Sampling of the anti-Semitic record of supporters of Glenn Beck s Jerusalem rally

Several of the prominent religious figures cited by Glenn Beck as supporters of his Restoring Courage event in Jerusalem planned for August 24 2011 have made controversial comments about Jews or have associated with anti-Semitic groups. 1. According to the Anti-Defamation League, David Barton "has delivered his revisionist presentation in the meeting halls of the racist and anti-Semitic extreme right."
In the 1994 book, The Religious Right: The Assault on Tolerance & Pluralism in America, the Anti-Defamation League wrote that Barton "purveys a slick, cut-and-paste revisionist history of the United States and the Constitution." ADL further stated that Barton spoke at events hosted by the Christian Identity movement, which "asserts that Jews are 'the synagogue of Satan'; that Blacks and other people of color are subhuman; and that northern European whites and their American descendants are the 'chosen people' of scriptural prophesy." From the book: On at least two occasions, Barton has delivered his revisionist presentation in the meeting halls of the racist and antiSemitic extreme right. In July 1991, Barton addressed the Colorado summer retreat of Scriptures for America, the Identity Church group headed by firebrand Pete Peters. He was advertised as "a new and special speaker" who would "bring the following messages: America's Godly Heritage -- Was it the plan of our forefathers that America be the melting pot home of various religions and philosophies? ..." Barton's fellow-speakers at the retreat included the virulently anti-Semitic Virginia stockbroker-polemicist Richard Kelly Hoskins; "Bo" Gritz, the 1992 presidential nominee of the far-right Populist Party and a self-described "white separatist"; and Canadian Holocaust-denier Malcolm Ross. On November 24, 1991, Barton appeared at another Identity gathering, presenting the second annual Thanksgiving message to Identity preacher Mike Watson's Kingdom Covenant College in Grants Pass, Oregon. In a subsequent edition of The Centinel [sic], Watson's publication, Barton was described as a "nationally acclaimed speaker" who "has introduced many Americans to their godly Christian heritage." [Pages 55-56] Barton later said he was not aware that the events were hosted by groups with a racist ideology and said "that with as many as 400 speaking engagements a year, he cannot do background checks on each of the invitations he receives," according to an April 10, 1996, Seattle Times article.

2. John Hagee declared that God allowed the rise of Adolf Hitler because it resulted Inreturning Israel to the Jewish People.
From The Washington Post: Sen. John McCain on Thursday repudiated the presidential endorsement of the Rev. John Hagee after learning about a sermon in which the megachurch pastor from San Antonio declared that God allowed the rise of Adolf Hitler because it resulted in returning Israel to the Jewish people. [...] This week, a new controversy over his preaching began when a video started circulating of a sermon, delivered in the late 1990s, in which Hagee calls Hitler a "hunter," a reference to the Book of Jeremiah, which quotes God saying he "will restore" the Jews "to the land I gave to their forefathers."

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"Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter," Hagee says in the sermon. "And the Bible says -- Jeremiah writing -- 'They shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill out of the holes of the rocks,' meaning there's no place to hide. And that will be offensive to some people but don't let your heart be offended. I didn't write it, Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth. How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel." When asked what McCain thought of the remarks, spokesman Tucker Bounds responded with an e-mail from the candidate denouncing Hagee. "Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them," McCain said. "I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well." [The Washington Post, May 23, 2008]

3. Billy Graham agreed with Nixon about the Jewish stranglehold on the media.
From the Chicago Tribune: Rev. Billy Graham openly voiced a belief that Jews control the American media, calling it a "stranglehold" during a 1972 conversation with President Richard Nixon, according to a tape of the Oval Office meeting released Thursday by the National Archives. "This stranglehold has got to be broken or the country's going down the drain," the nation's best-known preacher declared as he agreed with a stream of bigoted Nixon comments about Jews and their perceived influence in American life. "You believe that?" Nixon says after the "stranglehold" comment. "Yes, sir," Graham says. "Oh, boy," replies Nixon. "So do I. I can't ever say that but I believe it." "No, but if you get elected a second time, then we might be able to do something," Graham replies. [Chicago Tribune, March 1, 2002] Billy Graham: Jews Swarm Around Me Because I Am Friendly To Israel ... But They Dont Know How I Really Feel About What Theyre Doing To This Country. From the New York Observer: Publicly, Mr. Graham has made much of his friendships with Jewish leaders. But in the Nixon tapes, he is recorded as saying: A lot of the Jews are great friends of mine. They swarm around me and are friendly to me, because they know that I am friendly to Israel and so forth. But they dont know how I really feel about what theyre doing to this country, and I have no power and no way to handle them. [New York Observer, March 11, 2002] Billy Graham Apologized. From the Associated Press: The Rev. Billy Graham has apologized for a 1972 conversation with former President Richard Nixon in which he said the Jewish "stranglehold" of the media was ruining the country and must be broken. The conversation was among 500 hours of Nixon tapes released by the National Archives. Most were recorded between January and June 1972. Page 2 of 3

"Although I have no memory of the occasion, I deeply regret comments I apparently made in an Oval Office conversation with President Nixon ... some 30 years ago," Graham, the prominent Southern Baptist evangelist, said Friday in a statement released by his Texas public relations firm. "They do not reflect my views and I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the remarks." [AP, March 1, 2002]

4. Franklin Grahamdefended his father s anti-Semitic comments.

From the Charlotte Observer: Evangelist Franklin Graham on Tuesday defended his father, Billy, against charges of anti-Semitism, saying comments caught on tape 30 years ago weren't aimed at all Jews but rather "a handful of elitists who had control of the major outlets at that time." "The issue has never been Jewish people," Franklin Graham told The Observer before preaching at the YMCA Community Prayer Breakfast in Charlotte. "His concern was liberalism in that time in the media. And it's changed." [...] Franklin Graham said his father's comments were taken out of context. He said many other people have had private conversations they wouldn't want to be made public. "Any time you have a private conversation with anybody and it's taped and released, your confidence has been broken," he said. Franklin Graham also noted that his father, now 83, has learned a valuable lesson from being caught on tape."All of our conversations," Franklin Graham said, "are being taped by God." [Charlotte Observer, April 3, 2002]

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