The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) will host a conference in Los Angeles on Monday to “challenge Palestinian lies” and address efforts to undermine Evangelical Christian support for the State of Israel.
Antisemitism has reached new heights throughout the western world. While Christians are among the strongest allies of the Jewish state and its people, CAMERA points out that a new anti-Israel effort is attempting to dismantle Christian support for Israel. In a video ad promoting Monday’s conference, CAMERA says that “Palestinian advocates are pushing a false narrative that Jesus wasn’t Jewish, but a Palestinian. This false narrative is making inroads into the Evangelical Christian community and undermining traditional Christian support for Israel.”
CAMERA notes that Israel’s enemies are well aware that evangelical support for Israel is a major political obstacle in their effort to turn the United States against Israel. As such, one major goal of the January 18 conference is to provide attendees with “the tools to understand and respond to deceptive assault on Christian support for Israel” and to offer ways to strengthen joint Christian and Jewish efforts to combat growing anti-Israel movements in the church.
Christianity has also been on the decline in many parts of the Middle East as the rise of Muslim extremists, like the so-called Islamic State, target followers of the faith.
“The Palestinian narrative denies the Jewishness of Jesus and the Jewish connection to the land of Israel for the purpose of raising spiritual and financial support for their political cause,” Dr. Tricia Miller, a senior Christian research analyst at CAMERA said in a press release. “Unfortunately, this deceptive agenda is making inroads in the Evangelical Christian community.”
The conference is being held on the national celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. As one of Israel’s most stalwart supporters, the late civil rights leader’s legacy serves as a reminder to the world of the the importance of solidarity and that hatred can only be defeated when the good men and women of the world speak out against it.
Speakers at Monday’s conference include CAMERA’s Executive Director Andrea Levin; Randal Neal, the Western Regional Coordinator for Christians United for Isxtrael (CUNI); Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, Director of Interfaith Affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Laurie Cardoza-Moore, the founder and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations. President of TRIBE Media Corp. and the Jewish Journal, David Suissa will be the keynote speaker. Other distinguished scholars and religious leaders will also be speaking at the conference.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center recently called upon President Barack Obama, urging him to convene a summit on antisemitism. In addition to to both international and national efforts to combat the rise of antisemitism, efforts are being made at a state level. Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) recently introduced two pieces of legislation to counter the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the State of Israel.
Anyone interested in attending Monday’s conference should email Tricia Miller at Tricia@CAMERA.org or Talia Shulman Gold at talia@CAMERA.org for registration information.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz.