Watch Ted Cruz Turn a Political Problem Into a Pro-Israel Sister Souljah Moment
Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images
Yesterday afternoon the Washington Free Beacon's Alana Goodman reported that an "In Defense of Christians" conference that Sen. Ted Cruz was set to appear at would "feature pro-Hezbollah and pro-Assad speakers." The intersection between Arabian Christians and criticism of Israel was going to be in a D.C. ballroom, and Ted Cruz was headed there.
Another conference speaker, Antioch Church patriarch Gregory III Laham, has claimed a “Zionist conspiracy against Islam” is responsible for al Qaeda attacks on Iraqi Christians.
“It is actually a conspiracy planned by Zionism and some Christians with Zionist orientations, and it aims at undermining and giving a bad image of Islam,” Laham said in 2010, according to the Daily Star.
The Syrian patriarch has been the subject of controversy inside the Catholic Church. In a published message welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to Lebanon in 2012, he called on the Holy See to recognize the State of Palestine, causing what the Vatican Insider described as “a great embarrassment to Rome.” In 2013, a prominent French bishop accused Laham of being “an ally politically and financially” of Bashar al-Assad.
This presented a problem for Cruz. He could deliver a real stemwinder, a you-had-to-be-there, Cross-of-Gold classic defense of Middle East Christians. But a future enemy could always say he spoke at a conference "connected to Hezbollah." Just a couple of months after Cruz spoke to Christians United for Israel, this would be dissonant, if nothing else. What could he do?
He could dare the audience to boo him. And boo they did. Tristyn Bloom reports on what Cruz said:
Those who hate Israel hate America. Those who hate Jews hate Christians. If those in this room will not recognize that, then my heart weeps. If you hate the Jewish people you are not reflecting the teachings of Christ. And the very same people who persecute and murder Christians right now, who crucify Christians, who behead children, are the very same people who target Jews for their faith, for the same reason
And a citizen journalist captured the hecklers who led Cruz to say could not "stand with" them.
Sister Souljah achievement: Unlocked.