Middle East

Israel condemned the United Nations Human Rights Council Tuesday for being “obsessive and discriminatory” in its targeting of the Jewish state. Israel’s Deputy UN Ambassador Daniel Carmon was addressing the General Assembly as it considered the annual report of the Council and was discussing its performance. Carmon pointed out that in the past year the Council had adopted seven resolutions condemning Israel—far more than any other UN member. “We can only watch in disbelief,” Carmon said, “as the Council ignores human rights abuses around the world while offering silence at best and praise at worst to some of the world’s most ruthless, abusive dictators.” Egypt’s ambassador defended the targeting of Israel, saying the Council must ensure Palestinians’ human rights are respected. The Human Rights Council replaced the highly politicized Human Rights Commission—which itself was composed of some of the worst human rights violators—2½ years ago. The idea was that the Council would be more balanced. But not much has changed—in fact, it has gotten worse. While 30 percent of the resolutions adopted by the Commission were against Israel, 60 percent of Council resolutions have been against Israel. Meanwhile, true human rights violators get off scot-free: China and Zimbabwe, for example, have had no resolutions passed against them. There is no guessing why Israel bears the brunt of the condemnation: “Muslim countries form a strong bloc on the Council and have used their votes to push through resolutions against Israel and block condemnation of their allies, including Sudan” (Associated Press, November 4). This arm of the UN perhaps illustrates best the farce that the international body is.

A pottery shard uncovered this past summer at a dig south of Jerusalem contains the oldest known Hebrew inscription, according to Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel. “[I]f Garfinkel’s claim is borne out,” Associated Press reported October 30, “it would bolster the case for the Bible’s accuracy by indicating the Israelites could record events as they happened, transmitting the history that was later written down in the Old Testament several hundred years later.” The shard was found in the ruins of a hilltop town that has a 30-foot-wide gate, a central fortress, and a wall running 2,300 feet in circumference. “[T]he fortified settlement where the writing was found contains indications that a powerful Israelite kingdom existed near Jerusalem in David’s time, says Garfinkel” (ibid.). Archaeological finds in Israel continue to confirm the biblical record of events and conditions during the time of King David.

Europe

Europe is asking U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to afford the European Union a greater role in world affairs. A six-page letter to Obama, agreed upon by the EU’s foreign ministers at a meeting on Monday, suggested four priorities for the new American administration: 1) improve its efforts in Afghanistan; 2) acknowledge Russia’s newfound power, and intensify diplomatic efforts alongside Europe in order to avoid a confrontation; 3) prioritize the Middle East peace process and accept the EU as a co-guarantor of a peace agreement; and 4) more deeply entrench itself in multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the G-8, and commit to European-backed reforms of these bodies. Biblical prophecy describes a “lover”-type bond developing between the United States and Europe, Germany in particular. The groundwork for this relationship has been laid for years; expect it to be cemented in an Obama-led Oval Office. But just as prophecy foretells of this relationship, it reveals its surprising outcome. And it does not produce an outcome in America’s best interest. To learn more, read the section in our booklet Nahum—An End-Time Prophecy for Germany titled “The German Double-Cross.”

IG Metall, the largest workers union in Germany, has taken to the warpath in a quest to gain what it considers fair wages for German workers. They are seeking an 8 percent pay rise over the next few months. According to a Bertelsmann Foundation survey, the majority of German workers think their country’s economic system is not fair. Many of these people are upset by the fact that their nation is the largest goods exporter in the world and yet is still plagued by low wages and high unemployment. These same feelings abounded in 1930s Germany and were instrumental in the rise of Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist government.

Russia gave Europe a shock this week. Right as the U.S. presidential election concluded, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that he planned to station some Iskander SS-26 short-range ballistic missiles in Kaliningrad. Amid the turmoil, the European Commission wants EU nations to agree to negotiate with Moscow, pressuring leaders to resume talks on an EU-Russia partnership treaty when they meet this Monday. Watch for Russia’s aggressive actions to do two things: It will push Europe closer together, and Europe and Russia will forge some kind of shaky nonaggression pact.

