Jerusalem deputy mayor condemns protest of Evangelical Pentecost event, expresses support for Christian Zionists
‘Christian Zionists are the main pro-Israel lobby today’ says Deputy Mayor Hassan-Nahoum
Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum spoke to i24 News today regarding yesterday's protests against the Pentecost and Isaiah 62 Fast event by Orthodox Jewish activists.
As ALL ISRAEL NEWS reported yesterday, a group of protesters attempted to disrupt the event, at one point even blocking the entrance to the archeological park at the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount, before police cleared them away. The group was allegedly protesting the Christian events at the request of another Jerusalem deputy mayor, Arieh King.
Hassan-Nahoum said she “really worked hard to try to put a stop to it,” and attributed much of the furor of the right-wing religious activists to “misinformation.”
She said that many of the Evangelical Christians coming to such events in Israel are not coming to “missionize.”
The i24 host, Calev Ben-David noted that several of the protesters also complained about Christian presence near the Western Wall. One of the demonstrators told ALL ISRAEL NEWS, “there are Christian missionary organizations that are trying to get into the Western Wall.”
Hassan-Nahoum complained that protesters were attacking some of Israel’s “strongest friends.”
“We have to fight constant delegitimization of the State of Israel by the foreign press, and for once we have press which is pro-Israel, from the Christian channels,” Hassan-Nahoum said. These Christians “are trying to show Israel in the best possible light,” she continued.
Hundreds of people have protested Christian prayer today near the Western Wall
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) May 28, 2023
Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem @FleurHassanN joins to discuss the 'ignorance' that led to the demonstrations against people who are staunch supporters of the Jewish state #TheRundown | @calev_i24 pic.twitter.com/zY66N7rL9e
She also said that King and his supporters do not understand that “Christian Zionists, the Evangelicals, in the United States and around the world, are the main pro-Israel lobby today" and that these groups “do an amazing job of lobbying for the State of Israel.”
The deputy mayor specifically called out former Vice President Mike Pence and his Evangelical supporters for their role in moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
Hassan-Nahoum said the lack of understanding from King and the Orthodox activists is “extremely frustrating” and took to Twitter yesterday to post a message in Hebrew expressing her condemnation of King’s behavior.
אני מגנה את התנהגותו של סגן ראש העיר אריה קינג, שארגן מחאה נגד נוצרים שוחרי שלום המגיעים לעירנו כדי להפגין תמיכה ולהתפלל לשלומנו. נראה שאריה וחבורתו לא מבינים שאנחנו חייבים את המעבר של שגרירות ארה"ב לירושלים במידה רבה לחברינו הנוצרים-ציונים בארה"ב.
— פלר חסן נחום Fleur Hassan-Nahoum (@FleurHassanN) May 28, 2023
In that message, she referred to Christians as “peaceful," and stated, “we owe the move of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem to a large extent to our Christian-Zionist friends in the U.S.”
I condemn the demonstration today against our Christian Zionist friends who come to support our country and our eternal capital #Jerusalem watch my interview below.. https://t.co/ndNXXeB1TP
— פלר חסן נחום Fleur Hassan-Nahoum (@FleurHassanN) May 28, 2023
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
