Send in the clowns!
“…where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don’t bother, they’re here.”
(written by Stephen Sondheim, for the 1973 musical, A Little Night Music [Act II])
As the Biblical Prophetic feast day of Yom Kippur was about to begin last week, Israel went into a shut-down mode. Government offices and private businesses, stores and restaurants closed. Traffic was all but non-existent. And while Israel and most of the Jewish communities and friends of Israel fasted and prayed, a branch of the United Nations went into overdrive and demonstrated once and for all time that it is anything but impartial in its decisions, most specifically when it comes to Israel.
In what is probably its most outrageous decision to date, the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) showed the world that the words “united nations“, “educational” and “cultural” need to be removed from its title, leaving it only with the letters “S” and “O”, which would stand for “sick and obsolete”. If we combine the letters, all we would need to do is add a question mark, resulting in “SO?” And by asking “SO?”, we would be challenging the need for the continuing existence of a representative organization of a “world body” that has lost all semblance of having any redeeming social value.
On Thursday, 13th October, 2016, this organization, which would be hard-pressed to justify its relevance in today’s world, in a vote of 24 to 6 preliminarily approved a draft resolution entitled “Occupied Palestine”, which blatantly ignores historical fact and outrageously denies Jewish ties to Jerusalem and some other Biblical sites that are holy to the Jewish people, specifically and particularly including the Temple Mount and the Western Wall of the Second Temple.
|
In Favor
|
Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chad, China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan and Vietnam.
|
|
Opposed
|
Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States
|
|
Abstained
|
Albania, Argentina, Cameroon, El Salvador, France, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Haiti, India, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Nepal, Paraguay, Saint Vincent and Nevis, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Ukraine.
|
|
Absent
|
Serbia and Turkmenistan
|
Almost half of the countries that were called upon to make a decision showed that they were neither hot nor cold on the issue and abstained.
Should we rejoice over the fact that the U.S. was joined by five other countries in opposing the resolution against Israel? Or should we be saddened by the fact that 24 countries decided that they didn’t want to be involved in expressing their opinion regarding a matter that affects the three major religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam? Several possibilities exist for their failure to vote. (1) they were oblivious to the ramifications of such a vote, that it not only affects Jews and Judaism, but Christians and Christianity; (2) they didn’t care that historical facts were about to be wiped out and with them, the religious and cultural heritage of most of the nations that abstained and the very roots of our Judeo-Christian beliefs; (3) they were tired of having to deal with the unceasing condemnation of Israel by the Arab bloc; (4) they chose not to vote against the Arab bloc, because they were afraid that their vote could be interpreted as being in favor of Israel, which could have economic repercussions, as well as expose their countries to a reality that was once thought to be far removed from most of them, a reality of terrorism. When representatives of a country fail to vote in an international forum, they do so because their superiors instructed them not to do so. With such an important issue on the table, the failure to express an opinion and to take a stand for their own historical, cultural and religious foundations constitute further support for the conclusion that this organization is sick and obsolete.
Israel was quick to respond and the UN-organization’s resolution was condemned from almost all sides of the political spectrum here. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, referring to this latest round of anti-Israel bias, stated that “The UNESCO theater of the absurd continues. Today that organization adopted another delusional decision that states that the Jewish People have no connection to the Temple Mount or the Western Wall. To say that Israel has no connection to the Temple Mount is like saying that China has no connection to the Great Wall of China or that Egypt has no connection to the pyramids. With this absurd decision, UNESCO has lost the modicum of legitimacy it had left.” On Twitter, Netanyahu asked: “What’s next? A UNESCO decision denying the connection between peanut butter and jelly? Batman and Robin? Rock ‘n’ roll?”
His condemnation of the draft resolution was echoed by a multitude of politicians from different countries and from all sides of the political spectrum. Israeli Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, did not leave room for misunderstanding, when she stated: “[The] UN is breaking its own record of ignorance and anti-Semitism. An organization that purports to represent science and education, instead presents the rotten politics of dictatorial Islamic countries. Instead of enlightened Western countries leading the organization, some are blindly following the shameful decision.”
Earlier that day, prior to the passing of the resolution, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin stated, almost prophetically: “There is no festival more connected to Jerusalem than Sukkot. The festivals of Israel all highlight the inextricable bond between our people and our land, and no forum or body in the world can come and deny the connection between the Jewish people, the Land of Israel and Jerusalem—and any such body that does so simply embarrasses itself… We can understand criticism, but you cannot change history.”
