An Evil Of Axis Conference and Not a Christian One
Elias Bejjani
19/09/14
Now that the gathering of mercenaries, Pharisees and tax collectors that was
held in Washington between 09-12 September/14 under the tag of: ‘In Defense of
Christians’, is over, we can say with a free conscience based on its agenda,
rhetoric and out come that it was not Christian by an means or standards. Simply
it was a pro Axis of Evil charade no more no less. The main objective that made
Mr. Chakoury, the African-Lebanese millionaire finance this conference and pay
five million dollars was to advocate for the Axis Of Evil countries and
organizations, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah, and portray them as the mere
protectors for Christians in particular and all the other minorities in the
Middle East in general. This false and evil allegation which is odd, untrue and
fabricated was uttered loudly, but stupidly by the derailed clergymen and
politicians whose political background boldly tells their affiliations with the
axis in the capacity of mere mercenaries and mouthpieces. In conclusion, the
conference failed to achieve its main aim even with the media extra ordinary
efforts of the LBC via Mr. Marcel Ghaniem. Sadly the conference that carried a
Christian name and agenda was void from Christianity and its holy messages of
love, forgiveness, tolerance, respect of others, peace, freedom and
transparency.
We Do Not Trust Or Support the So called Levant Christian
Conference
Elias Bejjani
September 10/14
It does need a researcher or a philosopher to learn that the Levant Washington
Christian Conference has nothing to do with Christianity or with defending
Levant Christians’ existence, safety and future in the Middle East.
In our own opinion and analysis it is a fishy, suspicious and camouflaged
gathering.
It has raised among many Lebanese patriots in both Lebanon and Diaspora tons of
fears, dire suspicions and doubtful questions in regards to its actual hidden
aims and objectives.
These hidden aims and objectives in our own analysis serve the Iranian-Syrian
Axis Of evil agenda. Accordingly we do not trust or support this conference and
strongly believe that it does not address the actual needs of the Levant
Christians, nor it addresses their fears, agony and aspirations.
In conclusion a wolf can’t be trusted to protect the sheep.
May Almighty God safeguards the Levant Christians from the hidden agenda of this
conference.
Background and related opinions
Iran’s Dhimmi Conference in Washington, D.C?
How Iran, Assad and Hezbollah are using Christian persecution by ISIS to hijack
the minorities
September 4th 2014
By John Hajjar
On September 9, 2014, a conference organized by the newly formed group “In
Defense of Christians” (IDC), will be addressing the issue of “persecution of
Christians in the Middle East at the hands of ISIS.” The event is very well
funded and a sophisticated outreach has been mobilizing Mideast Christian
churches in the United States over the past few months to participate in great
numbers. The board of IDC includes prominent citizens, former government
officials, and experts in the field of international religious freedom. The
context of the conference, with one day in Congress and another day at a D.C.
hotel is very appealing to the public. Christians in northern Iraq were
ethnically cleansed from Mosul back in June and from the Nineveh plain—the last
geographical enclave for Christian Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs in Iraq—in
July. More than 400,000 Christians are refugees in Kurdistan with no immediate
hope for a return home. Scores of Christians have been killed, raped, and
kidnapped by the Jihadists of ISIS, as were Yazidis and other Iraqis. Christians
of Iraq and Syria—and before there, in Egypt—have been under persecution and
submitted to violence for the past few years. In short, the cause is a good one,
and most of the official workers for such a conference are well intentioned.
However, the American public must be informed: while the narrative of IDC is
directed at ISIS violence, the conference is intentionally or not, profiting the
Iranian and Syrian regimes and Hezbollah.
Readers may be stunned by this assertion, but here are the facts and some of the
evidence:
Iranian Christians absent
The conference is surely condemning the Jihadists of ISIS, but it is ignoring
the oppression by the Iranian regime against its own Christian community,
particularly the Iranian Persian Christians. Many Americans are aware of the
horrific jailing in Iran of Pastor Saeed Abidini whose only crime was his
conversion to Christianity. With countless other pastors and activists
assassinated, tortured, and jailed for years, an “In Defense of Christians”
conference in Washington should at a minimum invite Iranian Christian dissidents
and victims to testify about the Ayatollahs regime’s brutality against the
community. Obviously, there are Christians who work with the Khomeinist regime
inasmuch as there were French collaborating with the Nazis in WWII or “official
churches” under the Soviet Bloc. Free Iranian Christians have not been seen at
the IDC meetings.
Assad’s war on Christians ignored
The Assad regime’s massive brutality against Lebanon’s Christian community
during the war of 1975-1990 has nowhere been cited at the conference. Neither is
the torture, jailing and assassinations of hundreds of Christian citizens,
politicians and journalists under Syrian occupation between 1990 and 2005
included. Two Christian presidents, many Christian ministers, members of
parliament, and students were killed by the Assad regime, but the conference has
ignored this tragedy and no speaker is slated to address the issue. In addition,
the Christians who are opposing Bashar Assad were not invited while those who
claim he protects them are omnipresent.
Hezbollah terror deleted
Hezbollah, a violent pro-Iranian organization on the U.S. terror list that has
eliminated, kidnapped and threatened Lebanese Christians (as well as members
from other communities) will not be condemned. Victims of its violence and
terror are not scheduled to speak.
