Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Pat Robertson au Sharon

U.S. evangelist: PM's stroke result of God's 'enmity' for Gaza pullout
By Mazal Mualem and Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondents, and News
Agencies 
 
Conservative Christian evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson on
Thursday linked Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke to God's "enmity
against those who 'divide my land.'"
Sharon who is fighting for his life on a respirator after suffering a
severe stroke and cerebral hemorrhage.
"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 U.S. 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 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.
Robertson also said that in the Bible, the prophet Joel "makes it very
clear that God has enmity against those who 'divide my land.'"
"God considers this land to be his," Robertson said. "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.'"
Robertson spokeswoman Angell Watts did not immediately return a
telephone call seeking comment.
People For the American Way Foundation, which monitors "The 700 Club,"
criticized Robertson's remarks, calling them "an implicit reference to
recent steps the prime minister has taken to advance the
Israeli-Palestinian peace process."
"Once again, Pat Robertson leaves us speechless with his insensitivity
and arrogance," the group's president, Ralph G. Neas, said in a
statement.
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, said a religious leader "should not be
making callous political points while a man is struggling for his
life."
"Pat Robertson has a political agenda for the entire world, and he
seems to think God is ready to take out any world leader who stands in
the way of that agenda," Lynn said in a statement.
Ahmadinejad hoping for Sharon's death
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying he was
hoping for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's death, Reuters reported
Thursday.
"Hopefully, the news that the criminal of Sabra and Shatila has joined
his ancestors is final," the semi-official news agency ISNA quoted him
as telling a group of Shiite clerics in the holy city of Qom. 
The United States quickly responded, blasting the comment as "hateful
and disgusting." 
"This is a man who wraps himself in the cloak of a peaceful religion,
Islam, and yet you hear remarks like this coming from him," State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. 
"I can only say that those remarks are hateful and disgusting. And I
think that it is, again, a window into the true nature of this
particular Iranian Government," McCormack said. 
Ahmadinejad has already drawn world condemnation for calling for
Israel to be wiped off the map and for branding the Holocaust a myth. 
McCormack said the latest comments on Sharon were more of the same.
"I think this is part of a continuing stream of hateful invective that
has come from this president."
 
-- 
E' in discussione su it.news.gruppi la RFD 
di it.politica.internazionale moderato

One cannot give away the land of Israel without dire consequences. Pat
Robertson may be right that God may be punishing Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon for "dividing God's land." The Holy Bible shows God has
punished people more severely for less. I have yet to see any evidence
that Pat Robertson is wrong, but only those attacking him for who he
is. Besides Mr. Robertson said 'may', he did not make an emphatic
statement that God is punishing Ariel Sharon for "dividing God's land".
 SAY THIS PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I am a sinner and am headed to eternal
hell because of my sins. I believe you died on the cross to take away
my sins and to take me to heaven. Jesus, I ask you now to come into my
heart and take away my sins and give me eternal life.
http://www.ArmyofGod.com