UN Security Council to take up Palestinian bid on Monday

Haaretz is reporting that in "an unusually fast" move, the UN Security Council will take up the Palestinian proposal to become a full member as a sovereign nation on Monday. It was only on Friday that Palestinian Authority representative Abbas submitted his proposal. All proposals must first go to the Security Council and attain a majority vote, without any vetoes from the 5 permanent members, in order to go forward to the General Assembly. The US is one of the five permanent members having that coveted veto, proposal killing power. The US has said they will veto the proposal. Personally, what the US says and what the US does are two different things. I will believe it only after I see it happen.

Haaretz reports, "The UN Security Council will take up the Palestinian bid for full statehood and UN membership on Monday. This is an unusually fast development compared to the normal tempo of the United Nations. Council president Nawaf Salam of Lebanon told reporters on Friday that the 15-member council would begin discussions at 1900 GMT Monday to take up the application submitted earlier Friday by Abbas to the UN Secretary General. Ban passed the document hours later to the council, whose approval is needed for UN membership and full recognition of statehood." I believe that 1900 Greenwich Mean Time is 2pm Eastern Standard Time. Although the Russian representative said it will be at 3:00.

The interesting thing about the proposal, aside from the global seizure we are currently having regarding the intractable Palestinian push to destroy Israel, is that the world's attention is now on that routine and arcane administrative body that until now, no one really seemed to care about.

But at the moment, all eyes are on not only the body, but are questioning its function. Security Council reform is on the UN's agenda this session. Everyone is saying things like, 'with the majority of the world wanting the Palestinians to get their state, why should the US be the only one to hold up progress?' I am not making that up. Time Magazine's queries are representative:

"U.N. Security Council: Is It Time to Veto the Veto?"
The U.S. veto, wielded in opposition to a generally-held international consensus, is then perhaps the most unilateral gesture one can make at the world's most multilateral institution. Why in the 21st century should anybody still have the right to do this? the Security Council with its five veto-wielding permanent members — is a reflection of a long-lapsed status quo. It's possibly the most glaring anachronism in international affairs."

Really, Time? You're just starting to ask these questions now, at the moment the world is teetering on the edge of the most prophetic and dastardly actions ever? The article continues-

"Do the U.K. and France—shorn of their empires, great armies and mired in debt-ridden Europe—really both deserve vetoes? If Russia is a permanent member now, why isn't India, with its far larger population and more dynamic economy? And what about Japan and Germany, two of the world's most important economies, still kept at arm's length in this forum because of their being on the losing side of a war fought some seven decades ago. There's no shortage of nits to pick."

Russia says they plan to vote yes on Monday. Of course. In the not-too-distant future, they will attack Israel and try to obliterate her (Ez 38:2-3). The other four permanent, veto-wielding members are China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. China is being cagey as to their vote, but they said in August, "Wu announced in Cairo that China would "support" the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital - while cannily omitting the detail as to whether China would actually vote for the statehood measure in the Security Council." The UK is hesitant. "Britain continued to hesitate yesterday in the face of increasingly frantic scenes at the UN, where delegates are preparing for the climax of the Palestinian statehood bid." But the same article says that "The US is reluctant to veto the motion, fearing a violent reaction in the Arab world."

The Sri Lanka Sunday Times says ominously that "World peace is at stake".
"The European nations, especially France and Britain are divided between their alliance with the US and the justification for Palestine's recognition." A rock and a hard place, for sure.


The upshot is put succinctly by this AP story carried in the Kansas City Star:
"The Palestinians would need nine of the 15 Security Council votes to accept their bid, and forecasts are difficult because member states have little to gain from making their intentions clear this early." So we don't know. But we won't have long to wait to find out.


The scenarios stemming from actions this week are endless. I can't even fathom how things might turn out. Maybe the US does not veto and the Palestinians attain their goal. Maybe the US does, and the Palestinians use that action as a justification of our being a tyrant standing in the way of their legitimacy as a people, and bomb us. The Security Council's reform is on the session's agenda, maybe the US veto gives them the impetus to change things and the Palestinians get their state after a while. Maybe Israel decides she has had enough and begins a military action that fulfills the Psalm 83 battle. Maybe nothing will happen. But at some point, something will, and soon I believe. Like before the year is out.

"According to one Palestinian-based poll, 70.5% of Palestinians expect a third intifada (uprising) to begin this autumn if the deadlock in negotiations is not broken."

