/13/1982. 4 of the 5 ‘fallen/dead’ kings.

5.         King Fahd. 6/13/1982 – 8/1/2005. 5 of the 5 ‘fallen/dead’ kings.

6.         King Abdullah. 8/1/2005 – 1/23/2015. The king ‘that is.’ This is the 6th king revealed by the Holy Spirit to John the Apostle. He is the signpost for the ‘season of the times’ of the latter days, prior to the tribulation. A sign for the evil Gentile nations.

7.         King Salman. (King 2015 – ?). 1/23/2015- (2022) This is the 7th and ‘future’ king revealed to John the Apostle who will reign for a ‘short time or while’. If his reign lasts for 7 years, from 2015 on into 2022, it will truly reflect a short reign and denotes God’s divine completion to his plan or purpose for the seven kings, including the seventh king. King Salman is the LAST of the six (6) sons of Ibn Saud to be King of Saudi Arabia.

8.         Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. He is the 8th and final ‘future’ king revealed to John the Apostle. He is the ‘beast’, comes from seven (7) kings/lineage before him and goes to perdition. His reign is over the seven (7) years of the tribulation. Born 1985, he will be 35 (7×5) years old in 2020. Seven (7) denotes God’s divine completion to His plan or purpose. Five (5) denotes Satanic influence of men and kings. God’s influence over men in greater than Satan’s influence over men 7>5. Notice that MBS will be the FIRST king who is NOT a direct son of founding King Ibn Saud in 1932. Becoming the 8th king, MBS represents a ‘new epoch’ a ‘new future’ for the kingdom that forms an ideological break from the past. Eight (8) denotes a new beginning, new timeline, new season, new plan. God is addressing the evil status quo of the House of Saud (bottomless pit of evil, wealth, influence, power, corruption) and ushering in the time of great wrath, the tribulation for Gentile nations. From a spiritual perspective, MBS not being one of the six (6) sons of the founding King Ibn Saud, now holds claim to being the son of perdition under the power and influence of the dragon (Satan). MBS has no allegiance to his family tree, tradition, other family princes and historical political protocol. Only an extremely evil, pathological soul manipulated by Satan would turn on his own family. In Satan’s plan, he used the ‘bottomless pit’ of evil House of Saud to raise MBS, the beast, the son of perdition to be in the positions he both currently and in future, will hold. Just as Jesus Christ had an earthly family tree and lineage, Satan used the House of Saud as the earthly family tree, lineage for his son of perdition, the beast, the coming Antichrist.

At the time John the Apostle was in the Holy Spirit and given a ‘vision’ of the future, 5 of the Saudi Kings were already dead (fallen). He was shown the sixth king, and told that a future 7th and 8th king were coming. The sixth king was a ‘sign post’ of the beginning of the ‘end times’ prior to the tribulation. The 7th King ‘short while’ in current King Salman, the last son of founder Saud. Mbs, Mohammed bin Salman is ‘Crown Prince’ and will become the 8th king (goes into perdition). MbS is the ‘Beast’ who rules during the seven (7) year tribulation and great tribulation (last 3.5 year period.) MbS (Beast now), becomes the Antichrist midway during the 7 year tribulation, at the occurrence known as the ‘Abomination of Desolation.’

King Salman brought his son, MBS into the kingdom’s political arena in 2015. 2015-2020 is also a 5 year period of Satanic influence on MBS, as he has grown in power and worldwide influence and stature among not only Western countries, but among ‘Kings of the East’, and those who worship the dragon and the beast throughout Middle East / North African countries (MENA – the ‘many’ Arabic and Islamic countries).

Mohammed bin Salman (named Crown Prince, June 2017). He is referred to scripturally as both a Prince and as a King. This is extremely unique and mentioned for a very real reason. He plays a prophetic role as Prince (when he confirms the false peace covenant among many nations throughout MENA regarding Israel and the Palestinians). Please consider that many, if not all, MENA countries are either Arabic and/or Muslim and are financially and politically beholden to Saudi Arabia in one form or another. Religiously, all these countries are beholden to the House of Saud, because it is the ‘custodian’ of Islam’s ‘holiest’ sites in Saudi Arabia. All Muslims must come for Hajj in Saudi Arabia at some point in their life, if capable (those who worship the dragon and the beast). Satanic influence is woven together and throughout ALL of these counties. They will agree to MBS’ confirmation of the covenant, as Crown Prince. They dare not come against the Crown Prince’s wish and confirmation. Thus, they will abide by his confirmation. They have every reason to accept his confirmation, because of their political, financial and religious vested interests with Saudi Arabia. ‘Who can make war or come against the Beast?’

MBS also plays a prophetic role as Saudi Arabia’s 8th King. This will likely occur before he enters the rebuilt Jewish 3rd Temple and causes the Abomination of Desolation (claims to be god and demands to be worshiped as such). Poor man wants to be rich, rich man wants to be prince, prince wants to be king, king wants to be god and rule everything. As such, MBS will likely be the Saudi’s 8th King once he sets foot in the rebuilt Jewish temple half way through the tribulation. After all, he is already the focus of ‘those who worship the dragon and the beast.’ He now wants the Jews to worship him along with the rest of the world (via the destruction of his previous accommodation and approval of the worshipping of the false mystery religions.) It’s not enough that Satan has deceived almost 2 billion Muslims. He now wants to be worshipped by the rest of the earth by Hindus, Buddhists, et.al.  Satan destroys the false ‘mystery religion’ being propagated by the False Prophet, so he can be the only focus of mankind’s worship. These false religions served their satanic purpose by deceiving men and leading men away from Christ, now is time to throw these other false religions into the fire so men are forced to worship Satan, through MBS exclusively.

Hence, MBS’ role will have changed from beast/prince to king to Antichrist at this point. He is indwelt by Satan in order for Satan to satisfy his claim that he will rise to be like the true God and to be worshipped as such. As a spiritual entity, Satan can only possess and indwell a flesh and blood human man. Satan has done everything in his power to raise MBS up through the evil bottomless pit of the House of Saud, to become a Crown Prince, to become a King, and now that Satan has possessed him to become the world-wide Antichrist. At this point, MBS is completely under Satan’s authority and power and ensues to blaspheme God and Jesus Christ.

The timing of when MBS became Crown Prince is known (June 2017). When he becomes king is when his father succumbs the throne to MBS (this could be through death or a short political reign for one reason or another – health?). The actual timing is unimportant, all we are told is that the 7th king’s reign is for a ‘short time or while.’ His term could be 5, 6, 7 or 8 years.

Where else is there a family/political dynasty on earth that has had seven (7) consecutive kings that rule a country from the same genetic line? In the Middle East? During the time of Israel’s rebirth from a valley of dry bones to a budding fig tree? Saudi Arabia’s current 7th king and future 8th king fit the Biblical narratives set forth by the Word of God. 7th and 8th kings from the bottomless pit of evil, money, power, influence, corruption (5 Satanic influences). MBS is prince when he confirms the covenant. MBS becomes an Antichrist when he is worshiped as a mujaddid by Muslims, and then becomes the worldwide Antichrist when he is indwelt by Satan.

The timing of John the Apostle’s vision regarding the 8 Kings from the bottomless pit of the House of Saud – 5 ‘fallen’, 1 ‘is current’, 2 ‘are future’.

Why is this even a topic worth mentioning? What is the point? Is there a point? Yes, there is a point. And it is VERY important, from a prophetic viewpoint. In that, it is a ‘viewing point’ of the latter days, leading up to the tribulation. How so?

First, as Christians, we know that the Triune God gave John the Apostle a vision and knowledge of many things pertaining to the days leading up to and into the tribulation and after. The Holy Spirit carried him into the future, from his particular life in time, to witness things that he then explained in his Revelation of Jesus Christ. One of the visions he was given, while in the Holy Spirit, was of the 5 kings that were fallen, a 6th king he was being shown, and that of a 7th king who had not come (but would rule for a short while at some point in the future). Lastly, he was shown a future and last 8th king known and described as the Beast who would be sent to perdition, udder destruction, the lake of fire and brimstone, the second death … alive.

I have attempted to confirm who the 7th and 8th kings are from our point in space and time, relative to the ‘season of the times.’ What about this mysterious sixth king, the king ‘who is’. Why is this king important that John the Apostle was directly being shown? And what possible prophetic importance can he have? Of the 8 kings, why would God single out this particular man?

Consider that God, through the Holy Spirit, could have shown John any or all of the Kings in future ‘real time’. He was not permitted to see the 7th or 8th kings, but only the sixth. What perhaps was God’s reason for this?

The reign of 6th King Abdullah was from 2005 to 2015. This snapshot of time and space is important because it suggests that this time frame is important for us, for Gentiles alive in the final generation. To know that we are indeed in the ‘final season’ prior to our harpazo/rapture and the onset of the tribulation, without any doubt or hesitation. We know that Israel’s prophetic time clock began in 1948. God’s prophetic time clock for the tribulation of Gentile nations suggests that it started during the time of this sixth king. It is beyond the scope of this letter to go into details about what has occurred throughout the entire earth during the time of the sixth king’s reign. Many prophetic things started being revealed over the 5 year period from 2010 to 2015. The time of the sixth king’s reign is a sign post, a flashing light, a notice of when the final season begins and is upon the earth for Gentiles. God has given signs in scripture and the heavens for Jews, and Gentiles alike. The September 23, 2017 occurrence of the ‘great sign in heaven’ is an example of a sign for the Bride of Christ. The 6th Saudi king is a Gentile and a member of the House of Saud and the bottomless pit of evil. His reign (along with all the other past 5 kings and 2 future kings) has been orchestrated by Satan during the growth of this kingdom and the discovery of its bottomless wealth (oil). To a logical mind, clear and sober, this would indicate that God is saying that the age of grace for all Gentiles on earth is coming to a close. It is not important that we don’t know if God considers 2005 or 2015 to be the beginning of the ‘season of the time before the tribulation.’ Just as God spoke generically about the rebirth of Israel, as when you ‘see the fig tree bearing fruit’, he was referring to a time frame or process developing over time. In His divine plan, things develop and take time to grow until their divine timing is ripe to be revealed. Those who can discern can watch this occur, as it happens in ‘real time’ and understand appropriately and accordingly. As God gave a general timeline for Israel, commencing in 1948, he gives a Gentile timeline commencing in 2015. This of course is BEFORE the arrival of the future 7th and 8th kings who would indicate perhaps the middle and end of the ‘Fall Season’ or Season of the Times’ prior to the rapture/harpazo for the Bride and the onset of the tribulation.’

The 7 year period from 2015 to 2022 does indeed represent a 7 year period denoting God’s divine completion to his plan or purpose for the modern kingship lineage (line of) of Saudi Arabia. Time for the ‘Age of Grace’ has almost ended.  As I write this letter, there is exactly only three (3) months remaining in 2019 before the world enters 2020 and a ‘new’ decade. Time is running out before the time begins of God’s great wrath on mankind and Gentile nations. We can know this with certainty by looking at the time frame witnessed by John the Apostle of the 6th king from the House of Saud. Six (6) denotes evil man/men. Seven (7) denotes God’s divine completion to his plan or purpose. Eight (8) denotes new era, new epoch, new season, new time span, new series of events. The 7th Saud King indicates that God is finished with Satan’s status quo in Saudi Arabia and of the evil Gentile world. The 8th Saud King indicates that God is ushering in a new time of tribulation and trial for mankind, Jews and Gentiles. Remember, the seven (7) year tribulation is also referred to as the ‘time or week of Jacob’s trouble.’ A week being seven (7) years and Jacob being a reference to Jews and Israel. God is turning his attention back onto Israel, the redemption of the Jews, wrath towards the Gentile world and arranging the coming Millennial Reign of Christ on Earth.

Revelation 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth (5) seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

Commentary; This verse specifically identifies the ‘Tribulation Saints.’ These are the people who became Christians during the tribulation and DID NOT worship the beast, or his image, or take his ‘mark, number or name.’ As a result of defying the Beast / Antichrist’s authority and NOT worshiping him, they are beheaded. They lose their necks, but gain eternity with Christ. Saudi Arabia is the ONLY country in the world that uses beheading for corporal punishment and is used against people for proselytizing against Islam. Islam, ‘those who worship the dragon and the beast.’

10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:9-14). SIX ‘6’ verses.

