There doesn’t seem to be a day go by when Israel is not headlined in the news. These days the headlines usually involve condemnation by one international group or another. This week is no different.

The United Nation’s Hypocrisy

CBC News reported,

“The 189 member nations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on Friday adopteda detailed plan of small steps toward nuclear disarmament, including a sharply debated proposal to move toward banning the doomsday arms from the Middle East.

The 28-page final declaration was approved by consensus on the last day of the month-long conference in New York, convened every five years to review and advance the objectives of the 40-year-old NPT.

"All eyes the world over are watching us," the conference president, Libran Cabactulan  (LIB-RAN CAB-uCT-U-LAN) of the Philippines, said before entering the final document into the record.

The decision was "an important step forward towards the realization of the goals and ob jectives of the treaty," Egypt's Maged Abedelaziz (MAG-ED ABED-EL-AZIZ) said afterward, speaking for the 118 -nation Nonaligned Movement of mainly developing countries.

"The final document this conference adopted today advances President Obama's vision" of a world without nuclear weapons, Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher (TAU-SCHER) told the assembled delegates.

Once the hail of applause and accolades dies down the fine print begins to become known. Oozing out of this 24 page document touted as an “important step forward” is the typical United Nations hypocritical hatred of Israel. 

The final document also calls for convening a conference in 2012 "on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction." While this is good altruistic propaganda with a sprinkling of gullible naivety the fact is it is directed specifically at the nation…. Israel.

Even President Obama, no friend of Israel, couldn’t swallow the hypocrisy. Israel National News reported,

The US president expressed concern however with the document's most controversial issue, a commitment to hold a regional conference in 2012 that would aim to create a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons.

 "The United States has long supported such a zone, although our view is that a comprehensive and durable peace in the region and full compliance by all regional states with their arms control and nonproliferation obligations are essential precursors for its establishment," he said.

 "We strongly oppose efforts to single out Israel, and will oppose actions that jeopardize Israel's national security."

The hypocrisy of the United Nations was pointed out by Obama's national security advisor, General James L. Jones who stated,

"The United States will not permit a conference or actions that could jeopardize Israel’s national security. We will not accept any approach that singles out Israel or sets unrealistic expectations. The United States’ long-standing position on Middle East peace and security remains unchanged, including its unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security."

Jones added that Washington had reservations about the declaration because it names Israel while ignoring Iran.

"The United States deplores the decision to single out Israel in the Middle East section of the NPT document. The failure of the resolution to mention Iran, a nation in longstanding violation of the NPT and UN Security Council Resolutions which poses the greatest threat of nuclear proliferation in the region and to the integrity of the NPT, is also deplorable."

The ridiculousness of this is not hard to grasp. Israel, a nation that has been attacked by all its surrounding neighbors on multiple occasions, is constantly threatened by terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and is harangued by the Iranian President who calls for  its destruction, is singled out by this document. Meanwhile the nation who is known to be developing nuclear weapons and delivery systems and has openly threatening Israel with nuclear annihilation doesn’t even get an honorable mention. 

Iran is a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Obviously, the treaty means nothing to Iran who has been in news headlines for hiding and frustrating the inspection of its nuclear production facilities over the past few years. YNet Daily reported,

Iran's IAEA representative who attended the conference at the United Nations, welcomed the move. He told IRNA that the United States, despite opposing the NPT text on Israel, will have to fall in line with other countries. "The US reservation is symbolic and it is obliged to go along  with the world's request, which is that Israel must join the NPT and open its installations to IAEA inspectors," he said

Ynet news also reported,

This Arab idea of a WMD-free zone, meant to pressure Israel to give up its undeclared nuclear arsenal, was endorsed by the 1995 NPT conference but never acted on. Israel has long said a full Arab-Israeli peace must precede such weapons bans. But at this conference the US, Israel's chief supporter, said it welcomed "practical measures" leading toward the goal of a nuke-free zone, and US diplomats discussed possibilities with Israel.

Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and threatened by hostile fundamentalist Islamic states or subsets with the countries that surround it. It has said that peace would have to precede disarmament. This is simply common sense.

The anti-Israel rhetoric which continues to spew from the United Nations is nothing more than the voice of flesh, condemned in Isaiah 17:12-13:

Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

Israel is a nation placed in the Middle East by the hand of almighty God as prophesied beforehand in the scriptures of truth. Mankind cannot accept their existence as a nation and is uniting against them under the banner of democracy and human rights.

Freedom Flotilla or Palestinian Propaganda Armada?

An armada of Palestinian propaganda is heading to the shores of Gaza this weekend in an effort to “break the siege of Gaza”. The propaganda version of the story paints the “aid flotilla” as bringing desperately needed supplies to the poor Gaza people who are under the oppressive boot of the Israeli  military. However, the true purpose of the mission can be seen very quickly from the very words of the Hamas leadership reported in Harretz:

The Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday that if Israel behaved like pirates and attacked the international Freedom Flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of aid meant for Gaza, then the Palestinians will have won.

"The flotilla's message is clear and it will reach the entire world," Haniyeh said Saturday morning during a press conference held at the Gaza port where the ships were expected to dock.

"The meaning of the flotilla is that the entire world opposes the siege on the Gaza Strip, and if Israel behaves like pirates and sea-terrorists – we will win," he added.

The 8-ship Freedom Flotilla protesting Israel's blockade on Gaza, is expected to set sail from the international waters off the shores of Cyprus towards the Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon, Israel Radio reported.

The paper continued to report:

Foreign Minister Lieberman called the Freedom Flotilla violent propaganda against Israel's sovereignty, and added that Israel would not allow such a threat to continue.

"The aid convoy is violent propaganda against Israel, and Israel will not allow its sovereignty to be threatened in any way, in any place - land, air or sea," Lieberman said during a foreign ministry briefing on the aid convoy's progress towards the shores of Gaza.

"There is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip," Liebeman added. "Despite Hamas' war crimes against Israeli citizens and the thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns, Israel continues to respond in the most humane way possible."

Lieberman stressed that Israel permitted thousands of tons of products to enter the Gaza Strip on a daily basis.

The Israel Navy started preparing for the arrival of the Gaza aid flotilla by sendingships to counter the convoy in the Israeli-controlled waters. Despite the convoy's delay, the Israel Defense Forces continued to prepare for its arrival as planned.

Gaza was closed off by Israel due to the incessant rocket attacks that were launched from the very land Israel forcefully evicted its own citizens from in a botched attempt to bring peace  between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The deal was intended to bring peace but in effect allowed Hamas to move its rocket launchers closer to the main population centers of Israel.

Israel National News reported,

Foreign Ministry Director-General Yossi Gal summoned the ambassadors of the participating countries in the flotilla – Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden and Ireland – and made it clear that Israel would not allow the ships to reach Gaza. He said that the ships' goods bound for Gaza could be dropped off in Ashdod, where they would be screened by security personnel and then delivered to Gaza.

Gal also told them that Gaza is run by a terrorist organization whose priority is not the welfare of its residents: “This organization continues to arm itself with arms and rockets, and to perpetuate a situation of armed conflict with Israel, after years of attacking Israeli citizens, under Iranian auspices. Israel therefore has the natural right to prevent the arrival of unsupervised products in Gaza.”

The claimed “purely altruistic” motives of this “humanitarian aid convoy” were put to the test by a request from the family of Gilad Shalit. The same article stated,

The parents of Gilad Shalit, held captive in Gaza for nearly four years, asked the organizers of the “human rights” flotilla to take letters and packages for Gilad. The answer was no. The Shalit family even offered its help in asking the Government of Israel to allow the ships to pass through to Gaza – and still the organizers of the humanitarian mission said no. Gilad has been held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza for nearly four years, during which time he has been allowed absolutely no contact with neutral or Israeli elements.

 So while the drama continues in and around Israel to demonize it and turn all nations against it under the banner “liberty (freedom), equality and fraternity”, the scriptures clearly identify that this will be the case leading up to the battle of Armageddon. It is this spirit that draws the nations down.  Revelation 16:13-16 tells us:

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils (demons or false doctrines), working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty…. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

While it may seem that this is the same drum being beaten over and over again – what we are witnessing is an intensity hatred of the world against God’s people that will ultimately bring them into conflict with Israel… and then with Almighty God. The scriptures are clear on the motives of the latter day invasion. Ezekiel 38:16 tells us the invasion will “come up against my people of Israel”. Joel 3:2 tells us the issue will be “my people and my heritage Israel”. Micah 4:11 speaks of “many nations gathered against thee, that say Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.” Zechariah 14:2 speaks of the gathering of “all nations against Jerusalem to battle.”

What we are witnessing is an intensification of the attitudes of the nation of the world, formed by the tools of propaganda through media, against the nation of Israel. Ezekiel 35:4 describes Esau’s hatred of Israel as a “perpetual hatred” for which the nation was blotted out. The attitude of nations in the past against the nation of Israel was judged most severely:

Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. (Ezekiel 35:10-11)

Similar judgments are pending all those nations who “curse Israel” as is indicated by the promises made to Abraham when God said, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.” Let us make sure we don’t drink the poisoned wine of propaganda and adopts the worlds view of God’s work in the land in restoring his people in preparation for the future kingdom of God.  In the mean time let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

This has been Jonathan Bowen joining you on The Bible in the News.