What’s It Like To Be A Jew In A Room Full Of Christians A cross between a pep rally for G-d and a big group hug for Jews and the nation of Israel, Christians United for Israel’s annual conference is an uplifting, yet sobering event.

What’s it like to be a Jew in a room of 4,000 people, nearly all of them evangelical Christians? If it’s the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) annual conference, it’s pretty fantastic. A cross between a pep rally for G-d and a big group hug for Jews and the nation of Israel, the gathering is an uplifting event.

In many ways, I felt like I was among “my people.” And I say that as a practicing Jew who grew up in New York — the epicenter of the Torah Belt, if you will — surrounded by Jews and Catholics. Not until I traded Boston for Austin after college in 2000 did I begin to meet significant numbers of evangelicals.

That transition was hugely educational. Through many close friendships, I learned two important lessons: First, my evangelical friends and I have a tremendous amount in common, as people who care deeply about, and want to live according to, our faiths. Second, contrary to stereotypes I’d heard growing up in the Northeast, my evangelical friends have always respected my religious observance.

For example, I’ll never forget the evangelical boss who passionately defended my right to take off and observe Passover, when another colleague questioned the timing of my “vacation.” So, while I was technically an outsider at this conference, I felt very welcome.

‘I Love the Jews!’
The best part of visiting CUFI was not only seeing that their members (who number 3.1 million) genuinely care, but also that they love Jews and support Israel — without caveats. That’s particularly meaningful at a time when Israel’s experiencing terrorist attacks, the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has gathered strength on American college campuses, and outright expressions of anti-Semitism have multiplied in American culture at large.

As David Brog, CUFI’s (Jewish) executive director, told the crowd at one point, “We’re not here because it’s easy or popular. We’re here because we are stubborn people who believe in a G-d and a Book that tells us we have to be here.”

I suspect there may be rumblings from some of my fellow Jews at this point. So, after Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, the chief rabbi of Efrat, Israel, addressed the crowd, I asked about his storied first meeting with Pastor John Hagee, CUFI’s founder and national chairman.

Indeed, it’s “exactly true.” Rabbi Riskin confirmed he had asked whether Pastor Hagee only loved Jews so that he could convert us.

“‘No!,’ replied Pastor Hagee, ‘I love you because of Genesis 12:3. G-d says, I will bless those who bless thee, and those who curse thee, I shall curse.’ And Pastor Hagee said, ‘Rabbi, I want to be blessed, that’s why I love the Jews!’” Hagee has since impressed Riskin with his sincerity and dedication: “I have great respect for Pastor Hagee and CUFI. They are among the best friends Israel has, and I’m very grateful as a resident of Israel and as a rabbi in Israel.”

Hagee’s message of being blessed through Israel and Jews was woven throughout the event. In fact, the products showcased during a presentation about Israeli technological innovations — including ReWalk, which helps those with spinal cord injuries walk again — were explained as examples of the world’s being materially blessed through Israel.

The audience sat in rapt attention throughout, listening respectfully to speakers and periodically raising their hands in agreement. CUFI clearly attracts a dedicated crowd.

A Sense of Urgency about the Middle East
During an interview, Brog told me this year’s conference included 5,000 attendees, representing all 50 states and all but 40 congressional districts. For the majority, it’s a financial sacrifice to attend. Some “have cancelled family vacations or sold cars, because they want to come to DC at least once to stand for Israel.” Brog believes Israel was always important to evangelicals, but that 9/11 made Israel “the most prominent and urgent issue.”

It was clear across various speakers’ remarks that a deeply felt kinship with Israel goes beyond the biblical connection. The increase in domestic terrorism and widespread persecution of Christians in the Middle East have fostered a strong sense of solidarity. As Hagee explained to the crowd, “Israel’s enemies are our enemies…and that enemy is radical Islam.”

That feeling of a shared struggle echoed beyond the presentations. Outside the convention hall, organizers had assembled a display contrasting anti-Semitism in the 1930s and today, including a sample “Israeli Apartheid wall” like those displayed annually on many American college campuses.

CUFI also erected a standing memorial to all the Israeli Defense Force members lost in Operation Protective Edge, with names and biographical information. Most amazingly, there was a lengthy Remembrance Wall for Terrorism Around the World, dating back to the start of the Second Intifada. Seeing the seemingly endless list of atrocities all in one place felt overwhelming. There were photos and biographical information about all of the victims, many of them Israeli men, women, and children. It was difficult to read. But the fact that remembering all of the individual lives lost was important to the Christians at this event was an incredibly moving gesture for this Jew.

This is what friends look like. May CUFI and its members go from strength to strength.

Melissa Langsam Braunstein, a former U.S. Department of State speechwriter, is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.

Christian Zionists support for Israel Pastor Hagee: Christian Zionism Grows Regardless of Soaring Antisemitism

While anti-Semitism in Europe and anti-Zionism on U.S. college campuses are on the upswing, how is American Christian support for Israel trending? Stronger than ever, says the founder of the country’s largest pro-Israel organization.

“I can assure you that the evangelical Christians of America support Israel right now in a more aggressive mood than at any time in my lifetime,” Pastor John Hagee, national chairman of the 1.8-million member Christians United for Israel (CUFI), said in an interview with JNS.org.

Hagee’s assessment of the pulse of Christian Zionism came one day after 5,000 people attended the 33rd annual “A Night to Honor Israel” at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. CUFI’s goal is to facilitate that same program in every major U.S. city.