Seven (7) verses of the evil Beast / Antichrist (6) who martyrs the Christian Saints, during the coming seven (7) year Tribulation and Great Tribulation:

Matthew 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

Daniel 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

Revelation 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Revelation 16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

Revelation 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Revelation 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. ‘More than 50,000 (5) phone numbers hacked.’

‘Convergence of Signs’, The FIVE (5) ‘SEALS’ that START THE TRIBULATION. THE FOUR HORSEMAN OF THE APOCLYPSE ‘+’; (5) ‘First Horseman,’ Wars, Economic Collapse / Measure of Wheat, Pestilence in ‘Diverse Places’, Christian Persecution.  Digital nightmare: The Arab dissidents ruined by phone hacking. “It’s that they are trying to stop anyone speaking out against them or anyone challenging them.”

Dania Akkad 28 July 2022 06:09 UTC | Last update: 2 weeks 1 day ago Middle East Eye

Legal action in the UK reveals the emotional burden that digital surveillance tools such as Pegasus have had on their targets

We arrive at the location where Ghanem al-Masarir told us to go. But there is no sign of him. A tree-lined trail leading into dark woods? Yes. A field of green grass? Yes. Ghanem? No.

When we agreed to meet at the edge of this country park, on the outskirts of north-west London, it was an unusual plan – but for al-Masarir it made sense.

Back in 2018, the 42-year-old, living in the UK for the past 19 years, was at the peak of his self-made career. That month The Ghanem Show, his YouTube channel which pointedly – and at times wackily – criticised the Saudi royal family hit 300m viewers. 

One of al-Masarir’s nicknames for Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – the kingdom’s de facto ruler – was Al-dub Al-dasher, the Arabic for stray, fat bear. It had been picked up on social media across the Arab world and even written about in The Economist. (Biblical names include: Prince, Beast, 8^th King, Antichrist, Son of Perdition, Son of Abomination, Man of Lawlessness, That Wicked Revealed, Man by Satan ‘MbS’, One World Government Leader, The ‘Confirmer.’)

In one episode about the Saudi king (7^th King of 7 Kings, ‘short time, while or space,’ 2015-2022 = ‘7’ years) and his son (of perdition) he joked: “Now, in the age of Salmanco and his stray bear, also known as double underpants, someone will spend years and years in jail for a tweet.”

Then early one Friday evening that August, while walking in the upscale Knightsbridge neighbourhood of London, al-Masarir was jumped by two men across the street from Harrods. A third man filmed the incident: footage of the attack soon appeared on social media accounts linked to the Saudi government. Al-Masarir was sure the incident was ordered by the crown prince.

Three months later, and within weeks of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the Metropolitan Police came to al-Masarir’s London home. There was a credible threat to his life, they told him. A panic button was quickly installed. 

Amid all this, Al-Masarir noticed something odd about his iPhones. Their batteries were dying quickly. They refused to update with the latest software. Puzzled, Al-Masarir contacted Citizen Lab, a group of academics at the University of Toronto who focus on communication technology, human rights and global security. It conducted a forensic investigation and discovered that the phones had been hacked with Pegasus, the spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group that turns phones into military-grade surveillance devices.

Al-Masarir’s movements, his conversations, his photos and his messages, investigators found, had all been fed back to a Saudi server.

It’s now four years later. A cameraman and I are meeting with al-Masarir at a dot he’s marked on a map in this country park. These days, he tells me over an encrypted app, it’s better not to film at his house. I’ve watched clips of his show and an interview he gave to Channel 4 in January 2020, when he’s so chatty that the presenter is forced to cut him off. I’m half expecting Ghanem to jump out of a bush. Or climb out of the white van idling nearby. 

But where is he?

Then a figure walks straight towards me. He introduces himself: it’s only then I realise that the man, wrapped in a thick scarf and heavy suede jacket on this hot June day, is the host of The Ghanem Show – or, at least, he was. Al-Masarir tells me, after we find a gnarly log to sit on, that he stopped filming after the events of 2018. “I couldn’t do my show, I couldn’t do anything,” he explains, carefully eyeballing in turn a dog walker, a family and two men passing by.

There had been earlier attempts to silence him. YouTube, says al-Masarir, shut down his channel twice at the request of the Saudi Broadcasting Agency. He had received death threats and threatening phone calls.

Under police protection, and scared to travel anywhere in central London, al-Masarir’s life closed in on him. “It has affected me in my work life, my personal life, everything, that hacking,” he says. “It has destroyed my appetite to do anything to be honest.”

Pegasus in the UK

During the past year, story after story has emerged from nearly every continent of activists, journalists, politicians and others who have been the alleged targets of state-sponsored spyware attacks. Most relate to Pegasus and the leak of list containing more than 50,000 (5) phone numbers. They include Middle East Eye staff.

But the sheer scale of the Pegasus Papers – which were just one leak, about one type of spyware – doesn’t begin to capture the impact that hacking has on the lives of its targets.

Among these are Arab dissidents who for decades have moved to the UK to flee repressive governments in the belief that they could live and speak freely. Now they find themselves questioning whether their adopted home is as safe as they once believed – or, perhaps, wanted to believe. 

Their fear, they say, has been compounded by the British government’s muted response to their attacks and a lack of follow up from any UK law enforcement agency. What’s to stop them, the dissidents ask, from being targeted again, given that Citizen Lab now says that even Downing Street and the Foreign Office were infected with Pegasus, likely by the UAE?

Like al-Masarir, all the dissidents MEE interviewed for this story had an inkling before they were hacked that the UK might not be fail-safe. One survived an early morning arson attempt on his family home. Another found a large knife outside his kitchen window the same day he received messages with knife emojis that read “Soon.”

Two others had their British bank accounts – and those of their family members – closed after the UAE designated the British-based organisations that they run and lead as terrorist organisations. 

But the hacking, the dissidents say, has been disturbing in another way. There is something incredibly distressing, they say, about how their private lives were infiltrated in virtual space, and without their knowledge and with no other witnesses, in real time.

It’s an invisible, yet very real and potent trauma that digital rights expert Marwa Fatafta, MENA policy manager for Access Now, instantly recognises when I tell her the stories I’m hearing. “Surveillance (5) is a form of violence,” she jumps in. “It violates your privacy, it violates your dignity, it violates your agency. You are always in a perpetual state of fear and anxiety, not only about yourself but also about others.”

*******

‘7’ Paul Rolland, Night Watchman, Night Watchman Ministries:

Revelation 13:16-17 And he [false prophet, pope, pontiff] causeth ALL, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a [‘subdermal, infrared, vaccination, smart’] mark IN their right hand, or IN their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the [‘subdermal, infrared, vaccination, smart’] mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Emphasis mine. Discernment mine.)

Revelation 19:20 

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he [false prophet, pope, pontiff] DECEIVED THEM that had received the [‘subdermal, infrared, vaccination, smart’] mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Emphasis mine. Discernment mine.)

*******

The six men I spoke to have taken legal action in the UK against Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who are all accused of targeting them on separate occasions. Their hope is that British courts will act where they feel the British government and law enforcement has failed.

A judgement is imminent in the case al-Masarir has brought against Saudi Arabia over the spyware allegations as well as the August 2018 street attack. But it won’t be a final ruling: rather, the court will decide whether al-Masarir’s case for injuries and damages against the kingdom can proceed further. Usually a state would be shielded from most litigation in the UK, thanks to the State Immunity Act of 1978, enacted before spyware existed. 

But al-Masarir’s lawyers at the UK law firm Leigh Day argue that what happened to him is an exception to that act. His case will be the first ruling from a UK court involving spyware and a foreign country, and could set precedent for other dissidents in the UK who have been targeted. It may also, say lawyers and surveillance experts, serve as inspiration for future litigation around the world.

MEE asked the Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini governments to comment on the legal action in the UK, but none replied.

Anas Altikriti, 53, is British-Iraqi. His father was a prominent opposition figure against the Ba’ath regime. The family left Iraq for the UK when Altikriti was a toddler. Spending much of his teenage years and his early 20s in the UAE where he attended school, Altikriti returned to the UK where he has campaigned against war and for democracy in the Middle East, run a foundation promoting dialogue between Islam and the West, and served as a hostage negotiator.

His typical poised, articulate self, Altikriti continues to speak fluently even as rain falls on us. But I’m struck that this is the first time in several interviews, over several years, that I’ve ever heard him discuss feelings when he explains what digital surveillance has done to him.

“It’s the unseen, the creeping up on you in your most safe and secure and sanctified place.”

Altikriti founded the Cordoba Foundation in 2005. It promotes dialogue between the West and Islam, as well as advising politicians on strategy and security in the Middle East. In 2014, it was designated as a terrorist organisation by the UAE – but the UK government said nothing, to the surprise of Altikriti. “At least clear your own name,” he said of the British government, “never mind me or Cordoba.”

“That left a mark on my impression of how valuable or otherwise it was to be a British citizen. But this is probably the final nail in the coffin.”

Altikriti learned last summer that forensic investigators believe the UAE hacked his Iphone with Pegasus. Since then he has told people not to tell him their secrets, which is a bit tricky when you offer political advice to leaders and conduct hostage negotiations for a living.

His appetite for handling information that is even remotely off the record is now gone. “I say: ‘Look, I’d rather you didn’t [tell me something private] unless you have to because I don’t know if I’m the only one listening to this.”

Before the events of last summer, Altikriti’s phone was practically appended to his body, ready to be answered at any moment. Now he’s not sure when – or if – he wants it near him again. Those closest to him also feel the same. “I was with a group of friends and they laughed: ‘We need to be careful. Anas is carrying his phone’.” He shrugs.

“It’s deeply uncomfortable.”

Who hacked the phones?

Mohammed Kozbar, 56, is the chairman of Finsbury Park Mosque in north London. Two days after Ramadan has ended, we sit in the mosque’s emptied prayer hall which is quiet and soft underfoot as a breeze blows in from an open window. Kozbar too has an air of calmness, his tall frame gently perched on a folded chair. Yet he’s clearly uncomfortable speaking about himself.

He arrived in Britain in 1990 from Lebanon, which had been devastated by the drawn-out civil war. Since then he has focused on building the Muslim community in Britain: he is among those credited with turning the Finsbury Park Mosque around after it was dominated by Egyptian cleric Abu Hamza. As the mosque’s iman, Hamza encouraged his followers to fight overseas, and was later convicted by a UK court for inciting violence before he was extradited to the US where he was found guilty of terrorism charges and jailed for life. 

Kozbar regularly brings international law enforcement delegations to visit the mosque and observe how the they put Hamza’s influence behind them.

Last July, Kozbar too discovered that his number was on the leaked list and had likely been targeted by the UAE. Citizen Lab analysed his phone and confirmed it had been infiltrated by Pegasus. He’s not sure why – only that he had previously spoken out against the UAE’s human rights record. Like Tikriti, he had had his British bank accounts shut down when the UAE named the Muslim Association of Britain, in which he and Altikriti have held leadership roles, as a terrorist entity.

Kozbar recalls the moment, while sat in the mosque, when a reporter told him what had happened to his phone. “I asked: ‘Are you 100 percent sure?’ He confirmed: ‘Yes, I’m 100 percent sure.’”

Hours later, Kozbar explained to his wife and his children that photos and conversations they had shared hadn’t been private. And it is the thought of his family’s privacy being violated that has particularly disturbed him. 

“What did you do, Baba?” his 13-year-old son asked. “I didn’t have an answer,” Kozbar says, his voice breaking. “I said: ‘I didn’t do anything.’” Kozbar now wonders where and if a file of his family’s messages and images may be sitting.

In contrast, Tikriti says he has no doubt that information collected when his phone was infected has already been used. At the time investigators say he was hacked, Tikriti was involved in four hostage negotiations, none of which involved the UAE.

One effort in particular, to secure the release of a young woman, had reached its final stages. But, Tikriti said, all communication stopped before the deal could be made and the hostage freed. He pauses. “I have negotiated probably 31 or 32 cases and never – never –  has what I’ve just described to you happened.”

That was two years ago. To this day, Altikriti has no idea where or how the woman is – or what happened to the people in the region who tried to free her. “What kind of danger have they been put in as a result? Only God knows.”

