Ted Cruz Booed Off at Stage at Middle East Christian Conference
Ted Cruz Gets Booed Off Stage At Middle East Christian Event, for saying that "Christians have no greater friend than Israel," and appearing to try to hijack a coalition building event for his own political agenda, reports Igor Bobic. Senator Cruz was delivering the keynote speech for a group called In Defense of Christians.
"I will say this: I'm saddened to see that some here, not everyone, are so consumed with hate," he said, as more members in attendance began to boo. "I will say this: If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you. Thank you, and God bless you," he said, before walking off the stage.
According to The Daily Caller, IDC Executive Director Andrew Doran then came on the stage and said, "For the love of God, we're here to talk about Christians and we're here to be united."
Bobic picks up this story from the Assyrian International News Agency which provides this transcript and audio tape of that portion of Senator Cruz' speech.
Good evening. Today we are gathered at a time of extraordinary challenge. Tonight we are all united in defense of Christians.
APPLAUSE
Tonight we are all united in defense of Jews.
APPLAUSE
Tonight we are all united in defense of people of good faith who are standing together against those who would persecute and murder those who dare to disagree with their religious teachings.
APPLAUSE
Religious bigotry is a cancer with many manifestations. ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and their state sponsors like Syria and Iran, are all engaged in a vicious genocidal campaign to destroy religious minorities in the Middle East.
Sometimes we are told not to lump these groups together, but we have to understand their so-called nuances and differences. But we shouldn't try to parse different manifestations of evil that are on murderous rampage through the region. Hate is hate and murder is murder.
Our purpose here tonight is to highlight a terrible injustice, a humanitarian crisis. Christians are being systematically exterminated.
In 1948 Jews throughout the Middle East faced murder and extermination and fled to the nation of Israel. And today Christians have no better ally than the Jewish state.
AUDIENCE: stop it, stop it...boooh
Cruz: Let me say this: those who hate Israel hate America.
AUDIENCE: no
Cruz: And those who hate Jews hate Christians.
AUDIENCE: boooh--
Cruz: And if this room will not recognize that, then my heart weeps that the men and women here will not stand in solidarity with Jews and Christians alike who are persecuted by radicals who seek to murder them.
APPLAUSE
If you hate the Jewish people you are not reflecting the teachings of Christ--
AUDIENCE: nobody said we hate the Jews...the meeting is for the Christians...
Cruz: 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 and murder Jews for their faith for the same reason.
APPLAUSE
AUDIENCE: ...is not fighting Jews, it is fighting Christians...
I will say this--
AUDIENCE: don't say anymore...enough...that is enough...enough
THE PRESIDENT OF IDC: please respect the...
Cruz: I am saddened to see some here, not everyone, but some here are so consumed with hate--
AUDIENCE: We are not consumed with hate, no, you are consumed with hate--
Cruz: ...if you will not stand with Israel and Jews, then I will not stand with you. Thank you and God bless you.
Audio of Senator Ted Cruz's speech at the In Defense Of Christians Summit in Washington on September 10, 2014
AINA interviewed several conference attendees after the event and most said that they were there to discuss the plight of the Christians in Iraq, not the Israel-Hamas conflict, and they resented the senator's attempt to "hijack" the summit.
An IDC spokesperson attributed the boos to "a few disrupters." Senator Cruz blamed antisemitism, hauling out the tired old trope that all criticism of Israel equates with antisemitism.
I wish we had a word or concise phrase to describe this kind of political and opportunistic exploitation of allegations of antisemitism to smear all critics of Israel policy, or as in this case, Senator Cruz' crass smearing of all who objected to his right-wing political opportunism in trying to hijack a coalition building conference on oppression of Christians for his own political objectives.