PROMINENT BLACK PASTORS URGE THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS NOT TO SKIP NETANYAHU SPEECH
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/27/black-pastors-congressional-black-caucus-skipping-/?page=1
The message from a dozen prominent black pastors this week to the Congressional Black Caucus was loud and clear: Don’t skip out on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyuhu’s speech.
About two dozen House and Senate Democrats, most of them black caucus members, have said they will not attend Mr. Netanyahu’s speech Tuesday before a joint session of Congress, which one pastor described as a “slap in the face to the people of Israel.”
“The thing to me that makes no sense is why the Congressional Black Caucus has teamed up with this current administration against Israel,” said Pastor Dexter D. Sanders of the Rock Center for Transformation in Orlando, Florida.
“And yes, black caucus, I’m saying you have gone against Israel when you decide to protest the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, from coming and speaking on the behalf of the nation of Israel,” Mr. Sanders said. “That is a slap in the face to the people of Israel, and not only that, it’s a slap in the face to God. And not only that, it’s also a slap in the face of all Bible-believing African-American people in this country.”
The Christian pastors, representing churches nationwide from California to New York, delivered an often fiery defense on behalf of the speech at Thursday’s press conference at the National Press Club, organized by the Center for Urban Renewal and Education.
Some black caucus members have argued that the Netanyahu speech comes as an insult to President Obama. House Speaker John Boehner invited the Israeli prime minister without first checking with the president, although Mr. Netanyahu has said he notified the White House before accepting.
Pastor Carlton Smith of the Antioch Fellowship Assembly in Cleveland recounted how Jews had stood alongside black Americans in their fight for civil rights.
“They stood and marched with us in our struggle then, and we must stand with them in the face of their enemy now,” Mr. Smith said.
At least two Democratic House members who plan to skip the speech—Reps. Steve Cohen of Tennessee and John Yarmuth of Kentucky—are Jewish. Mr. Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden are also not expected to attend.
Bishop David Richey of the Gulf Coast Christian Center in Mobile, Alabama, warned that missing the speech would send the wrong message to enemies of Israel and the United States.
“[T]his is certainly not the time to give even the least of hint that we are not the best of allies with the state of Israel,” said Mr. Richey, adding, “In order to remain the great nation that we are, some things must remain non-negotiable. I believe our current stand with Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu must be one of those things.”
The specter of lawmakers deliberating missing the speech may also do more harm to U.S.-Israeli relations, said Pastor Claude May of the Oasis of Hope Christian Church in Detroit.
“I am afraid of the direction we are headed in, based upon fact that we are about to destroy a relationship that has always been strong, always been great,” Mr. May said. “We have always been the strongest of allies with the nation of Israel since its inception, and I am deeply disturbed that that is being deteriorated by these acts.”
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