I have been asking the question since hearing the cries and protests of countless people — Black Americans, Africans, Muslims, Arabs, Asians, Jewish friends and so many others of the historically oppressed — who have seen Palestinians screaming for help from beneath the rubble of churches and hospitals or marching toward the unknown as they are forcibly uprooted. People who, watching these events unfold, have been reminded of their own or their ancestors’ histories of being forced to march en masse — onto slave ships and plantations and reservations, into concentration camps and refugee tents and exile.
Israel was deeply wounded on Oct. 7. The nation deserves to mourn, and the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during its siege must be returned home. At the same time, in the face of Israel’s bloody campaign of retribution, I and so many others are left wondering why more of the world is not marching together to protest the unprecedented catastrophe we are witnessing in Gaza.
Who marches with whom? And why?
I asked the question again this past Tuesday — when, during the March for Israel in D.C., the right-wing Christian televangelist John Hagee, a divisive figure if ever there was one, was invited to address a gathering meant to call for unity and an end to antisemitism.
Hagee, an evangelical, is the head of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which touts itself as the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States, with over 10 million members, according to the group’s website. CUFI, founded in 2006, is a Christian Zionist organization dedicated to “educating and empowering millions of Americans to speak and act with one voice in defense of Israel and the Jewish people.”
The problem many see with Hagee in this context is that in the past, he has espoused deeply antisemitic views. He once said in a sermon that “God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land.” He has said that the Antichrist would be “partially Jewish, as was Adolf Hitler, as was Karl Marx.” (Hagee has claimed that his words on Israel have been taken out of context, and he apologized in 2008 for his antisemitic remarks.)
Jews have not been Hagee’s only target. He blamed the “sin” of gay pride parades for Hurricane Katrina and has said that “radical Islam wants to destroy America.”
As a former evangelical, I grew up in a pro-Zionist church, and Hagee’s sermons were often on in my house. I was raised according to ideologies that said the promised land was Israel, and the return of Jews to the promised land, prophesied in the Bible, would be instrumental to the second coming of Jesus.
Although as a child I did not know much about politics, I understood that this brand of Zionism was part of a desire among some American Christians to dominate every sector of culture, education and politics at home and abroad. Sure, there was a lot of good being preached, but I could not stand listening to the biblically justified oppression of anyone who was not straight, not Christian and not White. It was because of these hateful beliefs that I left the church in my 20s, never to return.
I have recently heard from progressive Jewish groups who were deeply disappointed at the inclusion of Hagee at the March for Israel and that rabbis were not given a prominent speaking role. Whatever one’s beliefs about the current conflict, what does anyone gain by tossing a megaphone to a man who has historically amplified hate against so many people in the name of God?
We all need to be marching together, and there is room for interfaith allyship in this fight. But the signal broadcast to the world by Hagee’s appearance at the D.C. march is that pro-Israel supporters are willing to make a risky pact with Christian Zionists at a moment when hearts are breaking and people are starving for moral clarity.
Flirting with Christian nationalism and giving hateful figures such as Hagee a platform can only lead our march toward a dark, dark place — when what we really need is healing, peace and understanding.
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