The “Anti- Hamas bill that passed in the House yesterday was heavily supported by AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. In fact, one critic of the bill, Congresswoman Betty McCollum of Minnesota, accused AIPAC of threatening her because she voted against the bill. She said an AIPAC activist called her office to say that her QUOTE “support for terrorists will not be tolerated.”

This is how they do business. Teh real terror states: U.S. and Israel, controlled by money. We, the taxpayer, need to stop subsidizing Israeli terror on the Palestinians.

The influence of Christian Zionism as the other half of the pro-Israeli lobby with AIPAC was briefly mentioned on Democracy Now. Christian Zionist proponents include Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, John Hagee and other right wing religious fundamentalists who subscribe to "Armageddon theory", the delusional belief that after all Jewish people are returned to the "Promised Land" of Israel the Second Coming of Jesus will occur, followed by "Rapture" and the Battle of Armageddon." The Armageddon Valley is an actual valley in Palestine/Israel where Christian Zionist fundamentalists believe that the final battle between good (Christian Zionists) and evil (Anyone Else not in First Category) will occur, resulting in either conversion of non-believers to Christianity or the destruction of non-believers in the flames of Rapture. If the flames of Rapture happen to be US/Israeli nuclear weapons, then Christian Zionist can interpret this as the "Hand of the Lord" even if the hand is GW Bush's being guided by Pat "the Prodigy" Robertson..

The nickname "Prodigy" for Pat Robertson is obviously sarcasm. In jest we refer to Pat Roberson as a prodigy who claims to have "divine guidance" from what he believes is God. Many would consider Robertson's behavior an indication of an advanced stage of a psychotic sociopath, yet Robertson is viewed by his financial supporters who sit glued to the "700 Club" or "Christian Broadcasting Network" (Cable TV shows owned by Robertson) as a holy guru who will lead them to the promised land. The financial support given to Robertson via his televangelist cable tv outreach is then used to transport and relocate Russian Jews to the crowded settlements of Israel/Palestine's West Bank settlements..

Other evangelical Christian Zionists besides Pat Robertson are also adding more human fuel to the coming fires of Rapture. John Hagee recently founded the Christians United For Israel (CUFI) a pro-Israeli lobbying group that plays the same function as AIPAC, only they are primarily right wing Christian evangelicals from the southeast and/or Texas. Hagee's pulpit is located in San Antonio, TX, and his audience watches on TV around the US. Hagee is not shy about asking TV viewers for money..

"The Texas Observer reported that "At the climax of the evening, Hagee presented a giant cardboard check for $1.5 million to the President and CEO of the United Jewish Communities," to be used for [the relocation of] Russian Jews to Israel. Hagee believes that bringing Jews to Israel will help to fulfill the biblical prophecy of 'the beginning of the end.'"

Instead of the Book of Revelations, talk of statecraft -- radical Christian Republican-style -- dominated. Together Hagee, DeLay, and [former Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu [via a video feed from Israel] hit similar points: Jerusalem belongs to Israel; the west bank belongs to Israel; the Temple Mount belongs to Israel; the U.S. Embassy should be in Jerusalem not Tel Aviv; Yasser Arafat is a terrorist with whom one cannot negotiate; and unconditional support for Israel is the only option. As Hagee repeatedly noted, "Israel is the only nation on earth created by a sovereign act of God."
Hagee, the author of a number of books including "Attack on America --New York, Jerusalem, and the role of Terrorism in the Last Days," and "The Beginning of the End -- The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Coming Antichrist," recently penned a non-fiction book called "Jerusalem Countdown -- A Warning to the World," which has already landed on best-seller lists."

http://www.mediatransparency.org/storyprinterfriendly.php?storyID=116

Challenging Christian Zionism is a group of moderate Christians who challenge the "Armageddon theory" and other myths purported by right wing Christian Zionists like Hagee, Robertson, etc..

