Christian Zionists: Ahmadinejad is new Hitler-Pro-Israel Christians Mobilize in D.C.

YNet/Forward/Jerusalem Post ^ | 7-17-07

[SJackson]

Christian Zionists: Ahmadinejad is new Hitler

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3427247,00.html

Christians United for Israel call on US to attack Iran immediately, move US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem as sign of support

WASHINGTON - Thousands of members of Christians United for Israel headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby Congress on behalf of the Jewish state.

The group's founder, the Reverend John Hagee, declared, "We support Israel because we are Bible-believing Christians," and said the world needs to see that "the sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awakened."

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Hagee said that the entire Christian world kept quiet during World War II and allowed the genocide of the Jewish people. "This time we will not be silent," Hagee said.

At "A Night to Honor Israel" banquet, Hagee called on President Bush to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He also called for American divestment from Iran, which he compared to Nazi Germany as a threat to the Jewish people.

Hagee said Mideast tensions shouldn't be blamed on Israel, but on Islamic radicals and moderate Muslims who won't condemn them.

Hagee continued to warn against Iranian President Ahmadinejad, calling him the new Hitler, saying the Iranian president will use a nuclear bomb to destroy Israel the first chance he gets.

Ahmandinejad must be stopped, Hagee said, calling on the United State to attack Iran immediately.

'We must end the madness'

Former speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, who is considering running for the Republican Party's presidential candidate, said at the event that if US President George W. Bush really wanted to get a message across to Hamas, he should move the US Embassy to Jerusalem "tomorrow morning".

Gingrich charged that instead of fighting to win, President Bush is now pursuing appeasement through a proposed Mideast peace conference.

Comparing that to the attempted appeasement of Nazi Germany at Munich before World War II, Gingrich said, "We don't have a peace process. We have a surrender process."

Gingrich said the United States and Western civilization are in a global conflict with radical Islam, and must choose between victory and surrender.

Gary Bauer, who ran for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States in 2000, also spoke at the rally, saying, "You are Ahmadinejad, Hamas, and Hizbullah's worst nightmare, because you support Israel. They are telling you to give back land. We are telling you, don't give back one inch."

Israeli Ambassador to the US Salai Meridor, told the protesters, "We must end this nightmare. We must end the madness. We must make it clear to the Iranians that all options are on the table and that there is no way they will be allowed to hold nuclear weapons."

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Pro-Israel Christians Mobilize in D.C.

http://www.forward.com/articles/11191/

Nathan Guttman | Wed. Jul 18, 2007

Washington - At this week’s gathering of pro-Israel Christian lobbyists, it took an unscripted moment for the most passionate sentiments to emerge.

Instead of delivering an introduction to Israeli ambassador Sallai Meridor, Evangelical leader and former presidential candidate Gary Bauer delivered a passionate appeal against any Israeli territorial compromise to the Palestinians.

“Tell the people in Israel,” Bauer said to Meridor, “that we are praying that they never give up — even under American pressure. Never give up even one centimeter.”

The attendees in the huge conference hall burst into applause, and 4,000 activists of Christians United for Israel stood up waving flags, leaving no room for doubt about their views on Israel’s recent moves toward a two-state solution.

In more official statements, the leaders of CUFI tried to focus the group’s second annual meeting on less controversial territory. Hours before Bauer gave his appeal, Pastor John Hagee, founder of CUFI, said, “We are supportive of Israel even if they make decisions that are contrary to what we believe are their best interests.”

Founded in 2006, CUFI has built a reputation for taking on hawkish views with regard to Israel’s security and to compromise with the Palestinians. At the same time, the group has managed to tread the thin line of avoiding conflict and leaving controversial issues out of its public lobbying agenda.

Though it’s a new player in the pro-Israel lobbying field, CUFI has been successful in positioning itself as the main political force to advocate support for Israel among Christian evangelicals, who number about 75 million.

Some of the organization’s main work has been done away from the nation’s capital. With chapters in 50 states, CUFI began building bridges with local Christian and Jewish communities and organizing pro-Israel funding events known as a “Night To Honor Israel.” The phrase was coined by Hagee, who started the event 26 years ago in San Antonio, Texas.

The vast grass-roots operation has yielded dozens of rallies in support of Israel throughout the country, and the group’s Washington operation has built strong ties with lawmakers from the religious right who previously had little to do with pro-Israel lobbyists.

Attendance at CUFI’s meeting this week in Washington was up in comparison with last year’s 3,500 participants.

Last Tuesday, Hagee hosted his “Night To Honor Israel,” which featured politicians, religious leaders and an amount of enthusiasm that kept the Christian delegates dancing on their feet for hours to the sounds of Jewish tunes.

It was a Hagee-style extravaganza, of the sort that has made the San Antonio-based evangelist famous. As the choir began to sing “Blow the trumpets in Zion, Zion,” the crowd jumped out of their seats. Groups danced between the rows, waving Israeli and American flags; some people wept with joy. The roster of speakers at the CUFI event left no doubt regarding the group’s political standpoint. The leader of Israel’s right-wing Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke, as did former House speaker Newt Gingrich.

On Capitol Hill, the Christian pro-Israel lobby has focused on building ties with lawmakers, many of them representing constituencies with only small Jewish communities and thus further away from the reach of Jewish lobbyists.

On Wednesday, more than 4,000 members of the pro-Israel Christian lobby were expected to mobilize in a massive lobbying day on Capitol Hill. The group has set three legislative goals for this year: supporting the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act, which would impose tough sanctions on Tehran; advocating for approval of foreign aid to Israel, and calling for the approval of measures that will enable international forces in Lebanon to be more active in blocking Hezbollah.

While supporting Iran legislation that is specifically designed to avoid a military confrontation, Hagee has his own views on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s regime: “He will not give in to sanctions,” Hagee said. “It is time for America to adopt Senator [Joseph] Lieberman’s words and consider a military pre-emptive strike against Iran.”

Issues relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are off the table, as far as CUFI’s lobbying agenda is concerned. The decision not to focus advocacy work on this issue is indicative of the sensitive place in which the pro-Israel Christian group stands: While it opposes any compromise, the Israeli government is in the midst of taking measures to strengthen the Palestinian leadership as a first step on the road to the resumption of talks for a two-state solution.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby, has also embraced the new Palestinian leadership and supports American actions to strengthen it. But while quiet on the issue when on Capitol Hill, CUFI leaders are clear about how they view territorial compromise.

“I am concerned that there soon will be an attempt to parcel out parts of Israel in order to appease others,” Hagee said at Tuesday’s event, warning that the Europeans and the U.S. State Department want to make Israel “crocodile food.”

CUFI has maintained a relationship of mutual understanding and respect with Aipac. The latter’s executive committee, which also met this week in Washington, discussed briefly the views of its Christian counterpart, stressing the common agenda on issues relating to Iran and foreign aid. Aipac sources said there is no formal coordination between the groups, though CUFI does advocate for some issues that are important for Aipac.

Last March, Hagee gave one of the keynote speeches at Aipac’s policy conference. The pro-Israel lobby embraced him warmly, cheering and applauding.

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Let our unconditional alliance be mutual By SHELLY NEESE

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1184672473071&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

'It's a new day in America. The sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awakened!" Pastor John Hagee announced in his booming voice to thunderous applause at the AIPAC Annual Policy Conference last March. What Hagee humbly omitted is that Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a group he formed just over a year ago, deserves much of the credit for arousing the sleepy 50-million-man giant.

To be sure, Zionist Christians are no recent phenomena. Neither is their communal work on behalf of Israel. For the past century, there have been Christian groups supporting Israel through their pocketbooks, prayer, and political power. What changed with CUFI is the visibility and consolidation of the Christian Zionist network. CUFI's stated purpose is to "provide a national association through which every pro-Israel church, para-church organization, ministry or individual in America can speak and act with one voice in support of Israel in matters related to Biblical issues."

CUFI, in a short period of time, has become one of the most important Christian grassroots organizations in America. Hesitant to call itself a lobby, preferring the term "national association," CUFI is often described as a Christian parallel to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

With the goal of educating and mobilizing Christian support for Israel, CUFI's signature event is the annual Washington Israel Summit in July. At last year's Summit, 3,500 Christians convened on Washington to lobby their senators and congressmen on pro-Israel legislation. For this year's Summit, which took place yesterday, there were twice as many.

For those who couldn't make it to DC, CUFI's volunteer regional directors organize Nights to Honor Israel which are held year-round all over the country. CUFI's goal is for "Nights to Honor Israel" to be held in every major US city. Thus far there have been over 50 well-attended "Nights to Honor Israel" which have raised over $10 million for charitable causes in Israel.

In forming CUFI, Pastor Hagee envisioned a united evangelical-Jewish alliance standing in defense of Israel. In his words, Congress must know "that the matter of Israel is no longer just a Jewish issue; it is a Christian-Jewish issue."

For an interfaith alliance to take hold there must be enough Jews who are willing to take CUFI's hand in friendship. While Christian love of Israel may be unconditional, an alliance must be mutual.

THE RESPONSE to Pastor Hagee and the rise of CUFI among Jews has been mixed, predictably divided along liberal/conservative lines. Rabbis and Jewish community leaders who see CUFI as a negative development are generally more liberal in their domestic and foreign policy agendas. Those Jewish voices to the Right are extremely optimistic about the surge in Christian support.

CUFI's greatest moment of acceptance by the Jewish community was Pastor Hagee's invitation to speak at AIPAC's national convention. AIPAC broke policy by having Hagee come for a primetime slot. His impassioned speech brought standing ovations and ended with Hagee leading the crowd in a chorus of "Israel Lives!"

The speech was widely covered in the press and repeatedly downloaded via the Internet. It brought an enthusiastic response from Jews and Israelis that extended far beyond the walls of AIPAC. Bloggers in Israel sat by their computers crying as they heard Hagee's words. They realized Israelis actually did have friends in the world. Jews in the US said they needed more leaders in their own communities with half the ardor of Hagee and his Christian Zionists.

Not all those in the Jewish community, however, have seen Hagee's newfound popularity as a good thing. Rabbi James Rudin from the American Jewish Committee criticized AIPAC for "being so focused on the tactical support [Hagee] offers" and ignoring his apocalyptic claims. Daniel Sokatch with the Progressive Jewish Alliance warned, "To get in bed with the hard Christian right on Israel is a dangerous path."

Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism wrote a critical article for the Forward entitled "When we Let John Hagee Speak For Us." Yoffie claims the closer the organized Jewish community becomes to Christian Zionists, the further away they push younger, more liberal, Jews.

The acceptance of right-wing Christian leaders like Hagee might alienate those Jews who are more moderate on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Yoffie says Jewish organizations should rethink their embrace of Hagee and the supportive role they play in CUFI's "Nights to Honor Israel."

For most Jewish critics of CUFI there is a deep-seated fear that accepting Christian support for Israel means condoning Evangelicals' opposing religious and political beliefs.

CUFI executive director David Brog, himself Jewish, claims that CUFI is a one-issue organization. For Jews and Christians to be partners in the coalition they need only agree on the point of collaboration - Israel.

While debate rages in liberal Jewish circles, there is a notable absence of discussion in the Christian Zionist community. A knee-jerk reaction would be for pastoral circles to ask whether it is in Christian interest to forge an alliance with Jews who have divergent beliefs and agendas. But such a question is irrelevant. Christian Zionists are following a biblical command to love and support the Jewish people and the state of Israel. That love is unconditional.

The new beginning for Jewish-Christian relations is still burdened by 2,000 years of baggage. Rabbi Irving Greenburg in his book For the Sake of Heaven and Earth said "the rearticulation of Christian attitudes toward Judaism and the determination to end the teaching of contempt toward the Jewish religion already constitute one of the great moral cleansing revolutions of all time - in any religion." Christianity underwent great pains to make things right, breaking with so much history and tradition to purify itself from the evils of anti-Semitism.

If some Jews remain uncomfortable with robust Christianity it is understandable. Christian Zionists must be patient, bearing out consistent genuineness and unconditional love until the wounds are healed. The Christian hand of friendship must remain outstretched to God's chosen as long as some, or even one, grab hold.

The writer is the managing editor of a DC-based pro-Israel Christian publication called The Jerusalem Connection.

[SJackson]

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[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thanks for the post - Tom Delay has talked about this very effort today on Mark Levin's program. I applaud them.

[familyop]

Hagee, Gingrich and company are doing the right thing with what they’re saying about Iran, IMO. Their support for Israel is good, as long as they don’t covet Israel.

[StoneWall Brigade]

Sounds like a great event

[SJackson]

Neither do.

[2ndDivisionVet]

I watched this event last night on television. Great program, especially Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Pastor Hagee.

[StoneWall Brigade]

What channel did it come on?

[shield]

LOL...there's lots goin' on that we are not privy to...take a look at this.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1867645/posts?page=84#84

[Salem]

Thanks for posting this, pod'nah!    

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[stephenjohnbanker]

Yeah, I would have liked to see it.

[Uri’el-2012]

It was on Daystar channel on DishTV

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

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[familyop]

LOL...there's lots goin' on that we are not privy to...take a look at this.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1867645/posts?page=84#84

Thank you very much! ...one small correction on a minor detail, though. The 22nd is two days before the 9th of Av. 9 Av is on the 24th.

[familyop]

Oops...forgot to show quotation of your comment.

"LOL...there's lots goin' on that we are not privy to...take a look at this."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1867645/posts?page=84#84"

Thank you very much! ...one small correction on a minor detail, though. The 22nd is two days before the 9th of Av. 9 Av is on the 24th.

Your comment did contain tips that could be good ones.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

[americanophile]

I don’t believe this. I think he’s just a misunderstood spokesman for casual fashion.

[2ndDivisionVet]

KMPX on the Daystar Network. http://www.daystar.com/Daystar

[2ndDivisionVet]

I was watching it on Charter Cable.

[bsaunders]

Quote from the last article, "His impassioned speech brought standing ovations and ended with Hagee leading the crowd in a chorus of "Israel Lives!"

Hebrew transliteration is, "Am Yisroel Chai!"
The two phrases used by the late Rabbi Meir Kahane were, "Am Yisroel Chai!" and the equally well known, "Never Again!" Where I had many reservations with Rabbi Kahane, on these two phrases I was in complete agreement. Similarly, while I still have some questions about Pastor Hagee, I agree and support his efforts. A realizing of our similar positions and common enemies between Christians and Jews can only lead to good things. The attempts being made by our Christian brothers and sisters to bury the past feelings of distrust and sometimes Antisemitism is an effort that will gain acceptance by true followers of the Jewish Scriptures given sufficient time. I pray that both groups can maintain an honest and open dialog leading to a better future for both peoples.