The last week in January 2020 will go down in history. For the United Kingdom it means ‘independence’ for the first time in more than four decades. Just how independent remains to be seen. Nonetheless, the Lord, in his mercy, is enabling us to enter into the destiny that he has for us as a nation.
The other earth-changing event is the revelation of President Trump’s so-called ‘Deal of the Century’ earlier this week. At the heart of the deal is the President’s declaration that Jerusalem is to be the “undivided capital” of the State of Israel.1 Also, as part of the deal, Israel would extend full sovereignty over the townships in Judea and Samaria, as well as the Jordan Valley – otherwise deceptively known as ‘illegally occupied Palestinian territory’. It was Josef Goebbels who reputedly said: “If a lie is repeated often enough, people will come to believe it in the end.”
More than two years before the much-publicised Trump ‘Deal of the Century’ was unveiled, the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, rejected it out of hand. The catalyst for that was Trump’s announcement in December 2017 that the US would move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. I had the privilege of being within earshot when the new embassy was opened on Israel’s 70th birthday on 14 May 2018.
Violating International Law?
What we are seeing is the fulfilment of the prophetic word given to Zechariah 2,500 years ago: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. It shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it” (Zech 12:2-3 NKJV).
If we are not seeing the fulfilment of this prophecy in a military or physical sense, we are most certainly seeing it in a political and spiritual sense. On 23 December 2016, just before President Trump took office, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2334 which declared that any Jewish presence or settlement in the ‘occupied Palestinian Territories’ was a “flagrant violation under international law”.2 This, of course, was not only a complete lie, but arguably also a contradiction of Article 80 of the UN’s Founding Charter.
In April 1920 a conference took place in San Remo, Italy, which was a continuation of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, where legally binding decisions were made about the carve-up of the former Ottoman Empire. As we approach the centenary of the San Remo Resolution in two months’ time, Prophecy Today UK will be looking at the San Remo Resolution and its consequences in some detail. Suffice to say, for the time being, at San Remo the historic connection of the Jewish people to what was then known as ‘Palestine’, and their right to re-constitute their national home was enshrined into international law. Those rights were carried over into Article 80 of the UN Charter. So, if the Jewish people can establish that they had historic communities in places such as Jerusalem, Hebron, Shiloh and elsewhere, their right to re-establish those communities today is enshrined in international law.
What we are seeing today is the Palestinian Authority, backed by the UN, the European Union and most of the nations of the world, trying to heave away the rightful sovereignty of Jerusalem and Judah from the Jewish people, which is enshrined not only in international law but, even more importantly, in the word of God.
If the Jewish people can establish that they had historic communities in places such as Jerusalem, Hebron and Shiloh, their right to re-establish those communities today is enshrined in international law.
Opportunities and Concerns
This week, Donald Trump has come out and declared the truth in the face of all the lies. Both the President himself and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of Israel’s biblical heritage in a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
The President also appealed to the Palestinian leadership to grasp this opportunity for both peace and prosperity for their own people, for a better life and hope for the future. It included a pledge of $50 billion if they were to accept this ‘deal’. However, this is conditional on their renunciation of all forms of terrorism, incitement to hatred and all conflict with Israel. Israel’s security is at the top of the agenda.
However, one major concern remains ‘on the table’ – and that is the ‘two-state solution’, which if implemented would give the Palestinians sovereignty over parts of the Lord’s Land. ‘Selling the Land’ for peace - or any other reason - is something that he has forbidden (Lev 25:23).
Palestinian Rage
Predictably, both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have rejected and condemned the peace plan with one voice, and called for a ‘day of rage’. At the time of writing many nations have given muted responses to the peace plan. Some Arab nations, notably Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman (whose Ambassadors were present in the White House press conference), have supported the Trump plan, as has Saudi Arabia.
Chorus of disapproval: Westerners join Palestinians in calling for Israel's demiseThe Western media, however, has broadly given support to the Palestinian reaction in condemning it which, as always, adopts the Palestinian false narrative of the conflict. The media hides the fact that the Palestinian Arabs have now been offered their own state six times: first in 1937 following the Peel Commission of 1936-37, second with the 1947 UN Partition Plan, third at Camp David in 2000 to finalise ‘Oslo’, fourth in 2001 under the ‘Roadmap’, fifth by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 2008 (who offered them almost everything they wanted except the ‘return of the refugees’), and now the 2020 ‘Deal of the Century’.
The Palestinians have rejected every single one of these opportunities and either resorted to violence, or threatened to do so. Even a cursory look at what the official Palestinian media propagates to its own people (e.g. see the video below) reveals that they want only one thing: the demise of the Jewish state. “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” they chant.
The Western media and most of the nations of the world – including those represented by the United Nations and the European Union – ignore this fact. But President Trump has called their bluff. Deal or no deal? May the Lord expose the lies and the hidden works of darkness.
References
1 See here. Read the full text of the 'Deal of the Century' here.
2 p2. Full text of UNSC Resolution 2334.
Hugh Kitson is writer, producer and director of the documentary film 'Whose Land?' which examines the legitimacy of Israel and her domicile in all of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria in international law. His previous films include ‘The Forsaken Promise’, ‘The Destiny of Britain’ and ‘Jerusalem, The Covenant City’.