“We want to send the message to the world and to the Jewish people that Christians are standing up for the state of Israel and the Jewish people at home and abroad,” Hagee said. “It’s not conversation. It’s action.”

At Sunday’s event in San Antonio, that action was the distribution of more than $2.8 million in donations to Israeli and Jewish charities by John Hagee Ministries. The causes included: Afikim Family Enrichment Association, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Avukat Or, Bikur V’Ezras Cholim, Forum for Christian Enlistment, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, Heart of Benjamin, International Council of Young Israel, Israel Help and Education Center at Kiryat Gat, Jewish Agency for Israel, Just One Life, Kefar Tsevi Sitrin, Koby Mandell Foundation, Magen David Adom, Meir Panim, Nahal Haredi, Nefesh B’Nefesh, Netanya Academic College, Ohr Torah Stone, Or L’Doron, Save a Child’s Heart, Shurat Hadin, Western Galilee Hospital, Women’s International Zionist Organization, World ORT, and Yad Vashem.

The Western Galilee Hospital is a Jewish hospital run by an Arab Christian that treats Syrian refugees—covering “all the bases in one shot,” said Hagee, who sought to address public misconceptions that Hagee Ministries focuses on political rather than humanitarian philanthropy.

“There are people who themselves have political agendas that they’re trying to drive, and they’re trying to do and say anything they can to ridicule what we do so that they can prove their bias is the correct position,” he said. “But no one can look at the millions of dollars that we have given to Israel and call it anything but humanitarian. … You look at that list of donors [from Sunday’s event] and it’s hard to say, ‘That’s not humanitarian.’”

But while Hagee Ministries focuses on faith and philanthropy, CUFI’s mission is different: education and advocacy. Participants of the organization’s annual Washington Summit visit their local U.S. Senate and House of Representatives members to urge the support of Israel. Hagee cited those lobbying efforts as an example of Christian pro-Israel advocacy that adds value to what the Jewish community is already bringing to the table, since members of Congress are “not accustomed to gentiles coming in their office, 75 or 80 of them from their district.”

“Whenever those kinds of numbers come from your district and say, ‘We are here to express our support for Israel and we are watching what Congress does with regarding to this specific thing, because this is great concern to us’—when the numbers are enough it becomes of great concern to every person running for election,” Hagee said.

When it comes to current pro-Israel causes, addressing the Iranian nuclear threat is at the forefront of the evangelical Christian community’s thinking.

“We’re all sitting on pins and needles, before November 24th, waiting for the decision [in negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 powers] to come down on Iran’s nuclear bomb efforts, and we all have this deep concern that it’s going to be a negative decision as far as Israel is concerned,” said Hagee. “[We fear that] America will once again be very conciliatory to Iran, and let them go forward with their maniacal nuclear plans.”

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer echoed Hagee’s sentiment on Iran during his remarks at Sunday night’s event in San Antonio.

“Folks, I don’t know if there will be a deal with Iran next month, but Israel is very concerned,” Dermer said. “We’re concerned because a year ago, some hoped that the tough sanctions regime on Iran would only be dismantled if Iran’s nuclear weapons program was dismantled. Today, the international community is prepared to make a deal that would suspend and ultimately lift the sanctions. But no one is talking about dismantling Iran’s nuclear weapons program anymore.”

Addressing the rise of the Islamic State terror group—a threat he said “would pale in comparison” to Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon—Dermer noted the ongoing persecution of ancient Christian communities and other minority groups in the Middle East.

“Kurds and Yazidis are hunted down and sold into slavery in the 21st century,” he said. “Militant Sunni and militant Shi’a [Muslims] massacre each other and even their own if their subjects don’t heed their unforgiving creed.”

Hagee told JNS.org that Christian Zionists see the Islamic State threat within the context of the historical persecution of Jews.

“ISIS (Islamic State) murdering Christians and decapitating children is one of the most extreme forms of terror that we have seen in our lifetime, but as far as Christians supporting Israel is concerned, we see it just as a continuum of the terrorist organizations that have been formed over the years that have a covenant to kill every Jewish person on the face of the earth,” he said, citing Hamas and Hezbollah as well as their state funder, Iran.

Popular radio talk show host and author Dennis Prager made a similar point on Sunday, telling the crowd at Cornerstone Church that no matter who is being persecuted, understanding the battle against evil is about “understanding the Jews’ role.”

“How people regard Israel is a litmus test of their whole values system,” Prager said. “Do they resent that which works, that which is healthy, that which is productive?… Evil focuses on the Jews. Period. Jew-haters are the world’s evil group. There are no wonderful people who happen to hate Jews. Those who hate Jews are announcing, is if they wore a button, ‘Hello, I’m evil.’ That is the way it is. … The Jews carry the burden of God in history. Even Jewish atheists, even Jews who hate being Jews, even Jews who hate Israel—the anti-Semite doesn’t distinguish. Zionists went into gas chambers, anti-Zionists went into gas chambers, Orthodox Jews went into gas chambers, and atheist Jews went into gas chambers. They don’t care—it’s a Jew. The Jew is the embodiment and representation of God on this earth, whether they like it or not.”

Prager described a “civil war” within Christendom between left-wing groups like Presbyterian Church USA, which last July approved a boycott of Israel at its biennial general assembly, and right-wing elements whose replacement theology argues that Jews are no longer God’s chosen people. But CUFI is “the Christian center,” Prager told the crowd.