Altikriti has struggled as to whether to tell the woman’s family that his phone was hacked. He feels burdened by the knowledge of how the deal went wrong –  but decided that knowing the details wouldn’t benefit them. He coughs and seems uncharacteristically lost for words.

“The person who they were hanging a lot of hope on was not as secure as they were hoping. It’s nothing that I could have done. I didn’t realise it at the time. I didn’t realise it even after it went cold.”

It’s this not knowing that the lawyers involved in the legal action now underway say has been one of the harshest blows to their clients, and is fuelling their anxiety even now.

Monika Sobiecki, a partner at the UK law firm Bindmans which is representing Kozbar and Altikriti, says: “If it can be deployed against you once, then what’s the guarantee that it isn’t being deployed against you now?

“Effectively, what this creates is a panopticon – the world as a prison – and there is nowhere you can be safe from your persecutors because even if you’ve moved to what’s considered a safe, stable Western democracy, you can still be pursued and persecuted.”

Yahya Assiri is certainly not relaxed. “Honestly, I don’t feel safe in this country,” he tells me from the London office of ALQST, the human rights organisation he started in 2014 after he left his double life in Saudi Arabia.

On the surface, Assiri was a Saudi air force officer charged with weapons purchases. But he was also using the online pseudonym Abu Fares to raise concerns about issues including poverty, unemployment and repression. Eventually, he was going to be caught.

In 2014, he was studying human rights at Kingston University in south-west London when he heard from friends in Saudi Arabia that security forces were asking after him. It was then that Assiri realised that he could not return home.

For eight busy years now, Assiri has been criticising the kingdom’s policies and leaders from the UK. In addition to ALQST, he launched Diwan London, an online platform promoting freedom and justice in the Arab world. He also serves as the secretary-general of the National Assembly Party (NAAS), Saudi Arabia’s only opposition party, which is largely run by exiles.

But his work, particularly the networks he’s built, has made Assiri and his family a target. They have been threatened in public. They had their car broken into. It was outside their kitchen window that a knife was found.

Assiri himself is in the unenviable position, Citizen Lab investigators believe, of having been targeted by Pegasus not once, but twice. Both times, they suspect, were at the hands of Saudi Arabia. “The most painful thing is there were a large number of human rights advocates and dissidents targeted throughout this period, people I consider patriots, people working for the benefit of these countries.”

In a pre-action letter sent in February to Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s UK ambassador, Assiri’s lawyers say the amount of data that may have been exfiltrated from their client’s phone when it was infected “is nothing short of catastrophic” for their client and his contacts in the kingdom.

Those contacts include Loujain al-Hathloul, the prominent Saudi Arabian human rights activist who was among at least 10 Saudi Arabian women arrested in May 2018, weeks before the driving ban that they had long protested against was to be lifted. Al-Hathloul was held for 10 months and physically tortured before she was officially indicted. Her charge sheet is replete with references to her communications with “the renegade Yahya Assiri”.

Assiri says it’s hard to know for sure whether information from his phone or other devices was critical in the case of Hathloul or any of the other cases. Hathoul’s phones, too, have been hacked twice since 2017.

But Assiri suggests that to attempt to sort out which infiltration of what device led to which arrest is to miss the bigger picture. “It’s painful to know that the work we were doing was being spied on. But the most important thing isn’t necessarily that these authorities are trying to find out our secrets.

“It’s that they are trying to stop anyone speaking out against them or anyone challenging them.”

Bahraini dissidents tracked

Saeed Shehabi thought he had found the way to avoid being hacked. A veteran pro-democracy activist and journalist, as well as a leading figure in the Bahraini opposition movement, he is a trustee of the Abrar Islamic Foundation, a registered charity focused on Muslim education in the UK. 

But when I call the foundation, the man on the other end of the phone apologises. Dr Shehabi is not in, he explains. 

I ask if he can take a message to give to Shehabi.

“No, sorry,” he says. “He doesn’t have a mobile.”

When we eventually meet, Shehabi, 67, explains that he’s never had a phone. “I took precautions. I knew that I was targeted by our government because I have been a life-long opponent.” The not-having-a-phone strategy fits in with Shehabi’s old school, real-world methods. 

