NEW YORK – 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.
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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.