Bush's Journey and the Jerusalem Syndrome

IT'S A "mental disorder" as old as time. Or it dates back to the time of King David when he shed his clothes and danced naked before the Ark of the Covenant on the outskirts of Jerusalem. His wife, Michal, just shook her head in disbelief.
Today, the psychiatrists call it the "Jerusalem Syndrome," and according to Ron Peled in a Ynet News article, he claims up to 150 tourists a year lose their minds; believing they are either the Messiah, the devil and others knowing the exact location of the Ark of the Covenant.
During my time as Middle East bureau chief for a major news-gathering service, based in downtown Jerusalem, I encountered a number of individuals who had all the symptoms. One jarred me on a daily basis as he charged along the sidewalk in front of my office, screaming in an "unknown tongue."
It was his definite duty to inform me that the world was about to end.
Another more convincing figure was a bearded man by the name of Ernest Frank Mauck, who has taken up the handle of Elijah the Tishbite.
This Bible-quoting man had been banished to Cyprus since August 1999 when I assisted in getting him out of the stark confines of the Kfar Shaul mental hospital and onto a plane. However, that banishment didn't stop Elijah from spreading his "messages" via the Internet.
Believing he's one of the two "witnesses" from the Book of Revelation, he claims he speaks for the Almighty Elohim in condemning the Middle East peace agreement. With unswerving purpose, Elijah has savaged the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and U.S. President George W. Bush, who has been in The Land in the past few days.
Of course, Elijah attemped to re-enter Israel once again via Jordan, but was turned back. It was evident some of his strongly worded e-mails had reached Olmert's office and that of the Knesset, Israel's parliament.
Any connection with appeasing the Palestinians comes in direct conflict with the will of God, he has written time and again.
In addition to his doom-day sayings, Elijah also predicts a "gigantic earth movement from Africa up through the Rift Valley on into Syria ... You're going to see great damage even in Jerusalem area when I (Elohim) cause this Dome of the Rock to be destroyed ..."
On Jan. 15, 1546, Jerusalem suffered a severe earthquake with the Dome on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher completely destroyed. The Dome of the Rock was seriously damaged.
During the original Elijah's time from the Bible, he also experienced an earthquake at Mt. Horeb, although he wasn't in Israel, but in the Sinai wilderness at the time, according to a historical earthquake list.
A Washington correspondent, Bill Koenig, who has been travelling with President Bush throughout the Middle East, has also seen a connection between Israel's giving up The Land to the Palestinians and dramatic destruction.
In Koenig's book, Eye to Eye, he lists some eight and more "Acts of God," which directly affected the U.S.
One of the major occurrences cited was on Oct. 30, 1991 when the father, George Bush, opened the Madrid Conference with "an initiative for a Middle East peace plan involving Israel's land."
On the same day, an extremely rare storm formed off the coast of Nova Scotia. It was eventually tagged "The Perfect Storm," and a movie was made about it. Recording-setting 100-foot waves formed at sea and pounded the New England coast, even causing heavy damage to the elder Bush's home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Koenig also noted that on May 3, 1999, one of the most powerful tornadoes ever to hit the U.S. swept across Oklahoma and Kansas with winds clocked at 316 mph. On the same day, the late Yasser Arafat had been scheduled to declare a Palestinian state with Jerusalem the capital.
Whether there's any correlation between Koenig's writings and modern-day Elijah's utterances, only time will tell.