August’s "Restoring Courage" event in Jerusalem expected to attract pro-Israel Conservatives and Christians.
Conservative commentator Glenn Beck, among others, plans a dramatic rally in Israel this August to show support for the Jewish state.
Beck announced on Monday that in response to growing calls for the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state this September at the United Nations, he would hold a “Restoring Courage” rally in Jerusalem just weeks before the UN convenes.
A right-wing television commentator, Beck has often criticized the Obama administration for not standing with Israel.
“They are going to attack the center of our faith, our common faith, and that is Jerusalem,” beck said. “And it won’t be with bullets or bombs. It will be with a two-state solution that cuts off Jerusalem, the old city, to the rest of the world. It is time to return inside the walls that surround Jerusalem and stand with people of all faiths all around the world.”
The Israeli rally will be a variation of last summer’s “Restoring Honor” rally, held in Washington, DC. The commentator expects that this time there will be a full week of rally-related activities.
Separately, in an open letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that will run in The Wall Street Journal as a full-page ad this week, signatories – most of them Christian leaders – “encourage President Obama, the State Department, the Congress and the American people to stand unwaveringly with Israel to continue to protect her land and security.”
Among other points, the text of the ad states, “We stand with your right to secure Israel’s borders without giving away additional land to your openly avowed enemies who do not recognize your right to exist.
We recognize that former ‘land for peace’ agreements such as the Gaza withdrawal that ravaged thousands of families from their homes, only served to increase terrorists’ attacks from even closer range, killing innocent men, women, and children.”
The ad continues by stating, “We recognize that the ‘Peace Plan’ of the United Nations is not a peace plan at all, but would ethnically cleanse 400,000 Jews from their homes and lands. No foreign country or UN resolution has the right to decide a nation’s borders.”
Signatories include former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Florida-based radio host Janet Porter, who recently led a movement to send Netanyahu yellow roses from American Christians. Porter expressed her support for Beck and for Israel to The Jerusalem Post, saying it is particularly important as the Palestinians push for unilateral recognition from the UN.
“This is what breaks my heart – to see your prime minister, an incredible leader, standing there, and we have our president who has treated him abysmally,” Porter said. “We need to say, ‘Don’t divide Jerusalem! Build!’ You have a sovereign nation! If the UN can decide the borders for a country, then no one is safe.”
She added that it was an attempt to show Netanyahu he’s “not alone.”
“The main legislating body in America stands with you, the people of America stand with you and the Christians of America stand with you,” she said.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=221050&R=R1
Glenn Beck broadcasts radio show from Jerusalem
Controversial broadcaster visits Yad Vashem, Western Wall, talks about Israel's importance in Middle East on live radio show.
American television celebrity Glenn Beck paid a surprise visit to Jerusalem, coinciding with Remembrance Day and Independence Day.
The controversial former-Fox News broadcaster was scheduled to meet with both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and MK Danny Danon (Likud) during his last-minute trip.
According to Beck’s website, he decided last week to visit Israel, and since his arrival has visited a number of Jerusalem sites, including Yad Vashem, the Western Wall and the Garden Tomb.
Beck broadcast his syndicated Tuesday radio show live from the capital, talking about a number of Israel-related subjects, including the country’s importance in the Middle East, and lighter fair, like the challenges that Israeli chocolate mounted against the star’s raw-foods diet.
In recent months, Beck – one of US President Barack Obama’s most emphatic critics – has taken a strong and highly vocal pro-Israel stand on his popular television program.
http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Entertainment/Article.aspx?id=220026
