Posts on Christians United For Israel

The American Prospect gives the inside scoop on John Hagee’s most recent Christians United for Israel Conference:

Afterward, I headed over to the CUFI on Campus meet and greet. The room was filled with approximately 250 students from 138 universities, and we were greeted by Hagee's wife Diane and lauded as "the dream" and the "Joshua's generation." Mrs. Hagee launched into a speech about biblical rationale to support Israel. At one point she mentioned that Hitler could be reborn. Across the table, a suspiciously old-looking "student" guffawed. "Hitler reborn? Hitler has been reborn," he said, pausing for effect, "and his name is Obama."

…

Hagee's speech was a hodge-podge, comparing the relationship between the land of Israel and the Jewish people to a marriage and warning various evildoers like Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia of ominous divine intervention. Discussion of end times and the pastor's signature fire-and-brimstone preaching was notably absent until an awkward rhetorical pivot, seemingly designed to please the crowd: "The terrorists will produce a bloodbath that will make 9-11 look like a walk in the park," Hagee proclaimed in a booming voice. "The Lord's vengeance shall soon come."

During the Q&A, one woman asked about forming a "Christian militia." Hagee grimaced; "militia" implied taking up arms. "We are in a spiritual dogfight," he said, suggesting that she use "the weapon of prayer" and "concerts of prayer" to affect "spiritual revival."

It was easy to see why the militia-monger was confused, though. The conference was never short of military jargon. We were told to establish "facts on the ground in our fight to take back America's campuses" and reminded that "you are in a war, a battle for your mind." We were "prayer warriors," set upon by many foes: the media, liberal professors, popular culture, the cultural elite, secular society, Europe, the United Nations, and, of course, the Islamo-Fascists.

That afternoon, right-wing darling former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania laid the situation out clearly: We are not at war with terror, he said, we are at war with Islamism -- a significant though small portion of the Islamic world. "Secular relativistic" liberals, he explained, "don't believe, and if you don't believe, you can't understand." To my left, a middle-aged woman with ginger-blondcolored hair dutifully scribbled in her notebook. "Eliminate Iran," she wrote.

Despite the fact that John McCain was forced to publicly reject the endorsements of both Rod Parsley and John Hagee last week, it doesn’t look like his campaign surrogates are willing to follow suit and repudiate Hagee’s remarks as “deeply offensive and indefensible.” 

In fact, not only are they not repudiating Hagee, they are actually joining him for his 2008 Christians United For Israel Washington-Israel Summit in July.  

As Max Blumenthal first reported yesterday, Senator Joseph Lieberman, who has long been one of McCain’s most ardent supporters, is scheduled to headline this year’s Night To Honor Israel Banquet where he is scheduled to share the stage with Hagee

Sen. Joe Lieberman says he'll speak at a July conference hosted by Rev. John Hagee, whose endorsement was recently rejected by Republican John McCain because of Hagee's controversial remarks about religion.

Lieberman, one of presumed GOP presidential nominee McCain's strongest supporters, said Wednesday while Hagee's comments were unacceptable and hurtful, he will judge him on his life work fighting anti-Semitism and building bridges between Christians and Jews.

With Lieberman announcing that he will in fact stick with his scheduled commitment, we've started a petition calling on him to cancel this appearance, which can be found here.  

Also joining Hagee at the event will be Gary Bauer, who has also been a vocal advocate for McCain, having supported his campaign back in 2000 and then endorsing him again this time around.  When not busy earning his paycheck as a right-wing political operative - marshalling support for the GOP by trading on wedge issues, decrying hate crimes legislation, fighting efforts to address climate change, pushing voter ID requirements, and calling for the monitoring of mosques – he’s been hard at work selling McCain to the Religious Right and defending him against the so-called biased liberal media.  

Bauer also happens to be a board member of Hagee’s CUFI and, according to the itinerary, is scheduled to speak at no less than four separate panels:

10:00AM-11:30AM: Supporting The Jewish State - Now Or Never?

Pastor John Hagee, Founder & National Chairman Of Christians United For Israel (Cufi)

Gary Bauer, CUFI Executive Board Member

1:30PM- 3:00PM: Break Out Session One

Israel 101: The Basics Of The Arab Israeli Conflict

Gary Bauer, President of American Values

Charles Jacobs, Founder & President of The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership

Roz Rothstein, International Director of StandWithUs

3:30PM- 5:00PM: Break Out Session Two

Israel 101: The Basics Of The Arab Israeli Conflict

Gary Bauer, President of American Values

Charles Jacobs, Founder & President of The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership

Roz Rothstein, International Director of StandWithUs

1:30PM- 3:30PM: Middle East Briefing

Gary Bauer, President of American Values

Congressman Elliot Engel (D-NY)

William Kristol, Editor of The Weekly Standard

Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN)

When McCain announced Bauer’s endorsement, he stated that Bauer’s “advice and counsel [would] be critical” to his campaign.  Presumably, given Bauer’s close ties to Hagee, his advice and counsel was to encourage McCain to seek Hagee’s support – support that McCain has now embarrassingly had to disavow.  But Bauer is standing by Hagee and obviously thinks that sharing the stage with him is nothing to be embarrassed about, so it raised the question of just how much more of Bauer’s “advice and counsel” the McCain campaign will be seeking in the future.

