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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September-October 2008, pages 60-61 Waging Peace “Who Would Jesus Bomb?”
ON JULY 21, a coalition of peace and social justice organizations gathered for a peaceful counter-demonstration outside the third annual Christians United for Israel (CUFI) conference at the Washington, DC Convention Center. The purpose of the protest, as stated in an action alert, was “to foster greater understanding between faith traditions and stop an illegal and immoral military strike on the nation of Iran.” Sadly, some of the protesters didn’t seem to want to foster understanding, but instead shouted hostile chants at the conference goers. Many stopped, stared and took photos, although a handful actually attempted to engage the protesters. It wasn’t clear who had organized the protest. In fact, when a DC policeman asked the group who was in charge, one man holding a sign which read “No War on Iran” pointed a finger to the heavens. CUFI was founded by Pastor John Hagee of Dallas, TX as an association to coordinate churches and individuals across the country to provide full support for Israel, whatever its policies. The 2008 conference featured workshops about Israel and the dangers of radical Islam, and the last day was devoted to spreading the word on the plight of Israel to any congressional representative who would listen. Many do. The list of conference speakers read like a Who’s Who of political conservatives and Christian Zionists: Gary Jacobs, president of American Values; Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum; William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard; former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT). Two Iranian-American women who attempted to talk to the CUFI members said they’d joined the protesters because they were afraid the U.S. might bomb Iran, where they grew up. One of the women approached a young man from Gun Barrel City, Texas, and carried on an occasionally intense, but always civil conversation. When asked if the CUFI member was a minister in Gun Barrel City, he answered that he did the ministry work of God. When asked what church he was affiliated with, he answered that he was not with a church per se, but simply tried to live and preach as Christ had. Had he ever spoken to an Iranian before? No, this was the first time. “If you smack me in the mouth, I’ll turn the other cheek,” the man from Gun Barrel City told the woman, “but countries will retaliate and that’s what America has to do.” When asked when Iran had ever attacked America, the man from Texas had no answer. A well-dressed young man who was a special education teacher in Baytown, TX hesitated to speak with this reporter because all conferencegoers were given strict orders not to talk to the press without a conference official present. Nevertheless, as the conversation continued, the teacher pointed out that “Islam is evil.” When asked why, he answered matter-of-factly, “Anything that doesn’t live up to God’s standard is evil.” As the protesters packed up to go home, a woman walked by in very high heels with a big smile and said to all, “Jesus loves you guys.” And as the last protester walked away, a large man pulled from his bag a Jewish shofar, or ram’s horn, and blew it as he twirled quickly around in a circle. When asked if he blew the horn to signal the beginning of the conference’s banquet that evening, he said, “No, the Lord made me do it.” —Jamal Najjab |
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