Are the Palestinians going to unilaterally declare independence and ask the UN to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders this September?  That is what many in the Israeli government now fear.  At this point the Palestinians have pretty much given up on negotiations with Israel and they have initiated an all-out effort to get the international community behind their effort to achieve statehood in 2011.  The Scriptures warn over and over again about dividing the land of Israel, and many believe that those warnings were put into the Bible for the last days.  So could we actually see the UN establish a formal Palestinian state without the approval of Israel by the end of 2011?  Unfortunately, a whole lot of signs are pointing in that direction.

A recent article in The New York Times noted the intense pressure that Israel is under right now.  Basically the global community is telling them to give away the farm to the Palestinians or else the UN is just going to go ahead and do it anyway….

With revolutionary fervor sweeping the Middle East, Israel is under mounting pressure to make a far-reaching offer to the Palestinians or face a United Nations vote welcoming the State of Palestine as a member whose territory includes all of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

So where is the incentive for the Palestinians to negotiate in all of this?  If the Israelis don’t give them a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital they will just wait for the UN to hand it to them.

Yes, it could really happen.

The following are 10 alarming signs that momentum is building for the UN to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state in 2011….

#1 The World Bank has publicly endorsed the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

#2 The IMF is formally backing the establishment of a Palestinian state in the near future.

#3 A recent United Nations report made the following statement about the Palestinian Authority: “In six areas where the UN is most engaged, governmental functions are now sufficient for a functioning government of a state.”

#4 The Ad-hoc Liaison Committee on Palestine, composed of the EU, the United States, Canada, Norway, Russia, four Arab countries, the UN, the World Bank and the IMF, has endorsed the UN report and says that the Palestinians are ready for an independent state.

#5 U.S. and EU officials are warning that if Israel does not agree to a Palestinian state within the next few months, “the Quartet may be compelled to recognize a Palestinian State in the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital”.

#6 It is being reported in the international media that the following 4 points form the core of Obama’s strategy for bringing about a Palestinian state: “Israel’s acceptance of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders; Palestinian acceptance that there would be no right to return to Israeli land; Jerusalem as the capital of both states; and the protection of Israel’s security needs.”

#7 Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the following statement about the situation in Israel: “The status quo between Palestinians and Israelis is no more sustainable than the political systems that have crumbled in recent months.”

#8 New Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi is now asking the United States to formally recognize a Palestinian state.

#9 The Palestinian Authority has set September 2011 as the deadline to be ready for statehood.

#10 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sounds convinced that Barack Obama is going to make good on his promise to deliver an independent state into the hands of the Palestinians by the end of the year: “We are counting on the words of U.S. President Barack Obama who said his vision is to see a Palestinian state this coming September according to a deadline set by the Quartet.”

Sadly, an independent Palestinian state would probably only make war more likely.

The following is how author Joel C. Rosenberg recently explained it….

If the Palestinians make a unilateral declaration of what they want, what will stop Israel from unilaterally declaring what they want? What if the Palestinians try to forcibly evict the Jews living in the West Bank? Those Jews would certainly fight back. Would the Israeli military move to defend the Jewish settlers? Would Palestinian security forces then fire upon the Israeli forces? Would the U.N. move into to condemn and isolate Israel, and even impose draconian economic sanctions on the Jewish state? Events could spiral out of control. Indeed, the likelihood is that far more violence — not peace — would result by such a Palestinian declaration of statehood outside the context of negotiations with Israel.

Unfortunately, even if the Palestinians get a state, there is going to be a massive war in the Middle East.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah is arming to the teeth and they are absolutely obsessed with driving Israel into the sea.

Syria had been getting ready for war for decades, and it is almost certainly just a matter of time before Israel and Syria go head to head.

Iran continues to develop their nuclear program and it is seemingly inevitable that at some point the Israelis will strike them in order to stop that.

Egypt has just taken a hard turn towards radical Islam and a recent poll found that the majority of the Egyptian people are in favor of ending the peace treaty with Israel.

So, no, the Middle East is not getting closer to peace.

In fact, it is getting much closer to war.

We live in very unstable times.  Please pray for peace in the Middle East.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that the world community will accept no peace plan for Israel that does not include a Palestinian state.  In fact, at this point the creation of a Palestinian state is a foregone conclusion in most diplomatic circles.  The only question seems to be what the exact dimensions of that state are going to be.  The Scriptures have long foretold the division of the land of Israel in the last days, but to see it play out in front of our eyes is absolutely stunning.  Virtually the entire world is united behind the idea that a Palestinian state is a great idea, and the pressure for Israel to accept one will continue to grow in the coming days.   

Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, was recently asked if there is an alternative to a Palestinian state during an appearance at the Hebrew University’s Truman Institute. 

His response? 

“No.” 

In fact, he made it clear that the UN is not even considering any other alternatives when he made this statement….

“I don’t know of any alternatives.”

So that is what Israel is faced with.

Accept a Palestinian state or nothing.

In essence, a Palestinian state is Plan A and there is no Plan B.

Meanwhile, it is being reported that the Obama administration’s plan for Israel includes stationing international troops along Israel’s border with a future Palestinian state.

Apparently the idea is that by deploying international soldiers along the Palestinian side of a future border with Israel, there would be a “buffer” that would keep peace between the two sides.

Of course we have all seen how well UN troops “keep the peace” in other areas of the world.

So what is the main obstacle to a Palestinian state at this point?

Well, it is the fact that the Palestinians want East Jerusalem for their capital.

Benjamin Netanyahu and the current Israeli government are not about to accept that.

But we were warned in Zechariah 12:3 that the city of Jerusalem would one day become a huge stumbling block for the nations…..

“On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.”

So how will all of this play out?

We will just have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, the entire region continues to prepare for war.

*The president of Syria is openly accusing Israel of trying to start a war.

*According to one new report, Syria has approximately 1,000 ballistic missiles zeroed in on Israeli targets.

*Egyptian military forces recently concluded maneuvers in the Sinai Peninsula that simulated an invasion of southern Israel.

*The National News Agency reported this week that the Lebanese Armed Forces fired anti-aircraft artillery from the town of Shebaa in South Lebanon at Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanese territory around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

*A top IDF Home Front Command officer said on Tuesday that Israel is not sufficiently prepared for a chemical missile attack.

*Israel recently kicked off a five-day nationwide defense drill with the goal of preparing civilians for rocket attacks.

*It is being widely reported that teams of American special forces have been authorized to conduct spying missions intended to pave the way for a military strike on Iran in case Barack Obama orders one.

The truth is that tensions continue to rise in the Middle East and war could break out at any time.

So will a Palestinian state come before or after the next war?

There is quite a bit of debate about that among Bible prophecy scholars.

The truth is that we will just have to wait and see.

But let us pray that the division of Israel and of Jerusalem does not happen, because if the U.S. has a hand in that, God will not be pleased at all.

Have you ever heard of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child?  If you are an American parent, it could soon dramatically affect your parental rights.  A new optional protocol has been approved that will create an international tribunal that will receive complaints from individual children.  Parental rights under the U.S. Constitution will not trump the ruling of this tribunal.  The implications of this are staggering.  For example, if a “children’s rights” group finds out that you are spanking your child, they can file a complaint with this U.N. tribunal on your child’s behalf, and before you know it your child could be taken away from you forever. 

The ironic thing is that negotiations for this new protocol were spearheaded by the nation of Maldives, which has a horrific record of human rights.  When Maldives signed and ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child back in the early nineties, it specifically rejected the religious freedom section found in the CRC.  You see, the constitution of the Maldives requires that all citizens be Muslims.  So when they “opted out” of the religious freedom portion of the document, they explained themselves this way: “The Government of the Republic of Maldives expresses its reservation to paragraph 1 of article 14 of the said Convention on the Rights of the Child, since the Constitution and the Laws of the Republic of Maldives stipulate that all Maldivians should be Muslims.”

Regardless, due to the efforts of the Maldives and others, this new protocol has been approved.

So exactly what will this new protocol do? 

Well, according to one Maldivian news agency, the “protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), will create a procedure whereby children who are being abused or their representatives (such as national child protection NGOS, lawyers, and doctors) could seek assistance from international human rights protection mechanisms when domestic institutions are failing to offer protection.”

These words are chilling.

Can you imagine some radical leftists coming in to your home and dragging your kid before an international tribunal just because you were trying to raise your child in a Biblical manner?

Don’t laugh.

It could happen.

We didn’t think our health care system would ever be socialized either.

The good news is that this new protocol is optional.

The bad news is that Barack Obama is in the White House and the Democrats control Congress.

The Obama administration has publicly announced its desire to see the U.S. ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In addition, those spearheading the push for the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child to be adopted in the United States have announced their support for this new optional protocol.

So the threat to parental rights is real.

Please share this information with as many Christian parents as you can.

The world is dramatically changing and international institutions are taking over.

Now is the time to stand up and say something about it.  Later will be too late.