Iraqi Christians put under Iranian supervision
Last week, Iraqi Christians accompanied by Middle East Christian NGOs lodged a
demand at the United Nations to form their own internationally protected zone in
the north and form their own local defense force under UN supervision. The
forces behind the IDC conference want these same Christians to become a unit
within the Iranian influenced Iraqi Army which will be a recipe for disaster.
Other problems
In addition to these four fundamental sins, the IDC Conference suffers from
ominous problems. The first series of problems are the groups who are not
participating or were not invited.
The most significant missing piece of all is the Copts of Egypt. This largest
Christian community is about four times the size of all other Christian groups
in the Middle East combined. They too have been under increasing harassment and
persecution in the past few years at the hands of Jihadists and the Muslim
Brotherhood. Coptic Solidarity, the largest international federation of Egyptian
Christians is not speaking. Instead of including the official international body
of the Christian Copts, IDC invited a woman involved in orphanage activities to
speak. The organizing team wanted to secure the name “Copt,” but not the actual
Coptic people.
IDC’s administrators ignored the three decades long activities of the Middle
East Christian Committee (MECHRIC) – a coalition of Maronites, Assyrians,
Syriacs, Chaldeans, Copts, Southern Sudanese and other Christian NGOs who have
been the backbone of international outreach to the international community at
the European Parliament, the U.S. Congress and lately at the United Nations.
Why? Because MECHRIC condemns the Salafi Jihadists as well as the Iranian and
Assad regimes and Hezbollah.
The World Maronite Union, which was founded in 1979 in the diaspora and has been
active around the world to free Lebanon from Syria’s occupation and disarm
Hezbollah, is not on the invitation list either. No Middle East Christians
opposed to Iran, Assad and Hezbollah will be speaking.
An impressive feature of the IDC event is the appearance of five Levantine
Patriarchs. This emotional gathering of the spiritual leaders has undoubtedly
drawn many members of our communities to attend. But geopolitical realities must
not be forgotten. The seats of these Patriarchates are in Iranian-dominated
capitals, in Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut. The spiritual leaders will be
definitely and rightly so, lamenting ISIS barbaric acts but will they criticize
the Tehran-Damascus regimes?
While some speakers, such as Nina Shea and Thomas Farr, have spoken against
persecution of Christians, the keynote speaker, Jim Zogby, President of the Arab
American Institute, has been perceived by Middle East minorities as their
arch-foe in Washington for years. A long-time critic of Maronite and Lebanese
Christians, he has for decades rejected the rights of Christian minorities to
set themselves apart from Arab nationalism. Even in this conference he ignores
the ethnic identity of Aramaic and Copts and insists on calling all the
minorities—though only a few are really Arabs—“Arab Christians.” Zogby has been
an ally of the anti-Israel Arab lobby of the Islamist Council on American
Islamic Relations (CAIR) and continues to defend the totalitarian regime of
Assad. How can a Middle East Christian conference trust its ideological
leadership to the head of the anti-minorities lobby in the United States?
Another troubling possibility, according to a previous similar conference held
in Beirut, is that IDC’s gathering will be most likely taken next year to
Jerusalem for a copycat event. No one, however, should expect the Iranian backed
network to befriend Israel. Just the opposite: expect Israel bashing and Hamas
praising.
But what is the impetus behind such an event? It it most likely that the board
of the group means well and is not aware of the overarching problem. But based
on analysis and on the above facts, Iran and Syria’s regimes are taking
advantage of the world’s attention on ISIS’s horrors to sweep through the Middle
East Christian communities, seize political control within them, and use them in
the region in the service of Baghdad’s pro-Iranian leaders, the Assad regime,
and Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon. Iran and Syria want to buy their legitimization
as partners in the war against ISIS by claiming that they are protecting the
Christians, the first victims of the Jihadists. IDC’s conference would then be
unwittingly playing the role of a Trojan horse, or a bridge, for Tehran and
Damascus, allowing them to thrust themselves into the American Christian
community in order to gain its support for a partnership with Assad and
normalization with the Mullahs.
With such heavy problems, this event cannot be identified as Middle East
Christian conference. In fact it has become a Dhimmi conference at the service
of Iran, Assad and Hezbollah.
*John Hajjar is a member of the Executive Committee of the Middle East Christian
Committee MECHRIC a coalition of Assyrian, Syriac, Chaldean, Maronite, Coptic,
Melkite and other Middle East Christian NGOs www.Mechric.org
Bigotry behind the cassock
Tony Badran/Now Lebanon
September 18/14
What the IDC conference tells us about the anti-Sunni, pro-Assad messaging
campaign being waged in Washington
Middle East Patriarchs meet with President Obama at the White House on 11
September (Image via Al-Hurra YouTube)
Last week, an indignant audience including prelates and leaders of the Eastern
Christian churches, booed Senator Ted Cruz off the stage while he was speaking
in Washington at the gala dinner for a conference held by the In Defense of
Christians (IDC) organization. Ted Cruz, well-known for his fiercely
uncompromising support for Israel as well as for religious freedom worldwide,
told the assembled representatives of Middle Eastern Christians that they had no
better friend than the Jewish state.
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat stirred a significant debate on the
subject when he criticized Cruz severely for his behavior. In Douthat’s opinion,
the conference was “an ecumenical affair,” held by an “embattled religious
minority” attempting “to organize to save itself from outright extinction.”