“There’s nothing wrong with being right-wing, but you’re not,” he said. “In Christendom, you are truly the center. Because there is a right wing that you are fighting just as much [as the left]. … this is Christians united not just for Israel, but for the integrity—‘I’ is for integrity—of Christianity. You are fighting a fight within and without, and God bless you for doing so, because we need you to win. If you lose, it’s over, for the U.S. and for much of the world.”

26 Israeli Charities that Received $2.7 Million from Hagee Ministries

Pastor John Hagee‘s 32nd annual “Night to Honor Israel” was held on October 27, 2013 in the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas.  The 5,000 person sanctuary was filled to capacity with not only Evangelical Christians, but Jews from Israel representing 26 charities that received over $2.7 million in donations. 
Over the years, Hagee Ministries has blessed Israel with over $80 million in humanitarian aid which has greatly benefited the people of Israel.  The complete footage of the 2013 “Night to Honor Israel” is available  here.

 

http://loveforhispeople.blogspot.com/2013/11/26-israeli-charities-that-received-27.html

26. Friends of the Israel Defense Forces 

$50,000 for the care of fallen soldier’s families presented to Scott Kammerman

25. Hadadi Center for Breast Cancer Survivors

$50,000  for the emotional and social support given to breast cancer survivors presented to Aliza Herbst

24. Heart of Benjamin – CFOIC

$50,000 for children with Down Syndrome presented to Sandra Baras

23. Israel Help and Educational Center at Kiryat Gat

$50,000 for services for families at risk presented to Rivka Lennon Zamanov

22. Koby Mandell Foundation

$50,000 for services for victims of terror and trauma presented to Rabbi Seth Mandell

21. Meir Panim

$50,000 for the fight against hunger and poverty in Israel presented to David Birnbaum

20. Migdal Ohr

$50,000 for the orphanage in Israel presented to Steven Finkelman

19. Nahal Haredi

$50,000 for the acculturation of Haredi soldiers into the IDF presented to Rabbi Tzvi Klebanow

18. Or L’doron

$50,000 for the educaiton of Ethiopian immigrants presented to Rabbi Michael Cytrin

17. The Herzl Institute in Jerusalem

$50,000 for the young leadership seminars presented to Dr. Yoram Hazony

16. WIZO – Women’s International Zionist Organization

$50,000 for the support of operations for education and welfare projects and services presented to Mercedes Ivcher

15. Afikim Family Enrichment Association

$75,000 for enrichment centers for at-risk families presented to Moshe Lefkowitz

14. Eretz Nehederet

$75,000 for Jewish awareness programs for the IDF by Linda Olmert

13. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

$100,000 for the support of Holocaust survivors presented to Michael Novak

12. Avukot Or

$100,000 for the support of blind young adults with severe physical disabilities presented to Abe Tessler

11. Bikur V’ezras Cholim

$100,000 for the home for developmentally challenged adults presented to Chesky Fuchs

10. The International Council of Young Israel

$100,000 for Jewish enrichment for hearing impaired children presented to Harris Burg

9. Just One Life

$100,000 for the support and counseling of pregnant women presented to Rabbi Etan Tokayer

8. World Ort

$100,000 for vocational training for Ethiopian immigrants presented to Howard Feinberg

7. Yad Vashem

$100,000 for support for the “Righteous Among Nations” program presented to Shaya Ben-Yehuda

6. Save a Child’s Heart

$125,000 for pediatric intensive care services presented to David Litwack

5. Netanya Academic Collage

$150,000 for the integration of new immigrants through higher education and assistance into the workforce presented to Dr. David Altman

4. Ohr Torah Stone’s Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation

$150,000 for the creation of a more positive relations between Jews and Christians presented to David Nekrutman

3. Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center

$150,000 for the Israeli-based civil rights organization which combats terrorist organizations through lawsuits presented to Nitzana-Darshan Leitner

2. The Jewish Agency for Israel

$250,000 for absorption and youth centers for new immigrants presented to Shai Lamdan

1. Nefesh B’Nefesh

$500,000 for the revitalization of Aliyah by helping American-Jewish professionals achieve their dreams of living in Israel presented to Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart

Christians rally in support of Israel, Jewish people

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, delivers the keynote speech during "A Night to Honor Israel," Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. Photo: Darren Abate, Darren Abate/For The Express-New / SA

Pastor John Hagee took the stage of his megachurch Sunday night with his 5,000-seat worship center nearly packed for what has become his signature event, a rally with speeches and music to express Christian support for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people.

With rabbis, Christian ministers and Israeli leaders in ample supply, the atmosphere highlighted the fervor of Christian Zionists whose cause has re-intensified through Hagee's initiatives in recent years.

He founded Christians United for Israel six years ago, declaring the issue of Israel as singularly critical to the future agenda of evangelical Christians. Today, he counts more than 1 million members in the nonprofit organization, which lobbies federal lawmakers and has gradually secured support from much of the U.S. Jewish community.

Sunday's “Night to Honor Israel” marked the 31st year for the noted TV evangelist to hold this event at Cornerstone Church on the North Side. And as in past years, the event brought out a mix of theological and political one-liners: The Bible mandates the defense of Israel as a Jewish homeland and the U.S.-Israeli bond gives the world its greatest chance at stability and peace in the Middle East.