It’s hard work building a right-wing coalition. Mike Huckabee has been hammering away at the religious-right base, making explicit appeals based on his faith and reminding them that he is one of them. He’s signed Grover Norquist’s tax pledge and embraced the “FairTax” to shore up support from the economic right. He’s even gotten an endorsement from the co-founder of the anti-immigrant vigilante group the Minutemen. But all that may not be enough when you have Pat Robertson come around telling your people to vote for Giuliani because terrorism is supposed to be the most important issue.

It seems there’s one more faction Huckabee needs to pander to: the foreign-policy hardliners. That would explain Huckabee’s plans for this weekend: The former pastor will spend the Sunday before Christmas speaking at two services at the Cornerstone megachurch in San Antonio, home of Armageddon advocate John Hagee, who believes “that the United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West.”

For a closer look at Hagee, check out Max Blumenthal’s report from the Christians United for Israel conference this past summer. Or, if you’re wondering what Huckabee might be expected to discuss at Cornerstone, watch this typical sermon, which aired Wednesday on TBN:

Get the Flash Player to see this video clip.

Right now, the State Department is in Israel putting pressure on Israel to give concessions to the terrorist armies that are camped on her borders--to give up more land for peace. Joel 3:2 says, “Any nation that tries to get Israel to divide my land, I will bring it into judgment.”

I want those of you in the State Department and in government in Washington to hear this: If America does not stop pressuring Israel to give up land, I believe that God will bring this nation into judgment, because I believe what this book says. And if God brings this nation into judgment, He will very likely release the terrorists that you've already let get here through the ridiculous immigration policy you refuse to stop, and this nation is going to go through a bloodbath that you have permitted because of what you have done. You have disobeyed the law of God, and now, we as a nation are going to pay a price for that.

Max Blumenthal provides an inside look at the recent Christians United for Israel Conference in DC, saying "I have never witnessed any spectacle as politically extreme, outrageous, or bizarre as the one Christians United for Israel produced last week in Washington."

Received Defender of Israel Award from Christians United For Israel.

The Express-News profiles the recent Christians United for Israel conference in DC, where they toned down their end-time theology a bit as members lobbied 279 lawmakers, including 57 senators, to press the idea that "that Israel must not give up any land to Palestinians for peace," among other things.

This week in Washington, DC, Pastor John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel (CUFI) held its annual convention to promote the religious-right’s support of Israel. Amid an evening featuring Gary Bauer and Rod Parsley and the bashing of the United Nations, European Union, State Department, and Jimmy Carter as enemies of the state of Israel, rumored presidential candidate Newt Gingrich provided a relatively innocuous keynote address. Well, relative in the sense that Gingrich outlined his hawkish post-9/11 worldview as opposed to discussing Israel’s role in the impending rapture.

Most of the CUFI constituents in the audience appeared to agree with Hagee’s views regarding the rapidly approaching judgment day.  As we highlighted earlier this year when John McCain was courting CUFI, Hagee’s apocalyptic foreign policy views aren’t exactly mainstream.  So what explains Gingrich’s presence at an event hosted by Hagee, whose judgments are shaped by a belief in a biblically predestined war between Israel and Iran, and the worldwide rule of the Antichrist in the form of the head of the European Union?

Gingrich, who offered up a slightly modified stump speech, making mention of the need for strength and perseverance in the face of war and references to the importance of America’s Christian heritage, is apparently looking to build right-wing support for a potential presidential bid without publicly embracing the conferees’ most extreme ideas.

We’ve noted here a few times in the past that John McCain has admitted to meeting with Armageddon advocate John Hagee of Christians United for Israel, though such admission have also been buried in news articles chronicling McCain’s difficulties winning over the Right.

Well, it looks as if McCain and Hagee are about to bring their relationship into the open, judging by this press release from CUFI:

***MEDIA ALERT***PHOTO-OP***INTERVIEW OP***

 

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN  TO MAKE SURPRISE APPEARANCE AT CHRISTIANS UNITED FOR ISRAEL WASHINGTON SUMMIT

 

Senator John McCain will make a surprise appearance at the Christians United For Israel Washington Summit in a strong show of support for Israel

 

Who: Senator John McCain, Pastor John Hagee, Founder of CUFI; Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Newt Gingrich, Ambassador Dore Gold, Senator Joe Lieberman

What: CUFI has emerged as one of the most important Christian grassroots organizations in America. CUFI has held over 55 Nights to Honor Israel in different cities across America.  Last July, CUFI rallied over 3,500 constituents to Washington for its first DC Summit.

 

Visuals: Leading experts in Middle East affairs will be leading panel discussions. 4,000 individuals will gather together to show their support for Israel.

 

Where: Marriott Wardman Hotel

            Washington, D.C. 

When: Tuesday, July 17 at 1:30 PM

Why: To introduce the association to Senators and Congressmen, expressing concern for Israel’s security and CUFI’s support of Israel’s right to the land by biblical mandate.      

Press Contacts: Kara Silverman 212-584-4331 or ksilverman@5wpr.com

It’s not much of a “surprise” appearance if CUFI is announcing it a day in advance, now is it?  In fact, the only thing surprising about this at all is that McCain and Lieberman would agree to share the stage with a man who wants to bring about Armageddon and the subsequent return of Jesus Christ by launching a military strike on Iran.