A Tale of Two Nations
Thursday, January 05, 2017 | Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY
The effect of the shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN has, it seems, been quite literally earthshaking.
I reported last week on how, after Britain voted for the motion, a leading UK journalist accused our government of anti-Semitism in an open letter to Prime Minister Theresa May.
Now I learn from New Zealand friends that the November 14 earthquake – one of the most powerful ever to strike the Pacific nation – came just minutes after a closed meeting at which a draft of the resolution was allegedly discussed between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Prime Minister John Key.[1]
The Obama administration is widely believed to have been behind the motion, which condemned all Israeli settlement activity as illegal and even delegitimized Jewish claims to Jerusalem’s Old City, which has an unbroken link to Judaism over thousands of years.
And we know that it was New Zealand who co-sponsored the resolution (with Senegal), which saw 14 out of the 15 Security Council members vote in favour, with the U.S. abstaining rather than casting its veto as it usually does on issues relating to borders, thereby giving it added credence.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called for ambassadors of those countries voting in favour to be reprimanded, and called home envoys to the sponsoring states. And it seems that the Judge of all the earth has sent tremors to the proposers as a warning to those who would touch the ‘apple of his eye’ or divide up his land (Zechariah 2.8, Joel 3.2).
My friend described it as ‘Genesis 12.3 in action’ – the Bible verse reading: “I will bless those who bless you (the seed of Abraham), and whoever curses you I will curse…”
Another friend, from north of Auckland, pointed out that New Zealand were given the “ignominious honour” of fronting the resolution when Egypt (once an enemy of Israel) stepped back from doing so. The Bible does teach that, in the last days, Egypt will become a friend of Israel (see Isaiah 19).[2]
The resolution effectively legitimizes the Palestinian narrative that Israel has no entitlement to land that is historically theirs – the same line taken by the butchers of Islamic State and similar terror groups who have caused such mayhem over Christmas in Cairo, Berlin and Istanbul.
Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett issued a defiant response to the UN action from a snowy Mt Hermon in the Golan Heights: “Five minutes from here, the Syrian government and ISIS have butchered over half-a-million men, women and children. The UN resolution suggests that this is occupied territory and should be handed over to those enemies… You have Israel thriving and a terror state five minutes from here in an abyss of murder. We will prevail.”[3]
Christians in Egypt, meanwhile, have followed their Saviour’s example by responding to the bombing of a Cairo church, which left 25 dead, with forgiveness for the perpetrators.
Arabic TV host Mona Roman is quoted as saying: “We had a lot of phone calls from Muslims saying, ‘We are killing you; we are destroying your churches, and you are saying we forgive you, we are praying for you.’ In fact, two Muslim men called in after the attack to give their lives to Christ. They said, ‘All that we see from you is love and forgiveness. You never answer us with explosions or weapons or hate speech. You are very strong people in love. We are the ones who are weak.’”
Witnesses said that, when the bomb went off, the priest was presiding over communion, repeating the words of Jesus, ‘This is my body, broken for you’. The women (separated from the men in the Coptic Church) were standing with arms lifted in worship of Jesus when, a moment later, they would have been standing in front of Him in heaven.[4]
PHOTO: Prime Minister Netanyahu meets with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully (Haim Zach / GPO)
- This quake, of a 7.8 magnitude causing extensive structural damage, struck just after midnight on November 14 near Christchurch, which suffered a devastating tremor five years ago. Just a week later, a second quake struck central New Zealand, with the epicenter some 200km north-east of Wellington, the capital. Although this measured 5.6 on the Richter scale, my sister Penny, who lives over 100 miles away on the west coast, felt the earth shaking – a truly frightening experience. ↩
- To be fair, many New Zealanders have protested their country’s role in this debacle and the nation has become a favourite destination for young Israeli tourists. ↩
- Jerusalem News Network, December 30 2016, quoting Arutz–7 ↩
- Egypt’s tragedy…and a story of forgiveness by Bonnie Brown of ASSIST News Service ↩
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