Each Wednesday afternoon, he can be found protesting outside the Saudi embassy in London where he and others began demonstrating in March 2011 after the kingdom invaded Bahrain during pro-democracy protests. On Saturdays, he’s at Downing Street, calling on the UK government to stop supporting Bahrain and training its security forces.

He is also, he tells me, an old hand when it comes to being surveilled. During the 1980s, he received at least three suspicious phone calls at his home in London from Bahrain that he believes were meant to catch him out.

One time, during a government crackdown, a fellow dissident called to arrange military training, despite Shehabi’s shock and insistence that this was not how the Bahraini opposition should operate. It later transpired that the friend was calling from a Bahraini prison. “They wanted to catch me with it,” Shehabi says of the call and others that followed. “The surveillance has always been there.”

In 2014, a leak revealed that Bahrain had allegedly hacked Shehabi’s computer using FinSpy surveillance software and potentially gained access to his email. The authorities could even control Shehabi’s laptop camera and microphones to watch and listen to him.

But Shehabi blamed himself.

“‘Are you so naive, Saeed?” he recalls he asked himself.  “How can you allow your enemies to infiltrate you so easily?’” He turns back to me. “It’s not so easily. It has been paid for. It is an expensive procedure. But they managed to do it.”

Shehabi says the hacking revelation hit him especially hard because it came after his family escaped an early morning fire at their home in 2009. That in turn came two days after a pair of Bahraini dissidents were attacked in an alleyway near London’s Euston Station.

According to evidence Shehabi and other Bahrainis gave to the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee in November 2012, they had been warned of “an imminent attack” before both incidents. After they were attacked on the street, the two dissidents say they were told by a caller that if they went near the Bahraini Embassy then “next time they would receive harsher punishment”.

It’s clear to Shehabi that these were attacks meant to silence them. “So when this [the hacking] happens, in light of these experiences, you say: ‘What is next?’”

Back in the woods on the outskirts of London, Ghanem al-Masirir seems more relaxed. During the past four years, he’s recounted the details of his life for dozens of journalists. He admits, once we are done filming, that it’s tiring. 

“I’m getting older, and these years are just gone for nothing, and it’s a result of the Saudis,” he says. “I can’t get these years back, but hopefully I will stand up on my feet one day.”

Why don’t we have a coffee, he suggests. We’ve come a long way to see him and he wants to show us the neighbourhood where he lives. We pass by the white van and I tell him I thought he was going to jump out of it when we were looking for him earlier. 

He pauses, and I worry I’ve said something wrong. Then he smiles and I see a familiar face. “Did you think I was being chopped ‘beheaded’ up in there?” he laughs. 

And we walk towards a busy suburb, Ghanem tucked between me and a cameraman, the sun momentarily on his face.

Illustration by Mohamed Elaasar / Hossam Sarhan, Middle East Eye

But how can they call on him (Jesus Christ) to save them unless they believe in him (Jesus Christ)? And how can they believe in him (Jesus Christ) if they have never heard about him (Jesus Christ)? And how can they hear about him (Jesus Christ) unless someone tells them?” —Romans 10:14

In His Service,

Night Watchman

Paul Rolland

Night Watchman Ministries

Make Your Decision for Christ NOW!!!!!!! Time is Up!!!!!!!

Jesus Christ’s Offer of Salvation:

The ABCs of Salvation through Jesus Christ (the Lamb)

A. Admit/Acknowledge/Accept that you are sinner. Ask God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins.

. . . “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

. . . “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).

B. Believe Jesus is Lord. Believe that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be; that He was both fully God and fully man and that we are saved through His death, burial, and resurrection. Put your trust in Him as your only hope of salvation. Become a son or daughter of God by receiving Christ.

. . . “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).

C. Call upon His name, Confess with your heart and with your lips that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

. . . “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (John 1:8-10).

. . . “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 2:2).

. . . “In this was manifested the love of god toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:9, 14-15).

. . . “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10).

. . . “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).

. . . “Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).

. . . “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” (Romans 1:16).

. . . “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts: 4:12).

. . . “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:4-6).

. . . “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

. . . “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12).

True Church / Bride of Christ Spared from God’s Wrath:

 Romans 5:8-10. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Romans 12:19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 1:10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Jeremiah 30:7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.