Hundreds of South African Christians are expected to gather in major towns across the country next Sunday to offer prayers for South Africa and Israel. They intend to show solidarity with the Jewish state and dissociate themselves from what they perceive as South Africa’s baseless accusation of genocide against Israel.
“Many members of the Christian community are deeply unhappy with the allegations made by our government against Israel,” said Philip Rosenthal, director of the ChristianView network, who will participate in the afternoon of prayer. “We believe in Genesis 12 that it will bring a curse on South Africa unless we move away from it. So we will, and we do it very firmly.”
The afternoon prayer on February 25 is organized by Time2Rise South Africa and will begin at 4 p.m. in various locations across the country. Each session will include a prayer for Israel, a statement against the International Court of Justice a case against Israel and a prayer for divine intervention in South Africa.
Sessions are already planned in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and Potchefstroom, with more to follow.
Last month, ahead of the ICJ trial, Christian leaders from across South Africa sent an open letter to the government opposing its decision to prosecute Israel on charges of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The authors of the letter accused their government of “blaming the victims” and of “directly supporting Hamas tactics“.
The Christians received a response from South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, who represented that country’s cause in The Hague, and were offered a meeting. However, this meeting has not yet started.
The purpose of the day of prayer
Pearl Kupe, a member of the Time2RiseSA advisory board who is helping to plan the event, said: The Jerusalem Post that part of the purpose of the day of prayer was to show the world that “not everyone in South Africa likes Israel or supports Palestine. We want our voices to be heard and made clear.”
Rosenthal shares this sentiment, adding that while he cannot say that citizens opposed to the genocide charge constitute the majority, “there is a significant group of leaders who are behind us,” including most Christians and Christian organizations, as well as part of the country’s opposition. political parties.
Event organizers said they had informed police of their plans, given that they were attacked in November by violent anti-Israel citizens while demonstrating for the Jewish state in Cape Town.
“In a so-called democratic country, we should have the same right and freedom to express our faith and values in support of Israel,” Kupe said. “We hope we can pray and protest peacefully.”
