American Evangelical Pastor John Hagee addresses a crowd of his followers and Israeli supporters at a rally at the Jerusalem convention center, Sunday, April 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
JERUSALEM ISRAEL (AP) — American evangelist John Hagee announced donations of $6 million to Israeli causes on Sunday and said that Israel must remain in control of all of Jerusalem.Hagee, a Christian Zionist who has been in the spotlight lately for endorsing presidential candidate John McCain and criticizing the Catholic Church, brought hundreds of backers on a solidarity trip to Israel.
Hagee and his group, Christians United for Israel, joined keynote speaker Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Israel's hard-line opposition Likud Party, at a rally in support of Jerusalem remaining united and under Jewish control.
"Turning part or all of Jerusalem over to the Palestinians would be tantamount to turning it over to the Taliban," Hagee told an audience filled with Americans who waved Israeli flags and cheered.
Palestinians claim the eastern part of the city, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as the capital of their future state.
Hagee said his group was giving $6 million to 16 Israeli causes. Recipients include the Magen David Adom rescue service and a conference center in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel.
The fate of Jewish settlements like Ariel is at the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The support of evangelicals for Israel's continued control of the West Bank endears them to Israeli hard-liners
but troubles more dovish activists.
Eric Yoffie, on the other hand, is NOT my rabbi:
Jewish leader calls Hagee 'extremist'
RabbiEric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, said Hagee and his group, Christians United For Israel, reject any Israeli land concessions to achieve peace with the Palestinians.Reform Judaism supports creating a Palestinian state...
Hamas supporters with banners of the Islamic militant group attend a rally in Jabalia Refugee Camp northern Gaza Strip, Friday, April 4 2008. An aide to Israel's public security minister was wounded by a Palestinian gunman on Friday as he toured an observation point overlooking the Gaza Strip with a group of Canadian tourists. Hamas later released a video of the shooting Friday, taken from the Palestinian side, showing a gunman firing across a field of thistles, a few hundred meters (yards), toward a group of people standing near a tour bus and cars. 'This is to confirm the continuation of our holy war and ... the targeting of every Zionist on our pure land,' read a claim on Hamas' official Web site. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
See also (JTA) Hamas rule brings stability to Gaza life, but also fear
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (JTA) -- Ibrahim Al-Najar used to operate his own egg distribution business in Gaza City until about a year ago, when he was beaten and robbed at gunpoint.“Masked gunmen surrounded our truck, forced us to the ground and stole our profits,” said Ibrahim, 21, who is married with two children....
Politically independent until then, he sold his business and joined Hamas’ security forces. “At least now I know that my family is safe,” Ibrahim told JTA...
Posted by: wilson | Monday, 07 April 2008 at 10:57 AM