“The day America turns its back on Israel, that day God will turn his back on the United States of America,” Hagee told the audience.

Some waved U.S. and Israeli flags, cheering and clapping at the frequent calls for rejecting candidates for U.S. office who haven't held Israel's enemies — especially Iran — accountable for seeking the nation's destruction.

“This year, O Lord, help America choose the candidate who seems most likely to stop Iran,” said San Antonio Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg, in the invocation.

The national anthems for both countries were sung along with a variety of Israeli-inspired songs paying tribute to the land as historically belonging to the Jewish people and Jerusalem as a God-ordained capital city.

Toward the end of the night, it was announced that nearly $3 million was given to Jewish and Israeli charities, adding to Hagee's long record of raising funds for such causes.

Such donations and commitment to seek favorable political leadership are reasons to hope, said Meir Shlomo, consul general of Israel to the Southwest.

“We all know you have our back covered,” he said, prompting a prolonged standing ovation.

Understanding Christian Zionism By John Hagee

On Feb. 6, 2006, I invited 400 evangelical leaders to Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. I invited presidents of Christian universities, owners of radio/television networks, presidents and owners of publishing companies, major pastors and the prominent television personalities.

Our historic meeting had a one-item agenda: create a national grassroots Christian Zionist organization that would unite millions of evangelicals to stand up and speak up for Israel. For years, I had spoken at churches all over the country about the Biblical basis for Christian support of Israel. I knew that through their own Biblical studies, millions of Christians had come to understand that we have a religious and ethical obligation to stand with the Jewish people. My hope was that in creating this organization we could unite these individuals and speak with one thunderous voice in support of Israel.

Before the meeting, I confided in Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg – my friend of 30 years – that I was unsure if any of the pastors would agree to join this new organization. The first rule of the organization would be that we would go to Washington, D.C. annually to educate our people and to engage the members of Congress with our absolute solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people. We were a one-issue organization: Israel!

To my surprise, all 400 pastors agreed to join the effort, and Christians United For Israel was born. Though I viewed this moment as miraculous (if you disagree, try getting 400 pastors to agree on anything), I could not even dream of what CUFI would become.

Today, we have more than 1.1 million members; we hold an average of 40 pro-Israel events in cities and towns across America every month; we meet in Washington every year to remind our elected officials that there are Christians who stand with Israel. We have been welcomed with open arms by the American Jewish community and successive Israeli governments (regardless of party).

In spite of how dramatically the organization has grown and the extent to which we have been welcomed in mainstream American and Israeli political circles, there are many who do not understand the phenomenon. Why would Christians support the Jewish state?

To quote one of our CUFI On Campus student leaders, “I support Israel because I am a Christian.” Christian Zionists do not believe that God’s covenant with the Jewish people has been replaced by Christianity. Quite the contrary. We recognize that our faith would not exist were it not for Judaism. The first family of Christianity, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and all the disciples, were Jewish. Christianity owes a debt of gratitude to the Jewish faith, and we have been commanded to stand with our Jewish brethren. Yet for centuries some of the greatest atrocities against the Jewish people were committed by Christians, in the name of Christianity.

Genesis 12:3 explains that God will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse her. Has this not come to pass? Israel is a prosperous nation - in spite of being surrounded by tyrannical enemies who wish her destruction. And the U.S., Israel’s primary ally? Have we not thrived as a nation since recognizing Israel’s independence minutes after it was declared? We have our ups and our downs, but on our worst day, we are still the envy of all the earth.

Christian support for Israel is the product of Christians reading their Bible and rightly concluding that it is a Zionist document. Upon this foundation has been built a modern understanding of Israel’s history, and recognition that Israelis and Americans share the same democratic values.

CUFI is the largest pro-Israel organization in the country and among the largest Christian grassroots movements in the U.S. Support for Israel is not just an issue for Christians; it is our primary foreign policy focus. When we set out to form CUFI we had a simple mantra: we will awaken the sleeping giant of Christian Zionism. Ask any member of Congress – it is wide awake.

Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, is the author of “The Power of the Prophetic Blessing.”

John Hagee in LA: Christian pastor with a Zionist message

It’s become a standard part of John Hagee’s stump speech, the story of how the evangelical pastor and founder of the 1.2 million-member Christians United For Israel (CUFI) first got started on the path of Israel advocacy.

It began with a trip to the Holy Land in 1978 — “I went to Israel as a tourist and came back a Zionist,” Hagee told the mostly Christian crowd of more than 1,000 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills on Aug. 26. And then grew into something bigger with the Israeli airstrike that destroyed the nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981.

“Israel has done the world a favor, and they should be complimented, not criticized,” Hagee said, recalling his reaction to the negative media coverage that followed the Israeli preemptive strike.

That was the inspiration for the first “Night to Honor Israel,” held in 1982 in Hagee’s hometown of San Antonio. He founded CUFI in 2006; today the rapidly growing organization stages about 40 “Night to Honor Israel” events every month in cities around the United States.

In some cases, the events amount to infusing a regular midweek religious service at a local church with a pro-Israel agenda. But at the Saban, CUFI staged its first “Night to Honor Israel” to take place in a non-church venue in Los Angeles, precisely at a time when Israel might be poised to, as Hagee would call it, do the world another favor.