"An interview with Pastor John Hagee of San Antonio dealing with his devotion to Israel, his worries of Iran, his new advocacy organization, CUFI (Christians United For Israel)."

more on Hagee's lobbyist group CUFI @;
http://www.christianzionism.org/

For Christian Zionists any lasting peace between Israeli settlers and Palestinians (or any other Muslims, Iran, etc..) is undesireable. Peace between Israelis and Muslims would delay the "second coming" aka "Rapture", therefore the Christian Zionists will do everything in their power to prevent lasting peace and instead escalate tensions between the recently relocated Israelis and the indigenous Palestinians. The Christian Zionists in the Bush camp also profit from Halliburton's escapades in Iraq and the billions of dollars of profits made by petroleum corporations. In that sense Israel serves a purpose as a colonial military outpost of the US oil interests, then after the oil is used up, Israel is another useless military base in the desert and "Rapture" can happen. This human created "Rapture" coincides with the peak oil economic collapse and severe weather/ecological disasters like Katrina that result from corporate neglect of sustainability principles. For ignorant people in the US, it would seem like an "act of God" and Robertson's ilk would appear to be prophets of some sort. In reality we understand that the ecological devastations we will continue to face is the direct result of various forms of (mining, timber, petroleum, biotech, etc..) corporate greed and their destruction of ecosystems..

Of course the Christian Zionists are also opposed to any attempt by other Christians to act as stewards and caretakes of Earth ecosystems. Earth Island Journal sums it up quite well in their Spring 2006 issue feature "Unholy Alliance";

The new Manifest Destiny: Christian Dominionists work with the anti-environmental right-wing to use up the Earth’s resources as quickly as possible."

more @;
http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/new_articles.cfm?articleID=1020&journalID=86

Then after the human induced flooding (or other) disaster, communities will be solicited by Cheney's Halliburton to reconstruct their devastated infrastructure..

Mixed bag o'nuts, joining together in a common nutty purpose. These are some crazee times

I'm the webmaster of http://www.christianzionism.org. Good observations although I need to correct one small error. Fundamentalists who subscribe to "dispensationalism" which provides the theological underpinings for Christian Zionism in its Jerry Falwell/John Hagee/Pat Robertson permutation believe that the Rapture will occure BEFORE Armageddon. Here's the logic:

The restoration of the Jewish people to the Promised Land was a God ordained and directed event - the signal that the End Time Clock is ticking. Israel itself becomes the key to understanding how events will unfold before the 2nd Coming. The forces of Evil are even now gathering to attempt to overturn God's plan to give the whole of biblical Israel back to the Jewish people (which depending on your reading of scripture can include all of Jordan and major chunks of Lebanon and Egypt, as well not to mention what CZ's call "Judea and Samaria" - the West Bank and Gaza which explains their adament opposition to the Israeli pull out from Gaza). At one time Russia was seen as the embodiment of Evil when they were linking up with Arab countries to oppose Israel. Now its Arabs in general, particularly Palestinians who are the devils minions.

Just before these forces of Evil - led by the mysterious yet charismatic figure known as the anti Christ who will attempt to unite world governments (the UN is another bugaboo of CZ's) - reach the point where they are ready to strike against Israel the Rapture will happen - thus allowing "born again" Christians to be removed from the scene before the carnage associated with the Battle of Armageddon is unleashed.

Your assessment of the other elements of the dispensationalist theo-political myth are pretty accurate although folks like Hagee and Robertson and Falwell in their desire to cozy up to Israelis political figures play down the part about converted Jews being the only ones who will survive the holocaust which defines Armageddon. But it is clearly part of the scenario.

For a great read on how the more extremist elements among Christian Zionists and Jewish Zionists come together in their apocalyptic speculations I highly commend Gershom Gorenburg's "The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount". He's an Israeli journalist who has been watching the development of fringe Christian and Jewish groups for some time. Fascinating stuff.

And do visit our website which has a number of articles and links and weekly updates on anything related to Christian Zionism.

J Hubers
http://www.christianzionism.org