Senator Cruz, according to Douthat, politicized what was an innocent moral
endeavor aimed at raising awareness for and solidarity with the plight of Middle
Eastern Christians.
Douthat’s view, however, reflects a widespread American naiveté about the sly
ways of Middle East dictators, who have learned that paying lip service to
Western values, for which, in truth, they have nothing but contempt, can prompt
the US to let down its guard. As it turns out, the IDC conference was a
thoroughly political enterprise – serving as a vehicle to solicit US backing for
an anti-Sunni sectarian alignment led by Iran and prosecuted by its murderous
lieutenant in Damascus. The Bashar al-Assad regime duped Douthat with surprising
ease, and the success of the con should be studied by anybody interested in
relations between the US and the Middle East.
In order to fully understand the purpose of the IDC affair, it needs to be
placed in the context of the intense messaging operation that the Syrian regime
and its allies are currently engaged in. The talking points of the campaign were
outlined in a report in the pro-Assad and pro-Hezbollah newspaper Al-Akhbar. The
report came out after the incident with Sen. Cruz and after a clerical
delegation met with President Barack Obama and presented him with a unified
position paper.
The report, which Al-Akhbar says is based on information obtained from sources
in the clerical delegation, highlights four main points from the meeting. First,
it quotes a participant in the meeting claiming that Obama told the delegation:
“we know that President Bashar Assad protects Christians.” This claim was
repeated by pro-Assad Melkite Patriarch Gregory Lahham on a regime TV station,
which suggests that he was the source behind Al-Akhbar’s report. (Lahham has
previously been accused by a French Catholic bishop of playing the role of Assad
representative at the Vatican.) Second, the US president, the report
underscores, did not refer to the Syrian “regime” but rather to the Syrian
“government,” implying legitimacy. Third, one member of the delegation – most
likely Lahham – told Obama, “you should stop talking about a moderate Syrian
opposition.” Fourth, after Obama explained that the purpose of striking the
Islamic State (ISIS) was to “help continue the political process in Syria,” he
allegedly added, “we made mistakes in Iraq that we will not repeat [in Syria],”
in reference to the need for preserving “state institutions.”
Whether Obama did indeed make any of these points is up to the White House to
deny or confirm. What is clear, however, is that the Al-Akhbar report reflects
Assad’s messaging campaign, which the clerical delegation dutifully carried to
Washington. Its substance, in brief, is that the US should partner with Assad as
the legitimate government of Syria and protector of Christians. There are no
“moderate” Sunni rebels, and the US should not partner with them. Rather, it
should partner with legitimate “state institutions,” and not repeat the mistakes
made in Iraq. Indeed, as another report in Al-Modon added, the delegation called
on Obama to partner with “governments and regular armies.” Al-Akhbar noted that
at this point, Obama highlighted US support to the Lebanese Armed Forces as “the
best response against ISIS in Lebanon.”
These are the same talking points that the Assad regime and its Iranian and
Lebanese allies have been feverishly reciting in recent days and weeks. Aside
from interviews Syrian officials gave to US news outlets, the regime reportedly
dispatched a letter to members of Congress, including John Boehner and Nancy
Pelosi. The letter emphasized the same line the Church leaders carried: there
are no moderate rebels, and the US should cooperate with the state. Assad’s
Lebanese ally, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil delivered the exact same message
at the International Conference for Peace and Security in Iraq, which was held
in Paris this past Monday. Bassil’s prepared remarks mirrored the talking points
Al-Akhbar highlighted in its report. Bassil urged the international community to
work with regular armies. He stressed that counterterrorism operations on the
ground need to be done by legitimate governments and regular armed forces. He
also highlighted the need for a simultaneous political process, and underscored
the primacy of protecting minorities.
It is in this context that the IDC’s clerical delegation should be understood.
It was but another facet of the regime’s information operation; an additional
avenue to deliver, both to Obama and the US public (especially on the right),
the very talking points that the Syrian regime and its allies have been
systematically putting out: the US should partner with Assad, the “protector” of
Christians.
The reported ties of some of the clerics and financiers of the conference to
Assad and his allies did not bother in the least those who rose to its defense.
But they didn’t even stop to consider the paradox inherent in the message
they’re championing. For even as they warn against relegating Christians to
dhimmi status – the status of a “protected” community under strict Islamic rule
– the clerics seem to have no problem selling Washington on Assad’s “protection”
of Christians. Put differently, this was not a message of universal rights and
citizenship. Rather, it was a petition to Washington to underwrite an alliance
with a specific political-sectarian camp – a camp, led by Iran, that is engaged
in the slaughter and subjugation of Sunni citizens.
The problem, then, was not only the bigotry Lahham and other conference
attendees displayed toward Jews at the gala dinner. Rather, it was the bigotry
against Sunnis, all while hiding behind cassocks, crosses, and the rhetoric of
tolerance.
What’s more, if there aren’t moderate Sunnis, as one of the Christian Patriarchs
reportedly told Obama, then how are Middle Eastern Christians going to continue
living in the region? If the proposition is an alliance with the Iran-Assad
camp, under an American umbrella, then that entails a permanent state of war
with the Sunnis, whose slaughter and forced subjugation are to be considered
licit.
Despite the pretenses of the conference and the clergymen who promoted this
message, and those who defended it, not all Middle Eastern Christians see it
this way. Prominent Christian political figures and intellectuals in Lebanon
criticized the IDC, and have rejected the call to align with Assad. They note
that Christianity has survived for millennia and does not need to, and in no way
should, cast its lot with murderous thugs, and deny Sunnis their rights to live
free, in order to carry on.
Douthat lamented that “2,000 years of Christian history in the Middle East” now
risks ending “in blood and ash and exile,” blaming Ted Cruz and those on the
right who criticized the conference. Christian history in the region survived
countless hardships just fine. It doesn’t need the so-called protection of a
two-bit crime family, let alone the terror-sponsoring Khomeinist state. If these
leaders of the Eastern Churches have decided that peddling to Washington a
sectarian alliance with a camp that has exiled and spilled the blood of hundreds
of thousands of Sunni Muslims is the way to go, then it is they who are
responsible for their political choices. Their message lacks both moral and
strategic standing. Which means that those Americans who defended it were
engaging in purely sectarian behavior – behavior distinctly at odds with
American values and traditions.
**Tony Badran is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
He tweets @AcrossTheBay.
Ted Cruz: A Man of Principle
John Hajjar
Middle East Christian Committee (MECHRIC)
September 17, 2014
As the public opinion of Congress sinks to new lows, we see in Ted Cruz, the
Texas Senator, the rare qualities of strength of character, intelligence and
leadership so lacking in modern politics. His detractors call him a demagogue
and an extremist and resort to character assassination because they are so
frightened by the power of his convictions, moral clarity and lack of political
correctness. His style resonates with the American public and is reflected in
his meteoric rise in the Senate.
And so we see in James Zogby’s attack on Senator Cruz (Ted Cruz: The Dangers of
not Listening) published yesterday more of the obfuscation, double standards and
out right bigotry against what he calls ‘Arab Christians’ and their natural
allies in Israel. Mr. Zogby accuses Senator Cruz of being a poor listener and
exhibiting insensitivity to the concerns of the large crowd that gathered last
week in Washington, DC for the ‘In Defense of Christians’ conference. Senator
Cruz was the keynote speaker at the IDC conference on Wednesday evening at the
Omni Shoreham Hotel.
Mr. Zogby’s beef with Senator Cruz stems from the latter’s statement that
“Christians have no better ally than the Jewish State” to which he was booed by
activists in the gathering. He followed by stating the obvious that “those who
hate Jews hate Christians” which was also followed by booing. These forthright
pronouncements should be self-evident to the many Middle Eastern Christian
gathered that night but their political masters in Iran, Syria and Lebanon would
hold them responsible for failing to object. Anyone who even cursorily follows
current events knows that the native Christian numbers throughout the Middle
East are falling dramatically as a result of Islamic Fundamentalism with one
glaring exception: Israel. There the numbers of the faithful are increasing,
churches, schools and other institutions are thriving and the Palestinian
Christians are even serving in the Israeli Defense Forces.
The attendees know these facts and so does Mr. Zogby who is a well-known
lobbyist for various Arab interests. Proclaiming them publicly, however, would
cause potentially grave consequences for the attendees who hold positions of
power in their native lands-read: politicians, businessmen and high ranking
clergy- so they shut their mouths to the persecutions and murders carried out by
their political patrons in both Iran and Damascus. Worse, they rush to defend
this Iranian-Syrian-Hezbollah axis of evil whenever it is called out by those
who really know what is happening in the region and Senator Cruz is most
definitely a well-informed leader and listens very well contrary to the
assertions of Mr. Zogby.
Senator Cruz is a regular attendee at the Coptic Solidarity Convention which is
held annually in Washington. Through his involvement with both Coptic Solidarity
and the Middle East Christian Committee (MECHRIC) and due to his bright
intellect and faith Mr. Cruz is recognized as an expert on Middle Eastern
affairs and has been extremely concerned about the persecution of the indigenous
Christians and other non-Muslim minorities in the region for some time. For Mr.
Zogby to proclaim the ‘ignorance and bigotry’ of Senator Cruz is disingenuous,
untrue and reflective of his Arab nationalist mindset which was honed over many
decades by defending and promoting the most odious characters and regimes in the
Arab world. Regimes such as Saudi Arabia that forbid the practice of
Christianity outright, persecute women, moderate Muslims and anyone that doesn’t
toe the Salafist line. What hypocrisy!
Now we are to believe that Mr. Zogby is a Christian activist and Senator Cruz a
shameless bigot who knows nothing of the Middle East and ‘Arab’ Christians when
the opposite is true. Senator Cruz knows that there are indeed Arab Christians
but he also is well aware of the pre Arab ethnic identities of most of the
Christians of the Middle East. He knows that the liturgical language of the
Maronites and Assyro-Chaldeans is Syriac and that many Assyrians in Iraq still
speak the language of Christ. He knows that the Copts of Egypt are definitely
non-Arab and have suffered for centuries because of their faith, language and
culture as have all of the Christians of the Middle East. He is well aware that
Copts had their tongues cut off for speaking Coptic after the conquest of the
seventh century, do you Mr. Zogby?