Consul General of Israeli in Los Angeles David Siegel also spoke: “Iran today represents the genocidal hunter, they are on the prowl and they are calling for the destruction of my people, day in and day out,” Siegel told the crowd. “And after 20 years of trying to deal with this diplomatically, it is time to say, enough.”

Last month, Hagee told The Journal’s senior political editor Shmuel Rosner that he is not satisfied with the United States’ current regime of sanctions against Iran; from the audience’s applause, it appeared Hagee’s supporters in Los Angeles found his tougher stance — which is more closely aligned with that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s — more to their liking.

What the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — a lobby singularly dedicated to supporting Israel — is to the American Jewish community, CUFI aims to be for American evangelicals. But while AIPAC pledges to support the policies of any Israeli government in power, regardless of party, and aims to ensure its support for Israel is as bipartisan as possible, it’s hard to make the same case about CUFI.

For one, Hagee’s vision of Israel’s boundaries does not envision a future Palestinian state.

“God is angry with every nation that does anything to divide the land of Israel; that includes the United States of America,” Hagee said, outlining a vision of Greater Israel counter to the policies of Israel and the United States.

The pastor’s position is even more uncompromising on the matter of Jerusalem.

“President Obama told the Jewish people in Jerusalem they could not build homes in East Jerusalem,” Hagee said. “The truth is, Barack Obama has absolutely no authority to tell the Jewish people what they can and cannot do.”

When the applause from the crowd died down, Hagee continued. “Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel for the past 3,000 years. That’s before Barack Obama was a community organizer in Chicago.”

With anti-Obama flourishes like that — not to mention off-handed calls to defund the United Nations — it’s hardly surprising to find that Hagee has Republican fans.

“I was amazed and impressed,” Ron Plotkin, a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s board of directors, said as he left the Saban Theatre. “I had heard some great things about [Pastor Hagee]; he lived up to all the expectations.”

Having Jews in the audience at CUFI events is of the utmost importance to this organization, which has taken pains to try to reassure Jews that they do not seek to convert them to Christianity.

The members of CUFI, inspired by the passage in Genesis in which God tells Abraham “those who bless you will be blessed, those who curse you will be cursed,” appear genuinely to want to stand with Israel and the Jewish people.

To that end, CUFI has set up more than 100 campus chapters at colleges and universities across the country, in an effort to “level the playing field,” Randy Neal, CUFI’s western coordinator, said. All the money collected at Sunday’s event was directed to CUFI’s efforts to reach out to college students and impact the debate over Israel on American campuses.

“If they’re going to put a fake apartheid wall up on the quad, then we’re going to put a faux Western Wall up on the quad,” Neal said. “And instead of putting prayers on the wall, we’re going to put up signs that show the incredible contributions that Israel’s made to the international community.”

Neal mentioned Israeli contributions ranging from “agriculture, technology, communication, medical, environment, energy,” but his reference to the Western Wall is telling, as that location clearly holds pride of place, not just in the Jewish psyche, but for CUFI as well.

Hagee calls the Western Wall one of his favorite places in Israel, and one of the few videos shown at the event that featured views of Israel — it played near the middle of the evening, as ushers walked the aisles with silver plastic buckets in their hands ready to collect donation envelopes — made generous use of shots of the Western Wall.

As a Christian rock band on stage played the theme song from the film “Exodus” (“This land is mine / God gave this land to me”), the screen displayed Jewish men at the wall swaying and praying in prayer shawls. They lifted Sephardic Torahs and shook their lulavs.

The scenes at the wall were, as it turned out, the primary representation of contemporary Israel in the video. Most of the rest of its footage had been pieced together from black-and-white reels that appeared to be at least 50 years old, showing haggard-looking Jews kissing the earth and, immediately after, folk-dancing Israelis, moving at the slightly sped-up pace of old-style newsreels.

Here's a speech by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Mn) in which she demolishes the Obama administration for its support of the Muslim Brotherhood against Israel and the United States.

Bachmann Takes Off Gloves on Obama at CUFI Summit Michele Bachmann, former Republican presidential contender challenged President Barack Obama's record on Israel.

Michele Bachmann, former Republican presidential contender and representative of Minnesota's 6th congressional district, challenged President Barack Obama's record on Israel during her keynote address at the 7th annual Christians United for Israel (CUFI) national summit inWashington, DC. Her address took place on Tuesday evening, July 17th at the organization's "Night to Honor Israel" program.

Speaking to an audience of over 5000 at the Washington Convention Center, Bachmann underscored that the threats to Israel's survival are radical Islam, the escalating nuclear agenda of Iran and the adversarial treatment of Israel by the current US administration.

"Israel lives in a very tough neighborhood and this is precisely why Christians must stand with Israel," she declared, castigating Obama for inviting Egypt's new president Mohammed Morsi to the White House and for his "embrace" of the Muslim Brotherhood parliament of Egypt and reminding him that "the goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is the demise of America."

Quoting Morsi on Jerusalem, she said to thunderous applause, "He wants Jerusalem to be the next capital of Egypt and we tell that the world, that never, ever will the eternal capital of the Jewish people become the capital of Egypt."

Taking President Obama to task for "demonstrating weakness on the Iranian nuclear issue", Bachmann said, "I would remind you that in 2008, when Iran was well on its way to building a nuclear arsenal, our president agreed to engage in face-to-face negotiations with them without any preconditions. In his speech in Cairo, the president said that Iran should have peaceful use of nuclear power. We must never countenance a nuclear Iran."

