Ted Cruz and the most cynical, despicable political stunt of the year

Aggressively supporting Israel is a political winner for conservatives. But when it comes at the expense of persecuted Christians who fear for their lives...

Since the second half of the 20th century, some of my fellow Christians have been the most persecuted religious group in the world. They still are. You probably are surprised to hear this. That's because most of these persecuted Christians don't live in the West. They are, as the awful phrase has it, too foreign for the right and too Christian for the left.

In recent weeks and months, however, the West has heard about the plight of at least one set of these persecuted Christians: those in the Middle East. These communities, many of which date back to the very beginning of Christianity, are now facing outright extinction. And it's happening at the hands of ISIS, the West's Public Enemy No. 1.

A summit was held this week in Washington, D.C., in support of Middle East Christians, and Cruz was supposed to be a keynote speaker. However, right in the second paragraph of his speech, he began exalting Israel. After a while, the assembly started to boo and heckle him. Cruz said, "If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you," and left the podium.

Keep in mind that many Christians in the Middle East are ethnic Arabs who live under Israel's occupation of the West Bank, and therefore have negative feelings about Israel. Of course, there are also many Middle East Christians who are supporters of Israel (indeed, there are even Arab Christians who serve, with distinction, in the Israeli Defense Forces).

As the excellent coverage, transcript, and recording provided by The American Conservative's Jonathan Coppage shows, the audience in Washington applauded Cruz's first lines of support for Israel and the Jews. The crowd turned against him ONLY WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR that he was launching into a rah-rah pro-Israel stump speech that had NOTHING to do with what they were doing there.

Cruz tarred and attacked one of the most powerless and beleaguered minorities in the world, solely for personal political gain. He was strong against the weak.

In the end, what was most striking about Cruz's tirade was the last phrase: "If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you." Cruz was literally standing in a room with his fellow Christians. In the Bible, the idea of the fellowship of Christian believers is a very important one, and to break fellowship is to put oneself outside the community. What Cruz was saying was that agreeing to his views on Israel was more important as a badge of fellowship than believing in Jesus Christ.

Middle Eastern Christians have hated Jews since the Crucifixion. When Christians fell under the Muslim yoke, they found partners in their Jew hatred that gave them a degree of protection. In 1948, under the banner of "Arab nationalism", they plotted the destruction of the new nation of Israel with their fellow Arabs. When Israel turn out to be much stronger than expected, the Christians became bitter and their Jew hatred amplified.

This goes back two thousand years. The Jews have never oppressed anyone since the construction of the Second Temple. Yet we are supposed to give a pass to anti Jewish anti-Israel sentiment because Israel turned out to be much more successful than expected?

Unfortunately, Middle Eastern Christians are getting much as they deserve from the Arab majorities. What did they expect from the Muslims? Had they ever read the Koran? If I grew up there, I would have considered the Koran fundamental opposition research. They could have left, as the Jews did. Instead, they elected to stay, marinating their souls in ancient animosities until the Muslims finally came for them as well. It took two thousand years, but reality eventually struck.

Middle East Christians, and I am a Christian, can expect our support and protection when they drag their ethics out of the first Century.

p.s. Baptist Fundamentalism is no more relevant to Middle Eastern Christian attitudes than the 1948 Arab-Israeli War or the Seven Day War.

Here’s the article (now only found on FB) that was scrubbed and later apologized for by Farid Ghadry about this conference. Free Beacon had a similar piece echoing these findings before the event took place.

https://www.facebook.com/21499453392/posts/10152472834638393

“In Defense of Christians”: a Hezbollah-backed stealth conference in Washington DC

FARID GHADRY August 15, 2014

(Snip)
However, when you consider who is behind this organization, only then you realize its danger.

Allegedly, its major backer and bankroller is a Lebanese-Nigerian businessman and a Hezbollah ally named Gilbert Chagouri. My sources in Washington tell me several Federal US Agencies may be investigating Chagouri for funding Hezbollah’s terror. He is also a close business associate of Michel Aoun, the Lebanese General who stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Hassan Nasrallah. Michel Aoun appointed his man in Washington, Toufic Baaklini, to manage IDC operations in his capacity as President of IDC.

Mr. Chagouri’s goal is to exploit the insecurities many Christians feel as sectarian wars rage in the Levant and to take sole control of their communities to serve the wretched agenda of Iran and Hezbollah. “In Defense of Christians” already announced that their second conference will be held in al-Quds (The Arabic name for Jerusalem). With a successful conference under its belt in Washington DC, I predict we will see IDC begin to attack US allies in the region in support of the axis of evil in the Middle East.

Another character who allegedly may be involved is Jamal Daniel, a US businessman with strong ties to the Assad regime. As a Syrian-American, I know how loyal the Daniel family is to Assad, which goes back to the sixties when Atef Daniel, Jamal’s father, helped Assad rise to become President of Syria.

There are, also, some question marks surrounding some of the Christian and civilian leaders participating in this conference when it comes to their anti-Israel rhetoric and strong support for Assad, Hezbollah, and Iran.

For example, Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi of Lebanon has close ties to the Assad regime. He claimed to a Lebanese newspaper, on December 9, 2011, that Assad is launching reforms in the midst of Assad butchering civilians. To this day, al-Rahi remains an apologist for Assad.

Amongst the public figures attending the conference is also Syrian-born Patriarch Gregorios III Laham, a known critic and adversary of Israel and a very close ally to the Assad regime. In December 2010, Laham was quoted as saying that attacks against Levantine Christians were part of a “Zionist conspiracy against Islam”.

James Zogbi, on the advisory board of IDC, will be a keynote speaker. Zogby is the founder of the Arab-American Institute and a rabid critic of Israel. He rarely misses an opportunity to criticize and attack Israel.

Many good people unwittingly have associated themselves with IDC. US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lethinen (R – FL) and Ex-Attorney General the Honorable John Ashcroft come to mind (There are many more). This only show the deceptive practices of Iran, behind IDC, when its agents are able to recruit patriotic Americans without a hint of their involvement in IDC. My guess Hezbollah was able to recruit them because IDC is using September 11 date to trick them into believing they stand behind the Great Satan.

Although IDC is supposed to be an avid proponent of Christianity, the organization is unable to explain some facts when it comes to that support.

How could IDC explain that Hezbollah assassinated Lebanese Christian MP Jebran Tueini and Antoine Ghanem as well as kill Christian army officers, journalists, and innocent Christian bystanders who died from their bombs? How can they explain how Assad assassinated the up and rising star President Bashir Gemayel and President Rene Mouawad as well as explain all the Assad massacres of Christians in Lebanon over the last 15 years?

Are those participating in the IDC conference realize they are associating themselves with terror against Christians? Seriously, how many Muslim terrorists you know killed Christian Presidents who reached the apogee of their careers? Only Assad and Hezbollah have committed such atrocities against Christians. The same Assad and Hezbollah this conference is kowtowing to...

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