Zogby claims in an earlier piece promoting the IDC conference that he is
concerned about ‘Arab’ Christians while denying the ancestry of the vast
majority who are not. Obviously he doesn’t believe in the Western virtue of
diversity choosing to lump all the Middle Eastern Christians under the label of
Arabs. This is bigotry bordering on fascism. While the Christians of the Middle
East have contributed greatly to the Arab world and in certain times were
broadly respected, they have suffered dearly to preserve their religion and
culture over the centuries. History is replete with examples of pogroms,
slaughters and genocides too numerous to mention. Mr. Zogby can libel Senator
Cruz all he wants but the facts are clear. To point out these facts does not
make Senator Cruz a bigot, a hater or anything but a truth teller. After all, a
basic tenet of Christianity is to bear witness to the truth. The newly minted
Christian activist James Zogby should understand this fact quite well.
Mr. Zogby laments that the Middle East is a region of which we know so little
imploring us to learn more of the people, culture and social dynamics at work in
each country of the region. How can this happen when we have the likes of Mr.
Zogby purposefully hiding truths, obfuscating facts and slandering brave leaders
like Senator Cruz? The reality of Jihadism is now a worldwide problem that will
take bold and courageous leadership to confront and to ultimately defeat.
Indeed, moderate Muslims are sounding the same alarm. Middle Eastern
Christianity now hangs in the balance. Its leaders can rise to the challenge and
act as St. Paul did while proclaiming the good news or they can aid and abet
Saul. If they choose the former course, they will have no greater ally than
Senator Ted Cruz.
Why Ted Cruz Was Right to Walk Out on the ‘In Defense of
Christians’ Conference
by Katie Gorka 13 Sep 2014
Breitbart
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/09/12/Why-Ted-Cruz-Was-Right-to-Walk-Out-on-In-Defense-of-Christians-Conference
An extraordinary thing happened on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. More
than one thousand people were gathered for a dinner in honor of the newly formed
organization In Defense of Christians.
It should have been a victorious, celebratory moment―and for a short time it
was.
The spirit was jubilant as we all took in the fact that at last the crisis
affecting Middle East Christians had hit the mainstream. Many of us have been
toiling away for years on this issue, happy if we could get ten people in a room
to hear our case. Here we were, with Patriarchs and prelates from 12 different
countries, and earlier in the day no less than 17 different members of Congress
had addressed the gathering. It was an evening to celebrate.
Then U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) came on stage. He was there to give the
keynote speech, and this was to be the crowning moment. Senator Cruz opened with
these words:
Good evening. Today we are gathered at a time of extraordinary challenge.
Tonight we are all united in defense of Christians. Tonight we are all united in
defense of Jews. Tonight we are all united in defense of people of good faith
who are standing together against those who would persecute and murder those who
dare to disagree with their religious teachings.
“Oh no,” someone said quietly at my table. “Don’t go there, Cruz.”
Lebanon and Israel have been engaged in a long-standing conflict, so to mention
Jews was to step on an obvious land mine. More than that, word had gone out
several months before that the funders of the event were associated with
Hezbollah. At first, it was just word of mouth based on sources inside Lebanon.
Then a Syrian-American activist named Frank Ghadry wrote about it, but he
subsequently retracted his article and almost all traces of it have been deleted
from the web. But you can read it here on Facebook.
Within the NGO community, concerns were expressed about the Hezbollah rumors,
but when the Ghadry article was retracted, it seemed these might be just rumors
after all.
Cruz’s speech seemed a consummate effort to flush out the true nature of the
organizers and their guests. He went on:
Religious bigotry is a cancer with many manifestations. ISIS, Al Qaeda,
Hezbollah, Hamas, and their state sponsors like Syria and Iran, are all engaged
in a vicious genocidal campaign to destroy religious minorities in the Middle
East.
Sometimes we are told not to lump these groups together, that we have to
understand their so-called nuances and differences.
But we shouldn’t try to parse different manifestations of evil that are on
murderous rampage through the region. Hate is hate and murder is murder.
The grumbling from other tables now became audible, and it was not long before
the murmurs and fidgeting erupted into boos and outright heckling.
“Stop it. Stop it,” Someone shouted.
Cruz pushed on: “Let me say this: those who hate Israel hate America.”
“No,” someone shouted back.
Cruz said, “And those who hate Jews hate Christians.”
At this, a number of people in the audience booed in unison.
“And if this room will not recognize that, then my heart weeps that the men and
women here will not stand in solidarity with Jews and Christians alike who are
persecuted by radicals who seek to murder them.”
Several members of the audience then walked out of the room to scattered
applause, including Antoine Chedid, the Ambassador of Lebanon to the United
States, and several Lebanese politicians, a fact which was confirmed by the
Daily Star of Lebanon.
Cruz only lasted a minute or two longer before cutting short his speech and
walking out with the words: “if you will not stand with Israel and Jews, then I
will not stand with you. Thank you and God bless you.”
As soon as Cruz left the stage, the room burst into conversation about the
spectacle we had all just witnessed. Some seated at my table said that Cruz had
been badly misinformed by his staff about the nature of the event and that
someone should be fired.
But what I discovered the next day is that Cruz had known exactly what he was
doing. Indeed, he had read the article that had been published about the event
just that day and which essentially repeated Frank Ghadry’s allegation that the
conference organizers were close to Hezbollah.
Whether Cruz ever contemplated withdrawing from the event is not certain, but
what is clear is that he was keenly aware of the alleged links between the
organizers of the event and Hezbollah, and he was not going to let that go
untested.
Many have criticized Cruz since the event, saying he should have known the
audience better or that he was grandstanding. But his actions on Wednesday
evening reminded me of the line from the recent New Yorker article about Cruz:
“That is the kind of politician Cruz has become―one who came to Washington not
to make a deal but to make a point.”