On Wednesday the EU announced that Croatia is still on track to join the Union by the end of next year. This is despite the fact that an annual review highlighted the high levels of corruption and organized crime in Croatia. The report also suggested that Serbia could begin the formal application process next year, though it was critical of Turkey’s prospects. Europe is now in the process of consolidating its conquests in the Balkans. For more information, read our free booklet The Rising Beast—Germany’s Conquest of the Balkans.

Asia

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed Barak Obama as president-elect of the United States by announcing a plan to deploy SS-26 Stone missiles near the Polish border in Kaliningrad. These missiles are meant to counter the planned U.S. missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Medvedev deliberately postponed the announcement from its initial scheduling slot so that it would coincide with the conclusion of the U.S. presidential election. Events like this make it clear that Russia no longer fears or respects America. Soon the Europeans will come to terms with this fact and realize that they must become a military superpower if they are to protect themselves.

During the same speech in which he announced this new missile deployment, Medvedev also announced that Russia would be looking to the dynamic economies of India and China for help in creating a new global financial order. Last week one Russian government official even went so far as to say that India and China will replace Europe as Russia’s main trading partner. As the world financial scene grows increasingly chaotic, expect the nations of Asia to work together in an effort to form a regional power bloc insulated from the economic ups and downs of the rest of the world.

Taiwan was drawn politically closer to mainland China this week as Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou met with a senior Chinese envoy in Taipei on Tuesday. The Taiwanese, however, do not have the option of distancing themselves from Beijing due to lack of American support. Indeed, the Chinese government has already urged Obama to uphold the one-China policy and to stop selling arms to Taiwan. According to one of the president-elect’s senior foreign-policy advisers, the incoming Obama administration fully plans on continuing America’s policy of opposing Taiwanese independence. Twenty-three million Taiwanese are going to be forced into the Chinese mold because America lacks the will to defend them. For more information on this disturbing trend, read “Taiwan Betrayal” by Gerald Flurry from the August 1998 Trumpet.

Latin America, Africa

On November 4, Mexican Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino and former Mexican Deputy Attorney General Luis Santiago Vasconcelos were killed in a plane crash. This is a major blow to Mexican President Felipe Calderon; Stratfor says the two men were the “presumptive heirs of the party” and “the brains behind Mexico’s operations against drug cartels.” At this point, authorities do not know if sabotage was involved. Vasconcelos, a key figure in President Calderon’s war on drugs, has been a target of assassination attempts before. About 4,000 people have died in drug violence this year. Even if the crash was accidental, it might be hard to convince the populace of Mexico that this wasn’t a high-profile shot in the war on drugs from those terrorizing the country.

“An orgy of brutality” in Zimbabwe has killed any hope of dialogue between President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (mdc), according to the mdc. A Zanu-PF militia group attacked 25 mdc supporters in the capital last week, and nine were arrested in raids—including a 2-year-old child. “In short, Zanu-PF has killed the dialogue despite the hopes, patience and expectations of the people of Zimbabwe,” the mdc said in a statement. In the ongoing conflict over cabinet positions, President Mugabe, while holding on to defense positions, agreed to let the mdc manage the financial portfolio along with its official 230 million percent inflation rate.

Anglo-America

The United States elected Barack Obama to be its 44th president on Tuesday. The nation’s first African-American president carried states that haven’t voted for a Democrat chief executive in decades, including North Carolina, Virginia and Indiana, with supporters, reporters and major political figures weeping for joy. Addressing supporters in Chicago after major news networks enthusiastically proclaimed his projected victory, Obama celebrated the historic nature of his election but also immediately began tempering expectations that have risen high on election promises to change Washington and change America. By Thursday, Obama had already chosen his White House chief of staff, a combative congressman named Rahm Emanuel. On the world scene, revelers from Kenya to Europe exuberantly rejoiced at the 47-year-old’s victory—presumably not because they long to see a stronger America but because they expect to see the opposite from the future commander in chief, who has promised to pull American troops out of Iraq as soon as possible.

President-elect Obama will face some monstrous challenges early in his first term, not the least of which is the tottering national economy. The fundamental flaws in America’s economic system appear to be unbandaged, as the New York Federal Reserve Bank revealed recently it has hired Michael Alix to help oversee the safety and soundness of the U.S. banking system. Alix was in charge of risk management at Bear Stearns, one of the most spectacular crash-and-burn banking stories in recent months, which collapsed due to high debt and risky investing.