Hal Lindsey Report (09-30-11): Statehood for Some, Dodged a Bullet?, a Third Way?, Durban III, Putin Returns and a Watchman Warning

This week on 'The Hal Lindsey Report'

Last week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made good on his threat. He tore up the Oslo Accords and threw them in the trash. Oddly enough, though, he still claims to be the only one of the two peace partners genuinely seeking peace in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Now some of you are saying as you read this, "Come on, Hal, isn't that being overly dramatic? He didn't tear up Oslo." One of the basic tenets of the Oslo Accords -- to which both parties agreed and Abbas himself personally signed -- is that neither party would take any unilateral steps to change the status of any disputed territory until there was a negotiated settlement. I would say that asking the United Nations to recognize the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem as an independent, sovereign nation is definitely a "unilateral" step! Wouldn't you?

Of course, none of this should surprise anyone. The Oslo Accords are essentially just wasted words on paper that gives the international community something to cling to -- and bludgeon Israel with -- in the absence of the nerve to stand up to the Arab-Muslim world's demands. The Palestinians have never fulfilled even the simplest, most basic obligations to which they agreed. The entire process has simply been a stalling effort to give them time to wear Israel down and chip away at the West's integrity.

And it appears to be working.

However, all was not lost last week. President Obama got some good political bounce out of the event. Addressing the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly, he is generally credited with giving a speech that was surprisingly "supportive" of Israel. The President did mention that Israel is surrounded by enemies that have tried to destroy her in the past. And he did suggest that Palestine's statehood could not be attained through unilateral declaration at the UN, but needed to be achieved through negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis. He was right on both counts and I give him credit for that.

The problem lies, though, in what he did not say. He never said that the US would veto the statehood resolution in the Security Council (which he should have flatly stated months ago and ended all this frantic politicking). He did not mention the PA's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. He said nothing about the PA's use of its education system to inculcate hatred of the Jews in each generation. He said nothing about the PA's support for terror.

Obama's speech totally ignored the fact that on May 16, in a New York Times editorial, Mahmoud Abbas had written: "Palestine's admission to the United Nations would pave the way for the internationalization of the conflict as a legal matter, not only a political one. It would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights treaty bodies and the International Court of Justice." In other words, the statehood bid is not about peace and the Palestinians' right to political self-determination. It's about leverage!

President Obama also failed to mention that certain PLO officials had publicly implied that the new state of Palestine would be "Jew-free." It's odd to me that the world continues to accuse Israel of "ethnic cleansing" when more than one million Arabs/Palestinians live in Israel, most of them as Israeli citizens. Yet the world says nothing when the Palestinians publicly declare their intention to drive every Jew from their new state.

The speech also failed to criticize assertions made publicly by high-ranking PLO officials that even after Palestine becomes a nation, about half of the Palestinian "refugees" currently in the West Bank and Gaza will continue to be held in refugee camps. Further, it will be Israel's and the United Nations' obligation to continue caring for them. And who gives the UN the money to do this? American and European taxpayers!

Yet the world, and many in Israel, were effusive in their praise for President Obama's newfound support for Israel. (Credit Bob Turner's victory in NY-9 for that turnaround.) Of course, we're now seeing that that support may be short-lived. Already this week, the Administration has sharply criticized Israel for approving the construction of some new apartments in East Jerusalem. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she's disappointed that Israel would do something so "counterproductive" and "provocative" just when peace was obviously within our grasp! The Quartet has sung that song before.

And, by the way, that pesky Palestinian bid for statehood has yet to be decided. Wednesday, the Security Council referred the matter to committee for further consideration. It may be weeks or months before the resolution actually gets voted on by the Council. And vetoed by the US? In the meantime, Israel had better mind its p's and q's and keep its nose clean. Don't risk irritating the United States or that "promised" veto might just get lost in the mail!

By now, you can probably venture an educated guess about what I'll be discussing on this week's program. But this isn't all. I'll also have a few words about "Durban III" and the return of Vladimir Putin to the presidency of Russia. As Gomer Pyle used to say, "Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!"

Finally, I'll spend a few minutes delivering what I call "A Watchman Warning." Folks, despite the frustration I obviously feel as I watch the unbelievable displays of blind ignorance and rank arrogance by many of the world's leaders and their minions in the mainstream media, I never lose sight of what it all actually means. It means that we are in the final stages of our time here on this earth. Events are accelerating palpably. Daily we are witnessing Bible prophecy spring to life. Conditions and alignments inconceivable when the prophets wrote of them thousands of years ago are coming into sharp focus. And it's no longer taking millennia or centuries. Now, things change in months, weeks, days, even hours.

Our departure from this earth is growing closer as I type these words. Are you ready? Is your family ready? Don't delay. Accept the gift of pardon that Jesus Christ died in your place to purchase for you.

Trust me. You will never regret it.

Don't miss this week's Report on TBN, Daystar, Inspiration, CPM Network, various local stations, www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com. Check your local listings.

God Bless,

Hal Lindsey
mail: HLMM, P.O. Box 470470, Tulsa, OK 74147
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