Christian preacher: PM stroke due to God's enmity (JPost)
Conservative Christian evangelical broadcaster
Pat Robertson on Thursday linked Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke to God's "enmity against those who 'divide my land.' "
"He was dividing God's land and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations, or the United States of America," Robertson said on his television program, "
The 700 Club," broadcast from his Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach. "God says 'this land belongs to me. You better leave it alone.' "
Last year, Sharon, a longtime hawk and supporter of Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, changed tack and withdrew from the Gaza Strip and some settlements in the West Bank - as the best hope for achieving a peace deal with the Palestinians.
The unilateral Israeli pullout was supported by the European Union, the United Nations, and the United States. But it was strongly opposed by many members of Sharon's right-wing Likud party, prompting the Israeli leader to quit and form a new centrist party.
Some US evangelical Christians also opposed the Israeli withdrawal from lands that they believe constitute the biblical land of Israel and link to prophecies foretelling the second coming of Christ.
Robertson said that he had personally prayed about a year ago with Sharon, whom he called "a very tender-hearted man and a good friend." He said he was sad to see Sharon in this condition.
WASHINGTON - The White House sharply criticized Christian broadcaster and former Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson on Friday for suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine punishment for “dividing God’s land.”
“Those comments are wholly inappropriate and offensive and really don’t have a place in this or any other debate,” presidential spokesman Trent Duffy said as President Bush traveled to Chicago for a speech.
Robertson, who has a history of controversial statements, made his comments about Israel and Sharon on his TV program, “The 700 Club.” He said, “God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says ‘This is my land,’ and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, ‘No, this is mine.”’....
In discussing what he said was God’s insistence that Israel not be divided, Robertson also referred to the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who had sought to achieve peace by giving land to the Palestinians. “It was a terrible thing that happened, but nevertheless he was dead,” he said.
Eugene Volokh writes:
I guess God must have really liked say Stalin, at least long past the purges. Oh, and Arafat, too; God must have been a big fan. . . . God didn't send Stalin a stroke during the purges or the Ukraine famine, so Stalin must not have really earned God's enmity. God didn't get rid of Arafat for a very long time. Sharon must have been a much worse fellow than those worthies, in God's eyes.
10 TO 1 ROBERTSON SUFFERS A SEVERE HEALTH CRISIS IN THE NEXT 3 WEEKS.
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