Why Are Palestinian Christians Leaving Jesus’ Birthplace? Pt. 2

 We Love Israel Because God Says.

 

I kept thinking about how some of Israel’s biggest supporters back in the united states are not necessarily American Jews but evangelical Christians. Most Christians will tell you, "Well, we love Israel because God says, 'I will bless those who bless my people.'" So why do American evangelicals support a state that directly hurts Palestinians, including their fellow Christians?

Here’s something that might surprise you. White evangelical Christians in the U.S. are more than twice as likely as American Jews to believe that “God gave Israel to the Jewish people.”

Now, not all evangelicals believe this, but the ones that do, their voices are often the loudest and most influential. The title deed to the land of Israel is recorded in the Bible, which gives the Jewish people a clear and unclouded title to that land forever. It belongs to them, and it belongs to them only.

People that share this view are called Christian Zionists. They believe the Bible commands them to support and defend the modern-day state of Israel, regardless of what this means for the Palestinians who live under its occupation.

They point to one biblical verse in particular – Genesis 12:3. that they believe references the modern state of Israel. Genesis 12:3 - here it is in the very beginning of the Bible. “I'll bless and I'll curse those who curse her.”

There is a person name Sharon Sanders in Jerusalem. She’s an American Christian who moved here from Illinois in 1980, out of a deep religious sense of mission to support Israel. She and her husband founded the charity Christian Friends of Israel, which aims to help people from recent Jewish immigrants to Israeli soldiers. 

Her charity is one of several foreign, Christian-led organizations that have flourished in Israel in recent years. It’s estimated that every year, evangelicals give around $200 million to Israel. Worldwide donations from the Jewish community far surpass that, but Christian contributions continue to rise and show no signs of slowing down.

And some organizations specifically raise money for Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law.

But for Christian Zionists like Sharon, that belief is prophecy. Many believe that the establishment of Israel in 1948, which displaced the majority of the Palestinians who lived there, was all part of God’s divine plan.

To be clear, not all American Christians read the Bible like this. In fact, in the last few years, several prominent U.S. churches have come out in support of Palestinian rights, even endorsing the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement targeting Israel.

 

Jesus, Jews, Jerusalem, and the end of time.

 

But even so, the people who do believe in this prophecy have a huge following. And for them, it all culminates into a biblical grand finale, called "the end times."

Somebody said, "I want to understand the end times." Well, you just need to look at three things. You look at Jesus, you look at the Jews and you look at Jerusalem".

Many evangelicals believe that once Jews fully control the land, Jesus will return to Earth and rapture Christians up to heaven. “To believers, it's going to be a time of ecstasy and joy and excitement and glory. But to those who do not know him, it's going to be a day of judgment”.

“If you're a Christian, you will not be around for the tribulation period. You'll be safe in heaven”.

And this tribulation period, some belief, is a violent and bloody war for those who remain behind.

And in some interpretations, they believe that two-thirds of the Jews will die. So these Christian Zionists – not all of them believe this specific theology, but many of them do – you’re promoting them to come to a specific location for them, or two-thirds of them, to die. It doesn’t sound like a holy alliance. But this alliance is powerful.

 

John Hagee (The Texas pastor and the founder of CUFI” Christians United for Israel”).

 

To understand how influential Christian Zionists have become, you have to understand John Hagee. This Texas pastor is the founder and leader of Christians United for Israel, or CUFI, an organization that claims to have 10 million members. That makes Hagee influential outside the movement too, with lots of big-name friends in politics. Even though, in several sermons, Hagee had claimed that Hitler was actually sent by God to force Jews to move to Israel. In one of his speeches.

“Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. Why did it happen? Because God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel”.

Wild, right? If that sounds cynical to you, well, it actually underpins Hagee’s beliefs when it comes to Israel. For example, this dedication to protecting and defending Israel includes denying the internationally acknowledged fact that the West Bank and East Jerusalem are occupied territories.

As we saw earlier, Hagee and many of his counterparts insist the Holy Land is actually promised to Jews by God. And so they want to see the West Bank remain under Israel’s control because it’s a necessary step for Jesus Christ’s return to Earth.

But neither the Hitler comments nor his viewpoint on the apocalypse has made Hagee a political pariah. Even Israeli leaders applaud and court the support of Hagee’s movement.

The International Court of Justice has asked Israel to tear down that wall because it goes so deep into Palestinian territory - a land grab.

The injustices Palestinians are suffering under Israeli military rule are impossible to deny. There’s some hope things are changing back in the USA. Recent polling suggests that young American evangelicals are more supportive of Palestinians than older generations.

But so long as this powerful alliance between Christian Zionists and Israel endures, the hope of justice prevailing in the Holy Land remains elusive. 

Click here in case you want to read part one