Not only Jews support the State of Israel

By Tom Holmes
I stumbled onto something interesting when doing research for an article about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Most Jews seem to be united in support of Israel, but there are also millions of Christians who take Israel's side as well. And most of the pro-Israel folks seem to be conservative evangelicals. For example, Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park--15,000 members!--has on its stage in the worship area an American flag and an Israeli flag. You have to look twice to make sure you are not looking at a bima in one of our synagogues.
Also, another evangelical mega-church pastor, John Hagee, has put together a group called Christians United for Israel which claims millions of members.
In contrast, most liberal churches I've contacted seem to side more with the Palestinians. Julie Harley, the lead pastor of First United in Oak Park, says that the majority of members in her congregation think Israel is the bad guy because they continue to construct settlements in the occupied territories and have built the wall.
Likewise Good Shepherd's pastor, Kathy Nolte, said most of her members also seem to side with the Palestinians. When I looked at the ELCA website, it mentioned Israel's illegal building of settlements east of the "green line" but didn't say a thing about rockets being fired from Gaza into civilian settlements in Israel.
I'm not sure what to make of this. Any thoughts?
Reader Comments
1 Comment - Add Your Comment
Note: This page requires you to login with Facebook to comment.
Facebook Connect
Answer Book 2017
To view the full print edition of the Wednesday Journal 2017 Answer Book, please click here. |
Quick Links
Sign-up to get the latest news updates for Oak Park and River Forest. | |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
Subscribe | Classified |
Multimedia | Contact us |
Submit Letter To The Editor | |
Place a Classified Ad |
Latest Comments
@ Brad Knaub: Are you going to revisit lima beans or...
By Brian Slowiak
Posted: April 20th, 2018 10:35 AM
Comrade Knaub, the canned ones (though better than in...
By David Hammond
Posted: April 20th, 2018 9:45 AM
Thanks Monica for pointing this out. I did enjoy the...
By Nick Polido
Posted: April 20th, 2018 7:50 AM
Congratulations Haley on this great accomplishment!
By Jayme Barnard
Posted: April 19th, 2018 11:40 PM
The Imagine group has provided no logical reason why...
By Monica Sheehan
Posted: April 19th, 2018 6:28 PM
Another Oak Park business gone.... I wish her well!
By Jennifer Malloy Quinlan
Posted: April 19th, 2018 4:06 PM
The district isn't the only village entity that spends...
By Mak Flournoy
Posted: April 19th, 2018 12:55 PM
Mel Wilson from Oak Park, IL
Posted: January 19th, 2011 9:46 AM
It seems to me that the whole problem in the Israel/Palestine issue is that too many people "take sides" in regard to issues that would better be resolved by people with an objective of justice.