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Georgia Dem’s anti-Israel sermon resurfaces amid Senate runoff race

With the balance of power in the US Senate riding on two run-off elections in Georgia, the heat is on and stinging comments have resurfaced made about Israel and Black Lives Matter by one of the Democratic candidates, the Rev. Raphael Warnock.

In a 2018 videotaped sermon, reported by Jewish Insider and circulating among conservative Jews, Warnock, facing off against incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the Jan. 5 run-off,  blasted Israel after a White House ceremony lauding the relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — a move supported for decades by both Democratic and Republican leaders and implemented by President Trump.

“It’s been a tough week. The administration opened up the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Standing there [were] the president’s family and a few mealy-mouthed evangelical preachers who are responsible for the mess that we found ourselves in, both there and here — misquoting and misinterpreting the Scripture, talking about peace,” he said.

“Meanwhile, young Palestinian sisters and brothers, who are struggling for their very lives, struggling for water and struggling for their human dignity, stood up in a non-violent protest, saying, ‘If we’re going to die, we’re going to die struggling.’”

Warnock went on to compare the struggle of Palestinians with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.

“Yes, there may have been some folk who were violent, but we oughta know how that works out,” Warnock said.

“We know what it’s like to stand up and have a peaceful demonstration and have the media focus on a few violent uprisings. But you have to look at those Palestinian sisters and brothers, who are struggling for their human dignity and they have a right to self-determination, they have a right to breathe free …

“We saw the government of Israel shoot down unarmed Palestinian sisters and brothers like birds of prey. And I don’t care who does it, it is wrong. It is wrong to shoot down God’s children like they don’t matter at all. And it’s no more anti-Semitic for me to say that than it is anti-white for me to say that black lives matter. Palestinian lives matter.”

One pro-Israel activist slammed Warnock’s remarks as disturbing and full of lies.

“It’s really vile. Don’t tell me he’s a friend of Israel,” said former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Anti-semitism.

Hikind critiqued the Warnock sermon on his group’s website while also showing clips of the violent protests in Gaza opposing the embassy move.

He said he was baffled that the reverend would describe the US Embassy opening in Jerusalem as a “tough week.”

“The purpose of the demonstrations in Gaza was to force the border open to invade Israel. What country in the world would permit that? What planet are you living in?” Hikind said.

The senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where civil rights icon the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, is seeking to oust Loeffler in the Jan. 5 run-off, while Democrat Jon Ossoff faces off against GOP Sen. David Perdue. The roster in the Senate currently sits at 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats.

A Warnock campaign spokesperson told Jewish Insider, “It is clear that our opponent is going through thousands of hours of footage trying to find a way to misrepresent who Reverend Warnock is and scare Georgians. But that does not change the fact that Reverend Warnock is a staunch ally and supporter of Israel and the Jewish community in our state. Reverend Warnock agrees with Dr. King that ‘Israel’s right to exist as a state in security is incontestable,’ and believes a two-state solution is the path to enduring peace.”

Warnock, in a column also provided to JI, said, “I understand and recognize Israel’s unique historical importance as the greatest proponent of democracy in the Middle East and America’s most important partner in the region. I understand the many threats that face Israel and as a U.S. senator I will work to ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

Raphael Warnock
Raphael WarnockREUTERS

“It is true that I am deeply concerned about continued settlement expansion — I believe it is a threat to the prospect of a two-state solution, which I believe is the only path to enduring peace. I will continue to advocate for self-determination for the Palestinian people because I want to see a Palestinian state living side by side with a safe and secure Israel.”

He also said he opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

“In the spirit of John Lewis and so many civil rights heroes I revere, I recognize the First Amendment right to protest is an American value we must protect. But I strongly oppose the BDS movement and its anti-Semitic underpinnings, including its supporters’ refusal to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist,” Warnock said.