We are not supporting any one candidate, but as Senator Ted Cruz is announcing his Presidential Candidacy on Monday, we thought it appropriate to give him ‘kudos’ for taking such a strong stand for Israel.
In September 2014 Senator Cruz was invited to be a keynote speaker at a large meeting of the group “In Defense of Christians”. The meeting appeared to be promoting awareness of the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. The Senator may not have realized that the group was actually Middle Eastern in majority.
In the beginning of the speech he spoke several times of unity, that Christians and Jews are being killed. He named the enemies of both the Jews and Christians, naming the terrorist of Hamas, Iran, and Syria. He compared the killing of Christians to the killing of Jews in the Holocaust. “Hate is hate and murder is murder” he said.
But as soon as he said “the Christians in the Middle East have no better friend than Israel,” the boos started. Then the comment “If you hate Israel then you hate America” seemed to infuriate many in the group, causing increased heckling.
In stand up form, Cruz came off his speech, saying “he was saddened” several times, by the crowd’s response and attitude towards Israel.
“If you hate the Jewish people you are not reflecting the teachings of Christ” he added.
The Middle Eastern languages and dialect could be heard from the hecklers. The anti-Israel propaganda in the Middle East is rampant, even to the Christian community. They are obviously under deception on Israel and could not relate to the unity message the Senator was trying to bring.
His speech only lasted a little over five minutes. With a final “If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you” the Senator turned and walked off the stage.
He didn’t flinch. He stood his ground. He would not tolerate even being the room with an anti-Israel crowd. I pray that the unity message he brought in the beginning hit it’s mark. I hope they got his point. No one should tolerate hate disguised as standing with Christians.
Robin Rowan March 22, 2015
