| AMERICANS FOR A SAFE ISRAEL (AFSI) CHRISTIAN "PRAY FOR GAZA DAY" THROUGHOUT THE U.S. |
| APRIL 9, 2004 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CHRISTIANS PRAYING FOR GAZA THROUGHOUT THE U.S. Herbert Zweibon, Chairman of Americans For a Safe Israel /AFSI has turned to the Christian Evangelical community who number in the tens of millions in the U.S., and considered to be one of President Bush's core constituencies, to institute a "PRAY FOR GAZA DAY," Zweibon notes, "Churches across the country will observe a day of prayer for Gaza before April 14, in anticipation of Prime Minister Sharon's visit to Presi- dent Bush at the White House. It is their hope to prevent the surrender of 21 Jewish communities in Gaza to the terrorists who are now in the area. In addition, all Bible believing Christians and Jews recognize that a give away of Holy Land is a violation of G-D's Covenant with the Jewish People. References to Joshua 13: 1-3, and Judges 1:18, are cited as specifically naming Gaza as part of the biblical entitlement." AFSI's Chairman continues, "There are also historic, strategic and moral reasons for holding onto Gaza. The 1967 U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff report, which has never been revised, declared Gaza a strategic requirement for Israel's defense. President Bush's March 19 assertion that "Any sign of weakness or retreat simply vali- dates terrorist violence, and invites more violence for all nations" would be negated if Israel would withdraw from Gaza. America's war on terror in Iraq would become more difficult and dangerous as we discover that terrorists by any name are all the same. This is borne out in the words of Moqtada al Sadr who told his followers: 'I am the striking arm for Hizbullah and Hamas in Iraq because the fate of Iraq and Palestine is the same." Quoting Pat Robertson in his address at the Herziliya Conference last December, Zwiebon echoes Robertson's pleas to the Israelis, "Please don't commit national suicide. The slogan 'land for peace' is a cruel chimera. The Sinai was given up. Did that bring lasting peace? No. Southern Lebanon was given up. Did that bring last- ing peace? No. The world's Christians ask that you do not give away the treasured symbols of your spiritual patrimony. Those political leaders who dismiss the spiritual dimension of Israel's existence will find that they receive the mess of pottage of Esau rather than the inheritance of Jacob." |
| AMERICANS FOR A SAFE ISRAEL /AFSI 1623 Third Avenue; Suite 205, New York, NY 10128 Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717; Email: afsi@rcn.com; Website: http://www.afsi.org Contact: Helen Freedman |