Israelis form great human chain to express support for united Jerusalem
Chad Groening and Jim Brown
OneNewsNow.com
January 9, 2008

 
Jan Markell, the founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, is praising the thousands of Israeli citizens who, on the eve of a visit by President Bush, created a human chain around the old city of Jerusalem in demonstration of their support for a free and united city. Israel supporter Gary Bauer, meanwhile, suggests there are more pressing matters the president should be concerned about than dividing up the Holy City.
 
 

The human was staged one day before President Bush arrived in Israel on his first presidential trip there, where he will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and top Israeli officials in Jerusalem and visit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah. On the trip, Bush is to begin talks with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on the region's most contentious issues -- including the division of Jerusalem. But thousands of Israelis braved cold and rainy weather to protest that idea, forming a human chain of solidarity.
 
Markell accuses world leaders of being delusional in their repeated efforts to make peace with the Muslims. "I think that all nations of the world -- including America, for some reason -- are seduced and deluded into believing that if we just give the Muslim-Arab world what they want, and part of that is dividing Jerusalem, [that] there will be world peace," says Markell.
"So will it ever happen?" she asks. "I'm not so sure God will let it happen. But on the other hand, we have the Zechariah verse playing out that Jerusalem will be the 'burdensome stone' for the whole world [Zechariah 12:3]. So, it could happen."
 
America could face severe judgment, the ministry leader believes, if it helps bring about a divided Jerusalem. "I believe there is a correlation, and it's all based on Genesis 12:3 where God says 'I will bless those who bless you Israel, I will curse those that curse you,'" she maintains. "And I just don't want America, our beloved America to come under any kind of further judgment beyond what we're already getting."
 
Bauer: Bush placing 'undue pressure' on Israel
 
Meanwhile, evangelical leader Gary Bauer -- a leading pro-Israel activist in America and member of the executive board for Christians United for Israel -- believes President Bush is pursuing the wrong objectives with his current Mideast peace tour. The prominent Christian Zionist contends Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should not be calling on Israel to freeze settlement construction.
 
"The president and Condoleezza Rice have taken a real turn here in recent months," Bauer shares. "I think they're putting undue pressure on the state of Israel to make more concessions. I think that's a dangerous, dangerous thing to do that will not only harm Israel, but ultimately harm the United States."
 
Bauer wishes Bush would "back off of his obsession ... with a Palestinian state" and, instead, focus on more pressing issues -- such as confronting the threat from Iran's nuclear ambitions and its aggression, which was on display Sunday when Iranian boats threatened to blow up U.S. Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. He says it is unfortunate the U.S. vessels did not fire on the Iranians.
 
"I think we were being tested," observes Bauer. "And I think it's much more likely that we are going to lose a U.S. naval vessel in the future because of the lessons that Iran learned in this incident this past weekend."
 
According to Bauer, "The biggest threat facing the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf and the strategic Strait of Hormuz is a 'swarm attack' by dozens or even hundreds of small Iranian vessels loaded with explosives." He notes that "it only took one such boat to disable the USS Cole and kill 17 sailors in October 2000."