Following P.M. Netanyahu’s statement, a friend sent me a statement of what might soon appear in media as a follow-up resolution:
“Today UNESCO moved forward a resolution denying the connection between Peanut butter and Jelly, Batman and Robin as well as Rock and Roll. The resolution was submitted by seven Muslim nations and simply ignores the western cultural significance of Peanut butter and Jelly, Batman and Robin and Rock and Roll. The petitioners emphasize that all three items are “Haram” and offensive to Islam. Peanut Butter and Jelly will never be Halal, Batman and Robin practice gayness and Rock and Roll also known as music are all forbidden. Therefore, none of the above can be recognized under the strict interpretation of Sharia law and, therefore, none have any cultural significance in the world of Islam which means the same as the world of the UN as seen by Muslim dominated UNESCO.”
If, then, UNESCO has become “S.O.”, if it “lost the modicum of legitimacy it had left”, why should we have anything to do with it? That was probably the reasoning behind the decision of Naftali Bennett, Israel’s Education Minister, who announced: “Following the shameful decision by UNESCO members to deny history and ignore thousands of years of Jewish ties to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, I have notified the Israel National Commission for UNESCO to suspend all professional activities with the international organization”, adding that its decision also “gives impetus to terror”.
The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also quick to respond to the “shameful” decision and gave a cogent example of one of the multi-faceted changes that will have to be implemented as a result of that resolution. Think of the number of websites and Biblical commentaries that will need to be revised and updated. The cost would run into the billions. I would suggest that all of the bills for the revisions and updates be submitted to whatever remains of “SO”, which needs to make a public declaration acknowledging that it is morally bankrupt, intellectually stupid and incredibly lacking in Biblical knowledge and the history of this region.
 |
|
The Dry Bones Blog-16/10/2016-Replacement Theology
|
Of course, it was also a shot in the arm for those who advocate replacement theology, as they had their work done for them by this organization.
The resolution denying proven Biblical history was, as expected, celebrated by the so-called “Palestinians”, who see themselves as protectors of the Temple Mount. A press release issued by Fatah, the ruling party in the area of Judea and Samaria, said that such a resolution would not have been passed if it weren’t for the diplomatic skills of the “Palestinian” President, Mahmoud Abbas and the assistance of Arab nations and other countries. Fatah expressed its thanks to those who “supported the ‘Palestinians'”, while at the same time calling on the half dozen countries who opposed the resolution to “reconsider their positions”. Representatives of the “Palestinians” applauded the resolution as a sign that the international community does not consent to what they refer to as “the occupation of ‘Palestinian’ lands”. It is the same narrative that they push forward at every opportunity. This narrative has been shown to be nothing more than a “political myth” generated by leaders of the Arab community following the Israeli War of Independence. Yet, this “myth” has grown and become like the Emperor’s New Clothes, a claim to existence and history that is not supported by historical fact, but believed on because of political “incorrectness” and expediency, as well fear of reprisal at the gas tanks.
The silence of the countries that abstained is not golden. It was a blatant encouragement to the so-called, self-proclaimed “Palestinians” to continue lying their way into justifying further warfare against Israel and the Jewish people. The longer the lie is set forth and the more individuals and countries are willing to give a listening ear to their made-up narrative, rather than to look at an examine that narrative from an historical and factual background, the more the world will be duped into calling “evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20).
Not everyone, however, buys the lie. Irina Bokova, the Director General of UNESCO, did not agree with the resolution drafted by that organization. She responded to the resolution saying, in part: “To deny, conceal or erase any of the Jewish, Christian or Muslim traditions undermines the integrity of the site, and runs counter to the reasons that justified its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage list…When these divisions carry over into UNESCO, an organization dedicated to dialogue and peace, they prevent us from carrying out our mission.”
The U.S. State Department condemned it. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (“AIPAC”) issued a statement calling the resolution “malignant” and saying, in part, that it “undermines efforts to seek a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-‘Palestinian’ conflict by giving support to forces in the ‘Palestinian’ community that reject reconciliation.” As for the UN organization, it not only condemns what it doesn’t understand, but it stands by and misses opportunity after opportunity to promote peace.Maybe we should be thankful that some nations effectively abandoned their support of the “Palestinians”, by switching their vote in favor to an abstention. From that perspective, it is clear that a non-vote is a “no” vote. Some might even argue that although the “Palestinians” claim that the resolution was a victory, in reality, they lost ground because of the unwillingness of almost half of the nations in UNESCO to side with them. Whatever the win-loss reality may be in today’s world of cowardice in the face of political incorrectness, the reality is that the last chapter of The Book needs to be played out and it will be, in due course.
There is much more that can be said about Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, but the final word belongs to God:
Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raise above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation and never again will they learn war. (Isaiah 2:2-4)
Last night began the holiday of Succot, the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:33 to end). It is a time of rejoicing. May your remembrance of the reason for it and your anticipation of its prophetic fulfillment encourage you and fill you with joy from the depths of your hearts.
Bless, be blessed and be a blessing. Have a great week.
Marvin
The Week That Was 