The point he made is two-fold: even in as worthy a cause as defending Christians
from extinction in the Middle East, we cannot compromise our fundamental
commitment as Americans to the right of all people to live free from persecution
and free from the subjugation by totalitarian, supremacist ideologies, such as
that espoused by Hezbollah.
The decision by In Defense of Christians to accept the largesse and support of
individuals who are widely believed to be associated with Hezbollah was thus a
moral failing, but it was a tactical one as well. Any good strategist knows that
you cannot enter battle with chinks in your armor. To enter the fray in as
serious a fight as that between ISIS and Christianity, one must be invulnerable.
To enter into this fight with such an easily identified shortcoming not only
hurt the broader cause of protecting Christians, but it hurt all those who have
been working for years, often on meager salaries and with little support, to
shed light on the plight of Christians. It fed right into the enemy’s hands.
St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, tells us that engaging in spiritual
warfare—and what is the war between Christians and the likes of ISIS if not
spiritual battle?—that we must be fully prepared. We must put on the whole armor
of God (Eph 6:11). We must gird our waists with truth, and put on the
breastplate of righteousness (Eph 6:14).
Ted Cruz clearly is prepared to fight for the Christian cause but is not
prepared to do so in ways that support unchristian values. He should be cheered
and not heckled for doing so.
Cruz Headlines Conference Featuring Hezbollah Supporters
The Washington Free Beacom
BY: Alana Goodman
published on September 10, 2014
Conference funded by controversial Clinton donor
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/cruz-headlines-conference-featuring-hezbollah-supporters/
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is headlining a conference on Wednesday funded by a
controversial Clinton donor that will feature pro-Hezbollah and pro-Assad
speakers in Washington, D.C.
The “In Defense of Christians” summit is a gathering of Middle Eastern Christian
leaders that seeks to raise awareness about the threats to Arab minorities from
ISIL.
However, critics fear several of the speakers will try to use the event to
bolster Washington’s support for the Syrian regime in its ongoing civil war and
help Bashar al-Assad restore his legitimacy and power.
The roster of speakers includes some of the Assad regime’s most vocal Christian
supporters, as well as religious leaders allied with the Iranian-backed
terrorist group Hezbollah.
Other Washington policymakers scheduled to attend include Sen. Debbie Stabenow
(D., Mich.), Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), and Rep. Brad Sherman (D., Calif.).
“Some Members were unable to participate as originally scheduled,” the
conference’s spokesperson Joseph Cella told the Washington Free Beacon.
“Considering the number of speakers we have, this sort of thing happens.”
Funding for the conference was provided by Clinton donor and Lebanese-Nigerian
billionaire Gilbert Chagoury, according to organizers. The wealthy businessman
pledged $1 billion to the Clinton Global Initiative in 2009.
Chagoury is also reportedly backer of Lebanese politician Michel Aoun,
Hezbollah’s top Christian ally in the country, according to U.S. diplomatic
cables published by WikiLeaks.
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Raï, who was scheduled to speak during the
same keynote slot as Cruz on Wednesday evening, has called Israel an “enemy
state that is occupying Lebanese territory” and defended Hezbollah’s right to
attack the Jewish state.
“Everyone says why is Hezbollah carrying arms?” said Rai in a 2011 interview
with Al-Arabiya. “We responded that the international community did not exert
pressure on Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory. As long as there is an
occupied Lebanese territory, Hezbollah will maintain that it wants to carry arms
in defense of its land. What will we say to it then? Isn’t [Hezbollah] right?”
The Maronite leader said earlier this month that he would welcome a meeting with
Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah to discuss the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) threat against Christians.
“A dialogue committee already exists between [the Lebanon Maronite Church] and
Hezbollah, and we are ready to hold any meeting in this respect,” said Rai.
Others at the summit have also aligned themselves with the Iranian-backed
terrorist group. Syriac Orthodox Church Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II
posted photos from his meeting with a “high level delegation from Hezbollah” on
his official Facebook page last week.
Participants included Al-Sayyed Ibrahim Amin Al-Sayed, president of the
Political Council in Hezbollah, and Ghaleb Abou Zeynad, the terror group’s
Christian relations attaché. The group discussed the threats facing Christians
the need for international intervention to combat ISIL, according to the Syriac
Orthodox Church website.
Another conference speaker, Antioch Church patriarch Gregory III Laham has
claimed a “Zionist conspiracy against Islam” is responsible for al Qaeda attacks
on Iraqi Christians.
“It is actually a conspiracy planned by Zionism and some Christians with Zionist
orientations, and it aims at undermining and giving a bad image of Islam,” Laham
said in 2010, according to the Daily Star.
The Syrian patriarch has been the subject of controversy inside the Catholic
Church. In a published message welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to Lebanon in 2012,
he called on the Holy See to recognize the State of Palestine, causing what the
Vatican Insider described as “a great embarrassment to Rome.” In 2013, a
prominent French bishop accused Laham of being “an ally politically and
financially” of Bashar al-Assad.
Other summit speakers, including Antioch Church leader John X (Yazigi) and
Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan, have been consistent
defenders of the Assad regime.
Younan said last May that Western nations were responsible for the instability
in Syria, adding that the notion that the United States was promoting democracy
“is a lie, this is hypocrisy.”