So now we have another date to look toward in the Lord's progressing plan to ultimately bring an end to sinful humanity: Monday afternoon. These dates are getting shorter and shorter as we hurtle toward each of our individual ultimate fates.

Comments

  1. Interesting. I heard that the vote might take months...

    Also interesting how it doesn't matter that Abbas' term ended what, 2 years ago and noone has brought that up. Heck even Arab scholars are talking about it and they are also questioning Abbas' motives. Even Arabs that support a palestinian state see through what he's doing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Also, I stumbled on this post on gracethrufaith. gracethrufaith..

    http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/are-we-running-out-of-time/

    what do you think? it was made in 2009 and here we are in 2011 and so much has happening and is still developing...

    ReplyDelete
  3. If this isn't the world saying "Peace and security/safety" that Paul prophesied about in 1 Thessalonians, then I don't know what else. We are SO close to the coming of our Lord -- what a privilege that He appointed us to live in this time and for His purposes.

    Thank you for being such a faithful watch(wo)man and I look forward to meeting you in the air!

    Maranatha!

    Ian

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don't see it happening.

    Why would the US say they are gonna vote against it and then change their mind? That's not gonna happen.

    Secondly, the only way there is going to be peace is for a miracle to happen. That "miracle" is owned by the antichrist. Where's he at right now? No one knows. Therefore, the timing is not right, in my opinion.

    One thing's for sure though, the Palestine vote causes "jitters" among Christians. You can read all over the internet that people believe Jesus will return this next week.

    I hope that happens but I don't see the Palestinian situation being the maker this time around.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello Anonymous,

    I'm so glad that you are confident of our current Administration that they will do what they say. I lost confidence because they have said they will close Gitmo and they didn't, they will remove troops and stop the war and they did the opposite, that they will reduce taxes and they haven't and that they will be a friend to Israel and they aren't. I can only go by the actions they have taken and their words and their actions do not match up. That international newspapers are quoting diplomats who say that the US is hesitant to pull the trigger on a veto seems true to me. That the Administration may say they will veto and then not, also seems a likely scenario, in my opinion. In other words, I don't trust Obama as far as I can thrown him and I'm waiting to see the finished action rather than predict one way or the other.

    I agree that the road to peace is not through a Palestinian State. I don't think I was inferring that...actually the situation is showing us increasingly that peace will NOT happen. As you rightly pointed out, the only peace that happens is through the antichrist and we all know that will be a false peace.

    I agree that the State may or may not happen, as I said int he article. Yet the prophecy is already being fulfilled before our eyes, that Jerusalem is a burdensome stone and all the peoples of the world are concerned with it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Anonymous, I'm glad you found Grace Thru Faith website. It is run by Jack Kelley and he does a good job of explaining things. I don't agree with all he says (he believes the earth is millions of years old and that there is a time gap between Gen 1:1 and 1:2, and also he does not believe in doctrine of election) but overall his prophecy stuff is good from what I've read.

    I think his scenario of the 2018 conclusion to it all is worth thinking about. The reasoning of the 70 year life span added to the generation born at 1948 is reasonable. The events of the day certainly seem to indicate a quickening of the prophecy and near fulfillment.

    Keep in mind though that everyone in 1988 was convinced that the rapture would come that year because the generation alive at the time was 40 and that is how long the bible says a generation is. So they worked forward 40 years from 1948 and said "Ta-DA!". In hindsight we can see where the error arose, because they were pinning everything on the length of a generation and not a lifetime, but equally we may be overlooking something this time that in hindsight 10 years from now we may say, "Doh! We were so wrong!"

    In my opinion the 70 year addition to 1948 with 7 year subtraction to get 2018 as the final date is likely. But being wrong is just as likely.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think no matter what happens, there is a high chance of intense violence in the middle east involving Israel. If it doesn't happen, it just points to God's hands over all things. Abbas has riled up deep seated feelings in the middle east and in the world. The stage for the events of the tribulation have been coming together for years but it's like the final big pieces are coming together right before our eyes. It also means that the rapture is even closer. I think this is what most watchers believe concerning what is happening at the UN.

    I know the rapture has no signs but it does make sense that God would want a lot of things to be set in place for the tribulation before taking the church out.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Really well said, Anonymous. Yes, Abbas has riled up old enmities and hatreds, hasn't he? And I liked how you said that thought the rapture has no signs it makes sense we would see some Tribulational things almost set in place prior to our leaving...I also believe the rapture is close.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment