“The United Nations
General Assembly on Thursday endorsed an upgraded U.N. status for the Palestinian
Authority, despite intense opposition from the United States and Israel. The
resolution elevates their status from "non-member observer entity" to
"non-member observer state," the same category as the Vatican, which
Palestinians hope will provide new leverage in their dealings with Israel.” CNN International Edition
So the United Nations violates earlier UN agreements and recognizes
the rights of a Palestinian “non-member
observer state” while the Palestinian Charter still retains language
calling for the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel, a Member State of
the United Nations. The timing of this status change could not come at a worse
time. It emboldens those who are determined to use terrorist violence to
further their cause.
On Saturday, Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan
declared Israel a "terrorist state" while
speaking during a Turkish-Arab Forum in Istanbul, AFP reported.
So the constant drumbeat goes on.
What has happened in the last 60 days? Let me mention just a
few things that lead me to believe that there is a coordinated effort by
Islamist to provoke a war:
·
On October 6, 2012, the Israeli Defense Force
(IDF) shot down an unmanned drone in Israeli territory. It had entered Israeli
airspace from Gaza, having been first tracked by the IDF over the
Mediterranean. It was most likely an act of Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.
·
On November first, Iranian jets fired upon a
U.S. unmanned drone over International Airspace over the Persian Gulf.
·
As of November 2012, over 2,256 rockets have
been launched at Israel from Gaza by Hamas militants (Iranian allies) since
January 2012. While most of the rockets have been fired from Gaza, some have
been fired from Egyptian Territory.
·
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were targeted in defiance
of what Binyamin Netanyahu had previously referred to as a “red line.”
·
On November 11, 2012, a mortar was fired into
Israel’s Golan Territory by the Syrian Army (Iranian allies). On the 12th,
another mortar was fired by the Syrian Army and Israel responded by destroying
the mortar battery. On that same day an IDF soldier was shot from the Syrian
side. He was not seriously injured.
·
On Sunday, November 25, 2012, the Associated
Press (AP) reported that Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah stated
Hezbollah (Iranian allies) “would fire
thousands of rockets into Israel in
any future war and target cities in the country’s heartland.”
·
On November 29th, the United Nations
elevated the status of the Palestinian Authority from "non-member observer
entity" to "non-member observer state." The Palestinian
Authority and a coalition of 50 Muslim countries and nexus of states whose
interests are contrary to the United States and Israel such as Russia, China,
Venezuela, Cuba and others pushed this status change.
The Worldwide Media continues to frame the Palestinian/Israeli
conflict as if these were two grumpy neighbors, but the strongest neighbor
(Israel in this case) is always depicted as a bully and over-responds since
more Palestinians are killed than Israelis. Nothing could be further from the
truth. Israel’s responses are ALWAYS done with extreme care to target the
Palestinian terrorists that are attacking them. The Terrorists, however, have
innocent families, children, buses, street cafes and synagogues as their
primary targets!
There is neither moral equivalence nor “practices”
equivalence in the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict and the constant drumbeat of
“this side did this and this side did that” plays into the worst nature of
those who are anti-Semitic.
As people of faith in God’s sovereignty we must PRAY for
peace. As citizens of the world we must ACT for peace. Our actions and prayers
must be a contrary drum beat to that of the worldwide media. This beat MUST go
on!
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