“Since the beginning, [Western nations] just stood against the regime, calling
it a dictatorship, saying the dictatorship must fall,” said Younan. “Now it’s
over 25 months, the conflict is getting worse, and the ones who are paying the
price are the innocent people.”
A spokesperson for Cruz said the senator will still speak at the conference
despite the controversial participants because he is committed to raising
awareness about the persecution of Middle East Christians.
“Sen. Cruz is appearing at the In Defense of Christians event tonight because he
wants to take every opportunity to highlight this crisis, the unspeakable
persecution of Christians,” said Catherine Frazier. “America has been silent for
far too long, and we need to speak with a united voice against this horror. Sen.
Cruz is speaking to make the unequivocal point that religious bigotry in all its
forms–be it targeting Christians, Jews, or minority Muslim sects–is an evil that
must be exposed and combatted.”
Lebanese Information Center president Joseph Gebeily, a Lebanese Christian who
staunchly opposes Assad, said he was “shocked” by many of the invited speakers,
but decided to attend the conference after he learned members of Congress would
be present.
“I decided we should be present and not let the bad representatives of Middle
East Christians hijack the true message of Christianity, which is basically
democracy, tolerance, co-existence, inclusiveness,” said Gebeily. “It wasn’t a
very quick and easy decision, but since we were given this opportunity, I said
let’s go and see and face those advocates of tyranny and crimes against
humanity.”
Hezbollah-backed stealth conference in Washington DC
FARID GHADRY/ August 15, 2014, 4:50 pm
iraqi newswire (iraqinewswire@gmail.com)
A Hezbollah-backed conference entitled “In Defense of Christians” (IDC) will be
held in Washington DC on September 9 thru 11. The conference gathers many of the
Christian spiritual and community leaders with influence over the Levant
theology and politics
Its title “Protecting and preserving Christianity where it all began” makes all
the sense in the world, and its purpose, summarized below, does hit every chord
perfectly:
“In the birthplace of Christ, Christians suffer for their faith and their
communities are dwindling toward extinction. Christians in Syria, Egypt, the
Holy Land, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon—including more than a million Armenians
across the region—all these and more face a time of crisis. We must act now to
protect them in their ancestral homelands, countries where they have been
driving forces of stability and pluralism for over 2,000 years.”
However, when you consider who is behind this organization, only then you
realize its danger.
Allegedly, its major backer and bankroller is a Lebanese-Nigerian businessman
and a Hezbollah ally named Gilbert Chagouri. My sources in Washington tell me
several Federal US Agencies may be investigating Chagouri for funding
Hezbollah’s terror. He is also a close business associate of Michel Aoun, the
Lebanese General who stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Hassan Nasrallah. Michel
Aoun appointed his man in Washington, Toufic Baaklini, to manage IDC operations
in his capacity as President of IDC.
Mr. Chagouri’s goal is to exploit the insecurities many Christians feel as
sectarian wars rage in the Levant and to take sole control of their communities
to serve the wretched agenda of Iran and Hezbollah. “In Defense of Christians”
already announced that their second conference will be held in al-Quds (The
Arabic name for Jerusalem). With a successful conference under its belt in
Washington DC, I predict we will see IDC begin to attack US allies in the region
in support of the axis of evil in the Middle East.
Another character who allegedly may be involved is Jamal Daniel, a US
businessman with strong ties to the Assad regime. As a Syrian-American, I know
how loyal the Daniel family is to Assad, which goes back to the sixties when
Atef Daniel, Jamal’s father, helped Assad rise to become President of Syria.
There are, also, some question marks surrounding some of the Christian and
civilian leaders participating in this conference when it comes to their
anti-Israel rhetoric and strong support for Assad, Hezbollah, and Iran.
For example, Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi of Lebanon has close ties to the Assad
regime. He claimed to a Lebanese newspaper, on December 9, 2011, that Assad is
launching reforms in the midst of Assad butchering civilians. To this day, al-Rahi
remains an apologist for Assad.
Amongst the public figures attending the conference is also Syrian-born
Patriarch Gregorios III Laham, a known critic and adversary of Israel and a very
close ally to the Assad regime. In December 2010, Laham was quoted as saying
that attacks against Levantine Christians were part of a “Zionist conspiracy
against Islam”.
James Zogbi, on the advisory board of IDC, will be a keynote speaker. Zogby is
the founder of the Arab-American Institute and a rabid critic of Israel. He
rarely misses an opportunity to criticize and attack Israel.
Many good people unwittingly have associated themselves with IDC. US
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lethinen (R – FL) and Ex-Attorney General the Honorable
John Ashcroft come to mind (There are many more). This only show the deceptive
practices of Iran, behind IDC, when its agents are able to recruit patriotic
Americans without a hint of their involvement in IDC. My guess Hezbollah was
able to recruit them because IDC is using September 11 date to trick them into
believing they stand behind the Great Satan.
Although IDC is supposed to be an avid proponent of Christianity, the
organization is unable to explain some facts when it comes to that support.
How could IDC explain that Hezbollah assassinated Lebanese Christian MP Jebran
Tueini and Antoine Ghanem as well as kill Christian army officers, journalists,
and innocent Christian bystanders who died from their bombs? How can they
explain how Assad assassinated the up and rising star President Bashir Gemayel
and President Rene Mouawad as well as explain all the Assad massacres of
Christians in Lebanon over the last 15 years?
