Christian Activists Stage ‘United for Israel March’ At Columbia University
As pro-Palestinian protests spread to college campuses across America and around the world, three conservative Christian activists staged a “United for Israel March” at Columbia University on Friday night.
“It’s time to take a stand against the rampant antisemitism that is plaguing our nation,” said controversial “worship warrior” Sean Feucht in a Tuesday social media post announcing the counter-demonstration. Also engaging in the march were fellow culture warriors Eric Metaxas, the radio host and author, and Russell Johnson, pastor of Pursuit Church in Seattle.
Feucht and his fellow march organizers equate anti-Israel protests with antisemitism, which is a growing danger in the U.S. and worldwide. Specifically, the march took aim at pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University, who have been active since April 17. In that time, more than 100 protestors have been arrested, and classes have been moved online.
Many protestors say they are against Israel’s campaign in Gaza, not Jews. Since the brutal Oct.7 Hamas attacks, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds hostage, Israel has killed more than 34,000 people in Gaza.
Videos, however, show protestors at Columbia chanting, “Zionists not allowed here,” “We’re all Hamas,” and some students calling for “10,000 October 7ths.”
“Columbia has been taken over by radical Pro-Hamas protestors,” said Feucht in his post. “On April 25, that changes.”
Videos released by Feucht and others show a group of a few dozen people carrying American and Israel flags gathering before marching to Columbia’s gate, accompanied by a snare drum. The group then stopped to make statements over a bullhorn and sing songs, accompanied by Feucht on acoustic guitar.
“All of America needs to see this,” said Feucht through the bullhorn. “We’re not backing down.
Tonight, America is going to see a bunch of joyful believers” and “faith-filled warriors,” he added.
Metaxas, who wrote a book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, carried a poster of the German pastor and cited him in his comments.
“Jesus was a Jew, and if you love Jesus, you stand with every Jew, just as Dietrich Bonhoeffer stood with the Jews in his time,” Metaxas said. “We bless those who curse us.”
Johnson wore a RHUDE baseball cap and shouted slogans and Bible verses through the bullhorn.
When announcing the march, Feucht said, “Partner organizations are joining us from across the nation.” The march was also promoted by the Christian network CBN, James Robison’s The Stream, and right-wing media figures Laura Loomer and Andy Ngô.
“Every Christian and person of faith across America should be absolutely horrified at what we’re seeing take place right now on these university campuses that have become hotbeds for antisemitism and hatred of the Jews — an annihilation of an entire nation,” Feucht told CBN in a segment entitled, “Sean Feucht Brings Gospel to Hostile Antisemitic College.”
The protests at Columbia have spread across the country. The University of Southern California in Los Angeles has canceled commencement ceremonies due to protests over the school’s decision to cancel a Muslim student’s commencement speech.
Other protests have sprung up at Brown University in Rhode Island, Ohio State University, Emory University in Atlanta, the Austin and Dallas campuses of the University of Texas, and campuses in Cairo, Paris, and Sydney Australia, according to The New York Times.
In response, Brandeis University, a private school historically linked to Judaism, announced Monday that it would extend its deadline for transfer students. The university specifically encourages Jewish students feeling unsafe at their current schools to apply.
Thursday’s planned march follows U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s visit to the Columbia campus on Wednesday. Johnson, who met with Jewish students, called the school’s president an “inept leader” and said she should resign if she can’t quell the disturbances.
Johnson also said Congress should consider revoking federal funds for universities that can’t control student protests, but he did not say if legislation is pending.
The Family Research Council is among conservative evangelical groups saying believers should show “uncompromising support for Israel,” and it hopes 20,000 churches will participate in its May 19th nationwide initiative “to pray for and stand with Israel.”
“It is imperative that we, as believers within the body of Christ, visibly demonstrate our unwavering support for Israel anchored in the word of God,” said a Thursday email from FRC, the pro-family D.C. group founded by Focus on the Family four decades ago.
In his CBN interview, Feucht said, “These are the End Times . . . we’re living in the midst of it.”
The 1948 creation of a new nation of Israel set prophetic clocks a-ticking for many American evangelicals.
Dispensationalist interpretations of biblical prophecy give Israel a central role in end times beliefs popularized in Hal Lindsey’s bestselling “Late Great Planet Earth,” the “Left Behind” novels and the “Scofield Reference Bible.”
“At the center of the dispensational system was the belief that before any of the prophesied end times events could take place, Jews would have to reestablish their own state in the Holy Land,” wrote Timothy Weber wrote in his 2004 book, “On the Road to Armageddon: How Evangelicals Became Israel’s Best Friend.”
Black evangelicals often don’t share white evangelicals unalloyed support for Israel. In February, leaders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church released a statement calling on U.S. leaders to “immediately withdraw all funding and other support from Israel.”
The AMEC’s Council of Bishops said: “Since Oct. 7, 2023, in retaliation for the brutal murder of 1,139 Israeli citizens by Hamas, Israel has murdered over 28,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. The United States is supporting this mass genocide. This must not be allowed to continue.”
Religion News Service’s Adelle Banks reported that leaders of the National Council of Churches, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Sojourners, and the National African American Clergy Network asked U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to require funding for humanitarian aid for Palestinians in any Israel aid package.
On Wednesday, President Joseph Biden said America’s commitment to Israel remains “ironclad” as he signed legislation that provides some of the humanitarian aid the religious groups requested.
The legislation House Speaker Mike Johnson was able to pass last week with Democrat support includes $14 billion in aid for Israel and $10.5 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine.
This article was originally published in The Roys Report.
Steve Rabey is a veteran author and journalist who has published more than 50 books and 2,000 articles about religion, spirituality, and culture. He was an instructor at Fuller and Denver seminaries and the U.S. Air Force Academy.