'Honoring Israel' or Pushing for Nuclear Holocaust?

Last week City Newspaper had an article featuring a group called Christians United for Israel (CUFI). I was a little surprised to see an event sponsored by this organization featured in City. However, a number of local churches and a Jewish organization are sponsoring the group in Rochester. The article, called "Local evangelicals join 'Honor Israel' push", raises a number of issues. The CUFI organization is led by Reverend John Hagee, a fire and brimstone fundamentalist minister with a large following and big bucks to play with. Hagee is very involved in prophesying the so called 'End Times' when the antichrist will lead the world to destruction. After this, Christ will return and rule over the faithful. Israel is crucial to those who believe that the 'End Times' are imminent because it is where the action is predicted to occur.

Apparently the group is holding a number of events around the country this year to generate support for their ideas—including Rochester. According to a piece on [The Jewish Week] Hagee was a guest at an AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) event where he was warmly applauded. This is very strange because much of Hagee's polemic is really not very flattering to Jews. The City article cites a feature by Max Blumenthal that ran in The Nation last August during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. In an interview on Democracy Now!, Blumenthal stated that many Jews believe that the group is using the appearance of 'honoring' Israel to undermine the credibility of Jews everywhere.

Read Judy's full commentary here.

Judy Bello lives in Webster, NY and is involved in various anti-war initiatives including RAW Street Theater group.