Are those participating in the IDC conference realize they are associating
themselves with terror against Christians? Seriously, how many Muslim terrorists
you know killed Christian Presidents who reached the apogee of their careers?
Only Assad and Hezbollah have committed such atrocities against Christians. The
same Assad and Hezbollah this conference is kowtowing to.
There is no doubt that the Christians of the Middle East need protection from
the onslaught of Islamic extremists. There is no doubt that it is the
responsibility of all western leaders to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all the
Christians in the Levant and beyond. Personally, as a Muslim, I realize that
without the Christians, our region would be far worse politically, economically,
and socially. We owe them much and some of us wish we were in power to lead the
way for a better future for all the Christians in the region without resorting
to violence and terror.
I say to all the Patriarchs and the Cardinals, you all have a heavy
responsibility to think about your decision. Associating yourself with mass
murderers that have gassed Muslim women and children is not exactly conducive to
better relations in the future with the Muslim world. Once you cross that
Rubicon, it will be much harder for the next Hariris to help mend the relations.
Look at the Christians of the March 14 Movement in Lebanon to find a common
solution based on peaceful co-existence, not anger, or terror. March 14 do not
kill Christians or any other people. March 14 does not terrorize Muslims or
Christians. Once you commit yourself totally to someone who gassed Muslims and
still to this is torturing Muslims in his prisons, you are committing millions
of innocent Christians to face the consequences of associating Christianity with
terror against Islam.
I say to these leaders that there is a better and brighter future ahead. I urge
all the Christian leaders to stand by US allies, and not against them. I urge
all the Christian leaders to support the March 14 Movement in Lebanon.
Iran, Assad, and Hezbollah are a weak answer to a difficult question many of you
have the right to ask considering the pressures facing you. Some of these
pressures Assad concocted deliberately against you to force you to join him
(Read this Newsweek article and the US State Department confirming Assad is the
one who forged ISIS). History is clear about who are the terrorists and your
association with them will not be swept under the rug.
Co-mingling with Iran, Hezbollah, and Assad will not serve the Christian faith
in the end. Rafic al-Hariri proved there is a way for all faiths to co-exist
peacefully during times of turmoil. This is why Hezbollah and Assad assassinated
him. They did it to reach this point in time when you are forced to support
their terror. In reality, you do have a choice to walk away from Assad and his
ilk.
All American Christians and the American public should boycott this Hezbollah
backed conference set-up to dominate the Christian faith in the Levant to be
under the control of the terror of Iran, Hezbollah, and Assad.
Finally, my question is, “Where are the liberal Gulf countries in all of this”?
Why the Saudis or the Emiratis do not stand behind the Christian leaders to
back, morally and financially, a conference in the US as a countermeasure to
what Iran is doing? If anything, it is the Sunni assurances the Christian
communities need the most; yet, we permit them to slip away to become another
lost moon orbiting the gravity of Iran instead of supporting them for all times
to be independent minded and most important feel secure and safe in practicing
their faith.
Read more: Hezbollah-backed stealth conference in Washington DC | Farid Ghadry |
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From: tbaaklini@aol.com
To: toufic@indefenseofchristians.org
Sent: 7/11/2014 2:10:26 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: in DEFENSE OF CHRISTIANS (IDC) SUMMIT INVITATION WASHINGTON D.C SEPT 9-11
Dear Friends:
At this moment across the Cradle of Christianity, our brothers and sisters are
being persecuted and martyred for their faith. We are told in Hebrews 13 to
continue to remember those mistreated as if we ourselves are suffering. As
Christians, we are called to band together to shine a bright light on this
ongoing, deteriorating situation in the Middle East, and to make it an issue of
urgency for our fellow faithful and policymakers alike.
I write today on behalf of the Board of Directors of the newly constituted
non-profit, non-partisan organization, In Defense of Christians (IDC). Our
mission is threefold: awareness, advocacy and unity.
To that end, I would like to invite you to attend IDC’s inaugural Summit for
Middle East Christians, in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday and Thursday, September
9,10th and 11th, 2014 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. The theme of this first-of-its
kind conference is Protecting and Preserving Christianity, Where It All Began.
Distinguished speakers already committed to attend include His Eminence Leonardo
Cardinal Sandri, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Oriental Churches,
His Eminent Beatitude Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, Patriarch of Antioch and All
the East, His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington,
Ambassador Tom Farr of Georgetown University, and members of the U.S. Senate and
House of Representatives.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO RSVP.
This two-day Summit will provide us with an opportunity to join with the
Diaspora of the Christian and religious minority communities to pray for our
persecuted brothers and sisters, and to hear from distinguished lay and
religious speakers on the front lines of providing relief, shaping public
policy, or ministering to the spiritual needs of those suffering at the hands of
brutal regimes focused on extinguishing the light of faith in the land where
Christ lived, taught and sacrificed for us.
We promise this will be a rewarding time to be informed and, we hope, inspired
to stand shoulder to shoulder with those of us who support freedom and faith for
all. To confirm your ability to serve as a speaker, or if you have any questions
please contact me at 703-501-1024, our IDC’s Executive Director, Andrew Doran,
at 734-276-7799.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Toufic Baaklini
In Defense Of ChristIans (IDC)
(C)703-501-1024
Indefenseofchristians.org