ICEJ Latvia press release

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In September of this year world leaders will gather at the UN summit in New York and consider whether Jews have the right to live in Israel.
International opinion is balancing on the edge of forcing Israel to return to the dangerous borders that existed before 1967.
After many months of uncertainty about what exactly the Palestinians wanted, Palestinian Authority officials finally confirmed in mid-August that they would demand the right to represent Palestine in the United Nations as a member state.
The petition for recognition of Palestinian sovereignty will be officially submitted to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on September 20. Palestinian Authority leaders expect Ban to pass the request to the Security Council, where they reportedly already have majority support. However, many are waiting to see whether the USA will stop the process by using its veto power.
In response, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) has activated its branches around the world to express support for Israel.
The UN-planned Durban III Conference was initially intended as a meeting aimed at combating racism and xenophobia. However, the previous two UN conferences on racism (Durban in 2001 and Geneva in 2009) also turned into manifestations of hatred against Israel. The task was to portray Israel as a racist apartheid state that is the main obstacle to world peace. In reality, however, Israel is the only free, democratic state in the Middle East. ICEJ will also take part in a protest rally against the Durban III Conference in New York this September.
The Palestinian Authority's planned attempt during the summit to submit to the UN General Assembly a proposal recognizing a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state is presented as an important step toward peace in the Middle East.
The reality, however, is that UN support for premature establishment of a Palestinian state would only reward the Palestinian Authority for refusing to enter negotiations with Israel, for its continuing cooperation with terrorist organizations, and for its publicly stated position of not accepting Israel's right as a Jewish state to exist and protect its citizens. The Israeli government warns that such a step would not only draw a line through the peace process, but could also become a pretext for Palestinians to begin an uprising against the Jewish people.
The situation has grown into a major diplomatic problem. At this critical time, when a battle for truth is taking place, the International Christian Embassy calls on Christians and all people of good will to support the only Jewish state in the world - Israel.

The press release was prepared by ICEJ director Juergen Buehler,
translated by Ilze Saulīte, leader of ICEJ Latvia. September 2011

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