munaeem | 19 May, 2007 17:45
com
The recent death of Jerry Falwell can serve as an opportunity to
reflect on the growing Christian Zionist (CZ) movement and how such a
movement is related to other establishment pro-Israel groups such as
The David Project, ADL and AIPAC. To be clear, there is a Faustian
bargain being forged, for short term political and financial gain,
Israel and the American Jewish establishment are willing to engage
with people such as John Hagee of the Christians United for Israel
(CUFI) "who is contemptuous of Muslims, dismissive of gays, possesses
a triumphalist theology and opposes a two-state solution to the
Arab-Israeli conflict."
This bargain also entails muzzling - American Jewish leaders who have
been critical of CUFI sponsored local "Nights to Honor Israel" say
they have been pressured into silence.
"The pressure has been enormous," said a prominent Jewish leader
who said he was contacted by local community officials after he raised
questions about a local Christians United For Israel (CUFI) event. "I
can't even talk about it now; I feel a real sense of intimidation
because people in our own community are saying I'm opposing something
that's good for Israel, that I'm hurting Israel."
In terms of Falwell specifically, although their relationship has not
been seamless, Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League has called
Falwell a "towering figure of the religious right" and a "dear friend
of Israel."
The fly in the ointment, beyond the occasional "oopsy" anti-Semitic
utterances, eg, "the antichrist is probably a Jewish man alive today,"
(condemned by Foxman of the ADL), is that the relationship between the
Christian Zionists (like Falwell, Pat Robertson and Hagee) and Jews is
roughly that of Germany to the Soviet Union before Germany invaded its
ally. Christian Zionists believe that as one large piece of the
Apocalypse endgame, a unified Jewish state must exist over all of what
is now Israel and Palestine and that a new temple must be built on
temple mount. The important take home point is that within the
framework of Christian Zionist belief is the notion that at the time
of Christ's second coming, Jews will be offered a choice to convert to
Christianity or immediately be condemned to hell or some reasonable
facsimile.
Although this might give some Jewish/Isreali individuals and
organizations pause, these would not be Bebe Netanyahu (who has
publicly been seen "conferring" with Falwell) or AIPAC or the David
Project. Indeed, The David Project is working closely with CUFI in
order to develop campus outreach training programs throughout the
country, of which, Cal State Bakersfield is the first. The David
project takes this so seriously that they actually have a Christian
outreach manager that is helping with educational materials. The
Jerusalem Post following suit has just inaugurated a new website, The
Jerusalem Post Christian Edition. And the Israeli tourism agency
regularly advertises on Christian right radio stations.
Notwithstanding concern expressed within and without the Jewish
community on the ultimate goal of such CZs (such as the deep seated
anti-Semitism inherent in such a religious world view),
"The State of Israel finds the Christian community an important
base of support, and we cooperate with them on many projects," said
David Saranga, Israel's consul for media and public affairs in New York.
One needs to ask what kind of friends these CZs actually are. When
Sharon unilaterally pulled out of Gaza, notwithstanding the myriad
complexities and negatives of the action, it was Pat Robertson who
warned that letting any area of the ancient land of Israel go would
incur God's wrath and that Sharon's stroke was one way god was
expressing this wrath.
The close relationship between mainstream Jewish groups and John
Hagee's CUFI may be helping to drive away younger Jewish Americans
(from any interest in Israel) in droves.
The question posed by Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform
Judaism is:
"And so whom do we offer to these young people as a spokesman for
Israel? John Hagee". If our intention was to distance our young adults
from the Jewish state, we could not have made a better choice .
"Let's consider if in return for temporary financial benefit, we are
alienating those who will be our leaders and donors tomorrow."
Putting aside for the moment any religious issues, the CZs act like a
giant sea anchor, along with typical right wing/mainstream US Jewish
groups (AIPAC, AJC, etc) in retarding progress towards any of the
foundational problems besetting the region. If we continue the
Faustian tableau we can just imagine the Devil's glee at collecting on
the bargain.
(Cecilie Surasky helped with the writing of this article)
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