With regard to Ahmadenijad, Bachmann said, "If we've learned anything over the last 100 years, it is that when a madman threatens the annihilation of the Jewish people, we have to listen to him, to pay attention and to take action."

"This is the first administration since Israel's re-birth in 1948 that has not supported Israel unwaveringly," observed Bachmann. "Israel must be respected and America has willingly emboldened the Palestinians by pledging support to Hamas. Article 7 of the Hamas constitution calls for the murder of all Jews. The Palestinian Authority must renounce terrorism and until such time, we should stop sending them US taxpayermoney,".

Bachmann, quoted from the book of Genesis when she said, "G-d blesses those who bless Israel and curses those who curse Israel." Reminding her audience of Moses sending spies to the land of Israel while the Jewish nation was in the desert of Sinai, she said, "10 men scouted out the land and came back with reports of giants and ferocious conditions and attempted to dissuade Moses from leading the people into this land. They said they felt like grasshoppers next to the giants and they were utterly defeated. It took two men, Joshua and Caleb to say 'we can do it'; we must be strong and courageous just like them."

Pastor John Hagee CUFI '11 speech: "Save Israel & America from Obama"

Pastor Hagee debunks allegations of Jewish "occupation" of Palestine- articulating support for Zionistic activism- to protect Israel, the historic Jewish homeland from poltical Islamism - and Pres.Obama's agenda's to prematurely divide Israel to create a hostile Palestinian Muslim state.

Hagee Says Dividing Israel Is Not God's Will

The new year has just begun but Pastor John Hagee, arguably the most vocal and controversial Christian Zionist in the nation, has already proclaimed that it is not God’s plan to divide Israel, implicitly calling into question the two-state solution that would create a Palestinian state.
In a Christians United for Israel webcast Thursday, Hagee cited several Old Testament verses to support his claim that God made an everlasting covenant with the Jewish people regarding their promised land. He pointed to Genesis 13:14-17, which says in part, “The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.”
Other verses he highlighted include Genesis 17:7-8, in which God says He will establish an “everlasting covenant” with Abraham, Psalm 89:28-36, and Genesis 15:18-21, which Hagee says describes the location of the land God gave to the Israelites.
“Jerusalem should never be divided for any reason. It is the property of the people of Israel. The president of the United States has no authority to tell the people of Israel what they can and cannot do with the city of Jerusalem,” said Hagee, who is also the founding pastor of the 19,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, in the CUFI webcast. “God did not make a covenant with Washington, D.C. He made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that covenant stands. It is still the covenant.”
But Dr. Richard J. Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., disagrees. He told The Christian Post that it is true that the earliest promises God gave about the future of the people in the Middle East were to Abraham and that God made a special covenant with Isaac and his descendants. But God also promised Abraham that He will “bless” his other son, Ishmael, the father of the Arab peoples, and make him “fruitful and exceedingly numerous” in Genesis 17:20.
“We have an obligation today to honor that promise of blessing as well,” stated Mouw.
The respected theologian also said people should not quote God’s ancient promises to the people of Israel regarding their land without noting His concern about how they use that land. The Old Testament prophets, said Mouw, were clear that God will not bless Israel if she does not practice justice toward her neighbors and the oppressed peoples within her border.
“If we care deeply about Israel’s well-being – and I do care about that – we do Israel no favors by not encouraging Israel’s leaders to practice justice and righteousness.”
Similarly, Pastor Joel C. Hunter of Northland, A Church Distributed near Orlando, Fla., disagrees with Hagee’s interpretation of the modern land of Israel.
Hunter, who is on the board of the National Association of Evangelicals and the World Evangelical Alliance, said Hagee’s view represents “a limited portion of Christians who are millennial dispensationalists in their theology,” or those who believe that the nation of Israel is distinct from the Church and that God has yet to fulfill His promises to national Israel. The promises include giving Israel the land that will be the setting for a millennial kingdom where Christ, in his second coming, will rule the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years.
During the webcast, Hagee said the church and Israel are distinct and that Jesus will return as a Jew and speak Hebrew.
“The current government (Israel) and the surveys of Israel’s population, have called for a two-state solution, as have all of the United State’s administrations dating back to at least Ronald Reagan,” said Hunter to The Christian Post. “It is not a matter of replacing Israel; it is a matter of interpreting Scripture in a broader sense than literalism.”
Both Mouw and Hunter were among a group of 34 evangelical leaders who signed a letter in 2007 that supported President George W. Bush’s Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts that emphasized support for a two-state solution. The letter acknowledged that both Israelis and Palestinians have rights to the disputed land. Signers of the letter said they wanted to rectify the “serious misconception” that all American evangelicals are against the two-state solution and the creation of a new Palestinian state.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” they stated in the letter that was published in the New York Times in July 2007. “We, who sign this letter, represent large numbers of evangelicals throughout the U.S. who support justice for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
In the webcast, Hagee did not explicitly mention the two-state solution, but he has not hidden his misgivings about land-for-peace formulas in the past, causing many to come to the conclusion that he is against the peace deal that would create a Palestinian state. But Hagee maintains in a May 2010 op-ed in The Forward that he and CUFI has “never, and will never, oppose Israeli efforts to advance peace,” but clarified that he is against international, including U.S., pressure on Israel to give up land in the peace process.
Currently, the Israel and Palestinian peace process is in an impasse given the Palestinian leadership’s refusal to talk directly to Israel. Negotiations broke down three months ago when Israel refused to extend a moratorium that restricted Israeli settlement building in the West Bank. Palestinian leadership said Wednesday it was looking into other options to gain recognition of a Palestinian state besides direct talks with Israel, including gaining recognition from U.N. member states.
The Israel-Palestinian peace negotiation has been ongoing, with numerous stalls, for the past 17 years since the Oslo accords of 1993.
Correction:  Monday, January 10, 2011:
An article on Friday, January 7, 2011, about Pastor John Hagee’s interpretation of the Bible regarding God’s covenant with the Jewish people and the land of Israel incorrectly reported that Hagee denounced any peace process that involves dividing the land of Israel. Hagee did not explicitly denounce a two-state solution peace process. He has openly expressed skepticism about a land-for-peace deal, but believes the Israeli government has the right to make its own decisions for the peace process, according to CUFI spokesman Ari Morgenstern.

Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter

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Copyright © Christianpost.com. All rights reserved.

Christians gather to lend support to Israel

More than 5,000 Christians, many evangelical, from across America have gathered in Washington D.C. for a summit designed to show support for the nation of Israel.
The annual conference of the group Christians United For Israel (CUFI) began on Monday and concluded Wednesday in Washington.
Pastor John Hagee, the founder of CUFI, was among the prominent evangelicals who spoke at the event.
The summit reached a fever pitch Tuesday night when Hagee and keynote speaker Glenn Beck addressed the audience. Hagee told delegates that the United States should not have any part in dividing Israel, or the city of Jerusalem.
“If our government forces Israel to divide Jerusalem you can mark that day as the day that God will turn his back on the United States of America,” Hagee told the crowd. “We gathered here with one message: Israel today, Israel tomorrow, and Israel forever.”
The summit comes amidst increasing criticism in some corners during recent months that President Obama's stance towards Israel has weakened relations. Particularly, Obama's call for a return to Isreal's 1967 borders as a starting point in peace negotiations angered some, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Last week, former New York Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat, said Jews should vote for the Republican candidate in a special election to fill former Rep. Anthony Weiner's seat as a way to send “a shot across President Obama's bow” regarding his stance toward Israel.
By far drawing the most enthused reaction of the evening, Beck told the audience that “Jews have been chased out of every corner of this planet" and that any new Palestinian state that may be created should not come at the expense of Israel.
Netanyahu appeared via satellite to address the conference as well, telling attendees that the values of the United States and Israel are the same.
“Our enemies think that we are you, and that you are us,” said Netanyahu. “And you know something? They are absolutely right.”

Bryan Yurcan
Christian Post Contributor

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Copyright © Christianpost.com. All rights reserved.

CUFI 2010 Washington Summit Highlights

Pilgrims fill Jerusalem's streets A surge in the number of Christian pilgrims visiting Jerusalem is breathing new life into the holy city

Christian pilgrims are now so numerous in the Old City of Jerusalem that this ancient metropolis seems to becoming for Christians what Mecca is to Muslims. They are arriving in record numbers.

"October saw the greatest number of Christian tourists here for 30 years," said a hotel manager at Jaffa Gate. "Since the end of September we have been bursting at the seams. People have been waiting in queues for up to three hours in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to enter the Tomb of Christ."

One guide predicted that a total of a million and a half Christians will have crowded down the Old City's narrow dark alleys this year. A similar tourist buoyancy is seen all over Israel. Visitors to the state have risen 30% with a total of 3.2 million predicted for 2010.

In Jerusalem, Israel is seizing the business benefits and planning to boost numbers. It's a move that the churches are embracing with joy. However, whether many local Arab Christians will profit directly from the tourist cash is doubtful. Most of the olive wood crosses, effigies of the Virgin Mary, rosary beads and souvenirs in Christian Quarter Road are sold by Muslims. The 7,000 Arab Christians living within the crenellated walls are outnumbered by 25,000 Muslims.

Amidst the spires and minarets more than the call of the muezzin competes with the ringing of church bells. Muslims now make up 25% of the residents in the historic Christian Quarter, while the shops and offices are 90% Muslim. A similar imbalance is seen in the Christian schools run by the churches where around two-thirds of the students are Muslim.

Palestinian businessmen are hoping that the severe shortage of hotel rooms will result in new Arab hotels. One Muslim lawyer complained, "Since 1967 new licences have been granted solely to Jews in East Jerusalem. Existing Arab hotels, hospices and hostels have only been allowed to renovate, revamp and expand."

But not all are convinced that the increase in tourism is beneficial. Traffic on roads leading into Jerusalem is slowed down by huge tourist coaches; at certain times of the day on the Via Dolorosa it is impossible to walk, especially when large prayer groups pause to worship at each of the 14 Stations of the Cross; up to 30 coaches are parked some mornings on the Jericho Road near the Garden of Gethsemane.

"Surging crowds are sometimes so dense that Israel needs to introduce one-way streets for pedestrians," said Father George Kraj who runs the Christian Information Centre and Pilgrim Mass Booking Agency opposite the Tower of David.

However, as many Protestants point out to Catholics, there is nothing in the New Testament directing followers of Jesus to take pilgrimages. This contrasts with Islam and Judaism. The Qur'an states that it is a duty of the followers of Islam to make a hajj; the Books of Exodus and Deuteronomy order Jewish males to make journeys annually to the Temple.

Father George rationalises that as Catholics follow both Scripture and tradition, Christians inherited the Jewish practice of pilgrimage. With passion he added, "We can all follow the example of Jesus's pilgrimage to Jerusalem!"

My suggestion that Christians should find salvation within themselves, not in places, brought a swift rebuttal. Pilgrimages, he argued, were only absent from the New Testament because, by the time that pen was put to papyrus, the Romans had destroyed Jerusalem: "Landmarks were flattened, Jews were banned from the city – and the early Christians were mostly Jews."

Whatever the perception of pilgrimage little has inhibited Christians from coming to Jerusalem. A few centuries after the Crusades, Geoffrey Chaucer showed the popularity of Jerusalem as a destination by describing the lusty Wife of Bath in his Canterbury Tales, travelling there no less than three times.

The Reformation, though, was fierce in its discouragement of pilgrimages. Nonconformists were exhorted to find the heavenly Jerusalem and not seek its rival, the earthly Jerusalem. Pilgrimages to shrines, along with penances, confession, rosaries and relics, are deeply rooted in what divided the churches after the Reformation. Paradoxically, it was not a Catholic, but a devout nonconformist, Thomas Cook, who started biblical package tours in the late 19th century. He enthusiastically brought the largest number of tourists – most with a bible in their hands and a prayer on their lips – to the Holy Land since the Crusades. Today, like Cook, many Evangelical tourists could be described as pilgrims but, dismissing the very concept, call themselves "religious tourists".

Apart from the present relative peace in the area, what is less clear is the cause of the sudden increase in religiously motivated tourism to the holy city. Most who are asked include the word "spiritual" in their answer. The more sceptical, though, partly attribute the increase to advertising and marketing.

African-American pastor inspires Jews with moral and spiritual encouragement to stand-up for the Jewish Israel Rev. Dr. DeeDee Coleman, Pastor of Detroit's Russell Street Missionary Baptist Church addresses AIPAC Policy Conference with reminders of moral and religious reasons for supporting Israel.

The Pastor of Detroit's Russell Street Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. DeeDee Coleman, shares her views about Christian people's obligations to be supportive towards Israel and the jeopardy that Obama's attitudes and policies towards Israel are bringing upon America.

New York Board of Rabbis Human Chain in Protest at United Nations

A post with pictures is at
http://vigilantsquirrelbrigade.blogsp...

On TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2010 @ 9:45 AM
(at the SOUTHWEST CORNER OF 40TH & 1ST AVENUE)

The New York Board of Rabbis (NYBR) gathered at 1st Avenue and 40th street to protest the President of Iran . They gathered at the UN to protest and to voice their condemnation of the madman of Tehran, Mahmud Ahmadinejad being granted a platform at the United Nations.

The Rabbis were joined by the Inter-Faith Community and formed a Human Link Across First Avenue in Protest

The New York Board of Rabbis (NYBR), is the largest interdenominational
rabbinic body in the world representing over 700 Rabbis from the New York
metropolitan area .
Members of the Interfaith community participated as well.

After linking arms and forming a chain to block 1st Avenue in
protest the police then asked them to leave the street or they would be arrested. With the blowing of the shofar, they willingly and respectfully cleared 1st Avenue.

Prosecute Ahmadinejad:

Senator Joseph Lieberman, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Pastor John Hagee, Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz and Malcolm Hoenlien of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations come together to urge people to sign the Christians United for Israel petition calling for Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be prosecuted for the crime of incitement to genocide. http://cufi.org/Petition

Can America Survive?: 10 Prophetic Signs That We Are The Terminal Generation (gripping and beyond riveting)

This new book by New York Times best-selling author and pastor, John Hagee, says the United States is heading into a "Perfect Storm." Titanic. John F. Kennedy's assassination. 9/11. John Hagee maintains that these American tragedies all have one element in common: they were unthinkable. And in the opening pages of his newest book, Can America Survive? Hagee uses these tragedies to prove two points: that the unthinkable can happen and, given the right conditions, the unthinkable can quickly become the inevitable. 

In Can America Survive? Hagee asserts that the seeds for tragedy are once again being sown, evidenced by the disturbing economic, geopolitical, and religious trends that now threaten to dismantle the very nation itself. "Think it can't happen?" Hagee asks in a theme repeated throughout the book. "Think again." Indeed, Hagee presents alarming examples of recent events, current research, scientific evidence, and biblical prophecy that are gathering to create a "perfect storm" that could bring down the "unsinkable" United States of America including:

• The U.S.'s negligent handling of Israel, and history's evidence of the danger to any nation that challenges Israel's God-mandated right to exist
• The dangerous belittling of Iran's nuclear threat by careless spy agencies—and the super-weapon that could stop the U.S. in its tracks instantly
• The chilling biblical prophecy that confirms Iran as one of six countries that will form an Islamic military force "as a cloud to cover the land"
• The real $2.5 trillion price tag of healthcare reform, the international currency shifts, and the national economic trends that are poised to bring about the death of the American dollar
• The criminalization of Christianity around the world;

Can America Survive? is not just a warning. It is a wake-up call and a rallying cry to Christian citizens everywhere to prevent the next unthinkable American disaster. After all, as Hagee points out, "those who do not remember the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them in the future." Think it can't happen? Think again.