Stand Up And Oppose Pastor John Hagee

From Monday, July 21 through Thursday, July 24, Pastor John Hagee will be in Washington, D.C. to lead the national gathering of his infamous Christians United For Israel. The CUFI conference is studded with rightwing zealots and features workshops like "Radical Islam: In Their Own Words," led by neo-conservative Daniel Pipes and former right-wing Senator Rick Santorum; and "The Basics of The Arab Israeli Conflict," led by representatives of the pro-occupation David Project and StandWithUS and Gary Bauer, president of anti-choice, homophobic American Values.

Unbelievably, the Anti Defamation League (ADL), the supposed bigotry watchdog, has not condemned Hagee for his anti semitic, anti gay, anti Muslim rhetoric. To the contrary, ADL has given him a free pass. In fact, in a recent letter to Hagee, John Fox, president of ADL wrote, "We wholeheartedly support your efforts to eradicate anti-Semitism, including its historic antecedents in the Christian community. We especially appreciate your extraordinary efforts to rally so many in the Christian community to stand with Israel." This is utter, embarrassing nonsense.

As a result of ADL's unprincipled behavior, Jewish Voice For Peace and others have condemned the conference and are calling on the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to stand up against Hagee's pervasive bigotry and to condemn his statements.

A very brief review of just some of Hagee's views, and ADL's supposed responses to them, make it clear that he is a virulent anti-semite, staunchly anti-gay, and completely anti-muslim, and that ADL should be forcefully condemning him. But they're not. Hagee's statements are obvious:

The anti-Christ is gay and Jewish. source
ADL has said, "the statement ... that the Antichrist, who is evil incarnate, is Jewish, borders on anti-Semitism at best and is anti-Semitic at worst." This is a remarkably tepid condemnation of a statement that is appallingly racist.

Jews control the federal reserve. source. ADL has said, "The charge that "Jews control the Federal Reserve" is a classic example of the hatemonger’s paranoid-style exploitation of legitimate concerns — in this case, the nation’s economy. Moreover, the wide appeal of this anti-Semitic conspiracy theory among all kinds of extremists strikingly demonstrates how the agendas of otherwise opposing hate groups meet on common ground: the scapegoating of Jews."

God caused the devastation of NOLA by Katrina to stop a scheduled Gay Pride parade. source, source.

"Those who live by the Qur'an have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews... it teaches that very clearly." source.

ADL's mission statement proclaims that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all." To repeat, "all forms of bigotry" and "protects civil rights for all." What am I missing here?

Don't Hagee's statements about Jews, the GLBT community, and Muslims in general qualify as forms of extreme bigotry? Why am I having to ask this question?

What to do: Please sign the petition at Jewish Voice for Peace urging ADL to condemn Hagee.

Please spread this petition widely.