Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour
By Max Blumenthal
Posted July 26, 2007 | 02:20 AM (EST)
On July 16, I attended Christians United for Israel's annual
Washington-Israel Summit. Founded by San Antonio-based megachurch pastor
John Hagee, CUFI has added the grassroots muscle of the Christian right to
the already potent Israel lobby. Hagee and his minions have forged close
ties with the Bush White House and members of Congress from Sen. Joseph
Lieberman to Sen. John McCain. In its call for a unilateral military
attack on Iran and the expansion of Israeli territory, CUFI has found
unwavering encouragement from traditional pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and
elements of the Israeli government.
But CUFI has an ulterior agenda: its support for Israel derives from the
belief of Hagee and his flock that Jesus will return to Jerusalem after
the battle of Armageddon and cleanse the earth of evil. In the end, all
the non-believers - Jews, Muslims, Hindus, mainline Christians, etc. -
must convert or suffer the torture of eternal damnation. Over a dozen CUFI
members eagerly revealed to me their excitement at the prospect of
Armageddon occurring tomorrow. Among the rapture ready was Republican
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. None of this seemed to matter to
Lieberman, who delivered a long sermon hailing Hagee as nothing less than
a modern-day Moses. Lieberman went on to describe Hagee's flock as "even
greater than the multitude Moses commanded."
Throughout CUFI's Israel Summit, videographer Thomas Shomaker and I were
hounded by PR agents seeking to prevent us from interviewing attendees
about the End Times. The conference, we were told, was about "one
message" - evangelical Christians supporting Israel. We were instructed to
only interview CUFI leaders capable of sticking to the talking point that
their support for Israel has, as Hagee declared, "nothing to do with the
End Times." But I was forbidden from asking Hagee about statements he made
in his book, "Jerusalem Countdown," that appeared to blame Jews for their
own persecution. After doing just that during a press conference, I was
removed from the conference by off-duty DC cops summoned by members of
Hagee's family.
I have covered the Christian right intensely for over four years. During
this time, I attended dozens of Christian right conferences, regularly
monitored movement publications and radio shows, and interviewed scores of
its key leaders. I have never witnessed any spectacle as politically
extreme, outrageous, or bizarre as the one Christians United for Israel
produced last week in Washington. See for yourself.
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(you must check out the scary, fascinating video!) Remember, that Steven
the DouglASS has repeatedly endorsed Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Lots of
paranoid talk about the Muslims 'taking over' and the need to 'take out'
Iran before it 'takes out' Israel! LOL! After irritating the Hagee with a
question about his blaming the Jews for their troubles, Blumenthal was
confronted by off-duty cops acting as private security and escorted outta'
the convention center.
Doc
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/rapture-ready-the-unauth_b_57826.html
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