On September 25, there was a press conference and a rally outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City to protest the five Christian organizations that welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Catholic League took part in the rally and Bill Donohue spoke at the event.
The organizations that hosted Ahmadinejad were the World Council of Churches, Religions for Peace, the American Friends Service Committee, Mennonite Central Committee and the Quaker United Nations Office; they held a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner (Iftar).
Over 50 organizations joined the protest, representing Catholic, Protestant and Jewish groups, along with many non-sectarian organizations; it was sponsored by Women International. Donohue explained to the press why the Catholic League was participating:
“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has secured evidence from 10 countries demonstrating Iran’s nuclear development activities. Because Iran is not cooperating with IAEA inspectors, the U.N. Security Council has thrice imposed sanctions on Ahmadinejad’s regime. The concerns are obvious: the Iranian president has said that Israel ‘must be wiped off the map.’ Moreover, Iran is now about to formalize its stricture on apostasy: this would mean certain death to any Muslim who converts. But none of this matters to the Christian appeasers who will greet him tomorrow.
“The most prestigious organization welcoming Ahmadinejad is the World Council of Churches (WCC). Its politics are so radical that its agenda could easily be endorsed by any Marxist atheist. It was not for nothing that Jewish interreligious leader Israel Singer once branded the WCC ‘the head office for the dissemination of antisemitic statements.’ Indeed, after Yasser Arafat died, the WCC stated that the Arab terrorist ‘came to the recognition that true justice embraces peace,’ something that many Israeli mothers must have found mind-boggling.
“To appease someone like Ahmadinejad is sickening, but for it to be done in the name of Christianity is enough to induce vomiting. We strongly encourage Catholics and others to attend the rally.”
Demonstrators lined the street near Grand Central Station and the press conference was covered by some of the media. In a story in National Review Online, Kevin Williamson wrote the following about the rally:
“It [was] a rare thing to see a Catholic out-preach a Baptist, but the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue received a rockstar’s welcome, including applause from a few ‘Gays Against Ahmadinejad’ protesters, as he announced: ‘This bum shouldn’t even be in this city,’ Donohue shouted. ‘These clueless Christians are sitting down with him, for dialogue. You can’t have a dialogue with the devil.’ He was especially colorful in his condemnation fo the World Council of Churches. ‘The WCC are not neutral. They’re the same bunch who praised Arafat, that terrorist. If I were there at that dinner, I’d probably vomit all over my plate.’”
Ahmadinejad, of course, is not just bent on killing Jews: he has persecuted many Christians, and has certainly not held back on persecuting his own people. In any event, we were only too happy to join with this outstanding coalition of concerned Americans from all faiths.
On September 25, there was a press conference and a rally outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City to protest the five Christian organizations that welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Catholic League took part in the rally and Bill Donohue spoke at the event.
The organizations that hosted Ahmadinejad were the World Council of Churches, Religions for Peace, the American Friends Service Committee, Mennonite Central Committee and the Quaker United Nations Office; they held a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner (Iftar).
Over 50 organizations joined the protest, representing Catholic, Protestant and Jewish groups, along with many non-sectarian organizations; it was sponsored by Women International. Donohue explained to the press why the Catholic League was participating:
“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has secured evidence from 10 countries demonstrating Iran’s nuclear development activities. Because Iran is not cooperating with IAEA inspectors, the U.N. Security Council has thrice imposed sanctions on Ahmadinejad’s regime. The concerns are obvious: the Iranian president has said that Israel ‘must be wiped off the map.’ Moreover, Iran is now about to formalize its stricture on apostasy: this would mean certain death to any Muslim who converts. But none of this matters to the Christian appeasers who will greet him tomorrow.
“The most prestigious organization welcoming Ahmadinejad is the World Council of Churches (WCC). Its politics are so radical that its agenda could easily be endorsed by any Marxist atheist. It was not for nothing that Jewish interreligious leader Israel Singer once branded the WCC ‘the head office for the dissemination of antisemitic statements.’ Indeed, after Yasser Arafat died, the WCC stated that the Arab terrorist ‘came to the recognition that true justice embraces peace,’ something that many Israeli mothers must have found mind-boggling.
“To appease someone like Ahmadinejad is sickening, but for it to be done in the name of Christianity is enough to induce vomiting. We strongly encourage Catholics and others to attend the rally.”
Demonstrators lined the street near Grand Central Station and the press conference was covered by some of the media. In a story in National Review Online, Kevin Williamson wrote the following about the rally:
“It [was] a rare thing to see a Catholic out-preach a Baptist, but the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue received a rockstar’s welcome, including applause from a few ‘Gays Against Ahmadinejad’ protesters, as he announced: ‘This bum shouldn’t even be in this city,’ Donohue shouted. ‘These clueless Christians are sitting down with him, for dialogue. You can’t have a dialogue with the devil.’ He was especially colorful in his condemnation fo the World Council of Churches. ‘The WCC are not neutral. They’re the same bunch who praised Arafat, that terrorist. If I were there at that dinner, I’d probably vomit all over my plate.’”
Ahmadinejad, of course, is not just bent on killing Jews: he has persecuted many Christians, and has certainly not held back on persecuting his own people. In any event, we were only too happy to join with this outstanding coalition of concerned Americans from all faiths.
